2014 Year in Review: Memorable Music
1. Kai Eckhardt’s “Zeitgeist”
One of the greatest bass players on the planet, the Liberian/German expatriate Kai Eckhardt, has made his home in Berkeley, after thrilling audiences around the world. His resume features a veritable who’s who of the fantastic jazz and world musicians; guitarist John McLaughlin, drummer Billy Cobham, percussionist Trilok Gurtu, Stanley Clarke, Wayne Shorter, Patrice Rushen, Dewey Redman, Donald Byrd, Bela Fleck, Victor Wooten and his band Garaj Mahal, to name but a few. Eckhardt’s latest album “Zeitgeist”, is jazzy blend of funk, Indian ragas and straight-up, butt-kicking electric jazz. Eckhardt’s band in fact released his new album at Yoshi’s in Oakland; an incredible show and album by one of the world’s best.
2. Hansford Rowe’s “HR3″
Lately, I’ve been enjoying a variety of guitar, bass and drum trios, and one of my favorites is bassist Hansford Rowe’s “HR3″. This is a tasty trio based in Montreal, featuring two younger players, (guitarist Julien Sandiford and Max Lazich), who seem a little wise beyond their years. With HR3, Rowe has a gentle, yet wonderfully wicked sound; ‘Scooby Goes to School”, and the energetic “Voix Aciennes” are among my personal favorites.
3. Mehliana’s “Taming the Dragon”
After several recent tours around the U.S. and Europe, the musical duo of keyboardist Brad Mehldau and drummer Mark Guiliana, aka “Mehliana”, have at long last released and album of their improvisational and inspiring music. Their debut effort is entitled, “Taming the Dragon”, a collection of some of their best forays that will be familiar to fans of their live shows, as well as some material not heard or seen live. Mehliana’s use of vintage synthesizers, and their incredible grasp of both jazz and modern electronica is a joy to witness live, (They performed at both SF Jazz and the Independant recently); happily, their new album captures those moments and more.
4. Simon Phillip’s “Protocol II”
One of the world’s best percussionists is the Englishman Simon Phillips; an ambidextrous drummer who follows in the footsteps of jazz greats Billy Cobham and Lenny White who helped to popularize that musical approach. Phillip’s first came to this writer’s attention via his work with Brian Eno and Phil Mazenera’s group “801”, and later, Peter Townsend and the Who. Phillips has continued to perform and record with a who’s who of the musical world; he made his return to the Bay area earlier this year, supporting Hiromi and Anthony Jackson in a sold out show at the SF Jazz Center of Franklin, before returning to Yoshi’s in Oakland on with his own group, “Protocol II”- a sequel to his first solo group of the same name. Phenomenal band and album.
5. Wayne Shorter’s “Without a Net”
In a legendary career spanning more than half a century, saxophonist Wayne Shorter just keeps getting better and bolder. Indeed, his longevity as a creative force isn’t as astounding as the fact that he’s spent the past decade leading his most prodigious and consequential band. At 80, Shorter often appears as the calm center of a roiling maelstrom, a mystical presence exulting in the improvisational lightning strikes emanating from pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade, all virtuosos and bandleaders in their own right. Of course, the quartet is fueled by music from jazz’s most influential composer after Thelonious Monk, still keen to venture into uncharted territory. Shorter’s new Blue Note album, “Without a Net”, is his first for the label in over four decades and is an astounding document of an artist reaching and exploring, still very much at the peak of his powers. The session netted Shorter 2013 DownBeat magazine Critics Poll wins for Jazz Album, Jazz Group, Soprano Saxophone and Jazz Artist of the Year, as well as a GRAMMY for Best Improvised Solo on “Orbits.” Shorter and his quartet returned to the Bay Area this year for several amazing, sold out shows.
6. “Tophati’s “Tribal Dance”
Tohpati is one of most exciting guitarists to emerge from Indonesia, and for his third release on the MoonJune Record label, (following 2010’s “Ethnomission, “Save The Planet”, and 2012’s “Bertiga”, and “Riot”, Tohpati is joined by two other renowned maestros; bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Chad Wackerman who appeared together on the Allan Holdsworth- Alan Pasqua “Blues For Tony” project. The result is an album of “brilliantly conceived and executed music, evidenced by a wellspring of inspired interplay, a delightful chemistry and bursts of intense, spontaneous genius.”
7. Billy Cobham’s “Tales from the Skeleton Coast”
At the age of 70, one of the greatest drummers of this, or any generation is the remarkable Billy Cobham. From his earliest recordings with Horace Silver, Miles Davis and Milt Jackson, to his scintillating and seminal work with John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra, keyboardist George Duke, and his own groups, like Culture Mix, Asere and the Spectrum 40; Cobham has thrilled audiences around the world by bringing his incomparable talents as a composer, drummer, and producer to the forefront of jazz, rock, fusion and world music. His latest effort is the eagerly awaited “Tales from the Skeleton Coast”, part 3 of a series dedicated to his Panamanian parents. One of Cobham’s best efforts to date.
8. Chingari’s “Bombay Makossa”
One of the world’s best percussionists, Ranjit Barot has joined forces with bassist Etienne Mbappe and U. Shrinivas on mandolin, to create a fabulous new album, due to be released on September 10th. “The word chingari literally means ‘a spark’ in Hindi,” explains Barot. The internationally renowned, Mumbai-based composer and drummer has taken the word as the name for a new trio featuring himself, Southern Indian mandolin virtuoso Shrinivas, and Cameroonian bassist and vocalist Mbappe. “My thought behind the name was a spark, yes,” he adds, “but one which lights a big fire.” Sadly, the sudden death of Shrinivas following my review took the music world by surprise; he’ll be remembered by this fabulous album and so much more.
9. Allan Holdsworth’s Return to Yoshi’s
Allan Holdsworth, one of the world’s best known guitarists returned to Yoshi’s in San Francisco last year, before wrapping up his amazing 3 day stint at Yoshi’s in Oakland. Holdsworth has been thrilling audiences the world over for several decades; I first saw him with the legendary Tony Williams Lifetime band of the mid-seventies, and months later with his fellow Brits in the celebrated prog-rock super group U.K., featuring Roxy Music’s Eddie Jobson, and King Crimson’s John Wetton and Bill Bruford. Holdsworth would soldier on with his own groups like I.O.U and assorted trios, displaying the genius he has become known throughout the world for. Many critically acclaimed albums would follow; his guitar synth forays with “Atavachron”, “Road Games”, “Metal Fatigue”, “Sand”, “Secrets”, “Wardenclyffe Tower”, “Hardhat Area” and “Sixteen Men of Tain” in 2000. Holdsworth did not disappoint, with bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Virgil Donati in tow.
10. Jeff Coffin and the Mu’tet’s “Side Up”
Saxophonist Jeff Coffin and his “Mu’tet”, truly defy musical categories, and obliterate musical boundaries with their take-home-with-you compositions, their mind-bending solos and their swirling, danceable odd rhythms and exotic world music influences. Their previous effort, 2012’s “Into the Air” and 2011’s “Jeff Coffin & the Mu’tet Live!”; (a double CD described as “over the top funky and burning with energy and killer tunes). Coffin & the Mu’tet throw down and bring out the music lover in everyone. The album was released on the Ear Up Records label, and recorded live at SPACE (Chicago/Evanston, IL) and at MOMO’S (Austin, TX) in 2010/2011. Coffin and the Mu’tet, (last seen at Yoshi’s on Fillmore a few months ago with special guests George Brooks on saxophone and bassist Kai Eckhardt joining for the encore), returned with a new album, “Side Up”, featuring his fellow Flecktone bandmate Roy “Futureman” Wooten, (replacing drummer Jeff Sipe from the previous album), Felix Pastorius (bassist with the Yellowjackets & son of Jaco Pastorius) on electric bass, Bill Fanning on trumpet/space trumpet and Chris Walters on acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Hammond B-3 organ & melodica.
11. Coryell, Bailey and White at Yoshi’s
Three of the jazz world’s best musicians, guitarist Larry Coryell (The Eleventh House), bassist Victor Bailey (Weather Report), and drummer Lenny White (Return to Forever), wrapped up a two day stint at Yoshi’s in Oakland to kick off their west coast tour. As I wrote back in 2013, the trio had released 2 albums on the Chesky Records label, beginning with “Electric”, “a blistering set of jazz, blues and classic rock anthems… “Coryell and friends have an all-out blast working their way through a track listing of rock and blues tunes, bending and stretching covers of well-known cuts popularized by Led Zeppelin (Black Dog), and Sly and the Family Stone (Sex Machine), as well as Miles Davis’ “So What” (from his seminal Kind of Blue album) and Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints” into a rockin’ musical adventure. “We tried to straddle the lines between ‘jazz’, ‘rock’, ‘funk’ and ‘fusion’ and whatever other names people want to put on music,” comments Bailey…” This amazing trio would go on to record another album in 2006, “Traffic”. Chesky Records described Traffic, as the “…CBW’s highly anticipated follow-up to their 2005 debut”, and continued the “CBW tradition of blending virtuosic original compositions with immaculately conceived interpretations of jazz and classic rock standards. Original songs on Traffic include go-for-the-throat throwdowns like “Judith Loves Jazz,” “Door No.3″ and “Overruled,” while covers of Thelonious Monk’s “Misterioso” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Manic Depression” are also featured. A great show by 3 of the best on the planet.
12. King Crimson at the Warfield
Upon meeting guitarist Robert Fripp for the first time, the late, great Jimi Hendrix asked him to shake his left hand, because “It’s closer to my heart…” Fripp, like others who were similarly inspired by that mercurial genius, would go on to much deserved critical acclaim as the founder of the prog-rock entity known as King Crimson. Now in its 45th year(!), Fripp and his latest incarnation of King Crimson rolled into the Warfield in San Francisco for two of their final three shows, ending an incredible tour that began in New York last June. Fripp and his cohorts did not disappoint, with mesmerizing renditions of classic King Crimson tunes like Fracture, Starless and Red. A live album is also in the works.
Who knows what 2015 will bring; music venues continue to come and go, and musicians continue to swim against the tide of an inequitable, ever-changing, digital world. Thankfully, where there is hope, there is life, and despite those hurdles, the creative juices continue to flow, always searching for ways to be heard. I’ll certainly be listening, and hopefully so will you.
