Volume 10 Issue 4 - December 2004

mainframe sounds from acoustic
instrumems. The resultant sonorities
are a marvel.
The tracks on "Selected Works"
were origmally issued on LP by the
Frog Peak composers'
collective. You will want to spin
this disk on the best available!
S1)und system to catch all that Ten-
1H::y conjures from a
mainframe. Here Tenney begins
the unfolding stochastic structures.
percussive pulses. microtonalities
and anemion to psychoacoustics
that arc his hallmark. My favourite
track is the acoustic Music for
Pla)'er Piano (1963), which anticipates
symbiosis between Tenney's
reigning expertise on Conlon Nancarrow
and his own vocabulary.
The place to start on .. Postal
P1e1.:es" is a composition for solo
contrabass. Beast. The intense
range of wholly new contrabass
!>Ounds, rhythmic drive and the riveting
auemion that Tenney auracts
within a gradually flowering structure
are beyond imagination until
one first hears them. Performing
Tenney's music is no walk in the
park. The musicians of the Barton
Workshop rise to the challenge
with great aplomb. "Postal Pieces"
is important, provocative and
altogether a sheer pleasure.
JAZZ
Phil Ehre11saft
The Centennial Collection
(CD+ DVD)
Coleman Hawkins
Bluebird 82876-60086-2'
The Centennial Collection
(CO+ DVD)
Artie Shaw
Bluebird 82876-60092-2
The Centennial Collection
(CD+DVO)
Benny Goodman
Bluebird 82876-60088-2
Swing Music was Popular Music in
the 1930s. and Hollywood jumped
on trends even then. so many artists
appeared in films and shore sub·
jects. These clips are the source of
most of the 30-40 minute DVD
special extra added free bonus
gifts". It's interesting, though, that
it's CD packaging, with the visuals
tossed in. Other than Ellington and
maybe Basie, black anists fared
less well. and the Hawkins material
is from TV in the '50s.
A slight drawback in preparing Belgian concert.
"greatest performances" packages
is that you 're restricted to the
vault of one company, which
means that label-hopping artists
leave their offerings scauered
about. Still, in the swing era there
were fewer labels, and RCA and
Bluebird were major, so things
aren't too bad wi1h this series.
Coleman Hawkins is the most-affected,
but his smash Body and Soul
of 1939 is here. along with a
strings-laden 1956 vers . ion. Solos
with McKinney·s Couon Pickers,
Mound City Blut: Blowers (a great
integrated studio jam from 1929),
Fletcher Henderson and all-star
sessions add up to a 70-minute feast
of the first great tenor man of jazz.
As "The King of Swing'' Benny
Goodman was a huge star in the
'30s and '40s with his earliest success
documented by RCA, and
good choices were made for this
release. Big band hits prevail (King
Porter Sromp, Goodbye. Bugle Call
Rag). but there are small group
things (Body and Soul, Opus) and
guest appearances on sideman sessions
by Gene Krupa and Lionel
Hampton. The accompanying DVD
for this one is the most diverse, with
movie and TV clips and even some
documentary footage of a 1966
Another clarinetist, Artie Shaw,
bumped Goodman from the top by
the late 1930s by virtue of his
smoother style, both musically and
personally.
Begin The Beguine.
Frenesi and Swr Dusr represent the
big band hits, and the Gramercy
Five is represented by Summit
Ridge Drive and The Grabtown
Grapple. Radio airchecks stand
beside srudio recordings, showing
how jazz can come alive with an
audience.
A handsome and intelligent man,
he was a prototype for today's tabloid
stars: successful, rich and oflmarried.
However, he walked
away from fame and fortune by
the mid- I 950s, unsatisfied in most
every way, it would seem from his
life-long crankiness. An interesting
2001 interview taped to accompany
an earlier boxed-set release
is the most interesting part of the
video, as he honestly discusses art
vs. popularity and success itself.
The whole "Centennial Collection"
is nicely packaged with de·
tailed and informative booklets.
and excellent sound transfers. If
you're looking for overviews of
artists' careers you'll be satisfied
with this series.
The Piano
Hcrbie Hancock
Ted O'Reilly
Columbia/Legacy CK 87083
This lovely release, making its first
appearance outside of Japan, is
pretty much self-describing: Herbie
Hancock, and a piano.
Recorded direct-Lo-disc 26 years
ago, "The Piano" is transitional
technically, commercially and personally,
for Hancock.
On Lhe technical side, analog
tape and vinyl had prelly much
reached its limitations, yet digital
recording was not yet perfected
and the CD was still in the future.
On the business side, corporations
were looking for a Sales
Hook. Direct-to-disc, even with all
irs limitations had one benefit: only
the best musicians were wanted on
the studio side of the glass.
Enter Hancock, ready to take on
a new challenge after years with
Miles Davis, leader projects, the
all-star VSOP band and duets with
Chick Corea. He was ultra familiar
with the material, having played
My F111111y Vale111i11e. On Green
Dolphin Streer and Someday My
Prince Will Come so often with
Davis. Originals made up side rwo:
Harvesr Time, Sonrisa, Manha11a11
Island and Blue Orarzi.
This was Herbie's lirst real solo
piano album, and he came through
shiningly, meeting all the measures.
The music's bluesy, boum;y
or beautiful as needed. Four alternative
takes (the three Davis selections
and Harvest Time) are wor-
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DECEMBER 1 2004 - FESl\UARY 7 2005