STACK #164 June 2018

MUSIC

NEWS

JAZZ, DIG? Jazz is long past being pigeonholed as the ’50s bebop typified by Charlie Parker; nor is it the modal improvisation of trumpeter/ composer/bandleader Miles Davis, nor the expansive sheets of sound painted by sax genius John Coltrane. It is a language: a form of musical being, a way of expression. It is not so much a genre as an attitude and an aesthetic. It has evolved, and is still evolving – branching out and shaping an ever unfolding and cascading array of new music. Words: Jonathan Alley GATEWAYS

Kamasi Washington

T he recent Australian visits of Kamasi Washington andThundercat, along with the Melbourne International Jazz Festival (with interstate sideshows) are bound to pique curiosity about the musical bridges between today’s shining talents and the giants of yesteryear.

urban experience far past the ghetto clichés, just as the jazz of his forebears reflected a creative spirit that went far beyond stereotypes. Dig That? Then Dig This! it’s highly likely you’ll love his virtuoso bass compadre Thundercat (AKA Stephen Lee Bruner), who’s played with him live, and closely collaborated with him in the studio. Thundercat passes the boss bass test: he melds rhythms and melody masterfully; he is fluid bedrock, If Fly Lo generally floats your boat,

together, finally released on CD and vinyl last month. It simply sounds unbelievable.

Digthe Classics

Miles Davis

During the presidency of Gerald Ford in the mid ‘70s, trumpeter Miles Davis was invited to the White House, and (somewhat typically) got into an argument. When a foe demanded he justify an

Flying Lotus The futurist electronics of LA resident Steven Ellison, AKA Flying Lotus, draw on ambient dub, hip hop, narcotic beats and the corners of his evidently fervent imagination, but there’s no doubt the stylised vocals and scattershot double bass lines that crop up on albums like Cosmogramma and Until the Quiet Comes undoubtedly come from jazz. And its little surprise: Ellison is the grand- nephew of famed jazz innovator Alice Coltrane, and grandson of noted soul singer- songwriter Marilyn McLeod. These family ties aside, Fly Lo’s music propels our understanding of today’s black American

Digthe New Breed

big jazz band dynamics draw obvious influence from the greats. Dig That? Then Dig This! John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme is the classic desert island jazz recording (along with Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue , on which he also contributes his mind- expanding soloing). On A Love Supreme , he touches perfection; his melodies soar without being indulgent, the band achieve a rare telepathy. Its moods vary and evolve, time over. Don’t be without it. Also recommended: Miles Davis and John Coltrane Olympia Theatre, Paris 1961 . Their final ever show

Kamasi Washington Saxophonist Washington’s Australian appearances at the beginning of 2018 were so muscular, expansive and plain brilliant that they’ve already reserved places in all those end of-year lists compiled in December. Hell – they might just make the end-of- decade lists, they were that powerful. If there’s an artist brilliantly bridging jazz past, present and future, it’s Washington; the swirling atmospheric brilliance of his production values are straight of 2018, but his soloing and classic

invitation, Davis paused, fixed his inquisitor with a steely eye, and said “Oh, I just changed music four or five times.” It’s no spurious claim. Musts: Birth of the Cool, Miles Ahead, Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain, Bitches Brew Nina Simone cultural figure transcended all that; she didn’t work in genres, she just used them to her own ends. The purity of Simone’s melodies is imbued by the spirit of jazz, spirituals, gospel, the blues, the US civil rights moment and her own pain and joy. Musts: High Priestess of Soul, Nina Simone Sings the Blues, I Put a Spell on You Simone was an unbending visionary. She sang, wrote, and played piano, but her sheer presence as a

a river of grooves and a joy to watch. He’s another artist working in a black urban musical

context whose music escapes true definition but who certainly delves deeply into jazz, and his appearances with Washington in Australia earlier in the year prove it. Investigate: Drunk .

Jaala Melbourne project Jaala is the work of the remarkable Cosima Jaala (and her band). A little like Nina Simone, Jaala enslaves genre to her own ends, not the other way around. You might cock an ear to the vaguely scratchy, meandering guitar on Funny Shapes and raise an eyebrow. Jazz? Then listen again to the slinky, twisted journey taken by the vocals; it could be Amy Winehouse fronting Pavement when they’re drunk. It’s jazz, but not as we know it. Musts: Joonya Spirit, Hard Hold Digthe Local

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