Live review: Wadada Leo Smith and his Golden Quartet

 The trumpeter taps into Miles Davis' fire and finesse Saturday night at Barnsdall Gallery Theater.

The spirit of Miles Davis was in the air at Barnsdall Gallery Theater on Saturday night. A genre deeply tied to its history, jazz is somewhat unique in that its players are inevitably linked to those who defined their given instrument's sound. Take on the saxophone and John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins shadow your work. Master the piano and the names Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk are frequently invoked.

So while the Davis comparisons may have been unavoidable as trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith took the stage with his Golden Quartet, the difference during two sprawling, invigorating sets was how expertly Smith and his charges not only recalled Davis at his most uncompromising but also built upon his legacy to the point where such comparisons soon lost meaning.

A fixture on the Southern California improvised music scene and a CalArts instructor since 1993, Smith's current band, featuring rising star Vijay Iyer on piano, hints at his roots in Chicago's groundbreaking Assn. for the Advancement of Creative Musicians collective.

Not unlike that organization's ever-exploring Art Ensemble of Chicago, Smith's Golden Quartet and special guest Motoko Honda filled the night with sounds that nodded toward the group's excellent 2009 album "Spiritual Dimensions" but were so dedicated to discovery they seldom felt tied to a preconceived path.

Performing for a crowd of scruffy young students and gray-bearded believers, a sunglasses-wearing Smith patrolled the stage like an exacting conductor, directing the music's growth or facing down his collaborators to ensure the music was evolving to his liking. 

Frequently filling the air with bright, long-sustaining notes in soaring arcs, Smith freely recalled Davis' restless "Bitches Brew" period as he gestured to hard-hitting drummer Pheeroan AkLaff, alternately propelling the ensemble further toward the edge with a wave of his fingers or drawing the exploration to an abrupt close with a sweep of his arm.

Some 'weird jazz' with your Easter?

It may not be the most conventional pairing, but Stones Throw and Now Again records are hosting an Easter Sunday with an afternoon of self-described "weird jazz" and pulled-pork barbecue at Palate Wine Merchant in Glendale (attached to the much-lauded Palate Food + Wine).

A release party for Madlib's Young Jazz Rebels' "Slave Riot" and San Francisco crate-digger favorite P.E. Hewitt (out Tuesday), it's the lesser-known undercard that should offer the greatest treat. Consisting of the entire three-album output of the gifted vibraphonist-composer (who released his first recording "Jawbones" at the astounding age of 16), Hewitt's "Winter Winds: The Complete Works 1968-70" is almost jarring for how completely formed it sounds. Sample the Latin-tinged soul-jazz of "Bada Que Bash" below, which originally appeared on Hewitt's third and final album that lends the set its name.

It might be a long way from the Crystal Cathedral's recently canceled Easter pageant, but there's something in Hewitt's raw, deeply funky arrangements that are spiritual experiences unto themselves.

"Bada Que Bash" by P.E. Hewitt Jazz Ensemble

-- Chris Barton

Musical improvising -- is it all in your brain?

Is there a biological basis to a great sax solo?

Jonah Lehrer, a Wired editor and author of several populist-psychology books, recently recapped an intriguing new study by psychologists Darya Zabelina and Michael Robinson of North Dakota State University. The authors asked distinct groups of college students to imagine a day off from school or work, with one group’s day set in the present, and the other's set from the perspective of a 7-year-old, and then gave each some creative problem-solving tasks.

It turns out that the latter group displayed far more creative agility on the tests after envisioning a free day as a child without the strictures of adult expectations.

There’s a specific region of the brain -- the prefrontal cortex -- that grows as we mature and socialize, enabling more focused attention but also keeping more random or dissociated ideas in line. Lehrer speculates that this has particular ramifications for musicians who improvise -- skilled instrumentalists might actually have learned to ignore this part of the brain that self-edits creativity and spontaneity.

The history of music is full of people looking for ways to, well, alter their minds to become more inventive players. This research suggests they may have actually been onto something. But sorry, bands, you still can’t write off your cortex-killing bar tabs as a medical expense.

-- August Brown

Photo of Eric Dolphy by Francis Wolff / Mosaic Images / CORBIS

Live review: Brad Mehldau at Largo at the Coronet

“Here’s another one from my KROQ listening on the way from the airport,” Brad Mehldau said with a smirk from the stage Tuesday night at Largo at the Coronet. “Good tune, though,” he added before launching into an almost obscenely grand and beautiful cover of Stone Temple Pilots’ “Interstate Love Song.”

While Mehldau’s way with reinventing rock songs has been well documented, such an introduction wasn’t entirely expected at a warm-up show prior to a tour in support of “Highway Rider,” a lush double album of intricate compositions that floats among the worlds of jazz, classical and pop for one of the most striking jazz releases of the year.

And while cramming an entire orchestra into Largo’s intimate confines might be a far-fetched notion, it was still a bit disappointing to find Mehldau backed by only a Steinway and the upright house piano Tuesday. There would be no appearances by his trio mates Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier, no warped percussion textures from hired gun Matt Chamberlain and, in somewhat of a greater surprise, no cameos from “Highway Rider” producer Jon Brion on the multi-instrumentalist’s home court.

Still, when a musician who sees what Mehldau sees at the piano opts for a solo performance, the night promises to be an adventurous treat.

Album review: Christian Scott's 'Yesterday You Said Tomorrow'

For a guy who's earned a reputation for speaking his mind, Christian Scott's trumpet tone can seem a bit incongruous. Frequently pinching his horn to a low, muted whisper, the genre-blind 26-year-old incorporates elements of funk, rock and hip-hop into jazz, making him the collaborator of choice for a wide variety of musicians, including Mos Def, Prince and even Glen Ballard.

Yet he's never made an album quite like this. An early leak of a faithful cover of Thom Yorke's "Eraser" briefly lit up the jazz blogosphere (particularly for drummer Jamire Williams' replication of the song's clipped electronic pulse), but the track's lilting approach feels almost out of place with the album's unsettling atmosphere.

Built around a skittering, restless rhythm, the police-brutality-inspired "K.K.P.D." sets the record's tone with Scott's murmuring trumpet gathering around the song's edges like a cold wind before rising to an outraged peak.

Referencing the long-running Louisiana work farm, the slow-burning "Angola, LA and the 13th Amendment" again finds Scott setting aside his mute to glide above Matthew Stevens' versatile, biting guitar, a pairing that also accentuates the brooding "American't" and "An Unending Repentance," which also features an inviting piano solo from Milton Fletcher Jr.

Recorded by jazz icon Rudy Van Gelder, the album's contemplative sound can feel a bit monochromatic, and a few ballads drift too far into the background. But with many arresting moments of collaboration and expression, "Yesterday You Said Tomorrow" feels like a broad-reaching statement of purpose, one that clearly marks Scott as an artist taking his music to the next level.

-- Chris Barton 

Christian Scott
"Yesterday You Said Tomorrow"
(Concord Jazz)
Three stars (Out of four)

Album review: Allison Miller's 'Boom Tic Boom'

Jazz is historically a male-dominated field, and the list of famous female jazz drummers isn’t a terribly long one. But with the rowdily named “Boom Tic Boom,” Allison Miller stakes a claim to being one of the most promising drummers in the game, regardless of gender.

Perhaps better known for her rock-oriented work backing singer-songwriters Ani DiFranco and Brandi Carlile, Miller has made a name for herself accompanying New York City heavyweights such as Steven Bernstein, Erik Friedlander and Mike Stern. Joined by DiFranco bandmate Todd Sickafoose on bass and pianist Myra Melford, Miller's second album as a bandleader is a free-wheeling and often invigorating collection that should appeal to fans of post-bop and the cutting edge.

Rising out of a series of delicate cymbal explorations, “Fead” evolves into a beautifully rough-hewn swing, and "Big Lovely" features a rollicking turn from Melford over a swampy groove from Sickafoose and Miller. Stretching her band mates with a seemingly endless variety of bold improvisations, Melford also composes two of the album’s most atmospheric pieces, the off-kilter “Be Melting Snow” and “Night,” which simmers atop contemplative percussion textures from Miller. Jazz violinist Jenny Scheinman also joins the trio to lend a Western-leaning swerve to the joyful “CFS (Candy Flavored Sidewalk).”

Miller is a drummer who knows her history -- the album also features an intimate take on Hoagy Carmichael’s “Rockin’ Chair”  and a hip-shaking reworking of Mary Lou Williams’ “Intermission.” With more inspiring albums like this one, her standing as a relative rarity in her field could be history as well.

-- Chris Barton

Allison Miller

"Boom Tic Boom"

Three Stars

Foxhaven Records

Live review: Scott Amendola vs. Wil Blades at Vitello's

Typically armed with a small hardware store of electronics, gadgets and noisemakers when performing with explosive avant-jazz trio the Nels Cline Singers, drummer Scott Amendola presented a more stripped-down but no less adventurous side in a duo performance Wednesday night.

Teamed with fellow Northern Californian Wil Blades in an opening slot at Larry Goldings' weekly organ night at Vitello's, the pair combined for a rambunctious take on soul jazz that hinted at Amendola's earlier collaborations with '90s Bay area fixtures T.J. Kirk and Charlie Hunter. Opening with a deep-swinging version of the Thelonious Monk classic "Nutty," the ever-versatile Amendola showed that even removed from his usual bag of tricks, he's still one of the top jazz drummers in the game. 

Touching on a number of pieces from Duke Ellington's "Far East Suite," Blades joked that the band's combative name arose out of Amendola's desire to rework that record's big band arrangements into an organ duo. No matter how playfully contentious the effort must have been, a version of Ellington's "Blue Pepper" had heads bobbing as Amendola danced around every corner of his kit, pushing the duo into new corners of the song's rowdy backbone. Earlier in the set, Amendola briefly worked his drums with his bare hands on the Blades original "Sketchy," a breezily funky workout that recalled B-3 standard-bearers Jimmy Smith and Richard "Groove" Holmes.

Bound for an eclectic battery of shows around New York City next week that includes a reunion with Hunter at the out-jazz incubator the Stone, Amendola typically tilts more toward the experimental end of the spectrum these days. Though that side of his playing will surely get a showcase with April's arrival of a new Singers record and an upcoming trio album with Tortoise's Jeff Parker, it's inspiring to see that Amendola can still push the boundaries in any setting.

-- Chris Barton

Photo: Scott Amendola, left, and Will Blades onstage at Vitello's in Studio City. Credit: Chris Barton

Live Review: Keith Jarrett at Disney Hall

Always a keen observer of audience habits, to put it mildly, a chatty Keith Jarrett couldn’t resist telling a packed Disney Hall that he'd noticed a pattern among jazz crowds lately.

“I remember lines of people waiting to see the new thing,” he said playfully from a lone spotlighted microphone stand opposite his piano. “Now, there are lines of people waiting to see old things.”

Of course, when the “old thing” in question is the 64-year-old Jarrett, it’s understood that this habit can be forgiven. Because, even after so many years, how does one begin to unpack what exactly this unique piano wizard can do in concert? The second stop in a three-city tour of solo piano performances, Jarrett delivered an evening of at times brief but occasionally exhilarating improvisations that drew from a limitless musical vocabulary gained in 45 years of performing.

Jarrett’s gift for making an in-the-moment creation sound lyrical, even welcomingly familiar, has been one of the hallmarks of his career since 1975’s lauded live double-album “The Köln Concert.” While this night’s performance didn’t try to replicate that recording’s sprawling long-form excursions, it frequently revisited its  same anthemic drive.

Album review: Brad Mehldau's 'Highway Rider'

 Let it never be said that Brad Mehldau lacks ambition. The gifted pianist and composer's latest is a reunion with über-producer Jon Brion and percussion gadfly Matt Chamberlain, who joined Mehldau's trio on 2002's eclectic "Largo." But instead of re-creating that record's arresting, electronics-flecked sound, Mehldau has upped the ante by teaming with saxophonist Joshua Redman and a full orchestra for a sprawling, two-disc travelogue of sorts that might be his most fully realized work yet.

Though primarily a jazz artist, Mehldau is no stranger to classical, recently collaborating with Orchestre National d'Île de France and mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter. And while there's plenty of gorgeous orchestral sweep involved, such as the dramatic "Always Departing," what's striking is how much the album feels like two disciplines on equal footing. For the most part -- most notably on the 12-minute mini-epic "We'll Cross the River Together" -- Mehldau and Redman engage a battery of horns, strings and percussion in a lively conversation, a byproduct of the record's emphasis on live recording.

Though Mehldau lists Strauss and Beethoven as among this record's touchstones, its closely cropped moments leave some of the greatest impressions. Against Mehldau's acrobatic piano, a pattering hand-clap rhythm lends a raw intimacy to "Capriccio," and after a scene-stealing soprano saxophone solo from Redman, an unexpectedly playful chorus of la-la-las lights up "The Falcon Will Fly Again." 

A simmering, searching duet between Redman and Mehldau on "Old West" is another highlight, as is Mehldau's teaming with usual trio mates Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard, who revisit some of the twitchy, drum-and-bass drive of "Largo" with "Into the City." Full of unexpected twists and lush, evocative detours, "Highway Rider" is most definitely a trip, and one well worth taking.

-- Chris Barton 

Brad Mehldau
"Highway Rider"
(Nonesuch)
Four stars (Out of four) 

Chick Corea, George Benson to headline Playboy Jazz Festival

The Playboy Jazz Festival announced the lineup for its 32nd annual summer music party at the Hollywood Bowl, and fans of the festival's crowd-pleasing mix of mainstream jazz paired with diversions into pop and world music aren't likely to be disappointed.

Scheduled for June 12 and 13, Saturday's show will be headlined by the Chick Corea Freedom Band. While the keyboardist isn't exactly a stranger around here with recent shows with the Five Peace Band, and Corea Clarke and White, this ensemble, featuring bassist Christian McBride, drummer Roy Haynes and saxophonist Kenny Garrett, could pull off some surprises.

Other highlights on Saturday include recent Grammy-winning vocalist Kurt Elling, Cuban salsa greats Los Van Van, and fusion guitarist Marcus Miller with young trumpeter Christian Scott, who together have been exploring the music of Miles Davis' 1986 album "Tutu."

Sunday again tilts to the festival's taste for the smoother side of jazz with performances by veteran guitarist George Benson and breezy vocal group the Manhattan Transfer. Highlights for that day's lineup also include the energetic gospel-blues of pedal steel player Robert Randolph, Malinese afro-pop artist Salif Keita, and a quartet featuring a pair of jazz legends, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson and pianist Cedar Walton. 

Esperanza Spalding will also perform Sunday, marking the second consecutive year the young bassist has played the festival.

And in a long-running tradition, Bill Cosby will again be the emcee.

Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster. Complete lineup after the jump.

-- Chris Barton