***Ben Allison Corner***

[Guy Berger]

I have been itching to dip into Ben Allison's catalogue but can't decide whether to start with Peace Pipe or Riding the Nuclear Tiger. I figure I'll get both eventually. Which one is better? (I'm leaning toward Nuclear Tiger since it has Ron Horton and Ted Nash.)

Guy

[John B]

I started with Riding the Nuclear Tiger and loved it immediately. I have enjoyed all of his albums that I have heard bu RTNT is still my favorite.

[Clunky]

I was a little disappointed by "Peace Pipe" initially but have really warmed to it's "worldly" charms. Tiger is perhaps stronger but Pipe does give a sense of his broad artistic vision. Hope he's got something new coming soon.

[BruceH]

My advice is to jump on Riding the Nuclear Tiger. Good album, and I started with it too.

[sal]

I've been listening to Ben Allison and other JCC artists quite a bit lately. I found a used copy of "Third Eye" at a store in Chicago a couple of weeks back. Its a very nice record, and kind of got me started on this kick. I really like these guys' sound. I've heard all of Ben's albums except for "Buzz", and I've enjoyed em all.

[Head Man]

Most (all?) of his recordings are available as downloads on emusic.

[Kalo]

Another vote for Tiger.

I have enjoyed all of the JCC-related discs I've heard, especially the Herbie Nichols Project.

[montg]

  BruceH said:

My advice is to jump on Riding the Nuclear Tiger. Good album, and I started with it too.

My sentiment too, I really like Michael Blake on this CD and writing is very strong.

[fomafomic65]

  montg said:

  BruceH said:

My advice is to jump on Riding the Nuclear Tiger. Good album, and I started with it too.

My sentiment too, I really like Michael Blake on this CD and writing is very strong.

Aside these two records, I'd suggest you not to forget Ben Allison part in Herbie Nichos Project, the group he founded with pianist Frank Kimbrough to celebrate an overlooked, unlucky great musician. They wrote together the notes for "The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Herbie Nichols", 1997 cd edition (!).

All the three HNP cds are very good ones, from the first "Love Is Proximity" (Soul Note 1996) to the subsequent "Dr.Cyclops Dream" (Soul Note 1999) and "Strange City" (Palmetto 2001). Allison, Kimbrough, Ted Nash, Ron Horton, Blake joining from "Dt.Cyclops" on, Wycliffe Gordon on trombone -great player!- from "Strange City", with alternating drummers Jeff Ballard, Tim Horner and Matt Wilson.

These are great Allison's performances too.

Edited December 31, 2006 by ArmandoPeraza

[six string]

  ArmandoPeraza said:

  montg said:

  BruceH said:

My advice is to jump on Riding the Nuclear Tiger. Good album, and I started with it too.

My sentiment too, I really like Michael Blake on this CD and writing is very strong.

Aside these two records, I'd suggest you not to forget Ben Allison part in Herbie Nichos Project, the group he founded with pianist Frank Kimbrough to celebrate an overlooked, unlucky great musician. They wrote together the notes for "The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Herbie Nichols", 1997 cd edition (!).

All the three HNP cds are very good ones, from the first "Love Is Proximity" (Soul Note 1996) to the subsequent "Dr.Cyclops Dream" (Soul Note 1999) and "Strange City" (Palmetto 2001). Allison, Kimbrough, Ted Nash, Ron Horton, Blake joining from "Dt.Cyclops" on, Wycliffe Gordon on trombone -great player!- from "Strange City", with alternating drummers Jeff Ballard, Tim Horner and Matt Wilson.

These are great Allison's performances too.

Agree with this, although I haven't heard Strange City. I do have the other two and they are great. There is an earlier album of Ben's called Seven Arrows that I like a lot too.

[Guy Berger]

  montg said:

  BruceH said:

My advice is to jump on Riding the Nuclear Tiger. Good album, and I started with it too.

My sentiment too, I really like Michael Blake on this CD and writing is very strong.

This is a very good album.

Guy

[montg]

I had a chance to see the Cowboy Justice band (Ron Horton, Steve Cardenas, and Michael Sarin) live this weekend. Really nice show...The music on the Cowboy Justice CD has a rock feel to it at times, but with jazz rhythms and harmony. The track Emergency,which they closed the show with, is a good example of this blend. The show was a at small college campus in the Midwest, not a lot of hard core jazzers for sure, but the music was received with a lot of enthusiasm. I wish more artists left the New York comfort zone and played in the heartland.

ANyway, I've been listening a lot to the latest CD, Cowboy Justice, and it's a lot of fun. And the political angle is sharper here than in Wynton's over the top sermons on his latest CD, imo.

Edited March 12, 2007 by montg

[king ubu]

I recently found "Buzz" in the sales bins, and it's pretty good:

Hell, anything I've heard with Michael Blake has been fine at least!

[sal]

  montg said:

I had a chance to see the Cowboy Justice band (Ron Horton, Steve Cardenas, and Jeff Sarin) live this weekend. Really nice show...The music on the Cowboy Justice CD has a rock feel to it at times, but with jazz rhythms and harmony. The track Emergency,which they closed the show with, is a good example of this blend. The show was a at small college campus in the Midwest, not a lot of hard core jazzers for sure, but the music was received with a lot of enthusiasm. I wish more artists left the New York comfort zone and played in the heartland.

ANyway, I've been listening a lot to the latest CD, Cowboy Justice, and it's a lot of fun. And the political angle is sharper here than in Wynton's over the top sermons on his latest CD, imo.

I posted my thoughts about seeing them in Chicago last weekend in the "Live Shows" thread. This is a very nice group to see live, and its true what you say about the music being well received by people who aren't hard core jazzers. This type of music could work wonders in turning people on to the magic of jazz.

[sal]

I should also add that I ran into Ron Horton (very nice guy) outside the club after the show. We chatted a bit and he ended up giving me a copy of his latest CD "Everything in a Dream". Its very nice!

[montg]

Sal, I hadn't seen your comments in that thread, interesting that our impressions were so similiar. I completely agree this band is a great way to introduce jazz to the uninitiated.

[six string]

I too have been pretty impressed by anything the members of the Jazz Collective has put out. I have several of Allison'salbums as well as the first two HNP albums and a Frank Kimbrough album on Mapleshade.

They are all good! I was lucky enough to catch The Herbie Nichols Project in San Francsico a couple of years ago during the SF Jazz Festival. They were really excellent and I wish that they could come out west more often, as a group or any of the individual members. They are all high caliber musicians.

I don't have the Ride the Nuclear Tiger, but it got great reviews when it was released. The only reason I didn't run out and buy it s that I had purchased a few of Allison's albums shortly before that and was trying to spread my money around to other artists. I'll get a copy one of these days.

Edited March 12, 2007 by six string

[BFrank]

I see that Ben is doing a few days at Birdland in the middle of July. I've been wanting to see him for a long time and he doesn't seem to get out to the West Coast much. Fortunately I'm going to be in NYC then, so the timing is GREAT!

[kh1958]

I saw him a the Cornelia Street Cafe last October--with Steve Cardenas, Brandon Seabrook and Allison Miller--it was very good.

[BFrank]

This time around he's got Ted Nash, Jeremy Pelt, Steve Cardenas and Rudy Royston.

Looking forward to it!

[Buddha the Magnificent]

Ben Allison - The Stars Look Very Different Today (2013, Sonic Camera Records). Ben Allison - bass; Steve Cardenas - guitar; Brandon Seabrook - guitar, banjo; Allison Miller - drums. Stellar!

[xybert]

I like The Stars Look Very Different Today but despite repeated listens have never been able to fully connect with it. Theres an odd tinge to it for me that just makes it ever so slightly unappealing. It's almost like i was maybe feeling a low-level weirdness on the day when i first heard the album (i honestly don't remember), and now i associate that low-level weird feeling with this album (yeah i wanted to slap myself and go work a 24 hour shift in a coal mine as i wrote that but it is what it is!). It's like when you're feeling sick and you eat or drink something and from then on you associate that sick feeling with that food/drink. Anyway, i look forward to his next album. I wonder which direction he will take.

[kh1958]

I just heard that band last Saturday night for two sets--they were great, no problem connecting with them live at all.

[bertrand]

I love his music and compositions. One of my favorite 'young' musicians out there.

Bertrand.

[Buddha the Magnificent]

Hi, xybert. If you didn't feel a "low-level weirdness" when you first listened to The Stars, I'd be worried, LOL! Some pieces I liked immediately and I like everything on the album the more I listen to it. Kh1958, I'm insanely jealous; I'd really like to see them.