CD Review: Wellstone Conspiracy, Motives
from All About Jazz.com
The Wellstone Conspiracy is a collective venture for four of the more prolific jazz musicians residing in the Northwest region of the United States. The group consists of Idaho-based saxophonist Brent Jensen and from Seattle, pianist Bill Anschell, bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop. The quartet, previously heard together on Jensen’s One More Mile (Origin, 2008), hits the mark with Motives, a disc full of stunning interplay and individual showmanship.
A highlight of the recording is the opening “Bye Bye Blackwell,” Jenson’s tribute to the late drummer Ed Blackwell. The tune builds on Johnson’s droning double stops and Jenson’s lyrical melody with spirited free-form improvising and aggressive drum flourishes from Bishop. Anschell’s swinging “Phindango,” based on the chord changes to Herbie Hancock’s “Dolphin Dance,” showcases the pianist’s ability to express harmonic sophistication with an inviting warmth. The tune also features one of many exceptional solo spots for Johnson. The bassist shines throughout the recording with a deep-in-the-wood tone and free flowing lines. He is especially poignant on his composition “Portrait,” a moving ballad.
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Seventeen-time Grammy award winning guitarist Pat Metheny makes a special appearance at the School of Music on Friday, April 30, noon to 1 p.m. at Brechemin Auditorium when he leads a clinic with UW jazz students. The event is free and open to the public.
The last few years of tenor saxophonist Hadley Caliman’s career have been among his most productive, after decades spent off the radar in prison, in recovery — both the result of his past drug addiction — and quietly teaching music while living in the Columbia River town of Cathlamet.
When Matt Vaughan heard that a Saturday in April had been set aside two years ago to honor indie-music stores, the owner of Seattle’s Easy Street Records thought it was “a waving of the white flag.” Still, he went along and opened his doors with modest expectations.
A surprisingly inventive duo plays spontaneous improvisations on Jazz Northwest on Sunday April 18 at 1 PM PDT on 88.5, KPLU. Pianist Bill Anschell and soprano saxophonist Brent Jensen have found each other molto simpatico when freely improvising on standards. Astute listeners as well as players, the two musicians often sound as if one mind is guiding ten fingers as they dissect familiar music in the course of playing it, examining and comparing fragments before reassembling a song. On this concert recorded at an Art of Jazz Concert at The Seattle Art Museum, the duo plays music ranging from Fats Waller to Thelonious Monk and several familiar standards.
There are no chairs to sit in when you listen to music at the Crocodile. An open floor has always worked best for the kind of music and audiences the famous rock club is known for.
Veteran tenor saxophonist Hadley Caliman—he was on the Central Avenue scene in Los Angeles during the ’50s—teams with golden-toned trumpeter Thomas Marriott on the frontline for this inspired outing. Flaunting a beautiful, burnished tone and remarkable fluidity on his horn, Caliman sails through his “Cigar Eddie,” Harold Land’s “Rapture” and Lee Morgan’s Latin-flavored “Totem Pole” with confidence and old-school swagger. And he acquits himself with rare elegance and taste on Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” and the poignant ballad “You Leave Me Breathless.” Marriott, who produced the session, also contributes the driving “Cathlamet,” and the two horns engage in some facile, energized exchanges with pianist Eric Verlinde on Joe Locke’s uptempo swinger “Blues for PT.”
Bring out your brass — and your marching drums.
TONIGHT, APRIL 9