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The Nightcrawlers Do You Know A Good Thing? (Cellar Live 2021)

- Francois Leave a comment

BEST OF B3 2021! #3 – THE NIGHTCRAWLERS

Oldies but goldies from Canada’s finest soul jazz outfit.

The Nightcrawlers - Do You Know A Good Thing?

 

 

Personnel

Cory Weeds (tenor saxophone), Dave Sikula (guitar), Chris Gestrin (organ), Jessie Cahill (drums), Jack Duncan (congas)

Recorded

on November 8, 2020 at The Armoury Studios, Vancouver, BC

Released

as Cellar Live in 2021

Track listing

1974 Blues
Do You Know A Good Thing When You See One
Devilette
These Foolish Things
Soulful Kiddy
Movin’ Out
New Crawl
Greasy Spoon


If there’s one group and album that fuels the desire to get back into little packed clubs and together with friends and lovers or future lovers enjoy good-time organ combo music, it’s The Nightcrawlers and their latest outing Do You Know A Good Thing?. The quintet of drummer Jesse Cahill, who started this thing with tenor saxophonist and label owner of Cellar Live, Cory Weeds, masters the art of soul jazz exceptionally well. They nail that great warm and resonant sound and style of the classic organ groups of John Patton, Brother Jack McDuff and Lou Donaldson down to the last detail.

Also, the repertoire looks smart at the (prayer) meeting. Its diversity should delight both laymen and soul jazz freaks. The Nightcrawlers get a good groove going with Eddie Harris’s 1974 Blues, make the most of Ben Tucker’s Latin-ish Devilette and swing Donald Byrd’s catchy melody Soulful Kiddy to the ground. Weeds, who has a lovely ‘lazy’ tone (the shuffle groove of the title track would literally have sufficed as bonus track on Harold Vick’s 1963 Blue Note album Steppin’ Out), is especially hot during Don Wilkerson’s catchy Movin’ Out. Not only hip contemporary soul jazz stuff, but also valid as a reminder of the soulfulness of unsung heroes like Don Wilkerson. A lot of that classic stuff featured pioneering soul jazz drummer Ben Dixon, who must’ve been a great influence on Cahill. Guitarist David Sikula’s fuzzy sound meshes well with the group and Sikula’s playing is spicy and balanced throughout.

While New Crawl features drum and conga intermezzos that stoke up the fire on the corner somewhere in the bowels of Spanish Harlem, Hank Marr’s Greasy Spoon, a classic blues line and minor hit in the chitlin’ circuit of black clubs in the 1960’s, features organist Chriss Gestrin, whose punchy and crunchy patterns and sultry sound combine with Cahill’s bossy and nifty playing to make this record such a pleasurable affair. Greasy Spoon is taken at an extra-leisurely tempo, which adds to the enormous groove and grease that The Nightcrawlers cook up. Indeed, it will be very likely to hear someone say to his pal over the music at the end of the bar: “Man, these cats really cook.”

The Nightcrawlers

Find Do You Know A Good Thing? here.

Greg Burrows Tell Your Story (GreBu 2018)

- Francois Leave a comment

NEW RELEASE – GREG BURROWS

Greg Burrows tells a subtly swinging traditional story.

 

Greg Burrows - Tell Your Story

 

 

Personnel

Dave Childs (piano), Bob DeVos (guitar), Jamie Finegan (trumpet, flügelhorn), John Fumasoli (trombone), Harvie S (bass), Greg Burrows (drums)

Recorded

in 2018 at Trading 8s Studio in Paramus, New Jersey

Released

as GBR 1001 in 2018

Track listing

Waltzing Westward
Everything I Love
Falling
Sixth Sense
Sometime Ago
Blue Print
Hackensack


Picking interesting tunes is a talent that is not to be neglected. There are so many great ones out there besides Body And Soul and Love For Sale. The debut album of drummer Greg Burrows, Tell Your Story, includes a couple of good ones. It stems from 2018 but the 58-year old drummer recharges the battery of promotion while the jazz life picks up full of peaks and throughs.

Burrows, based in the Bronx in New York City and collaborator of pianists Bill Charlap and Kevin Hays, is assisted by fellow NYC cats with reputable pedigrees. Pianist Dave Childs worked with Jimmy Heath, James Moody and Bill Watrous, among others. Veteran bassist Harvie S was an ECM fixture in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Bob DeVos played guitar with many straightforward artists including Fathead Newman, Stanley Turrentine, Greg Osby, Ron McClure and is an organ combo specialist that worked with Charles Earland, Gene Ludwig, Trudy Pitts, Jimmy McGriff, Joey DeFrancesco and Akiko Tsuruga.

These guys don’t engage in exercises on Muscle Beach. Their drive is laid-back, their format unpretentious and they get the maximum result. Take for instance the seldom-played Sometime Ago by Argentinian pianist Sergio Mihanovich, performed many moons ago by Bill Evans, which holds attention by the subtle rhythmic tension between Burrows and Harvey S. and, to boot, is embellished with the tart, lyrical flügelhorn of Jamie Finegan and buttery trombone of John Fumasoli. Then there’s their lovely, lithely swinging rendition on the late great Harold Mabern’s beautiful melody Waltzing Westward. Cole Porter’s Everything I Love is marked by light-footed but earthy and pleasantly quirky piano playing by Childs, who reminds a little, amen to that, of unsung giant Jimmy Rowles.

As covers go, the band takes on the well-known Thelonious Monk composition Hackensack, a feature for Harvie S, who impressively lets off steam. Significantly, Tell Your Story is recorded in close proximity of the legendary Rudy van Gelder studios in Hackensack and Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Burrows throws some good punches in DeVos’s Latin-tinged Sixth Sense, guising as a Carribean percussionist on his alternatively tuned snare and succinctly stimulating soloists. The catchy blues line Blue Print features composer Bob DeVos, who is tasteful throughout on this session and here, full of crystal clear ideas, cool blues phrasing and with a punchy and crystalline tone, outshines himself. Imagine yourself in a little dimly-lit, packed club, relaxing in your seat and enjoying straightforward jazz sounds like those on Tell Your Story, glowing, inviting and meaningful. Very enjoyable night on the town.

Greg Burrows

Find Tell Your Story here.

Check the website of Greg Burrows here.

Boost! Boost! (ZenneZ 2021)

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NEW RELEASE – BOOST!

No holds barred on debut album by heavy Hammond and guitar rockers Boost!.

Boost! - Boost!

Personnel

Rob Mostert (organ, keyboards), Jerôme Hol (guitar), Erik Kooger (drums)

Recorded

in 2021

Released

as ZenneZ 2101006in 2021

Track listing

Very Almost Commercial
Lucky Like Lola Leavin’
The Godmother
Maggie’s Theme
Outlaw
One Moment In Time
Own It!
Presence Of Absence


Rob Mostert has been a Hammond organ staple on the (Dutch) scene for years and his 2010 recording at Rudy van Gelder’s studio featuring Houston Person gives you an idea about his straight-ahead style. He was seen on national tv recently, battling with fellow organists on prime time and throwing a bit of Green Onions at them. He’s stepping out of his comfort zone and hooked up with Jerôme Hol, ace guitarist that played with Billy Cobham and Lonnie Smith among others. Their drummer of choice is Erik Kooger, Hol’s colleague from the band of famed Dutch tenor saxophonist Hans Dulfer.

They are Boost! and energetic like three rugby players that hurl themselves into the scrimmage. Lurid riffs mingle with twisted and booming Hammond sounds on funk rock songs like Own It! and Lucky Like Lola Leavin’ and ballads as Presence Of Absence. Psychedelica enters the equation with The Godmother, which features typically virtuosic hard rock skills from Jerôme Hol, talented heir to Adje van den Berg en Eddie van Halen. Impressive, though personally I like him better when he’s playing fewer notes and in a more bluesy vein as in Maggie’s Theme, which also features excellent jazz-tinged statements by Mostert.

Boost!’s themes may not excel in the originality department but no doubt please crowds. Having said that, Outlaw is something else, starting out as a synth-y mood piece that would suffice as the soundtrack to a suspenseful John Carpenter movie scene and developing into booming prog rock. Mostert’s variation of sound is very attractive.

The irony of Very Almost Commercial isn’t lost upon us, as Boost!’s simpatico release aims at FM frequencies but not without healthy doses of top-notch musicianship. Almost whimsy but not quite and there still is some stretch in the band’s recipe.

Boost!

Find CD and vinyl copies of Boost! on ZenneZ Records here.

Check their website here.

The White Blinds Shimmy Sham / Fire Eater (F-Spot 2021)

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NEW RELEASE – THE WHITE BLINDS

Last of The White Blinds’s “Homage” series climaxes with thunder and lightning.

The White Blinds - Shimmy Sham : Fire Eater

Personnel

Carey Frank (organ), Matt Hornbeck (guitar), Michael Duffy (drums)

Recorded

in 2021 at Rich Uncle Records, Los Angeles

Released

as FSPT 1022 in 2021

Track listing

Side A:
Shimmy Sham
Side B:
Fire Eater


The stamp of approval that was shown online last year by the recently deceased master of Hammond Dr. Lonnie Smith most likely gave The White Blinds a solid boost. Since 2016, organist Carey Frank, guitarist Matt Hornbeck and drummer Michael Duffy have demonstrated their monster groove on the West Coast and on their full-length album Get To Steppin’. They furthermore released their “Homage” series on F-Spot Records. Cool concept. Not only did The White Blinds solidly reconsider Sly Stone’s psych soul classic Sing A Simple Song, they also, significantly, dug up “obscure” gems like guitarist Ivan “Boogaloo” Joe Jones’s Brown Bag, that delight funk jazz freaks and should appeal to general fans of good-time funky and toe-tappin’ music.

Similarly, their final installment is evenly divided between original tune and cover version, the latter being tenor saxophonist Rusty Bryant’s Fire Eater. Fire Eater was recorded on Prestige in 1971 featuring, among others, the legendary New Orleans-born drummer Idris Muhammad. To all general fans of good-time funky and toe-tappin’ music: Muhammad, formerly Leo Morris, was thé king of jazz funk drumming.

Greasy and potent as Big Mama Thornton’s kidney stew, Michael Duffy’s style is inspired by Muhammad though equally influenced by that other legend of funky drumming, Bernard Purdie (also a Rusty Bryant alumnus by the way) with chunks of David Garibaldi and Clyde Stubblefield thrown in. Duffy’s beat is rock solid and his sound is booming. Perfect foil for Carey Frank, who prefers delicately structured solo’s that rarely stretch the one-minute mark and are marked by crunchy, serpentine lines and Matt Hornbeck, who approaches the melody line with angular jabs and hooks.

The White Blinds take their uptempo original Shimmy Sham, highlighted by an intense and in-your-face Frank solo, to the bridge like the JB’s on Wodka Red Bull. Makes two jukebox favorites for the price of one.

The White Blinds

Find Shimmy Sham / Fire Eater on F-Spot Records here.

Septet Frans Elsen Norway (NJA 2021)

- Francois Leave a comment

NEW RELEASE – SEPTET FRANS ELSEN

Dutch mainstreamers turned out to be top-notch fusion funkateers.

Septet Frans Elsen - Norway

Personnel

Frans Elsen (Fender Rhodes), Eddie Engels (trumpet), Piet Noordijk (alto saxophone), Ferdinand Povel (tenor saxophone, flute 5-10), Wim Overgaauw (guitar), Rob Langereis (bass), Victor Kaihatu (bass 5-12), Eric Ineke (drums), Wim van der Beek (percussion)

Recorded

in Hilversum, Loosdrecht and The Hague in 1972/73

Released

as NJA 2101 in 2021

Track listing

Ringebu
Harpefoss
Skåbu
Otta
Mordor
Whirligig
Ah-Mooh
Ringebu II
Ringebu I
Harpefoss
Skåbu (live)
Otta (live)


At one time during the course of Norway, a session by the Septet Frans Elsen that was retrieved from the vaults by the Dutch Jazz Archive, these Dutch mainstays seem to have found themselves in a zone. It’s during their live rendition of the glowing Skåbu that a dark, brooding intensity reaches boiling point, the moody figures of Fender Rhodes player Frans Elsen leading the way and soloists Piet Noordijk, Eddie Engels and Wim Overgaauw having their sparkling say. Noordijk incorporates his fiery and lean bop lines into the fusion package, Engels plays expressive space blues and Overgaauw finds the intriguing middle ground between Sonny Sharrock and Phil Upchurch. Boiling point is partly reached by drummer Eric Ineke’s progressively intense and accentuated groove.

Frans Elsen was on the scene since the mid-1950’s, a splendid and authoritative bebop pianist but under the radar internationally. Elsen, who had amazing knowledge of jazz piano history, was one of the founders of Dutch jazz education and, feared but loved and influential on next generations, taught at varying conservatories. In the early 1970’s, Elsen was inspired by the Mwandishi band of Herbie Hancock and purchased a Fender Rhodes keyboard. His jazz funk and fusion septet was in existence till the early 1980’s.

Elsen had traveled to Norway and inspired by the surroundings written tunes which titles signified little villages in the region. By no means fluffy or floaty, his conveyance of mysterious and bucolic landscapes is grounded in strong melodies and terse rhythms. The attention of grooves like Harpefoss, Skåbu and Ringebu is held by Noordijk, who is like a bear cat, leaping this and that way and emitting the occasional screech and roar and Engels, whose fluency between registers and fire in semi-modal-funk surroundings is remarkable. AH-Mooh is Latin Nordic jazz funk, a lively contradiction in terms that is resolved excellently by the flute work of Ferdinand Povel. Throughout, Elsen proves to be a balanced Fender Rhodes player, contributing supple lines, staccato figures and decorative chords. Quite surprising, although Noordijk and bassist Rob Langereis had been part of burgeoning improv maverick Misha Mengelberg’s group and young Ineke had experienced jazz rock surroundings, how these mainstream stalwarts adapt so effortlessly to contemporary surroundings.

As a rule, the typically studious Dutch Jazz Archive produced a classy package (including liner notes by Eric Ineke) and Norway sounds clear and fresh thus should attract contemporary audiences, not least with the live recordings that climax with Otta, an Ornette Coleman-ish romp that has all soloists having serious fun and Engels kick starting his solo with a braggadocious entrance. Later on in his career, when Elsen had intensified his return to bebop piano, he referred to Norway as a youthful indiscretion. Safely said, a solid fusion imprudence.

Find Norway on the website of Nederlands Jazz Archief here.

Check out this performance at Loosdrecht in 1972 on YouTube here.

Double Dutch Delight

- Francois Leave a comment

BEN VAN DEN DUNGEN & JARMO HOOGENDIJK QUINTET –

Jarmo Hoogendijk & Ben van den Dungen

You get these bands from the past, when one mentions them to the other, the eyes of both jazz fans start to glow like coals on the barbecue. The Ben van de Dungen/Jarmo Hoogendijk Quintet was that kind of band. In the mid-1980’s, jazz could use a bit of spice and tenor saxophonist Ben van den Dungen and trumpeter Jarmo Hoogendijk had the right ingredients. The quintet further featured pianist Rob van Bavel. Initial bassist Anton Drukker and drummer Dré Pallemaerts were followed-up by Harry Emmery and Eric Ineke, who were there until the end in 2004.

This band was belching up vitamins. While contemporaries The Houdini’s (also a kind of ‘glow eye’ band) focused on no-nonsense hard bop, the Ben van den Dungen/Jarmo Hoogendijk Quintet veered towards progressive post-bop, the kind that was kick started by John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner and further developed by Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Clifford Jordan, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton etc. The contrast between the buoyant Hoogendijk and driving but more introspective Van den Dungen was one of the band’s main assets. Another asset was the fact that all members were strong personalities. The young Rob van Bavel, nowadays one of the great European pianists, was a very dynamic player. Drummer Eric Ineke was a middle-aged veteran who had played with a who’s who of classic jazz including Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon and Johnny Griffin and had a distinct, explosive and subtle style that incorporated Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Billy Higgins, Louis Hayes etc.

Not only did the quintet duly revive the scene and influence the next generation, it also left its mark as a superb booking machine. Van den Dungen and Hoogendijk managed themselves and hung on the phone longer than the average call center employee from Booking.com. Their energetic DIY spirit resulted in a busy schedule in the region and internationally, climaxing with successful tours with Cindy Blackman and in Canada.

Ben van den Dungen & Jarmo Hoogendijk Quintet - Double Dutch
Ben van den Dungen & Jarmo Hoogendijk Quintet - Speak Up
Ben van den Dungen & Jarmo Hoogendijk Quintet - Run For Your Wife

Eventually, Hoogendijk, also known for cooperations with Rein de Graaff, Charles McPherson, J.J. Johnson, Teddy Edwards, Afro-Cuban band Nueva Manteca and many others, unfortunately had to give up playing because of embouchure problems in 2004, a real loss for jazz. Since, Hoogendijk has been an influential teacher at the conservatory of Rotterdam. Van den Dungen has always been very active, both in small hard bop ensembles and world music-oriented big bands as Nueva Manteca and Tango Extremo. He recently released Live At Lux & Tivoli, a Coltrane tribute that features old pal Eric Ineke.

Last week Ben van den Dungen posted a YouTube link on Facebook from his late quintet, footage from the North Sea Jazz Festival in 1996, see here. It’s a great example of the quintet’s flair, virtuosity and contagious energy. It complements older footage from the same date, see here.

The Ben van den Dungen & Jarmo Hoogendijk Quintet was the cream of the crop and these guys were on par with the so-called new heroes of Neo-Bop from the USA like Terence Blanchard, Roy Hargrove, Branford Marsalis, James Carter, Wallace Roney et al. During their existence, the Ben van den Dungen & Jarmo Hoogendijk Quintet released four records, starting with 1987’s Heart Of The Matter and ending with 1995’s Double Dutch.

Dewa Budjana Naurora (MoonJune 2021)

- Francois Leave a comment

OUT THERE – DEWA BUDJANA

Indonesian powerhouse guitarist cuts a crafty and eloquent fusion date.

Dewa Budjana - Naurora

Personnel

Dewa Budjana (guitar, soundscapes), Paul McCandless (soprano saxophone), Joey Alexander (piano), Gary Husband (piano, synth), Carlitos del Puerto (bass), Ben Williams (bass), Jimmy Johnson (bass), Mateus Asato (guitar), Imee Ooi (vocals)Simon Phillips (drums), Dave Weckl (drums)

Recorded

in 2020 & 2021 in the USA and Jakarta, Indonesia

Released

as MJR-115 in 2021

Track listing

Naurora
Swarna Jingga
Kmalasana
Sabana Shanti
Blue Mansion


Nothing like being surprised by quirky pieces of challenging music, in this case Naurora by guitarist Dewa Budjana. Budjana has been a star performer in his home country of Indonesia with his rock band GIGI for twenty-five years. Naurora partly draws on rock, musically but also visually. The cover pictures a decidedly flower power-ish protagonist, even with a tinge of Jimi Hendrix.

Budjana is approximately twice the age that Hendrix was in his year of passing and an accomplished player. Sweeping melodies are hit with all the verve of a leaping gazelle. Budjana niftly develops the architecture of his songs, veering from melodies, secondary motives and bass intermezzos to shifts of rhythm and urgent and intelligent solos by Budjana and pianists Joey Alexander and Gary Husband and soprano saxophonist Paul McCandless. The West of Zappa’s Hot Rats, Gong, Jaco Pastorius and Billy Cobham meets the folkish East of Bali. Regardless of references, Budjana’s fusion is wholly original. Recorded remotely in the USA and Jakarta, Naurora draws on the expertise of top-notch players like heavyweight drummers Simon Phillips and Dave Weckl and bassist Carlitos del Puerto and comes off as interactive as a real time studio date.

Personally, I feel that the first part of the record is the most convincing. Naurora has all the power of classic prog and swagger of symphonic rock. Swarna Jigga features a truly masterful guitar story. Budjana alternates between two solos by overdubbing, engaging in conversation with himself. He’s fiery but balanced. Budjana’s beautifully sustained, ringing tone is like the pleading voice of a lady in waiting. Waiting to put this particular piece of Naurora on repeat time and again is out of the question. Here it goes again.

Find Naurora on Moonjune here.