Reasons to recommend Eric Dolphy with Booker Little "At the Five Spot Vol. 1" (1961)

1. The serious listener can dip his / her toes into "free jazz" without getting soaked. New ideas abound on this recording, but overall the music is friendly and its tensions are balanced by an irrepressible exuberance. Even as it steps outside, one foot is always standing on traditions.
2. Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone and bass clarinet) and Booker Little (trumpet) are a great lead combination. Their unison lines have interesting shadings and usually push toward the possibility of Little's favored dissonance. The solos do not clash; both players weave together, tangling and untangling ideas.
3. The rhythm section is outstanding. Mal Waldron (piano), Richard Davis (bass) and Ed Blackwell (drums) are fine players, and they were secure in their musical concepts. Waldron complements the front line perfectly, and his solos are a lot of fun.
4. Pathos. This is a live recording, and the club's piano is out of tune. But it's hard to imagine this performance being better had the piano been a better instrument. The trumpeter died three months later, only 23 years old. The leader lasted another three years, dying tragically at age 36. The club, a historic site for many new things in jazz, closed not long after these performances were recorded.

This post is dedicated to my friends and mentors, Gary Faleide and Leo Maiberger.

A tonic for winter

There aren't snowbound days in L.A., and who can be sure what the ultra hip Donald Fagen has in mind when writing lyrics, but "Snowbound" from Kamakiriad is good tonic on days of subzero wind chills. I also recommend "Tomorrow's Girls" from the same CD to the listener putting together a beat-winter playlist.
Kamakiriad (1993) does not disappoint the fan of Fagen and Steely Dan. At time of its release it was nominated for Album of the Year and holds up just fine over time. I frequently spot it in cut-out and used bins.

NRBQ alive and well

I had the good fortune on Wednesday October 22 to see the Q live at Shank Hall (Milwaukee), thanks to a heads-up from my Louisville connection. Of course, I have seen them many times over the years, and the good news is that Wednesday's experience ranks near the top, honestly. The venue was good (great mix in the sound), the place was full of loyal fans, the band's energy and synergy was high level, and the single, long set was a lot of fun—favorites old and new, a Monk tune, and plenty of silliness.

My opinion, shared by many, is that this band is always experienced best live. There's no substitute for a show, and the live experience helps any listener better "understand" the recordings. A recent review of the Brass Tacks CD asserted that the band has become a brand, no matter its iteration or lineup. Longtime fans may not agree with this claim, but Wednesday's show proved that the essential aspects of the NRBQ sound survive nicely. I've seen the band a couple of times with guitarist and vocalist Scott Ligon. No one needs to apologize for his contributions—he brings it just fine.

Suzanne Vega

When younger music listeners ask me about my preferences, I usually list Suzanne Vega among my favorites because I hold hope that her music can reach across generations. These are the things I like most about Vega's art: well-crafted pop songs, intelligent writing, interesting production values and a distant, almost-spoken vocal styling.
I own five of her CDs and all of them are unified works. A listener can select / download individual cuts to playlists, but the pleasure of experiencing the entire album is special to Vega's music.
For example, from 1990's Days of Open Hand, I recommend "Book of Dreams" and "Fifty-Fifty Chance." Yet the whole album delivers on repeated listens.