California Jazz

Central Avenue Reunion (Art Farmer, 1989) features a contemporary quintet co-led by trumpet player Farmer and alto saxophonist Frank Morgan, two figures prominent in the active Los Angeles jazz scene centered along Central Avenue in the 40s and still going strong.

Their set (recorded in performance at a club called Kimball's East) includes two nice ballads (Embraceable You and Don't Blame Me) plus a very fast number called Farmer's Market that is the leader's best-known composition and itself a jazz standard today.

Blue Mitchell was a trumpet player much appreciated by other musicians but largely unknown to the general public. Mitchell, who died in 1979, is profiled on Blues on My Mind, which brings together tracks recorded in 1958 and 1959 for the Riverside record label.

He was an improviser with a lovely brass tone and a knack for keeping his solos short and tantalizing. Among his cohorts for these sessions were pianist Wynton Kelly and tenor players Johnny Griffin, Benny Golson and Jimmy Heath.

Mitchell is also present for half the tracks on another Riverside collection spotlighting pianist/composer Cedar Walton (Cedar Walton Plays Cedar Walton).

Kenny Dorham, another largely unsung jazz hero, plays trumpet on the remainder. These quintet performances date from 1967 and 1968.

There's nothing revolutionary or even terribly dramatic on either of these collections -- merely imaginative jazz that recaptures what the hippest of New York club-goers had a chance to hear live in those days before fusion and the avant-garde took hold.

One musician I'd particularly like to hear live at the upcoming Jak Jazz '94 festival (scheduled for the last week in November) is organist Jimmy McGriff.

If McGriff were to bring along alto saxophone player Hank Crawford and guitarist George Benson (both of whom are part of his group on Soul Survivers, originally issued in 1986), that would be fine with me.

Doubtless he'd have to fly in his Hammond B-3 with him -- but I think it would be worth the hassle. I hope that the first tune they'd play would be Frim-Fram Sauce, a sheer delight from this album.

Guitarists

Legend has also reissued cassettes by two of today's better- known jazz guitarists: Barney Kessel and Jim Hall.

The Artistry of Barney Kessel collects twelve tracks from no fewer than eight Kessel albums cut between 1953 and 1961.

The approach is somewhat more boppish than what Kessel has recorded more recently and the various tracks showcase a veritable Who's Who of that period's Southern California jazz men.

Though Jim Hall is perhaps the most admired of today's jazz guitarists (especially by other guitarists), I've always found his approach to be just a little too careful and bloodless for my tastes.

You can judge for yourself on Where Would I Be? (1971). The opening Simple Samba is a nice piece of work, though, as is the Hall original entitled (oddly enough) Careful.

Guitarist Joe Pass (most often heard in recent years as part of Ella Fitzgerald's back-up group) is a wonderful foil for jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli on Live at Tivoli Gardens, recorded in Copenhagen in 1979.

Hometown hero Niels-Henning Orsted Pederson anchors the trio on bass.

I suspect that they were putting their program together number by number even as they performed, yet there's nary a misstep. It's pop standards all the way: Time After Time, Let's Fall in Love, I Get a Kick Out of You and so on.

Here's sunny and optimistic music that sounds like a spirited conversation among three close friends.

Vibraphone Players

Two more cassettes I can recommend enthusiastically feature vibraphone players.

On Good Bait (1984), Bobby Hutcherson is joined by Branford Marsalis (tenor and soprano saxophones) and George Cables (piano).

It's worth listening to this one all the way through, especially to focus on the often witty drumming by Philly Joe Jones, who gently pushes but never overwhelms.

Then listen to all eight tracks once more with an ear attuned solely to the solid foundation laid down by bassist Ray Drummond.

Buddy Montgomery (brother of the late guitarist Wes) plays both vibes and piano on So Why Not? (1988).

Some cuts feature trumpet and saxophone, others just the rhythm section.

Of all these cassettes, this one surprised me the most, since I'd heard so little of this particular Montgomery on record. It's inventive, catchy, extremely likable music.

If this collection were played over and over on the speakers at local music shops (perhaps as a relief from endless repetitions of the same Whitney Houston album), many customers would no doubt buy it.

Don't hold your breath though.

Finally, there's Dreams, a 1989 recording by half-Danish, half-Vietnamese pianist Niels Lan Doky. Some tracks feature his playing (in a relatively dense style that reminds me of McCoy Tyner's) in a trio format.

On the others, he's joined by John Scofield (guitar), Randy Brecker (trumpet) and Bob Berg (tenor saxophone).

All but one of the numbers are Lan Doky compositions. Altogether, it's convincing evidence that recent rumors concerning the decline and demise of acoustic jazz have been highly exaggerated.

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