{"id":4320,"date":"2021-02-18T08:16:19","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T08:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=4320"},"modified":"2021-02-18T08:20:35","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T08:20:35","slug":"four-times-more-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2021\/02\/18\/four-times-more-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"FOUR TIMES MORE FUN"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

FOUR TIMES MORE FUN<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

from joined up jazz journalists<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

with Norman Warwick<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I and Steve Bewick and Gary Heywood-Everett a few weeks ago dubbed ourselves as three \u00b4joined up journalists of jazz\u00b4 for our  inaugural Annual Sidetracks & Detours Joined Up Jazz Festival which will ruin for two consecutive weeks from 1st<\/sup> March to 5th<\/sup> March and then from 8th March to Friday 12th<\/sup> March. We have now been joined by my colleague Susana Forden from Lanzarote Information who will be writing about the jazz scene on Lanzarote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before all that, however, we recently learned from Jazz In Europe magazine that a new label, Le Coq has been formed to enable new combinations of established artists to play together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With live performances available \u00b4in camera\u00b4 as it were, and more and more musicians finding time on their hands, it is great to welcome a new jazz label to the scene, that seems determined to bring the genre\u00b4s musicians together in new and exciting combinations. Le Coq Records is a new label founded by Piero Pata, who has kicked off the company\u2019s releases with a band. The first title is Le Coq Records Presents The Jazz All Stars, Vol. 1 and features a who\u2019s who of modern jazz performers delivering original tunes as well as classic standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The roster already includes keyboardists Bill Cunliffe and John Beasley; drummers Vinnie Colaiuta, Marvin \u201cSmitty\u201d Smith and Joe LaBarbera; percussionist Alex Acu\u00f1a; trumpeters Terell Stafford and Wayne Bergeron; saxophonists Rick Margitza and Ralph Moore; guitarist Jake Langley and vocalist Andy James, among others. Bassists John Patitucci and Chris Colangelo hold down the groove and take some killer solos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can hear Patitucci, Acu\u00f1a, and drummer Marvin \u201cSmitty\u201d Smith recreate the Mongo Santamaria tune Afro Blue. The bassist employs an upright for the melody and groove while soloing and comping with an electric bass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another notable bass moment is on Rockin And Rhythm, which begins as a full big band arrangement before breaking down at the 2:30 mark to all Patitucci and Colangelo to go funky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now Jazz In Europe magazine tells us, too, that three players well known on the jazz scene have also decided that joined up jazz can be fun and so have been recording together for Le Coq as a trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These veteran jazz virtuosos, joining forces for the first time, are pianist Bill Cunliffe, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta. They have recorded a \u00b4high-spirited, vigorously swinging standards session\u00b4 titled, simply, Trio. Jazz In Europe rightly point out that, after all, with three names like those on an album cover, no further embellishment is needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That the Trio album, due out February 19, 2021 via Le Coq Records, came together so spontaneously, makes the exhilarating chemistry and dynamic interplay all the more remarkable. Cunliffe has become something of a house arranger and musical director for many of the newly-launched imprint\u2019s projects, and Patitucci and Colaiuta have quickly become part of the Le Coq family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was at label founder\/producer Piero Pata\u2019s urging that the three players were let loose in Hollywood\u2019s storied Capitol Studios without a script.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4Piero surprised us as we were working on some other projects with him,\u00b4 Patitucci recalled for Jazz In Europe. \u00b4He had the idea for us to do this trio record. It was very impromptu, like in the Blue Note record era, where you basically do a record in a day. We had a lot of fun and it was really relaxed.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bill Cunliffe<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cunliffe remembered that he felt \u201clike a kid in a candy store,\u00b4 during the sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work was pretty challenging because it just three guys in a room. However, what made it a lot of fun, he reckoned, was that his colleagues were two master musicians whose work he had loved for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A GRAMMY\u00ae Award-winning arranger, Cunliffe would, typically, have embarked on a project with far more preparation. Since beginning his career as pianist and arranger with the Buddy Rich Big Band, Cunliffe has worked with such luminaries as Frank Sinatra, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Benny Golson and James Moody. In parallel with that he also established himself as a renowned solo artist and bandleader with more than a dozen albums under his name. Daunting though this recording was he thoroughly enjoyed it as an ultimately thrilling experience, and is confident will it just as thrilling to listen to the album as the artist were to play it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cunliffe (seen left at the piano)<\/em><\/strong> told Jazz In Europe that he likes jazz music that has shape, in that it has a beginning, middle and end, and drama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a8Usually I craft those elements in my arrangements,\u00b4 he says, \u00b4but John and Vinnie are able to create those qualities on the spot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Patitucci<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Patitucci may be best known for his long and meaningful associations with Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter, but he\u2019s worked with an A to Z of artists in and outside of jazz. With Corea he came to prominence as a member of the pianist\u2019s Akoustic and Elektric Bands; for the last two decades he\u2019s been a member of the Wayne Shorter Quartet alongside pianist Danilo P\u00e9rez and drummer Brian Blade, which Jazz In Europe suggest is \u00b4perhaps the most revered small band in jazz today\u00b4. But he\u2019s also played throughout the world with Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz, Pat Metheny, Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Michael Brecker, McCoy Tyner, Nancy Wilson, Sting, Aaron Neville, Natalie Cole, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Astrud and Joao Gilberto, to name but an orchestra of some of the world\u00b4s finest musicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Colaiuta<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Colaiuta has also bridged the worlds of jazz and pop throughout his career. He rose to fame playing with Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell and Sting, while touring with jazz greats from Herbie Hancock to Chick Corea. He\u2019s also a prolific first-call studio drummer whose work graces recordings by Leonard Cohen, Barbra Streisand, James Taylor, Billy Joel and countless others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The separate and combined skills and attitudes of this trio cross musical borders, swapping and sharing within all genres, walking through diverse cultures as it does so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patitucci and Colaiuta are no strangers to one another, of course. Colaiuta is one of three drummers on the bassist\u2019s self-titled debut album on GRP from 1987; they\u2019ve crossed sidetracks & detours scores of times over the intervening decades, including as a version of Chick Corea\u2019s Akoustic Band that recorded Live From The Blue Note Tokyo in 1996. Cunliffe has worked with both of them at various times as well, but Trio marks the first time they\u2019ve been able to interact as three musicians on the same recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although John and Vinnie have spent a lot of time in different aspects of the pop world, they both grew up in jazz as Cunliffe did<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4They\u2019re both stone cold jazz guys,\u00b4 he confirms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such compliments are returned, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4Working with Bill Cunliffe,\u00b4 Colaiuta says, \u00b4you can always expect \u2013 at the very least \u2013amazing skill and professionalism, some deep swinging, and a big bucket of fun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tone for the session is set with the trio\u2019s sprightly take on George Shearing\u2019s Conception. Introduced by a brisk solo shot by Colaiuta, the tune lights nimble, graceful solos from all three members, all clearly in upbeat spirits. It\u2019s followed by a swooning and more winsomely romantic interpretation than the noir-tinged usual version of David Raksin\u2019s classic theme from Laura,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They select from previous repertoires, of Patitucci\u2019s long-time bosses for a hard edged version of Wayne Shorter\u2019s Anna Maria and Chick Corea\u2019s The One Step, on which the bassist speaks with eloquent lyricism beneath the graceful rendition. Colaiuta\u2019s whip-crack rhythm sets the pace for a race through the Miles Davis favourite Seven Steps To Heaven, while the drummer\u2019s lush, whispering brushwork conjures a carpet of cloud for Cunliffe to ruminate nostalgically on the classic ballad Good Morning Heartache.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The camaraderie that the three locked into so quickly and (seemingly) easily is playfully evident on a loose, celebratory spin on the well-worn standard My Shining Hour, while their musical tightness braces a slyly grooving re-think of Thelonious Monk\u2019s We See. The album concludes on a wistful note, with a tender but lively Just In Time, one of my personal favourite songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cunliffe explains that the mix of standards and songs familiar to us was not only a practical consideration given the impromptu nature of the session, but was also key to capturing what jazz In Europe describe as \u00b4such brilliantly conversational playing.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u00b4Except for The One Step\u00b4, he recalled, \u00b4we did all of the tunes from memory, without using any music at all. That means we were able to look at each other, hear each other, challenge each other and react to each other in the moment. It felt very organic and was so much fun. Vinnie and John really lifted me and made me play better than I ever could.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jazz in Europe placed the following details at the foot of the article and once again feedpost had pointed us in the direction of an eloquent and elegant magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Release Date: 19 February 2021
Format: CD | Digital
Label: Le Coq Records<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Le Coq Records Presents The Jazz All Stars, Vol. 1 is available now via iTunes<\/strong><\/a> and Amazon MP3<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To hear more jazz from a broad church why not tune in to Hot Biscuits presented by Steve Bewick, at fc-radio-co.uk , one of our Sidetracks & Detours Joined Up Jazz Journalists<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ist annual Joined Up Jazz Festival
Sidetracks & Detours in association with Hot Biscuits
1st march to 12th March 2021<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Coming soon in March 2021 a World premier of Joined Up Jazz. A festival to celebrate jazz music and its musicians in joined up words and notes. Sidetracks & Detours blog editor, Norman Warwick, in association with Hot Biscuits jazz broadcasters Gary Heywood Everett and Steve Bewick and Lanzarote Information journalist Susana Forden will be presenting a two week festival of writing on jazz. A fresh posting will take place each day of the festival.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting Monday 1st<\/sup> \u2013 12th<\/sup> March 2021 we shall be posting to Normans website, <\/em>https:\/\/aata.dev\/<\/em><\/a>  articles on the jazz and blues pioneers Bessie Smith and Ella Fitzgerald, modern jazz men John Coltrane and the post-modernist Gill Evans. Features will also include a personal take on the Israeli jazz scene, the rise and influence of swing jazz across Europe and an eclectic journey down the side tracks and detours of jazz. Many of these pieces will carry links to music to inform, amuse and to bop to. All you have to do is journey on down to our festival site at <\/em>www.aata\/dev<\/em><\/a> no tickets required. This is a free festival to brighten up these Covid times. You can also tune in to fc-radio-co.uk to listen to Hot Biscuits<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

we recently learned from Jazz In Europe magazine that a new label, Le Coq has been formed to enable new combinations of established artists to play together. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aata"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4320"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4333,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4320\/revisions\/4333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}