Who of the youngish musicians does have a signature sound?

[A Lark Ascending]

One of the things that jazz listeners seem to value most in musicians is a distinctive, signature sound. We all hear it in the Hawkins and Hodges and Giillespies of the past. An argument that is frequently rehearsed here and elsewhere is that young musicians today tumbling out of college all sound the same.

So...

Who do you find has something recognisable that attracts you? No need to articulate why though if you've got the musical or literacy skills to do so, great.

But there are RULES!!!!

1. Let's leave aside the established and proven - Sonny Rollins etc.

2. Tell us who you do hear something distinct in, not who you don't.

3. Please don't start up the 'colleges turn them to robots today' argument - there are other threads that explore that one.

4. Let's all bear in mind that 'having a signature sound' is not objectively verifiable - I might glow at the sound of a player who someone else finds cold.

Over to you.

[BillF]

Very good idea for a thread, Bev!

As this is jazz, I'll read "youngish" as meaning under 50. I'll also read "having a signature sound" as meaning I can recognize them on record.

So, using these tests, I nominate:

Eric Alexander (aged 43)

Grant Stewart (40)

Dmitry Baevsky (34)

Just in case you don't know Dmitry, try this:

http://www.smallsjazzclub.com/index.cfm?eventId=3892&pb=2

Edited September 18, 2011 by BillF

[A Lark Ascending]

As this is jazz, I'll read "youngish" as meaning under 50. I'll also read "having a signature sound" as meaning I can recognize them on record.http://www.smallsjazzclub.com/index.cfm?eventId=3892&pb=2

No age limits really. I just felt that the sounds of people like Sonny Rollins or Wayne Shorter are so proven that there's no real need to go there. Less well known 90 year olds fit my 'youngish' weasel-word.

And yes, if you hear something that acts as an aural fingerprint when you hear it, that's enough.

Two who stand out for me are Iain Ballamy and Julian Siegel. Regardless of what they are playing or the context (and both play in varied contexts) there's a very specific sound - both post-Shorter but with a distinct accent.

(Brits mentioned only because they are people I've been able to hear live quite frequently as well as on record)

Edited September 18, 2011 by A Lark Ascending

[mikeweil]

To me, Geoffrey Keezer has a distinctive sound - his touch, his rhythmic precision and energy ....

[BillF]

To me, Geoffrey Keezer has a distinctive sound - his touch, his rhythmic precision and energy ....

Yes, a good 'un!

[John Tapscott]

Agree with BillF's nominations above, and I may think of some more, but another one for me is Roy Hargrove.

[mjzee]

I vote for Grant Stewart. I heard "Plays the Music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn" in a store, and was immediately taken, drawn in by his sound. Muscular, rounded, harmonically pleasing, and not at all apologetic.

[mjazzg]

I've gone for the under-50 just because I can just still be defined as "youngish" if I do

and because otherwise the list would be unwieldly, so...

Steve Coleman

Jason Adasiewicz

Rob Mazurek

Brad Mehldau

Mary Halvorsen

Ken Vandermark

[Chicago Expat]

Lark, this is a great idea for a thread!

On trumpet, I would say Taylor Haskins, to my ears, has a very distinctive sound. Almost reminiscent to something that might fit in with some of the Paul Motian outfits that recorded on Winter&Winter, but much much more than that, because he also sounds great in a jazz-rock setting like you might hear on a Ben Allison album. I'm not very good at blindfold tests, but I feel confident I'd recognize Taylor's playing.

Listen on Haskins site

Another trumpet player with a signature sound is Ron Miles. Whether he's playing a composition with a whimsical theme or a ballad full of heartbreak, the gentle tone he gets on his instrument is both brilliant and recognizable.

Listen on Ron's myspace page

On bass, I would go with Omer Avital. Whether it's a solo or in the flow of the composition, I think he has a very distinctive sound. Especially when the tension of the music is rising to a breaking point (sorry, sloppy music description)... that's when Omer's sound really shines through.

I'd also mention Eivind Opsvik on bass, who is really coming into his own.

On guitar, I'd go with Rafal Sarnecki, though with a couple of serious caveats... one, he only has two albums, and while a musician's sound is more than the whole of their discography, I'm a little hesitant to say that his sound on guitar is immediately recognizable to me... except that it is.

Listen on Sarnecki's site

Not one of the younger guys on the scene, but hard not to mention Bill Frisell when we're talking about signature sounds on guitar.

I'm gonna stop there for now and come back to this later after the Bears game.

[Larry Kart]

Off the top of my head, and thinking of young Chicagoans I hear all the time, cornetist Josh Berman, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, and tenor saxophonist Keefe Jackson. Good examples of their work can be found on YouTube. Alto saxophonist Greg Ward, too.

I'm very drawn to Grant Stewart, too, but I wouldn't say that sheer distinctiveness of sound is his hallmark (more overt Rollins echoes sound-wise than I would prefer). What I like about Stewart is his "in the moment" melodic freshness, logic, and swing.

[AllenLowe]

I'm going to nominate my own guy, guitarist Ray Suhy, who works in a number of sonic areas, and needs to be heard on slide guitar (check out Bull Connor on this page);

http://www.allenlowe...mpiricle-truth/

I plan on trying to produce an album of his stuff in the next year - hear him also on My Clinch Mountain blues - moves from Sonny Sharrock to Jerry Garcia without breaking a sweat, but always sounds like himself.

Edited September 18, 2011 by AllenLowe

[Clunky]

Mary Halvorson- guitar- very distinctive and young

[LWayne]

To my ears, Miguel Zenon on Alto Sax, Sean Jones on Trumpet, Vijay Iyer on Piano, and Dafnis Prieto on Drums all have signature sounds.

Recently, I have really been into Guillermo Klein's compostions which have a distinctive style as well.

LWayne

[A Lark Ascending]

I'm enjoying the responses, all. A nice, wide range.

[Leeway]

Sax:

Ingrid Laubrock

Lotte Anker

I'm a bit on the fence about Tony Malaby but will add him too.

Trumpet:

Nate Wooley

Peter Evans

Guitar:

Mary Halvorson (seconding or "thirding" some previous mentions)

Cello:

Daniel Levin

Piano:

Craig Taborn. Over last year or two, really coming into his own.

Drums:

Chris Corsano

[johnlitweiler]

2 trad players: Evan Christopher, of New Orleans, a sort of Creole Artie Shaw in sound and style. And Michel Bescont, France, with a distinctive, aggressive, almost r-&-b-ish swing on tenor sax. But Bescont has been playing a lot of clarinet lately, and anyway he is surely over 50.

Thanks in large part to Larry, I've been hearing and enjoying a lot of the same Chicago folks that he likes. The youngest of them include Nick Mazzarella, an alto saxophonist who began as an Ornette disciple and who sounds more lyrical and more Mazzarella-like each time I hear him (which isn't often enough). Also 3 youngish veterans, a sensitive and articulate bassist, Anton Hatwich; Corey Wilkes, a lyrical post-Miles trumpeter on changes, modes, fusion, and very free settings; and drummer Frank Rosaly, with his care for drum-kit sounds. There are more very good ones in Chicago these days.

Tyshawn Sorey, of NYC, is an inspiring drummer. Grant Stewart is, for me, the best kind of revivalist: solo structure, melodic invention are the things, Rollins and Griffin seem to be his inspirations, he recalls good songs from the bop-era repertoire.

[Larry Kart]

John -- Glad you like N. Mazzerella. That's just the way I feel about him. Hatwich and Rosaly, too.

Leeway -- Heard Laubrock with Mike Reed's Sun Ra project at the Chicago Jazz Fest and was very impressed. On the same gig Halvorson was excellent. Heard Anker last week with Taborn and Gerald Cleaver; she left me cold.

Trumpeter Jacob Wick.

[A Lark Ascending]

Good to see Ingrid Laubrock getting mentioned here. I've watched her mature from near smooth jazz to her current explorations over ten years at the Cheltenham Festival. She also fits into Brazilian music to perfection in another guise. Just sad she's been pinched by New York (though we pinched her from Germany!). I'm really taken by Mary Halvorson too - a couple of very good Ingrid records of late with Mary on board.

I'm not sure I can hear a signature sound in Evan Christopher ( - not criticising at all, it's my ears that are not tuned enough). There are so few clarinet players around all I hear (as with Ken Peplowski) is glorious clarinet. Certainly a player whose records I look out for (thanks to Jeff's championing).

Edited September 18, 2011 by A Lark Ascending

[jlhoots]

Silke Eberhard

[Leeway]

John -- Glad you like N. Mazzerella. That's just the qay I feel about him. Hatwich and Rosaly, too.

Leeway -- Heard Laubrock with Mike Reed's Sun Ra project at the Chicago Jazz Fest and was very impressed. On the same gig Halvorson was excellent. Heard Anker last week with Taborn and Gerald Cleaver; she left me cold.

Trumpeter Jacob Wick.

Larry, Lotte is a "slow burn" if you get my meaning. Her music doesn't knock you over the head at first listen. But given a chance, it has a cumulative power, and more to the point here, a compelling individuality. It's different, and I like that. Of course, YMMV.

I would add another vote for Tyshawn Sorey, maybe more as a composer than a drummer though.

[BeBop]

In terms of tone (mainly), I find tenor sax man Stephen Riley distinctive and enjoyable.

[golfcrazy1984]

Saxophone:

- James Carter, Eric Alexander

Trombone:

- Wycliffe Gordon

Clarinet:

- Anat Cohen

Piano:

- Dan Nimmer (LCJO, etc.)

Trumpet:

- Sean Jones, Freddie Hendrix, Roy Hargrove

I'll try and think of some more, but these people that I have listed, I can identify within a few notes---and they have individual ideas and sounds. Maybe these are "safe" choices, but they come to mind first. Cool topic!!!

[marcello]

Some notables:

Marcus Strickland - reeds

Michael Rodriguez - trumpet

Johnathan Blake - drums

Reuben Rogers - bass

OOps! I have to add another fantastic drummer:

Alyn Cosker ( from Scotland)

Edited September 18, 2011 by marcello

[BeBop]

Another tenor player with a distinctive sound and phrasing is Ned Goold.

[jeffcrom]

2 trad players: Evan Christopher, of New Orleans, a sort of Creole Artie Shaw in sound and style.

I'm not sure I can hear a signature sound in Evan Christopher ( - not criticising at all, it's my ears that are not tuned enough). There are so few clarinet players around all I hear (as with Ken Peplowski) is glorious clarinet. Certainly a player whose records I look out for (thanks to Jeff's championing).

Evan was one name I thought of right away when I saw this thread. I hear his influences, but they're so varied and so thoroughly absorbed that I mostly just hear Evan. I was disappointed that he didn't seem to be in town when I was in New Orleans last week, but I did pick up a great new album by him and pianist Tom McDermott (also one of my favorites).