Music Week

Music: Current count 24560 [24527] rated (+33), 493 [501] unrated (-8).

Wichita got hit by two snowstorms last week. Cumulative damage is about an inch on the grass, less on the concrete. I figure that if I don't pay it any attention it'll vanish by tomorrow afternoon. Cold today, though. The weather did keep me inside, and I bagged the usual bounty of records. Three of this week's four A- records came from very late-breaking, currently unpublished EOY lists: Lucas Fagen came up with a half-dozen albums I had yet to hear of -- mostly K-Pop and Middle Eastern pop or classical, with Nancy Ajram the one that clicked hardest. Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Wormburner appeared on Robert Christgau's Dean's List (or should appear when it's published at BN Review, most likely this week). Those bring my 2014 A-list to 155 records (plus 24 compilations). I think that qualifies as the longest EOY list this year -- John Mulvey stopped at 154 albums, Jason Gubbels at 150, Under the Radar at 140) -- oops, metal-friendly (but not exclusively so) Louder Than War went all the way to 200 albums, but figure that as a staff (not an individual) list. The secret to a long list is listening to a lot of records (in my case, 1206 last year) and having broad taste and a relatively open mind. I couldn't have come remotely close to that much coverage had it not been for streaming services like Rhapsody, freely streamable albums such as one finds on Bandcamp, and more or less legit downloadables (although frankly I've taken very little advantage of the latter). Still, there were hundreds of albums I searched for but couldn't find, and who knows how many worthwhile items I never knew about. As long as recorded music is treated as private monopoly instead of as a public resource we're cheating ourselves out of a higher standard of living and cultural understanding.

Robert Christgau's memoir, Going Into the City: A Portrait of a Critic as a Young Man (Dey Street Books) will be released tomorrow (Tuesday, February 24). I read an early draft of the book, so know that it starts with his childhood, goes through adolescence, college, his discovery that "a rock and roll critic is something to be" (my phrase with a hat tip to the Byrds -- I used it in my contribution to hisFestschrift), his tenure editing the music section at The Village Voice, up to 1985 when he became a father. I've known him since 1975, when he invited me to write for Voice music section (and befriended me), so I know some of this firsthand, some more secondhand, and learned much more. I'll write more once I've seen the published book, but can recommend it heartily to anyone even remotely interested in thinking about popular culture in the pivotal decade of the 1970s.

Meanwhile, those of you in New York should consider two book launch events this week:

Tuesday, Feb. 24, 7-8pm with Jody Rosen at Powerhouse Arena in Brooklyn [link]
Wednesday, Feb. 25, 7-8pm with Rob Sheffield at Strand Books in Manhattan [link]

Also, several excerpts from the book have been posted:

On Visiting CBGB in the Seventies and falling for Television's 'Marquee Moon' (Rolling Stone, Feb. 16, 2015)
Robert Christgau Remembers the Deaths of Lennon, Marley, and Lester Bangs (Vulture, Feb. 17, 2015)
Read an Excerpt From Robert Christgau's Memoir 'Going Into the City' (Spin, Feb. 23, 2015)

Not much on his website yet about the book, but I'm working on that.

Clark Terry died last week, age 94. My favorite tweet:

Christian McBride @mcbridesworld
Every musician in the world who ever met Clark Terry is a better musician& person because of it. He now belongs to the ages. RIP, sir.

According to Tom Lord, Terry recorded 902 sessions from February 1947 to July 2008 (114 as leader and 788 as sideman; PDF here).

Some Clark Terry records I recommend (mostly side credits although hardly ever marginal; he raised everyone's game, but the records he led were only rarely exceptional):

Count Basie: America's #1 Band: The Columbia Years (1935-50 [2003], Columbia/Legacy, 4CD): Terry played with Basie 1948-51, so only caught the end of this.
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Ellington Uptown (1947-52 [2004], Columbia/Legacy)
Dinah Washington: Dinah Jams (1954 [1997], Verve)
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Such Sweet Thunder (1955-56 [1999], Columbia/Legacy)
Duke Ellington: Ellington at Newport 1956 (Complete) (1956 [1999], Columbia/Legacy)
Thelonious Monk: Brilliant Corners (1956 [2008], Riverside)
Clark Terry Quintet: Serenade to a Bus Seat (1957 [1992], Riverside/OJC)
Ella Fitzgerald: Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook (1956-57 [1999], Verve, 3CD)
Clark Terry Quartet with Thelonious Monk: In Orbit (1958 [1987], Riverside OJC)
Duke Ellington: Blues in Orbit (1958-59 [2004], Columbia/Legacy)
Duke Ellington: Jazz Party (1959 [1991], Columbia/Legacy)
Duke Ellington: Anatomy of a Murder (1959 [1991], Rykodisc)
Jimmy Heath's Big Band: Really Big! (1960 [2007], Riverside)
Budd Johnson: Budd Johnson and the Four Brass Giants (1960 [1999], Riverside OJC): with Nat Adderley, Harry Edison, and Ray Nance
Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra: Gillespiana/Carnegie Hall Concert (1960-61 [1993], Verve)
Tubby Hayes/Clark Terry: New York Sessions (1961 [1990], Columbia)
Coleman Hawkins/Clark Terry: Back in Bean's Bag (1962 [2014], Essential Jazz Classics)
Oscar Peterson: Trio + One: Clark Terry (1964 [1984], Emarcy)
Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life (1964-65 [2000], Red Baron)
Earl Hines: Once Upon a Time (1966 [2003], Impulse)
Jimmy Rushing: Every Day I Have the Blues (1967 [1999], Impulse)
Duke Ellington: . . . And His Mother Called Him Bill (1967 [1987], RCA)
Swing Fever: Grand Masters of Jazz (1998-2001 [2013], Open Art): with Buddy DeFranco, Terry Gibbs, Jackie Ryan
Clark Terry/Max Roach: Friendship (2002 [2003], Eighty-Eights/Columbia)
Jon Faddis: Teranga (2005 [2006], Koch)
Louie Bellson/Clark Terry: Louie & Clark Expedition 2 (2007 [2008], Percussion Power)

Probably a lot more where those came from. Some other musicians who show up with albums in Terry's discography (I'm just looking at leaders; Lord has counted 2504 musicians Terry played with): Cannonball Adderley, Henry "Red" Allen, Gene Ammons, Louis Armstrong (Terry picked up the horn when Armstrong couldn't play on "What a Wonderful World"), Charlie Barnet, Art Blakey, Bob Brookmeyer, Ray Brown, Ruth Brown, Ray Bryant, Kenny Burrell, Benny Carter, Ray Charles, Al Cohn, Chris Connor, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Arne Domnerus, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Roy Eldridge, Bill Evans, Art Farmer, Bud Freeman, Stan Getz, Paul Gonsalves, Benny Goodman, Wendell Gray, Johnny Griffin, Bengt Hallberg, Woody Herman, Lionel Hampton, John Hicks, Johnny Hodges, Billie Holiday, Freddie Hubbard, Milt Jackson, J.J. Johnson, Hank Jones, Elvin Jones, Quincy Jones, Lee Konitz, Yusef Lateef, Abbey Lincoln, Herbie Mann, Marian McPartland, Jay McShann, Charles Mingus, Blue Mitchell, Modern Jazz Quartet, Wes Montgomery, James Moody, Gerry Mulligan (Concert Jazz Band), Oliver Nelson, Babatunde Olatunji, Flip Phillips, Bud Powell, Dianne Reeves, Sonny Rollins, Pee Wee Russell, Lalo Schifrin, Shirley Scott, Tony Scott, Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith, Martial Solal, Sonny Stitt, Buddy Tate, Billy Taylor, Cecil Taylor, Cal Tjader, Big Joe Turner, Stanley Turrentine, McCoy Tyner, UMO Jazz Orchestra, Sarah Vaughan, Ben Webster, Randy Weston, Ernie Wilkins, Joe Williams, Gerald Wilson, Teddy Wilson. (Incomplete, of course.)

It's too late for me to even bother trying to knock out tweet-views of this week's newly rated albums. We'll start next week with a clean slate -- and there will be reviews of all these albums in the next Rhapsody Streamnotes column, most likely in early March.

New records rated this week:

Nancy Ajram: Nancy 8 (2014, In2musica): [r]: A-
Béatrice Alunni/Marc Peillon: Dance With Me (2014 [2015], ITI): [cd]: B+(*)
Andy Brown: Soloist (2014 [2015], Delmark): [cd]: B+(*)
Harley Card: Hedgerow (2012 [2015], self-released): [cd]: B
Ernesto Cervini: Turboprop (2014 [2015], Anzic): [cd]: B+(**)
Dena DeRose: Travelin' Light: Live in Antwerp, Belgium (2010 [2012], MaxJazz): [r]: B+(*)
Laura Dickinson: One for My Baby: To Frank Sinatra With Love (2013 [2014], Blujazz): [cd]: B+(**)
Justin Townes Earle: Absent Fathers (2015, Vagrant): [r]: B+(*)
Silke Eberhard/Dave Burrell: Darlingtonia (2010 [2012], Jazzwerkstatt): [r]: B+(***)
Silke Eberhard/Ulrich Gumpert: Peanuts & Vanities (2011 [2012], Jazzwerkstatt): [r]: B+(**)
Gramatik: The Age of Reason (2014, Lowtemp): [r]: B+(**)
Scott Hesse Trio: The Stillness of Motion (2014 [2015], Origin): [cd]: B+(*)
The Ted Howe Jazz Orchestra: Pinnacle (2013 [2015], Hot Stove): [cd]: B
Ibeyi: Ibeyi (2015, XL): [r]: B
Kitten: Kitten (2014, Elektra): [r]: B+(**)
Ladysmith Black Mambazo: Always With Us (2010-12 [2014], self-released): [r]: A-
Nilson Matta: East Side Rio Drive (2014 [2015], World Blue): [cd]: B+(*)
Chris McNulty: Eternal (2013 [2015], Palmetto): [cd]: B+(*)
John O'Gallagher Trio: The Honeycomb (2014 [2015], Fresh Sound New Talent): [cdr]: A-
Ahmet Özhan: Gülmira (2014, Esen Musik): [r]: B+(***)
Lisa Parrott: Round Tripper (2014 [2015], Serious Niceness): [cd]: B+(**)
Renaud Penant Trio: Want to Be Happy (2014 [2015], ITI Music): [cd]: B+(**)
John Petrucelli Quintet: The Way (2014 [2015], self-released, 2CD): [cd]: B+(*)
Lucas Pino: No Net Nonet (2013 [2015], Origin): [cd]: B+(**)
Potsa Lotsa Plus: Plays Love Suite by Eric Dolphy (2014 [2015], Jazzwerkstatt): [r]: B+(**)
John Stowell/Michael Zilber Quartet: Live Beauty (2012 [2015], Origin): [cd]: B+(***)
Gebhard Ullmann/Johannes Fink/Jan Leipnitz/Gebhard Gschlößl: Gulf of Berlin (2012 [2014], Jazzwerkstatt): [r]: B+(***)
Wormburner: Pleasant Living in Planned Communities (2014, Dive): [r]: A-

Old records rated this week:

Moppa Elliott: Moppa Elliott's Mostly Other People Do the Killing (2004 [2005], Hot Cup): [r]: B+(***)
Tangerine Dream: Phaedra (1974, Virgin): [r]: B+(**)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

Ab Baars Trio: Slate Blue (Wig)
Ab Baars Trio & NY Guests: Invisible Blow (Wig)
Lainie Cooke: The Music Is the Magic (Onyx Music): March 17
I Never Meta Guitar Three (Clean Feed)
The Susan Krebs Chamber Band: Simple Gifts (GreenGig Music): March 3
Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth: Epicenter (Clean Feed)
Open Field + Burton Greene: Flower Stalk (Cipsela)
Reggie Quinerly: Invictus (Redefinition Music): March 17
Carlos "Zingaro": Live at Mosteiro de Santa Clara a Velha (Cipsela)