The Wilbur Rehmann Quartet: "Big Sky Jazz"

I recently had the pleasure of playing with one of Montana's legendary saxophonists, Wilbur Rehmann, during one of his frequent visits to the Bay Area. Known for his keen ear and smooth tones, Rehmann is the leader of the "Wilbur Rehmann Quartet", and the man behind "Montana Jazz". "Rehmann and his Quartet," wrote Mike Clark of the Great Yellowstone Coalition, "have brought to us a sense of joy, wonder and solitude with their original jazz interpretations, which explore the interior landscapes of the American West and the meaning of wilderness". Rehmann's "Going Down the Gulch" is but one of many fine examples of that style, and embodies a true "Big Sky Jazz" sound.

Rehmann grew up listening to the last of the traveling big bands in the late forty's and early fifties. and as a teenager, got interested in bebop and wanted to know not only why they played like that, but how. Now he knows, and he plays it on the alto, soprano and tenor saxophones. Watching and listening to him play is definitely a joy.

Rounding out Rehmann's quartet is guitarist "Blackie" Nelson, one of the most creative and inventive musicians around. Nelson is also one of the sweetest sounding guitarists in Montana, and apparently knows more songs and music than any one person ought to. In 1954 he and his wife Isabel drove to Bozeman to hear Charlie Parker who personified the cutting edge sound of his day, and that's exactly what Nelson is today.

Bassist Ken Nelson does it all, and he does it well. Acoustic and electric bass, piano and synthesizer, organ and guitar and, of course, dobro. He has a tremendous sense of time and rhythm but it is his harmonic explorations that continue to amaze and enthrall. Drummer and percussionist Dennis Unsworth plays his full kit with exquisite sensitivity and grace His quick wit and melodic sense come through whether it's taking a full-fledged solo flight or when he's simply trading fours with the rest of the group.

The group's two albums, "Back Home Jazz" (1996), and Mann Gulch Suite, (1999) have an underlying message unique to jazz, (or any other genre to be fair); protecting the environment. Rehmann's concern for a clean and healthful environment, and his desire for everyone to be made aware of the effects of pollution and global warming, are clearly a motivating, if not inspiration force in his music, and a passion shared by many of Rehmann's friends and colleagues, including the legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins.

Rehmann's delightful "Nica's Dream", is another fine example of his spacious, airy sound of "Big Sky" jazz, free to roam and soar, swoop and swing. Rehmann plans on expanding his group to quintet for an upcoming event, with the addition of percussionist Jeremy Slead. There are also plans for a Bay Area show in 2006, featuring Rehmann and some fine local jazz musicians. Meantime, visit Rehmann's informative site at montanajazz.com, and learn that, yes, you really can swing in Montana.

Cas Lucas Comes to Jupiter This Wednesday

Plus Winston Montgomery's "Momma's Tattoo"

Bay Area favorite, guitarist Cas Lucas returns from a busy trip up north, to perform at Jupiter in Berkeley, this Wednesday night, in an unplugged duet with long time partner Stephen Inglis. Lucas has been quite busy following the release of his critically acclaimed "Giving It Back" CD, and his work with the East Bay's legendary Palm Wine Boys. In addition to finishing up his, as yet unnamed new CD, Lucas plans a Spring tour of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, the Pacific Northwest and Southern California. Indeed, Lucas also plans for an "African Highlife-Jam Band" group, and featuring some surprising local musicians. From his early work with the renown Yusef Lateef, to his more recent outings with the Palm Wine Boys, Lucas clearly hopes to be breaking some new ground with his new CD, and his newfound African-Highlife influences.

Recorded in 2004 with Inglis, "Giving It Back", Lucas' fifth album, is both a joyful acoustic romp, with songs like "Feelin'" and "Reflection", to the introspective, mature, and worldly writing of "Stop and Think", and the beautiful, yet melancholy "Home", each demonstrating the remarkable ear Lucas that has become known for. There is also a very fine chemistry and interplay that exists between Lucas and Inglis, who by the way is quite an incredible talent in his own right.

It has been said that Lucas' "honest, humble approach to songwriting is free of ego, and that makes each of his songs applicable to the full spectrum of human emotions. From empathy to anger, from heartache to joy, Cas Lucas is a musician who has been truthful to himself in his interpretation of society around him. His style is completely his own, and has a universally appealing flair - not too poppy, not to bluesy, not too folky…just right."

I'm eagerly awaitng his latest efforts, which promises to be even more energetic and brilliantly played. Likened to Dave Matthews, John Mayer, the late Michael Hedges, and other similarly talented guitarist/singers, Lucas truly has his own unmistakebly unique sound. Don't miss a chance to see this amazing rising star.

Cas Lucas unplugged duet with Stephen Inglis
Jupiter, 181 Shattuck, Berkeley (Downtown)
8-11 pm, no cover, all ages
http://www.jupiterbeer.com
(1 minute walk from bart, west bay-ers)
http://caslucas.com

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Winston Montgomery



Long time local singer-songwriter Winston Montgomery has finished his long awaited CD, plans a "Podcast" of his latest effort and perhaps, after a long absence, a live rendition of his folky-political musings. Ably backed by some talented young Bay Area musicians, Montgomery's latest effort is reminiscent of some of the works of his contemporaries; the late Phil Ohcs, Pete Seeger, John Prine, Richie Havens and Tom Waits. Mongtgomery offers a new take, with some old school flavor to topics ranging from the war in Iraq, "Fallujah Skies", to his wonderful homage of the Sixties with "Momma's Tattoo". Listening to tunes like "The Ballad of Danville Nanny" and "The Sun is on the Rise," really took me back to the good ol' days of the anti-war demos and the front porch hoedowns of the 1970s. Ah yes, those thrilling days of yesteryear, "Tricky Dick" Nixon, Watergate, Cesar Chavez, the war in Vietnam, "Hippie Hill"... Somehow Bush and Iraq just don't feel the same, however Montgomery's music reminds you with his voice and a guitar, that the fight never really ends, and that the struggle goes on and on. A sampling of Montgomery's music can be heard at http://wmontgomerysongs.com

Oregon's "Prime"

I first enjoyed the original Oregon, during an "ECM Festival", at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Alongside Gary Burton, a young Pat Matheny, Eberhard Weber, John Abercrombie and Jack Dejohnette, Oregon truly shined. Thirty five years, and dozens of recordings later, the incredible jazz quartet Oregon will be releasing their latest effort, the eagerly awaited "Prime". Led by three of their original members, guitarist and keyboardist Ralph Towner, Bolinas-based Paul McCandless on reeds, and bassist Glenn Moore, Oregon's "Prime" follows the success of their Grammy winning "Oregon in Moscow" and "Live at Yoshi's". Oregon has continued, rather admirably following the tragic death of original percussionist Colin Walcott during their 1984 European tour. Walcott had ironically suggested that the great Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu could make a fine addition to the group, and after his death, Gurtu joined Oregon for three albums, "Ecotopia", "45th Parallel" and "Always, Never and Forever". With the departure of Gurtu to John McLaughlin's band, Oregon added percussionist Mark Walker, first heard on their 1997 release, "Northwest Passage", and to date, the longest-standing addition since Walcott.

"Prime", is due to be released January 23rd. "All About Jazz" reviewer John Kelman, writing about it's imminent arrival, said that "Given most marriages don’t last 35 years, the fact that three of perennially genre-busting group Oregon’s four founding members have remained together so long—and there’s little doubt that if Colin Walcott had not tragically died in a car accident in ’84, he’d still be around too—is truly remarkable. Sure, there are a few old warhorse rock and roll bands like the Rolling Stones who’ve been around longer. But given the mercurial and significantly less-recompensable nature of jazz, guitarist/pianist Ralph Towner, woodwind multi-instrumentalist Paul McCandless, and bassist Glen Moore’s ability to continue to evolve and find new things to say makes them a definite anomaly in the jazz landscape."

"Their latest release also features more recent recruit Mark Walker, who, having been with the group since ‘97’s Northwest Passage, is Oregon's longest-standing percussionist since Walcott’s untimely passing. Prime demonstrates just how they’ve taken influences from a variety of spaces over the years—jazz, folk, classical, ethnic music of India and Brazil, and more—and integrated them in ways that eliminate delineation, developing a unique language imitated but never copied. Their strongest album in years, Prime also reconnects the group with recording engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug and Rainbow Studio in Oslo, Norway. This is the first time they’ve recorded there since their short tenure with the ECM label in the mid-‘80s, and the result is an album whose sonic excellence matches its exceptional writing and performances.

As always, Towner provides the lion’s share of the writing. It's as much about his unique way of voicing as specific melodic and rhythmic concerns, and it remains instantly recognizable but never predictable. In its pastoral folksiness, “If” bears some resemblance to earlier pieces like “Green and Golden,” but its odd meter and deceptively difficult changes provide characteristic yet fresh grist for Towner and McCandless’ advanced improvisational acumen, which remains uncannily lyrical in the face of harmonic adversity.

And while some have accused Oregon of becoming softer and less edgy over the years, Towner’s three-part “Monterey Suite,” some of his best writing in recent years, lays waste to that suggestion. While lacking the sharp angularity of some of his earlier work, the complex nature of the first part, “Dark,” still comes from a shadowy place similar to “Distant Hills,” even as Walker’s kit work gives it less idiosyncratic but more dynamically-building forward motion. The second movement, “Tammurriata,” vividly proves that Towner’s creative sense of counterpoint is still intact.

As always, a number of brief free pieces act almost as way stations along the disc’s greater narrative arc, and it has the same inherent sense of purpose that has always differentiated Oregon's spontaneous improvisations, which are more about texture and ambience than mere notes and pulses.

Moore contributes two pieces, most notably a reprise of “Pepe Linque” from ‘85’s Crossing which, with Walker’s shuffle beat and Towner’s blues/gospel piano, is the closest Oregon has ever come to boogie. Proof that, with Prime, despite the kind of familiarity that can only come from so many years together, Oregon still has more than a few tricks up its sleeve."

I will always have long time friend and WPFW's "G Strings" host Tom Cole, to thank for my continued love of Oregon. The recent recordings of Towner on Bill Bruford's "If Summer Had It's Ghosts" with Eddie Gomez, and McCandless' work on several Bela Fleck and the Flecktones albums, notably "Live at the Quick", has made me hungry for this newest effort. Based on what I have heard so far, I too, am truly "primed".

Ahmad Jamal Comes to Yoshi's

The great jazz pianist-composer Ahmad Jamal will be performing at Yoshi's in Oakland, January 4th-8th. His most recent album, "After Fajr", was recorded live with his trio in France last year, and is considered one of his best. Recorded with bassist James Cammack, and the masterful Idris Muhammad on drums, his "Live in Baalbeck" DVD and the "L'Olympia 2000" CD concerts, are two of my personal favorites, and a must for Jamal fans. Jamal continues to tour throughout the world, as he has for the last five decades. Noted for his outstanding technical command and identifiable sound as a piano stylist, Jamal ranks as one of the most influential and popular artists in the history of jazz music.

He is one of the few jazz artists to sell over 1 million copies of an individual recording with "But Not For Me", which featured the huge hit "Poinciana", (Jamal's favorite Caribbean tree), which stayed on the charts for an unprecedented 108 weeks. Considering his trio "an orchestra," Jamal not only achieves a unified sound, but subtly inserts independent roles for the bass and drums. The hallmarks of his style are rhythmic innovations, colorful harmonic perceptions and the unique sense of space in his music, making his concepts exciting without being loud in volume.

The New York Times reviewer Ben Ratliff said of Jamal's "After Fajr", that the jazz pianist "knows how to get attention and reaction, and he has been tightening his rhetoric for more than 50 years. But the experience has grown more complicated. At the peak of his popularity, in the late 1950's, his trio played so precisely that its musicians sounded as if they were wired together, and Mr. Jamal kept veering between roars and pitter-patters; while other pianists drove percussively through complicated chord changes -- which somehow seemed more honest and authentic at the time -- he was criticized for sounding mannered." Mr. Jamal's playing has become more idiosyncratic and tumultuous. His new album, ''After Fajr'' (Dreyfus), recorded live with his trio in France last year, is one of his best.

The standard ''Time on My Hands,'' from the new record, describes how his old style has evolved. Jamal likes to play gentle, perfumed melodies as single notes in the high register of the keyboard. But then he balances them with darker, authoritative ringing tones from the lower end; he drawls and withdraws almost to the point of disappearing, then returns like a bulldozer, playing in a jacked-up, dislocating style. His music can be pushy and imperious, and he doesn't parse down to a recognizable aesthetic profile.

In his own pieces, like ''Manhattan Reflections,'' Jamal likes to use simple melodies, funk rhythms and vamps, and his trio, with bassist Cammack and the New Orleans native, drummer Muhammad, can keep them sounding fresh for a long time under his solos, while he unleashes his supply of short and fascinating diversions."

Steve Huey, of the "All Music Guide", wrote that Jamal was a "sorely underexposed figure and a major influence on Miles Davis. Jamal isn't generally ranked among the all-time giants of jazz, but he impressed fellow musicians and record buyers alike with his innovative, minimalist approach. Jamal's manipulations of space and silence, tension and release, and dynamics all broke new ground, and had an impact far beyond Jamal's favored piano trio format. As an arranger, Jamal made the most of his small-group settings by thinking of them in orchestral terms: using his trademark devices to create contrast and dramatic effect, and allowing the rhythm section a great deal of independence in its interplay. Nonetheless, his ensembles were always tightly focused as well, following their leader through sudden changes in tempo or time signature, and often carrying the main riff of a tune.

Jamal's own playing was a model of economy, because he didn't overwhelm listeners with his technique, his flashes of virtuosity had significantly more impact. His lines were spare and light, yet melodically and harmonically inventive, and driven by complex left-hand chord voicings that broke with Bud Powell's right-hand emphasis. A chamber-like sensibility and a classical formality permeated much of his playing, yet he swung like a jazzman without fail. Miles Davis greatly admired him, borrowing liberally from his repertoire and arrangements, and encouraging his pianist Red Garland to imitate Jamal's playing as closely as possible. Additionally, Jamal's concepts of space and subtlety greatly affected Davis in his own right, both as a soloist and as a bandleader who (as it's often put) let the music breathe."

Alongside my personal all-time jazz piano favorites, Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck, Thelonius Monk, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, Bill Evans, Joe Zawinul, Horace Silver, and Keith Jarrett, stands the fabulous Ahmad Jamal. The late jazz vocalist Shirley Horn and her trio of bassist Ed Howard and drummer Steve Williiams, raved to me last year about Jamal's work on Horn's last album, "May The Music Never End", (Jamal played on two songs, "Maybe September" and "This Is All I Ask"). Jamal also briefly toured Europe with them. A "real treat" Shirley told me, "I wish I had him all the time". Do yourself a favor, and treat yourself to one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time.

Ahmad Jamal at Yoshi's in Oakland
Wednesday, January 4 - Sunday, January 8
Wed, Thu 8:00pm Shows $20, 10:00pm Shows $14
Fri 8:00pm Show $24, 10:00pm $18
Sat Shows at 8:00pm & 10:00pm $24
Sun 2:00pm Matinee, $5 Kids, $15 Adult W/One Kid, $20 General
Sun 8:00pm Show $24