jimi089

Yes, Larry, I will certainly introduce myself. And agreed that we should take a Chicago drummers discussion elsewhere to get this thread back on track...but Dushun is still around, I'm sure you'll see him with the 8 Bold Souls at the festival this year. But before we get the thread back on track: papsrus, I think the festival has a great lineup announced thus far: Sonny Rollins, Vijay Iyer, Ornette Coleman, 8 Bold Souls, and many more to be announced later - and the clubs are always hopping for after-sets. The new Jazz Showcase should be reopened by then (I hear May), and the Velvet Lounge usually features Fred Anderson/Kidd Jordan which is always a pleasure. The closing of the HotHouse was a major blow to after set programming however.

Ditto to Steve Hunt, Damon Short, and Ted Sirota - if we're getting into Dana Hall territory (I agree it's a different area in my mind) I'd also add Ernie Adams into the mix who has been absolutely on fire the past few times I've seen him. Charles Heath for that matter as well, although he's out of town these days on tour with a theater production. I saw Robert Shy for the first time in ages recently and he sounded great too. I guess we're blessed with a wealth of drummers in Chicago. One young drummer who I'm still waiting to break out is Isaiah Spencer - thought he was a great young drummer years ago but he hasn't progressed much to my ears since then.

Interesting - maybe our tastes diverge at the drummer spot or maybe I haven't heard him enough. I've seen him live probably 6-10 times and half those times I was seriously unimpressed, but he seems to get better every time I've seen him. Still, I can think of a number of drummers I'd rather see. Are there any other recordings he's on where you're fond of his drumming that I should check out? The two Keefe Jacksons on Delmark, especially the more recent one (Frank is fine on both, but the latter is a better recording), the Chicago-Luzern Exchange's "Several Lights" (Delmark), Jason Adasiewicz's "Roll Down" (482 Music), both of Toby Summerfield's "Never Enough Hope" recordings (Contraphonic), and no doubt a good many other things that I'm not thinking of but can't get at right now to check because of the aftermath of basement flooding (the CDs aren't ruined, just stashed away in stacks upon stacks where I can't get at them). What drummers on the scene do you like? There are some other very good ones, for sure -- Tim Daisy, Michael Zerang, John Herndon, Dave Williams, the now back in Japan Nori Tanaka, the rather flabbergasting Dylan Ryan all come to mind -- but Frank's "compositional" feel seems special to me. Dare I say he reminds me of the late Philip Wilson? Thanks for the reply Larry. I have several of those (not the new Roll Down record though it's on my list) and will listen with an ear for Frank's playing. As I said he seems to get better every time I see him which is refreshing. I heard him in some improv contexts the first few times I saw him live where he played very "texturally," dare I say, perhaps a bit too much for my taste, which may have skewed my opinion of him. I'd agree that the strain of his playing that appeals the most to me is his sense of melody and sense of the composition as a whole. If you were to ask me today though, I'd rather see Tim Daisy, Michael Zerang, Mike Reed, Hamid Drake (does he count as local if he's never here?), Marcus Evans, or Avreeayl Ra.. Have you seen Makaya McCraven since he moved to town (Steve McCraven's son)? He is a great addition to the local scene on the drums - I've seen him play really well in a few contexts since he arrived. In any case, thanks for the encouragement, I will take a closer listen and make plans to see him live soon.

Interesting - maybe our tastes diverge at the drummer spot or maybe I haven't heard him enough. I've seen him live probably 6-10 times and half those times I was seriously unimpressed, but he seems to get better every time I've seen him. Still, I can think of a number of drummers I'd rather see. Are there any other recordings he's on where you're fond of his drumming that I should check out?

Received my copy of the album this week. It's a great record. I really enjoy Matana Roberts' compositions, and Josh Abrams + Jeff Parker are two of my favorite musicians around Chicago these days. I must admit that the verdict is still out on Frank Rosaly's drumming for me. There are times where he really shines and other times when I'm not quite sure how his playing fits in to what's going on musically. I also have some issues with his sense of time on his cymbals, but again it's intermittent. The duets with Fred are great. Matana has obviously internalized Fred's approach and can mimic it to great extent - but also offers her own sound and contrast. For me personally, it's always a pleasure to hear Fred in any setting, but I really appreciate hearing him in duos - along these lines I loved his duo release with Harrison Bankhead last year. If I have one complaint about the album, it's the sound/production. It sounds a little dry to my ears, especially the drums. It works in some places but at other times I find it a bit too much. All in all, a great album. I'm sure it will get a lot more play on my stereo. I'm interested to hear what others think if/when they pick it up as well.

Been listening to this one a lot - it's fantastic. I guess discussion of it doesn't really belong in the African music thread since it's from Belize, but it's well worth picking up. Really great rhythms, interesting vocal harmonies and textures, great guitar work, melodic, great range of material. It hasn't been bumped out of rotation in the CD changer since I got it. Also picked up the Mande Variations - beautiful as expected. It's just lovely to hear Toumani's kora laid bare. Seeline, I got the books - about to dig into the Rumba on the River after I finish George Lewis' AACM book today. Thanks for all these links, they are great.

Going to the Velvet tonight to see Lester Lashley and the Urban Bushmen. I've only seen Lester as a sideman and I'm looking forward to finding out who's in his band and what he has in store for us.

Bump up to the top. JSngry, did you ever explore further? Thanks for the info K1969 - I'mt thinking of picking up a couple of his albums because what I've read and heard has intrigued me.

Very well put, JSngry.

Having spent 9 months of purgatory in Atlanta, and I can guarantee you that nothing about that city can hold a candle to Chicago, unless you're into that whole crunk thing....

White boys with chops was Clementine's term, not mine, and I agree that the chops aspect of it is irrelevant (and the "boys", for that matter, especially with emerging players like Jaimie Branch who you mentioned, who is fantastic). In any case, what I value about Chicago is that there is still a sense of place here, and it shows in the music. I forgot to mention in my previous posts that Chicago's also home to the best jazz vocalist you've never heard, Dee Alexander. Hope that last part changes though, because she deserves wider exposure.

Not to mention Fred Anderson, who certainly belongs in the Von category of legends who have stayed and nurtured the locals scene, even when there was bigger $$ to be made elsewhere. Hamid Drake is still ostensibly a Chicago resident although he spends so much time on the road he rarely appears in town. Ari Brown and Willie Pickens are two musicians not to be sneezed at as well. Other names not mentioned by LK (I'm sure due to the sheer number of them, not by any conscience omission): Nicole Mitchell, Corey Wilkes, David Young, Isaiah Spencer, Kevin Nabors, Junius Paul, Justin Dillard, and Aarong Getsug - the latter half of which represent the young up-and-coming batch in the soon to be AACM members category, to give you some folks who are not in the white boys with chops crowd. The only place you might have heard them is in Ernest Dawkins' big band who have one small official release. EDC, I don't claim that Chicago is a utopia by any means - like any city, the local scene only does so much to actually support these musicians in terms of coming out to shows (I've been in audiences of between 2 and 5 people at the Velvet Lounge on more than one occasion, Fred Anderson's sacred venue), and there is still, in 2008, some very geographical segregation that goes on with the scene, although that continues to change as well. I think what LK is pointing towards, and I wholeheartedly agree, is a sense that there is a real scene here that produces interesting combinations of players, and that those players continue to evolve and improve as a result of collaboration and real experimentation.

Yeah, I really dislike their packaging. And their font/design aesthetic, while we're at it.

Apparently he's living in Japan teaching, and doing well otherwise.

There was a Chicago based group in the 90s called Samana that was all women. Nicole Mitchell was in that group. Susie Ibarra's trio is all women right now - Angelica Sanchez, Susie Ibarra, and Jennifer Choi. Craig Taborn was the pianist in the group for some time though.

Interesting to note that Ray and George Lewis, two of the preeminent practitioners on their instrument, grew up together and have known each other almost their entire lives. Must have been something in the water...

Curious that the article focuses on two people who no longer live in Chicago. It's a fine article about Roberts and Mazurek, who certainly deserve the praise, but the title of the article implies a much broader scope than the content. I was expecting at least some focus on Nicole Mitchell. Also, I think many Chicago jazz fans would disagree with his first sentence, though I suppose it depends on what you define as "importance"....

I'm surprised I'm the first to mention it, but maybe it popped up elsewhere - the headliners for the Chicago Jazz Festival have been announced. Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, commissions by Vijay Iyer, Dave Douglas, Gerald Wilson, and T.S. Galloway. And, Ed Wilkerson is the artist in residence! Looks like a great lineup, and I'm sure more to be announced in the near future.

I thought this thread was going to be about the Eccentric Soul release, Good God! A Gospel Funky Hymnal

Agreed with both of these sentiments. CT, just out of curiosity, have you ever taken Mr. Gayle's music in live? The reason I ask is that this was how I discovered him, live and absolutely killin' compared to the rest of the cats on stage (it was a Vision Fest thing). Definitely made me sit up and take notice and ask who is this guy? Nothing I've heard on record has compared since. It was not only passionate and intense, but also entirely appropriate to the setting of the music at the time, and I could tell that he could not only play, but also listen in a meaningful manner. However, as I said, nothing on record has really done it for me like that one live encounter has. I saw him play piano live since then, but not sax, and his pianistics did little for me.

At the top right of any new topic, in the blue box where the topic title is, there's a white box that says "Options" with a drop down menu. Switch to Standard. Then it will set a cookie and make all other threads show up that way as well.

Thanks for the links seeline. I already had African Music Treasure in my RSS reader and I just added the Ambiance Congo, as well as your blog linked from your signature as well. I ordered the Rumba on the River book and the book on Brazilian music you recommended in the Brazil thread today. Looking forward to reading them both, thanks for pointing me in their direction.

Ahhh, thanks for enlightening me seeline. I will definitely pick up that book. I'm hoping to hunt down this documentary about Kolosoy and learn some more there as well. Thanks to you as well MG. Guess I'll wait it out until it's released here, although patience is not my forte when it comes to buying music...

Thank you kindly!