DownBeat April 2010 [antikvár]

New York is JAZZ THE NEW SCHOOL . is New York GET A BFA IN THE JAZZ CAPITAL OF THE WORLD Learn jazz by living it in the heart of Greenwich Village—the center of New York's rich jazz history. At The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, your mentors are legendary artists from New York City's renowned jazz community and your classmates are talented musicians from around the globe. • Gig in world-famous venues throughout New York City • Train with outstanding artist-faculty and your choice of more than 100 affiliated musicians—check them out at www.newschool.edu/jazzinstructors • Intern and develop direct contacts ^ in the music industry • Pursue a BFA or combined BA/BFA For application and audition information, call 212.229.5896 x4589 or visit us online. www.newschool.edu/Jazz3 THE NEW SCHOOL FOR JAZZ AND CONTEMPORARY MUSIC r Ihe New SclHWl it»leading unieiiilv m New Yofk Cnir oMe'ing some (H Ihe nations most dislingutshed degree, cefiificele, and conimulhg educalion piog'ont in s>( And detiijn. Iihe'sl ans. nianagemcni and policy, and Ihe peilO'ming ails. An Ariiimali»e Aclion/Clual OppoitunHy Inslilullon by Bd Enright Organic Orchestration It- Christian Scott This issue of DownBeai, Icaluring Clirisiian Scott on the covcr. came logelher over a period of several moiith.s. In liict, il was a full year ago ihai we originully planned lo give Scotl lop billing in ihe magazine, only to be pre-empted by the death of Freddie Hubbard. But being bumped from his cover spol turned out to be not such an unfortunate thing for Scott, whose highly anticipated CD Yesterday You Said Tomorrow, the most important of his young career, hasn't been ready for commercial release until now, anyway. During his interview wilh writer Jennifer Odell. Scon emphasizes his fondness for the sounds and social vibes of the 1960s and explains how that mindset inspired and shaped the 10-song collection, recorded at the renowned Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs. N.J., and engineered by Rudy Van Gelder—the man largely responsible for the emergence of the legendary "Blue Note sound," which has graced hundreds of jazz albums dating back to the 1960s. Among those are several landmark sides recorded by none olher than Hubbard himself. Research for our feature story on Kurt Rosenwinkel began late last summer, when the guitarist was just beginning the recording sessions that eventually led to the release of his new CD, Standards Trio: Reflections. As Rosenwinkel told writer Ted Panken, the resulting ballads-driven album emerged over the course of the sessions and developed gradually over time, only to reveal itself in the later stages of editing, after all the dozens of takes were completed. The organic way these artists' recording projects and writers' feature articles unfold and take shape over time reminds me of the way a composer or orchestrator crafts a musical chart. Which brings us to Frank-John Hadley's article "My Favorite Big Band Album." an ambitous piece that required months and months of reporting as Hadley polled nearly 200 musicians around the world about their top five picks within the genre. With so much material, we had a tough time deciding where to draw the line (at the top 25 albums) and which of tlie insightful quotes to use or discard. There was no way we could print all the responses we received in the space allowed, so I'll lake this opportunity to add some background on the results published on pages 40-45. Hadley reports that a Duke Ellington record appeared on 75 percent of respondents' lisls—47 ditTereni recordings, including a few compilations. Count Basic was the .second most popular choice, with 98 picks going to 30 albums. Sun Ra would have placed if there had been any sort of agreement over what one record of his most persuasively explotad the cosmos—1 I albums were chosen. Just a short drop from the top-25 tier wcrc Basic's The Original Decca Recordings. Miles Davis & Gil Evans' Sketches Of SiHiin, George Russell's New York. N.Y Slim Kenton's City Of Glass iind—a surprise—Bill Pons' The Jazz Soul Of Porgy ct Bess. Wc hope you tind this issue of DownBeai lo ivad iuul play out like a greal big band lurangenicnl, one thai has e\olvcd in pix^jvi- lime, when: every dclail falls into placc and fonns a bigger piciui-c complete wilh information, perspective and a ccriain inlangibic edge we like lo call "swing." 06 8 DOWNBEAT April 2010