Jazz Vibes Top Ten for 2011
1. Nat Birchall “Peace in Nineveh” (Sound Soul And Spirit)
2. Lina Nyberg Quintet “Invisible”(Prophone)
3. Gregory Porter “1960 what” /Black Nile (Motema)
4. Mattew Halsall "Music for a dancing mind" (Gondwana)
5. Maciej Fortuna Quartet “Lost Keys” (4Tuna)
6. Tomet Grochot feat: Eddie Henderson “Headprints” (Zaiks)
7. The Core - "Invitation" (Moserobie) .
8. Mel McGary “Black Narcissus Alttk (Meluke Music)
9. Simple Acustic Trio “Simple Jungle” (Not Two)
10. Our Park “Park” (HOOB)
Don Brown
The Jazz scene in Boston – A Look Back -The Jazz Workshop – Paul’s Mall
(The following is based on my personal knowledge and experiences)
Jazz is the art of expression set to music! Many say it is “the fundamental rhythms of human life and man’s contemporary reassessment of his traditional values”. Hundreds, if not thousands, of books and articles have been written on the origins of Jazz based on Black American life-styles. The early influences of tribal drums and the development of gospel, blues and “field hollers” seem to point out that Jazz has to do with human survival and the expression of life. Jazz soon came to describe a musical art form, whether under composition guidelines or improvisation, it reflected spontaneous melodic phrasing. Many who play/played have expressed the feeling that Jazz should remain undefined, and “should be felt”. When the great Louis Armstrong was asked about the definition of Jazz, he stated "If you gotta ask, you’ll never know" The standard history about Jazz is that it was started in New Orleans and moved up the Mississippi River to Memphis, St. Louis and finally Chicago. However, the influences of what led to those earlymNew Orleans sounds goes back to tribal African drum beats and European musical structures.
Boston native George Wein opened Storyville at the Hotel Buckminster in Kenmore Square in 1950, and a steady stream of Jazz greats performing in Boston increased further. Billie Holiday, Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus, Sarah Vaughan, Erroll Garner, etc. all set up there. The tradition of legendary venues continued in later years, with the Jazz Workshop, Paul's Mall, Lulu White's, Wally's, the Regattabar, and Scullers among the most noteable hosts of memorable jazz performances.
The Jazz Workshop, Boston, Massachusetts, was actually opened in the early 1950s. Charlie Mariano encouraged Varty Haroutunian (Hart), Herb Pomeroy, and Ray Santisi, a quartet of local jazz legends, to start a school, aworkshop, that offered classes and private lessons, and also hosted jam session. They created a place where students could play with professional musicians. They rented some space on Stuart Street near Copley Square, moved in a few pianos, and in 1953 the first Jazz Workshop opened.
Varty Harountunian at the Stable in 1959
The manager of a bar around the corner, the Stable, on Huntington Avenue, met with Haroutunian and Santisi with a proposal that they play gigs in his club. They started in early 1954, and that was the beginning of the jazz policy at the Stable. It began as a trio- Haroutunian - tenor sax, Santisi - piano,and Peter Littman - drums. After a while other musicians started coming around. The trio became a quartet when bassist John Neves joined and eventually Herb Pomeroy and joined the band. This was not the same as the Jazz Workshop itself, it was a separate entity, and teaching activity began to fade. But the musicians kept "Jazz Workshop" as the unofficial club name. The room soon became packed with enthusiastic listeners. Other Boston musicians were often regulars there, including Joe Gordon, Serge Chaloff, Lennie Johnson, Dave Chapman, and everybody wanted to sit in; and even singers like Barbra Streisand took a turn on the bandstand.
In 1962 the club (Stable) was torn down in order to build the Mass. Turnpike Extension. Harold Buchalter told the Stable crew that he planned to open another room on Boylston Street In 1963 that club, named the Jazz Workshop, opened. On opening night, Stan Getz was the headliner.
In 1965 Fred Taylor, Tony Mauriello, and Peter Lane assumed ownership of the club. Taylorand Mauriello were successful in building the Jazz Workshop and another club, Paul's Mall.
Both clubs played a major role on the Boston jazz scene for the next 15 years. I recall hearing about a Jazz performers in the 60’s and seeing some of the most prominent Jazz artists, around the early to middle 70’s, at the Jazz Workshop and Paul’s Mall. The atmosphere was “intimate and cool” and the energy was phenomenal. Artists such as Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones, Charles Mingus, Sun Ra, etc. played theses venues.
(Left ) John Clotrain with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones - Jazz Workshop (1964)
(Right) Duke Ellington & his Orchestra Paul's Mall (1970)
(Left) Charles Mingus - Jazz Workshop 1974 (Middle) Charles Mingus and George Adams
(Right) Sun Ra and his Arkestra, Jazz Workshop, Boston, 1975
Right) Marshall Allen and June Tyson
(Left) Ronnie Boykins, John Gilmore, Marshall Allen
P: 077 7565 5573 E: kerstan@riotsquadpublicity.com
MATTHEW HALSALL BAND
Matthew Halsall – Trumpet, Nat Birchall - Soprano & Tenor Sax, Taz Modi - Piano
Rachael Gladwin – Harp, Gavin Barras - Double Bass and Gaz Hughes – Drums
Matthew Halsall – Trumpet, Jason Singh – Beatbox, Kristian Gjerstad - Turntables
Clive Hunte – Bass and Baba Israel - MC
Matthew Halsall - Trumpet & Percussion, Nat Birchall - Soprano & Tenor Sax, Lisa Mallett – Flutes, Rachael Gladwin - Kora & Harp, Holly Simpson – Violin, Adrianne Wininsky – Cello,
Gavin Barras - Double Bass, Chris Davies – Percussion - Plus strings TBA
Guiding Spirit
Gondwana Records GONDCD 004
(distribution by Baked Goods)
Saxophonist Nat Birchall has always been something of an enigma, a sublimely soulful saxophonist hidden from view in the Northern hills. His debut album Sixth Sense (1998) first announced him to the jazz world as an urgent tenor saxophonist with a feel for pulsing modal hard-bop. But it was his cult hit and now highly sought after soulful slice of spiritual jazz Akhenaten (released on trumpeter Matthew Halsall’s label, Gondwana Records, in 2009) that suggested that the spirit of Coltrane was alive and well in Northern England. Acclaimed by the critics (MOJO for one hailing its ‘spacial sunship beauty’ and ‘lyrical heat haze hypnotism’) Akhenaten together with Halsall’s own releases ‘Sending My Love’ and ‘Colour Yes’ helped create the unique sound that the Independent On Sunday described as ‘rain soaked spiritual jazz from Manchester”.
Growing up in a Northern Village, Birchall was hardly exposed to jazz but through some friends fell in love with roots reggae and dub in the early ‘70s and it was the legendary Jamaican jazz-influenced saxophonists, Cedric Brooks, Tommy McCook, that inspired him take up the saxophone and through them that he discovered the music of John Coltrane. Lessons with an enigmatic local player, Harold Salisbury, followed as well as playing with various bands including Akay Temiz’s Zaman. Birchall led a hip-hop influenced jazz band Corner Crew in the early ‘90s and started to make a name for himself on the local scene but felt unsatisfied with the music and despite some encouragement from the legendary record producer Tony Hall (Dizzy Reece, Tubby Hayes etc) Birchall resisted the call of the London scene and continued to search for the music he felt inside. Meeting trumpeter Matthew Halsall and a group of like minded players (including pianist Adam Fairhall, bassist Gavin Barras and drummer Gaz Hughes) gathered around Matt & Phreds in Manchester proved an inspiration ‘Suddenly I felt something special in the music. My music is very simple, harmonically and melodically, so you have to play with as much conviction and soul as possible because there's nothing to hide behind, just the truth of how you feel the music.” And it is this soulful elegance that illuminates both Akhenaten and Birchall’s more expansive follow-up Guiding Spirit.
Guiding Spirit opens with Open Up The Gates invoking the idea of huge ancient gates being opened to allow the procession through but with a subtext of acceptance and recognition. Keep the Light Shining is a sunny tune, infused with the optimism of a new day, while Higher Regions has something of a McCoy Tyner vibe and features harpist Rachel Gladwin on kora. Going To The Mountain is inspired by a simple phrase that Birchall heard Pharoah Sanders play and has an eastern feel “I've always been in awe of how some musicians can play the simplest things yet invest them with so much meaning, I try to achieve the same quality when I play, and in working with this phrase I ended up with this melody”. The uptempo Becoming is named for something Duke Ellington once said, that he liked to have his music always “in a state of becoming” (which Birchall feels as something like a flower opening as you look at it rather than just seeing the flower already opened) and is enhanced by Fairhall’s luminous solo. Finally the rubato Guiding Spirit hints at the hidden forces or unconscious decisions (those gut feelings) that for Birchall drive both life and his own deeply felt music.
Further info from Kerstan : kerstan@riotsquadpublicity.com : 077 7565 5573
PRAISE FOR NAT BIRCHALL’S AKHENATEN
"An album so exceptional it fell down the cracks of the Mojo filter... spatial sunship beauty...expansive and dreamy...lyrical heat haze hypnotism...this is the record you should be expanding the collective consciousness of the neighbours with. Truly transcendental.”
MOJO
“Outstanding and most enthralling...Birchall is a wonderful player who wears his heart on his sleeve and plays with much warmth and sincerity.”
Jazzwise
“Strikingly impressive...Birchall sounds amazingly soulful, each solo gathering intensity as it progresses. There’s an endearing lack of tricksiness, with everything serving the spacey aesthetic of the overall project.”
The Independent On Sunday
“ A quite remarkable album, Birchall captures the hypnotic flow of John Coltrane wonderfully on four extended hymn-like explorations. Think of Coltrane’s stark masterpiece ”Alabama” or parts of “A Love Supreme”.
Jazz UK
“Nat’s rich tones echo throughout this effortless sounding recording from a man on a cosmic musical vision with top quality musicians backing him all the way. The album is a treat from start to finish and Birchall is helping to keep the spiritual jazz flame alight, just when we need it the most.”
