Articles by Nic Jones
Furthest From "Weather Bird" So Far...
by Nic Jones
I've taught jazz history classes where I've made use of the Armstrong yardstick. It's a straightforward thing involving no more than comparing and contrasting two Louis Armstrong performances from the 1920s, the latter of which is always “Weather Bird," a duet featuring Armstrong and Earl Hines, on piano. So pitting, say, “Skip the Gutter," from June of 1928, against the Armstrong-Hines version reveals an extraordinarily accelerated rate of musical development in both players, especially as a mere six months separate ...
read moreWadada Leo Smith: More Than Moments in Time
by Nic Jones
Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith has been pursuing his muse for decades now; that pursuit has yielded music as singular as anything out there, as his now abundant discography testifies. The release of Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform, 2012) earlier this year amounts to something monumental, however, and not merely because the music pans out across four discs. Smith's music has never had about it the air of culmination, and accordingly no release of his amounts to anything other than a facet ...
read moreThe Fire, Regardless
by Nic Jones
If considered together a couple of recent archival releases (The 100 Club Concert 1979 (Reel Recordings, 2012), by saxophonist Elton Dean's Ninesense and Mike Osborne Trio The Birmingham Concert (Cadillac, 2012), by the Mike Osborne Trio) and one reissue (Wilderness of Glass ((Awake, 2012), by Triton) remind us of how creative improvised music happens, regardless of the state of the world in which it's made. Dean , Osborne and the Triton trio were all stalwarts of the British and European ...
read moreThe Veiled Meanings of Paul Motian
by Nic Jones
While Paul Motian's music could be regarded as amalgam of the predetermined and the free, that tells only a small part of the story. Similarly, arguing that his drumming was a merging of Kenny Clarke and Sunny Murray is no more helpful, even as it hints at the freedom in his work. But at this moment in time, and of course in light of his recent death in November, 2011, it feels too soon to determine whether or not he ...
read moreMarion Brown: The Freshness after the Rain
by Nic Jones
[Editor's Note: For the inaugural installment of his new column, in which he monkeys around on the margins of jazz and improvised music, Nic Jones takes a look at the often overlooked and undervalued multi-instrumentalist, Marion Brown.]Reed player and percussionist Marion Brown's music is a singular thing. Through his associations in the 1960s--not the least of these being as a sideman on John Coltrane's Ascension (Impulse!, 1965)--he might, in many peoples' minds, be associated with the New Thing ...
read moreEddie Daniels / Roger Kellaway: Live at the Library of Congress
by Nic Jones
This is a wonderfully sympathetic duo. Pianist Roger Kellaway has an identity which brings together Ellis Larkins, Bill Evans and deep knowledge of jazz piano, whilst Eddie Daniels may be the most formidably correct clarinetist in jazz today, without ever letting technique get in the way of expression. Add to this duo's many attributes the fact that they play without a safety net and you have something special--so much so that Kellaway and Daniels even make something ...
read moreNicole Mitchell: Awakening
by Nic Jones
This is could be called flautist Niicole Mitchell's first blowing date, although the rarefied nature of her music renders the term only loosely applicable. It's true that, in working with a quartet, she's created the right circumstances for music more reflective of the tradition to happen, but the results are no mere reiteration of a fading blueprint--thanks, in no small part, to guitarist Jeff Parker, the catalyst which sparks the revolutionary nature of this program There are ...
read moreAki Takase / Han Bennink: Two for Two
by Nic Jones
Sparks should surely fly when two of the most creative musicians on the planet come together, shouldn't they? Well in this case, no. Pianist Aki Takase and drummer Han Bennink bring heavy experience to bear when they play, but in this case their efforts are underscored by a combination of tentativeness and heavy-handed humor. The latter hasn't been so leaden in the past and has been a welcome part of their work but here, as exemplified by ...
read moreGraham Collier: The Day of the Dead
by Nic Jones
Graham Collier's death, in 2011, lends this release a sad air--at least until the gravity of the music is considered, because truly the composer/arranger has gained some measure of immortality through it. Recorded over the years 1976 to 1978, the albums collected here mark a period of transition from Collier the bassist and small band leader to Collier the composer for large ensembles who grasped the implications of the tonal palette such groups could offer. In his ...
read moreHarry Allen: Rhythm on the River
by Nic Jones
Tenor saxophonist Harry Allen is a keeper of the flame ignited by the likes of Zoot Sims and Al Cohn. Whilst his music's nowhere near any cutting edge, he falls back upon the staples of the swing thru bop vocabulary like a man to the manner born and, over the course of this river-related program, demonstrates just how much the music means to him. The persuasiveness of his playing stems in part from his authority. To hear ...
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