Jazz

Charlie Mariano & Mal Waldron - Autumn Dreams (1991)

2010-12-12T11:28:02Z

Charlie Mariano & Mal Waldron - Autumn Dreams (1991)


01.Floating Cherry Blossoms (Mal Waldron)
02.Greensleeves (traditional)             play
03.Cry Me A River (A. Hamilton)
04.Early Autumn (R. Burna)
05.Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise (S. Romberg)
06.Autumn Dreams (Mal Waldron)
07.Randy (Charlie Mariano)
08.Autumn Leaves (J. Kosma)               play
09.'Tis Autumn (H. Nema)
10.The Thrill Is Gone (R. Henderson)

Personnel:
Charlie Mariano– Alto Sax
Mal Waldron– Piano
Paulo Cardoso– Bass
John Betsch– Drums

This is well-behaved jazz, which succeeds in fending corniness off while disappointing for not exploring the possibilities offered by the skills of the players. I don’t want to tattle culprits, but it appears that it was altoist Charlie Mariano who kept Maldon Trio grounded. The latter don't sound angry for not being allowed to take-off, as they have proved at large they are able to. Hence, playing the ‘I scratch your backs and you guys scratch mine’, the combo missed the chance to commit a strong statement in 'clean sounding’ contemporary jazz. A jazz that would still be devoid of flirts with atonalism and dissonances, would be full of ‘partial solutions’, all of them as brilliant as predictable, and which wouldn’t lead to any sort of innovation. But who cares for innovations when Mal gives the cards? Problem here is that he was not the one in croupier duty.

A pianist with a brooding, rhythmic, introverted style, Mal Waldron's playing has long been flexible enough to fit into both hard bop and freer settings. Influenced by Thelonious Monk's use of space, Waldron has had his own distinctive chord voicings nearly from the start. Early on, Waldron played jazz on alto and classical music on piano, but he switched permanently to jazz piano while at Queens College. He freelanced around New York in the early '50s with Ike Quebec (for whom he made his recording debut), Big Nick Nicholas and a variety of R&B-ish groups. Waldron frequently worked with Charles Mingus from 1954-56 and was Billie Holiday's regular accompanist during her last two years (1957-59). Often hired by Prestige to supervise recording sessions, Waldron contributed many originals (including "Soul Eyes," which became a standard) and basic arrangements that prevented spontaneous dates from becoming overly loose jam sessions. He has mostly led his own groups since Holiday's death, although he was part of the Eric Dolphy Booker Little Quintet that was recorded extensively at the Five Spot in 1961, and also worked with Abbey Lincoln for a time during the era. He wrote three film scores (The Cool World, Three Bedrooms In Manhattan and Sweet Love Bitter) before moving permanently to Europe in 1965, settling in Munich in 1967. Waldron, who has occasionally returned to the U.S. for visits, has long been a major force in the European jazz world. His album Free at Last was the first released by ECM, and his Black Glory was the fourth Enja album. Mal Waldron, who frequently teamed up with Steve Lacy (often as a duet), kept quite busy up through the '90's, featuring a style that evolved but was certainly traceable to his earliest record dates. Among the many labels that have documented his music have been Prestige, New Jazz, Bethlehem, Impulse, Musica, Affinity, ECM, Futura, Nippon Phonogram, Enja, Freedom, Black Lion, Horo, Teichiku, Hat Art, Palo Alto, Eastwind, Baybridge, Paddle Wheel, Muse, Free Lance, Soul Note, Plainisphere and Timeless. In September of 2002, Waldron was diagnosed with cancer. Remaining optimistic, he continued to tour until he passed away on December 2nd in Brussels, Belgium at the age of 76. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

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Charlie Mariano - Helen 12 Trees (1976)

2011-01-21T10:02:52Z

Charlie Mariano - Helen 12 Trees (1976)


01. Helen 12 Trees (Mariano) - 4:46
02. Parvati's Dance (Mariano) - 7:35
03. Sleep, My Love (Mariano) - 2:54
04. Thorn of a White Rose (Hammer) - 4:31
05. Neverglades Pixie (Mariano) - 7:12
06. Charlotte (Mariano) - 6:35
07. Avoid the Year of the Monkey (Mariano) - 5:30

Charlie Mariano - soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, flute, nagaswaram
Zbigniew Seifert - violin
Jan Hammer - acoustic piano, electric piano, Moog synthesizer
Jack Bruce - bass guitar
John Marshall - drums
Nippy Noya - percussion

Saxophonist, flutist, and composer Charlie Mariano was 26 years into his recording career as a leader when he popped this wild bit of hardcore jazz-rock fusion out in 1976. He'd been playing with musicians from all over the world for most of his tenure, and Helen 12 Trees was no exception. The musicians Mariano was capable of recruiting had always been astonishing; in fact, it was his norm, but this group, despite being together for a very short time, was one of his finest. Mariano is aided by Jan Hammer from the Mahavishnu Orchestra on keyboards, former Graham Bond Organization and Cream bassist Jack Bruce, Soft Machine drummer John Marshall, Polish violin wizard Zbigniew Seifert, and Asian percussionist Nippy Noya. Just under 40 minutes in length, this is one of the great, under-heard records to ever come from the fusion years. Tracks like "Parvati's Dance," where Mariano plays the Indian nagaswaram, a reed instrument that has a very unusual tonality, is gorgeous when juxtaposed against the droning violin of Seifert or the high-pitched wandering keys of Hammer. Bruce and Marshall are playing a near dub rhythm of pulse and bubble. "Thorn of a White Rose" is by Hammer, the only non-Mariano cut here. It carries within it dueling winding lines of violin and saxophone, and Hammer becomes the funky part of the rhythm section where Bruce carries a straight series of four-note lines very forcefully as Marshall plays his kit in knotty, military style with heavy snare. Mariano's solo hits the skronk a bit before Hammer comes right back to post-bop jazz on the Rhodes. "Neverglades Pixie" is a ballad gone to wonky funk, where the hand percussion on bells, vibes, metal rods, and other more standard instruments adds another layer to Marshall's rimshots as Seifert takes a solo right out of Cajun fiddling and the blues -- until he gets to meet Hammer's big, cluttered chords and winds it out to the Gypsy jazz side of things. The bottom line is that over seven tracks, this set never runs out of surprises, grooves, kinetic energy, or astonishing improvisational ideas. But more than this, because of the great sensitivity Mariano has as a leader, it never runs out of soul either. There is pure poetry in this music, albeit of a very strident nature, and is certainly one of the finest under Mariano's name as a leader -- it's a stone classic and one of the best examples of post-Miles jazz-rock fusion ever recorded! MPS was a visionary label, and kept putting out quality jazz, rock, and big band records until it closed its doors in the late '70s, and this title is prime evidence of label boss Joachim Ernst Berendt's vision. ---Thom Jurek, Rovi

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Charlie Mariano - Reflections (1974)

2013-08-22T15:49:52Z

Charlie Mariano - Reflections (1974)


1.Glenford Crescent 	5:40 	
2.Naima 	8:48 	
3.Brother Muthaiah 	7:16 	
4.Spanish Dance No. 2 	4:26 	
5.Blue In Green 	5:52 	
6.Thiruvarankulam 	4:53 	
7.Chile 	6:03 	
8.Ramblin' 	10:57

Musicians:
Charlie Mariano – alto, soprano saxophone
Eero Koivistoinen – soprano, tenor saxophone
Esko Linnavalli, Olli Ahvenlahti, Pentti Hietanen - piano
Jukka Tolonen – guitar
Heikki Virtanen, Pekka Sarmanto - bass
Esko Rossnell, Reino Laine – drums
Sabu Martinez – congas, percussion

Hot fusion set recorded in Finland by US alto legend Charlie Mariano. Recorded in March 1974, Reflections features a who's who of the Finnish jazz scene including Jukka Tolonen, Eero Koivistoinen, Olli Ahvenlahti, Pekka Sarmanto, Reino Laine and the great percussionist Sabu Martinez. The disc is worth it just to hear Jukka Tolonen tear it up on "Ramblin'". --- koolkatjazz.com

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