18-01-2019 # JAZZ:MiX # 33 jazz tracks on the the JAZZ_line 1981-1991

Steve Khan

18-01-2019 # JAZZ:MiX # 33 jazz tracks on the the JAZZ_line 1981-1991 # Steve Khan, Dewey Redman Quartet, Wynton Marsalis, Bill Frisell, Lyle Mays, Tom Harrell Quintet, The James Taylor Quartet, John Abercrombie, WATT Works Family - CARLA BLEY, MICHAEL MANTLER, STEVE SWALLOW, KAREN MANTLER, STEVE WEISBERG, John Scofield, Steve Coleman and Five Elements

J A Z Z   M U S I C

LISTEN THE PLAYLIST ON DEEZER.COM

JAZZ_line  The player always plays the latest playlist tracks. / A lejátszó mindig a legújabb playlist számait játssza.

1981-1991

Session guitarist for the likes of Lou Rawls, Steely Dan, and Michael Franks, among others; also recorded as a leader, starting with 1977's Tightrope. Guitarist Steve Khan is a gifted jazz-based performer whose adept skills have found him working with his own groups and as an in-demand session artist.
Steve Khan
Auxiliary Police (Manolo Badrena / Anthony Jackson / Steven "Steven J." Jordan / Steve Khan) 5:25
Where's Mumphrey? (Manolo Badrena / Anthony Jackson / Steven "Steven J." Jordan / Steve Khan) 7:23
Eyewitness (For Folon) (Steve Khan) 7:16
from Eyewitness 1981
This release marked a new era for Steve Khan. Eyewitness was essentially birthed of earlier jam session/improv ideas, and the chemistry between each musician, plus polished-up ideas readied for final studio recording. Khan had returned to his college-days Gibson guitar purity of tone and a touch of reverb, laying aside his Fender Telecaster and big band mindset to groove with friends over eclectic rhythms of Manolo Badrena, Steve Jordan, and exotic bass grooves only the creative genius of Anthony Jackson could lay down...

An eclectic jazz tenor saxophonist who seamlessly linked the blues with free-form music over a hard bop base. One of the great avant-garde tenors, Dewey Redman has never received anywhere near the acclaim that his son Joshua Redman gained in the 1990s, but ironically Dewey is much more of an innovative player...
Dewey Redman Quartet
Thren (Dewey Redman) 7:53
Turn Over Baby (Dewey Redman) 4:27
Dewey Square (Charlie Parker) 8:01
from The Struggle Continues 1982
When ECM released Dewey Redman's The Struggle Continues in January 1982, he was busier than he had been in years. He'd spent three years recording and touring with Old and New Dreams (and a few more after). This date has Redman fronting a standard rhythm trio comprised of bassist Mark Helias, pianist Charles Eubanks, and drummer Ed Blackwell (a bandmate from the time they spent with Ornette Coleman through to Old and New Dreams, and with other Coleman alumni Cherry and Charlie Haden). Redman was versatile, as comfortable playing inside as outside, and here he does a bit of both, straying in and out of free and hard bop mode. It is one of the saxophonists most consistent and "melodic" recordings, but that doesn't mean he's any less adventurous. On his five compositions and an excellent eight-plus-minute workout on Charlie Parker's "Dewey Square," Redman is at the top of his game as an improviser and as a bandleader...

An esteemed trumpeter who worked tirelessly to ensure jazz's status as a respected American art form into the 21st century. The most famous jazz musician since 1980, Wynton Marsalis had a major impact on jazz almost from the start. In the early '80s, it was major news that a young and very talented black musician would choose to make a living playing acoustic jazz rather than fusion, funk, or R&B...
Wynton Marsalis
Knozz-Moe-King (Wynton Marsalis) 6:00
My Ideal (Newell Chase / Leo Robin / Richard A. Whiting) 6:17
from Think of One 1983
In his early years after leaving Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Wynton Marsalis strode forth with this excellent recording, his second as a leader, done in tandem with brother Branford, also out of Blakey's herd. The combination of the two siblings created quite a buzz in the music community, and this recording, which may stand the test of time as his finest, is one of the more solid mainstream jazz statements from the Young Lions movement of the early '80s. Top to bottom, this music sings, swings, simmers, and cooks with a cool verve that, in retrospect, would turn more overtly intellectual over time...

A stunning, eclectic guitarist who blends the best elements of rock energy with jazz harmonic sophistication and melodic interpretation. Guitarist Bill Frisell is widely known as one of the most versatile players in jazz history, despite possessing an always instantly recognizeable warm, bell-like tone on his instrument, no matter what he happens to be playing. Whether playing avant jazz with his own bands (Lookout for Hope), exploring Americana (Nashville), pop (All We Are Saying...), or composing film scores, Frisell's focus on timbral clarity and elegance shines through...
Bill Frisell
Tone (Bill Frisell) 8:00
Rambler (Bill Frisell) 8:12
Resistor (Bill Frisell) 5:44
from Rambler 1984
This relatively early set from Bill Frisell is a fine showcase for the utterly unique guitarist. Frisell has the ability to play nearly any extroverted style of music and his humor (check out the date's "Music I Heard") is rarely far below the surface. This particular quintet (with trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, tuba player Bob Stewart, electric bassist Jerome Harris and drummer Paul Motian) is not exactly short of original personalities and their outing (featuring seven Frisell compositions) is one of the most lively of all the ones in the ECM catalog

Lyle Mays' style is difficult to describe, more atmospheric (with plenty of unique colors) than swinging and an invaluable part of the sound of the Pat Metheny Group.
Lyle Mays
Highland Aire (Lyle Mays) 7:04
Slink (Lyle Mays) 8:18
from Lyle Mays 1985
Lyle Mays waited a long, long time before straying from the Pat Metheny Group to issue his first solo album, but when he did, the results were at once removed but not totally untethered to the Metheny sound and feeling. On his own, Mays' synthesizer solos and textures are close in sound to what he was doing in the Metheny group, but the turns of phrases in his acoustic piano solos reflect the heavy shadow of Keith Jarrett...  Bill Frisell gives Mays a different yet no less musical and enterprising guitar foil; drummer Alex Acuna and Metheny group percussionist Nana Vasconcelos are as flexible a team as Mays could want. Marc Johnson is on bass and Billy Drewes is on alto and soprano sax. A very pleasing, thoroughly musical solo debut.

A first-rate, hard bop-influenced soloist with a lyrical, harmonically sophisticated style informed by his early years with Horace Silver. 
Tom Harrell Quintet
feat. Kenny Garrett and Kenny Barron
Blues in Six (Tom Harrell) 7:36
Rapture (Tom Harrell) 4:39
Moon Alley (Tom Harrell) 8:35
from Moon Alley 1986
A strong recording in the post-bop tradition, Moon Alley illuminates the impressive writing of leader Tom Harrell, who has penned five of the album's seven compositions. Harrell tends to write in a manner which dictates specific parts for the rhythm section, letting the soloist stretch out over the static accompaniment. The playing is strong by all musicians on the date, and the album benefits from the youthful exuberance of saxophonist Kenny Garrett, who colors the music with smatterings of bent pitches and brief dissonances. Harrell at times reveals the influence of Kenny Dorham, though his sound on the open horn is somewhat harder and brassier than Dorham's. The recording of Kenny Barron's piano, captured by Rudy Van Gelder, gives Moon Alley a sound similar to that which dominated the 1960s Blue Note recordings, and at times, as on Harrell's "Blues in Six," the illusion is convincing.

At the hub of the UK acid jazz scene starting the 80s, occasionally flirted with more dance-based sound. When the Medway Valley’s psychedelic-mod hopefuls the Prisoners disbanded in 1986, organist James Taylor vowed to move into the realms of jazz, and away from rock. 
The James Taylor Quartet
The Money Spyder (James Taylor) 3:48
Mr. Cool's Dream (James Taylor) 3:46
The Onion Club (D. Taylor / James Taylor) 3:04
from The Money Spyder 1987
Constructed as a mock soundtrack, The Money Spyder does a good, convincing job at capturing the flavor of '60s spy flicks with its blend of jazzy rhythms, swelling Hammond organs, and dark, tasty guitar licks. The group gets a Booker T. & the MG's-meets-the Ventures sound on this set of instrumentals, with some Lalo Schifrin and film noir jazz thrown in the blender. Marketed as part of Hollywood Records' Acid Jazz line, it could catch the coattails of the lounge/space-age pop revival as well (though the JTQ have been doing this sort of stuff for years).

Versatile and inventive guitarist who skirted the edge of fusion and rock while remaining true to jazz. John Abercrombie's tying together of jazz's many threads made him one of the most influential acoustic and electric guitarists of the 1970s and early '80s; his recordings for ECM helped define that label's progressive chamber jazz reputation. Abercrombie's style drew upon all manner of contemporary improvised music; his style was essentially jazz-based, but also displayed a more than passing familiarity with forms that ranged from folk and rock to Eastern and Western art musics.
John Abercrombie
Sidekicks (John Abercrombie) 5:17
Remember Hymn (John Abercrombie) 5:17
from Getting There 1988
The music on this 1988 release from guitarist John Abercrombie is groomed to such aseptic perfection that little remains of the musical personalities behind these sounds. Abercrombie, bassist Marc Johnson, drummer Peter Erskine, and saxophonist Michael Brecker (on three tracks) turn in immaculate performances, rich in technique and austere, cerebral exchanges, but despite the musical prowess, the listener is left to gaze on blankly, uninvolved. The malaise is typified by Abercrombie's guitar synthesizer, which too frequently renders the leader's brush strokes in a muted monochrome...

CARLA BLEY, MICHAEL MANTLER, STEVE SWALLOW, KAREN MANTLER, STEVE WEISBERG
Carla Bley - Fleur Carnviore (Carla Bley) 11:03
Carla Bley / Steve Swallow - Walking Batteriewoman (Carla Bley) 3:57
Steve Weisberg - I Can't Stand Another Night Alone (In Bed With You) (Clifton Chenier / Steve Weisberg) 5:37
Michael Mantler - Alien, Pt. 2 (Michael Mantler) 3:56
Karen Mantler - Best of Friends (Karen Mantler) 2:56
from The WATT Works Family Album / Rec. 1973 - 1989

A dazzling electric guitarist with a steely tone and fluid lines to earmark his distinctive post-bop style. Known for his distinctive, slightly distorted sound, jazz guitarist John Scofield is a masterful jazz improviser who has straddled the lines between straight-ahead post-bop, fusion, funk, and soul-jazz. One of the "big three" of late 20th century jazz guitarists (along with Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell), Scofield's influence grew in the '90s and continued into the 21st century.
John Scofield
Wabash III (John Scofield) 6:22
So Sue Me (John Scofield) 6:03
Flower Power (John Scofield) 5:01
from  Time on My Hands 1990
John Scofield has turned the corner from journeyman jazz guitarist to become one of the most inventive and witty players on the contemporary scene. This date, his first for the Blue Note label, builds on a discography following several recordings for the Gramavision label, and also progresses this contemporary jazz music into an individualism that can only bode well for his future efforts. Teamed with the rising-star saxophonist Joe Lovano and the bulletproof rhythm team of bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Jack DeJohnette, Scofield is emerging as a player of distinction on the electric guitar, and a composer whose mirthful ideas add spark and vigor to his newfound musical setting. In this co-production with Peter Erskine, Sco has found his melodic stride in making music that is bright and clever without being overly intellectual, retaining a soulful quality enriched by the deep-rooted, bluesy tenor sax of Lovano...

Alto saxophonist, composer, producer, and MacArthur Fellow who founded the influential cross-genre M-Base movement and leads several bands. According to many musicians who came of age between the 1980s and the early 21st century, the influence of M-Base founder, composer, and alto saxophonist Steve Coleman cannot be overstated. His technical virtuosity and engagement with musical traditions and styles from around the world are expanding the possibilities of spontaneous composition.
Steve Coleman and Five Elements
Twister (Steve Coleman) 7:48
Beyond All We Know (Steve Coleman) 4:10
Black Phonemics (Steve Coleman) 4:01
Magneto (Steve Coleman) 2:52
from  Black Science 1991
The mixture of complex funk rhythms and inside/outside soloing performed by the "M-Base" stylists, although similar to Ornette Coleman's free funk, is quite different from any other earlier idiom. Altoist Steve Coleman's CD is recommended as a good example of his music. The improvisations are dynamic, unpredictable, and quite original and the ensemble (which includes pianist James Weidman, guitarist David Gilmore, and three guest vocals by Cassandra Wilson) is tight. Coleman, who wrote all but one of the originals, is the dominant force behind this often-disturbing but generally stimulating music.