Theo Jorgensmann, the German free jazz clarinet maestro likes to quote the Austrian cultural historian, Egon Fridell: "pure originality has no great value--it is like a sheep with two heads." Fridell, who committed suicide in 1938 as the SA arrived at his door, was fond of illustrating his thinking with vivid and elliptical images of this type. It is a characteristic that Jorgensmann seems to share, as I discovered during a series of email exchanges that we conducted earlier this year...

Led Bib Norwich Arts Centre Norwich, England June 5, 2009 Led Bib's five band members ambled on to the stage of the Arts Centre and looked friendly enough. They began playing "Yes, Again," and the delicate opening bars from Toby McLaren's keyboard drifted gently across the auditorium. But barely a minute later, as the alto saxes of Chris Williams and Pete Grogan kicked in and the rhythm section of Mark Holub on drums and Liran Donin on bass guitar drove the tempo upwards, the audience were suddenly reminded of why this exciting and original group have been labelled "punk jazz." Over the rest of their two sets Led Bib also made it clear that this label is far too conservative and restricting to come close to describing their sound...

Emil Viklicky Emil Viklicky 60 Multisonic 2009 Imagine Barack Obama introducing, say, keyboard player {{Herbie Hancock = 7381}} for a live concert at the White House on the occasion of Hancock's 60th birthday (a milestone, incidentally, that Hancock will reach on April 12, 2010). Pianist Emil Viklicky's latest CD was created under somewhat analogous circumstances. The analogy is admittedly a bit strained, and not just because Czech president Vaclav Klaus doesn't wield the sheer power or claim the international prestige of President Obama. To strengthen the comparison, Obama would need to have been in office for six years, since 2003, and in that time sponsored more than 50 jazz concerts at the White House featuring luminaries like pianists {{Chick Corea = 5920}}, {{Dave Brubeck = 5391}} and {{Keith Jarrett = 7984}}, saxophonist {{Branford Marsalis = 9095}}, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, vibraphonist {{Gary Burton = 5485}}, and the late pianist {{Oscar Peterson = 10250...

Nathan Davis The Best of Nathan Davis '65-'76 Jazzman 2009 The concept of a "Best Of" album seems like it should be set aside for those musicians who have entered the popular consciousness to the degree that a sampler disc would be an easy sell. In jazz, canonical artists like trumpeter {{Miles Davis = 6144}}, saxophonist {{John Coltrane = 5851}}, bandleader {{Duke Ellington = 6521}} and pianist {{Thelonious Monk = 9507}} have seen the "Best Of" and "Greatest Hits" treatment several times over. Of course, such a sampling of their oeuvre is necessarily barely a scratch on the sheen of each artist's career...

Leonardo E. M. Cioglia Contos Quizamba Music 2008 The following words probably do Brazilian bassist, composer and bandleader Leonardo E. M. Cioglia no favors, because it lays the weighty burden of expectation upon him and his group of young musicians. But no other words say precisely this: Contos showcases an acoustic jazz ensemble that so deftly features each individual voice, while naturally integrating each voice into an organic ensemble sound, that Contos continually evokes the legendary {{Gary Burton = 5485}}-{{Chick Corea = 5920}}-{{Pat Metheny = 9350}} meeting of the acoustic Like Minds (Concord, 1998)...

All About Jazz is celebrating Pete Christlieb's birthday today! JAZZ MUSICIAN OF THE DAY Pete ChristliebFrom the 1970s through the 1990s, the sound of Petea€(TM)s tenor could be heard on television and motion picture sound tracks and recordings. The son of a famous bassoon player, Don Christlieb... more...

It's a happy state of affairs when a new band gels and the chemistry realizes, as far as is possible, the ambitions and intentions of the leader. {{Gary Husband = 11856}} must be reasonably delighted with the vibrant horn pairing of experienced saxophonist {{Julian Siegel = 11728}} and newcomer trumpeter Richard Turner, which brings such thrust and zest to Hotwired. He must be similarly thrilled with the empathetic partnership he has struck up with bassist Michael Janisch, which swings the session mightily...

British reed player Courtney Pine began his professional life in reggae bands, and reggae's "conscious" music tradition has since been a defining feature of his work. Pine plays conscious jazz, in that many of his compositions and recording projects have held a focus on social rights and justice as seen through the prism of the black experience. Sometimes the story has been told with the aid of vocalists; sometimes, as on the exuberant Transition In Tradition, instrumentally--through track titles, liner notes, sleeve art, and a general referencing of black history...

Had this CD been received in 2008, it would surely have made my personal top-ten list. Canadian reed man Quinsin Nachoff aligns with French modern jazz artists, including the co-leader and drummer Bruno Tocanne. Sans a bassist, the four-man horns section generates an excitable string of musical notions, sparked with adventurous shifts in strategy. As Tocanne's resonating drum parts generate a heavy and vibrant bottom end...

While Farmers By Nature is the debut of the year-old trio featuring Detroit-born drummer Gerald Cleaver, New York City bassist extraordinaire William Parker, and in-demand keyboardist Craig Taborn, it is by no means its first performance as a unit. Together the trio has fuelled the flights of saxophonists Rob Brown on his acclaimed Crown Trunk Root Funk (Aum Fidelity, 2008), and Roscoe Mitchell as part of his Note Factory ensemble as well as violist Mat Maneri's small group on Sustain (Thirsty Ear, 2002), among many others...

In connecting composition with improvisation, players inherently manifest their awareness on levels from the technical to the spiritual. If no investment goes into the development of this consciousness, the spark and sense of direction within the music are left behind. Nowhere are these elements more evident than in Shakti, saxophonist David Spencer Ware's studio recording, long-awaited since the dissolution of his well-known quartet...

Multi-instrumentalist Sam Sadigursky has released the second of his Words Projects, wherein musicians and like-minded vocalists present poetry in a beat-cum-back to the future manner. This is not your grandfather's poems read over a bongo but is creative integration of vocals into an instrumental fabric...

Addressing the output of classical composers seems eventually to have become the dominant thrust of keyboardist Uri Caine's work. Schumann, Wagner, Bach, Beethoven and Mahler have fallen to sometimes radical re-posturing of their grand scores. Caine messes with the old assumed interpretations, deliberately distorting the usual expectations of performance by inserting elements of jazz, rock, funk, soul, blues, hip hop and electronica, always utilizing a cast of players from a broad range of backgrounds...

Jack Walrath not only displays tremendous trumpet playing, a rich and varied approach to composition and wonderful band, he also puts something into this fantastic CD that's missing from too much new jazz: a sense of fun and humor. That's not to say that it isn't sensitive and touching at times--"An Hour Blessed" is arguably as gorgeous as anything ever recorded...

THE KING CLOSES OUT VALENTINE'S WEEKEND There's the mistaken general impression that by the late '60s Elvis Presley was creatively tapped. Out of touch with both the emerging Flower Power scene and the last, clinging vestiges of '50s cocktail culture, Presley wandered far and wide before finding truly firm footing again in the early '70s. But, in his meandering he exhibited a wild sort of diversity. While a touch scattershot, there's a great many satisfying gems during this somewhat neglected stretch. Almost In Love, originally released in 1970, gathers ten singles, many of them from his films, and offers a strong cross-section of his many changing moods...

Phil Lesh by Robert Chapman For the five people who haven't already heard the news through the Grateful Dead's instantaneous grapevine, The Dead have confirmed the addition of three dates to their 2009 tour, which kicks off April 12 in Greensboro, NC. Newly added shows include second nights in Chicago (May 4) and Mountain View, CA (May 14) - on sale February 20 and 22, respectively - plus a show in George, WA at The Gorge May 16, on sale February 20...

It's time for this week's compilation of news and links related to jazz in St. Louis, including musicians from the Gateway City, recent visitors and coming attractions - plus assorted other items of interest:* Here's another review of the deluxe 50th Anniversary edition of Miles Davis' landmark albu...