Rearview Mirror (2):
Repaying Old Debts With Flowers
by Tom Hull
Anders Gahnold Trio
Flowers for Johnny
1983-85, Ayler
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Johnny Dyani played bass in pianist Chris McGregor's South African
jazz band, the Blue Notes. In 1964 the band played a jazz festival in
Europe, and never went back. Dyani played briefly with Steve Lacy, Don
Cherry, and David Murray, before settling down in Copenhagen with
Pierre Dørge's New Jungle Orchestra. He cut a few albums under his own
name, often using South African themes, often cursing the Boers and
their apartheid regime. Anders Gahnold has a day job as a software
hacker in Sweden and also plays highly improvised post-bop alto
sax. In the early '80s, he bumped into Dyani, telling him he was
forming a band and needed a bass player. Dyani joined, bringing South
African Gilbert Matthews along to play drums. The group played some
gigs, but never made it into the studio before Dyani died in
1986. Gahnold didn't make it to the studio until May 2002, when
William Parker and Hamid Drake picked him up for a fast-paced jam
session called . . . And William Danced (Ayler) that cocked
open a lot of ears, leading Gahnold to dig up some old live tapes of
his trio with Dyani. They, too, are something to hear: Dyani's bass is
mixed up front, almost reverently, making this an exceptionally good
showcase for his broad skills and exquisite timing. But Gahnold is
again a knockout, thinking fast and playing with fearless authority. A
ruminative "Summertime," the disc's one cover, is especially useful as
a Rosetta stone.
Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Off the Coast of Me
1980, Rainman
Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Too Cool to Conga!
2001, Rainman
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With his brother's perfect Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band
stalled, August Darnell took to writing Latino jive (sometimes in
German) and hooked up with downtown no-wave impresario Michael
Zilkha. For what was initially a side project, Darnell styled himself
as the zoot-suited Kid Creole, hiring three fetching Coconuts to taunt
him with lines like, "I know you can't satisfy/But at least you can
try." The thin sound on Off the Coast of Me came from Zilkha
releasing the demos. Darnell/Creole's sound and concept gained enough
momentum over the next two albums to let him coast for the rest of the
decade. But his name dropping on "Darrio" -- the Coconuts implore him
to take them to Studio 54, while he'd rather check out James White &
the Blacks? announced the end of the great disco/ punk dichotomy,
after which New York got more interesting and a lot weirder. Too
Cool to Conga! is probably his best album since 1991's You
Shoulda Told Me You Were . . . , but the covers give his decline
away: "Flip Flop and Fly" and "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" hint that he
invented retro swing (duh!), but his remake of his own "Endicott,"
with its Dixieland aside, is breathtaking.
Art Tatum
The Best of the Complete Pablo Solo Masterpieces
1953-55, Pablo
Art Tatum
The Best of the Complete Pablo Group Masterpieces
1954-56, Pablo
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Norman Granz didn't just sell jazz in the early LP era. He made a lot
of it happen, getting mileage out of past-their-prime Billie Holiday
and Charlie Parker, introducing Ella Fitzgerald to the great American
songbooks, and introducing what seems like every saxophonist on the
planet to Oscar Peterson. Art Tatum was the ultimate dazzling pianist,
playing so fast and with such complete control over his instrument
that he could harmonize with himself and tack on little decorative
flourishes to boot. In the four years before Tatum's death, Granz
recorded Tatum extensively, both in the solo performances Tatum
preferred (eight separate CDs or a seven-CD box) and in small groups
(eight separate CDs or a six-CD box). These two samplers are welcome
for anyone daunted by the choices, especially with the solo
recordings: Solo piano always seems a bit underdressed, but everyone
should hear at least a little of Tatum flying solo. The only problem
with the group best-of is that the individual sessions hold up so well
on their own, especially Vol. 8, with Ben Webster, though Benny
Carter, Roy Eldridge, and Buddy DeFranco aren't far behind. Tatum had
only very rarely recorded with horns before, so this is one more debt
we owe Granz.
Seattle Weekly, Feb. 18-24, 2004
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