Jazz Meets... Gently Radical Theology?

Elise, by Norwegians Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Håkon Kornstad, is a celebration of a religiously inspired folk music tradition, and of family. That family is the eponymous Elise Flaten, whose vintage, unaccompanied recording of a simple hymn is heard on track 1 and sets the tone for what follows. The hymn, set to a folk melody, is one of a body associated with a bygone breakaway religous movement in Norway, whose philosophy of simplicity rebelled against the mainstream middle-class church. The remaining tracks are a minimalist Jazz interpretation of that hymn tradition, and by extension that philosophy and way of life. The music is heartfelt and gently radical, like the tradition that inspired it.



This is lovely stuff, slightly challenging at times, but well leavened with beauty and simple, genuine expression. Sound samples are available at Amazon.

Folk Music for the Ages

Folk Roots, New Routes is a meeting of two consummate artists who came out of the English folk tradition. Davy Graham was a highly eclectic and original guitarist, drawn to Jazz, US folk and Eastern music. Shirley Collins had quite simply one of the most beautiful, crystalline voices ever recorded (and it's interesting to note that prior to making this recording she accompanied Alan Lomax on a folk song collecting trip to the Southern United States). This mid-60's collaboration, rooted in the English folk ballad tradition, but taking in the influences mentioned above, is one for the ages.


Everything here is excellent, but some special moments for me are "Love is Pleasin'", which will move anyone who has ever lost a love; "Rif Mountain", an Eastern-flavored solo feature for Graham; and last but not least "Bad Girl", in which the words "cold as the clay" (when we realise that the protagonist is dead) never fail to send a shiver down my spine.

One of the highlights of recorded music, full stop.

EDIT: Sound samples from Amazon.com.

Blue Note Obscurities Part 1: Some Other Avant-Cool Stuff

Blue Note is an iconic record label, like Motown or Sun, and people who get into Jazz can hardly fail to discover it. The label in its lengthy heyday featured a phenomenal and stylistically varied roster of talent, but runs of albums in the Hard Bop style by the likes of Grant Green, Horace Silver, Donald Byrd, Jimmy Smith and Lee Morgan have come to define its signature sound for many. There is plenty of relatively obscure, but hardly less brilliant, music waiting for those curious enough to dig a little deeper into the catalog.



Some Other Stuff by composer and trombonist Grachan Moncur III is one such gem. Featuring a superb roster of Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, and Cecil McBee, it is part of a series of 1960's albums on Blue Note that explored what was known then as the New Thing: the Avant Garde Jazz style godfathered by Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor. The record contains four lengthy renditions of Moncur originals, which are explored in an unhurried, cool-toned yet exciting manner. It's highly original, with plenty of great moments, and it still sounds incredibly fresh and vivid.

Highly recommended for adventurous listeners.

A Tragic, Noirish Korean Whodunnit, for Mothers Everywhere

Bong Joon Hoo's Mother is a superb new film that scratches at the dark underbelly of South Korean society. The story centers around the titular mother and her mildly retarded son (there's a suggestion that her attempt years earlier at double suicide caused the retardation). A young girl is murdered after he is seen following her - he is arrested and, infinitely suggestible, he confesses. Cue mother's determined attempts to prove his innocence, which take us on a twisty, unpredictable path through some dark territory as we learn about the girl's life and the field of suspects grows.



Mother is currently available only in Korean DVD and Blu Ray editions. The (Region 3) Special Edition DVD, available here, has a top-notch print of the film and I recommend it to those DVD buyers who would prefer not to wait for a local edition (which will surely happen, given the quality of the film).

Those who have seen this director's Memories of Murder, a similarly dark opus, will know this film is not to be missed!

EDIT: This film is now available in various BD and DVD editions around the world, which may be cheaper than the Korean edition referred to above.

The Life of Chikuzan

Masahiro Shinoda is one of Japan's heavyweight film directors - I've recommended his films in this blog before. I recently enjoyed his film Chikuzan, about Chikuzan Takahashi, one of Japan's most renowned folk musicians. Chikuzan was blind from the age of two, and the film documents with pathos and humor his hardscrabble existence as a traveling musician. It features many strong female characters, and plenty of louche males - the women in Chikuzan's life are shown ultimately to be his salvation. There's plenty of gorgeous cinematography and fascinating music, and lovers of Asian traditional music or art-house cinema will not be disappointed.



Asmik's Japanese Region 2 DVD has an excellent visual presentation of the film, as is typical of Japanese DVDs. English sub-titles are available. Note that Chikuzan is presented in 4:3 aspect ratio, which means you may need to adjust a widescreen television (by selecting size 4:3) in order to view it correctly at home. The DVD is available from HMV Japan.

Steely Dan Presents...

Tenor saxophonist Pete Christlieb's 1978 album Apogee is an unusual Jazz album. Firstly, it's a great, mainstream acoustic Jazz record from a time not exactly associated with that kind of music - loud Jazz-Rock fusion, stuffed with electric instruments, and not always especially tasteful, was more the norm - and it was released on a major label no less. Secondly, it was produced by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan fame, Jazz-lovers both. The fact that Becker and Fagen got this released by Warner Brothers in 1978 had a lot to do, no doubt, with their clout at the label then. It's worth noting that Christlieb had previously played on Steely Dan's Aja - just one feature of his successful career as a studio musician (with James Brown, Tom Waits, Bobby "Blue" Bland, etc. and also as a longstanding fixture of the Saturday Night Live band).


Christlieb's co-leader on the set was Warne Marsh, a tenor-playing veteran of the Lennie Tristano cool school (Tristano was a remarkable musician, and is very much worth checking out in his own right), which makes this album something of a "two-tenor battle" in the grand tradition.

Two brilliant, under-acknowledged saxophonists with complementary styles, spurring each other on to marvelous heights of invention; some great, distinctive arrangements; a wide range of material, including a Kern/Mercer show-tune, plus material from Charlie Parker, Lennie Tristano, and Becker/Fagen; a very supportive band featuring Lou Levy on piano... Apogee is a winner, and well worth picking up.

Kaurismäki's Finnish Magic

Recommending a film that has recently won the Cannes Grand Prix (the annual festival's second most prestigious prize, behind the Palme d'Or) seems rather like blowing in the direction of a hurricane. I so much enjoyed "The Man Without a Past" from Finland's Aki Kaurismäki, however, that I can't resist adding my 2 pence worth of cheerleading. Centered amongst a lovable community of Helsinki's less fortunate denizens, it's tremendous fun, and full of bone dry humour plus infectious warmth and humanism. Darkness is not far away, however - in fact, it's instrumental to the plot - which adds depth to the film.



ICA/Optimum's R2 UK DVD is as every bit as good as this film deserves: a stable, well-defined picture with minimal artefacting.