JOHN BUNGEY’S SELECTIONS
The Monk and the Mermaid: The Song of Charles Lloyd (Picture above)
Saxophonist Charles Lloyd is the colour supplements’ idea of a veteran jazz hipster, an idea reinforced by the wizened shaman tootling his flute on a balmy seashore as this 2009 French documentary opens. But this profile of a fascinating figure, whose story takes in B.B. King, Keith Jarrett, Hendrix, Ornette Coleman, Coltrane and Michel Petrucciani, is well told as he travels from flower-power Sixties sensation to elder statesmen.
Esbjörn Svensson: A Portrait
“In their last year they did 32 shows in the US … they were catching up on Keith Jarrett and Pat Metheny. They would have been one of those massive acts that does the business,” says the former manager of Esbjörn Svensson’s piano trio, EST. Talking to bandmates and his wife, this poignant Swedish documentary profiles the pianist whose group seemed on the verge of global success when Svensson died tragically while diving in 2008.
Chick Corea: The Musician
While Qwest seems to have one Keith Jarrett show (which is on YouTube anyway), it is liberally stuffed with Corea choices. Of some 15 films, a good start is this documentary about the making of the pianist’s all-star 70th New York birthday shows in 2011 (if you bought the deluxe edition of the Musician album you’ll already know it). John McLaughlin, Eddie Gomez, Gary Bartz, Bobby McFerrin and Jack deJohnette are among those playing or talking, or both.
Aretha Franklin: Live in Paris
The queen of soul (picture above) in roof-raising form at the Palais des Sports in 1977 with costume changes and hits a go go – You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman, Midnight Train to Georgia, Rock Steady and Respect (that one oddly rushed). Showing her range, she also delivers a swinging Singin’ in the Rain and La Vie en Rose. Talent-show shriekers, watch and wonder.
Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin – Live at Oslo Jazz Festival
Fancy some Zen funk post-jazz? OK, the way Bärtsch’s band dispenses with melody to concentrate on mesmerically overlaying grooves is not to all tastes but this seems fantastic post-pub jazz telly to me. Ronin’s rhythms swim around the ears in beguiling fashion (especially for the lightly refreshed) as the players slowly build towards a Steve Reich-meets-James Brown climax. The dim club lighting makes no concession to the film crew.
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah: The Centennial Trilogy
Over a fusillade of broken beats and hip-hop rhythms the New Orleans trumpeter unveils “stretch music” – stretching the rhythms, harmonies and melodies of jazz. Recorded in 2018 and celebrating the music’s first century this is a credible vision of what the second century might bring. Marvel at the leader’s self-designed angled bell trumpet, marvel also at his haircut, the sharpest on Qwest. There’s a good show from a 2013 line-up also available.
Wayne Shorter Quartet: The Language of the Unknown
Back to Paris for a fascinating peek into the mighty brain of Wayne Shorter, set around a concert at the Salle Pleyel in 2012. “There has to be mystery,” the saxophonist says, “we have to play like we don’t know everything.” Pianist Danilo Perez talks about dealing with instructions such as “Put some water in that chord.” When Perez tells the bandleader that he has had an out of body experience improvising with the group, Shorter isn’t surprised: “With Miles Davis we were flying all the time.”
Thelonious Monk 1963
Admire the woolly hat, the sharp suit and the shuffle-dancing. Two cameras on the Brussels stage capture the flowering of a wayward talent as the world catches on to Thelonious Monk. The material is Monk’s Dream and Criss Cross era – so Bye Ya, Epistrophy and Nutty played by a crack bop quartet for a demure but enthusiastic Belgian audience. With one camera right by Frankie Dunlop’s drum set you get a close-up view of the motor propelling Monk’s dissonant magic.
Ibrahim Maalouf at the Arènes de Nîmes
Roland Kirk Quartet – RTBF Archives 1964
Roland Kirk (picture above) armed with instruments performing with an excellent local lineup of pianist George Gruntz, bassist Guy Pedersen and drummer Daniel Humair They play a half hour set that includes a fine version of ‘Milestones’. The RBTF Archives reveals plenty of gems, as well as Brubeck, M.J.Q., Monk and many more there’s a great Bobby Jaspar and René Thomas Quintet to be found.
IF – Live in 1972
Also from the RBTF Archive comes a very pleasant surprise – Terry Smith, Dave Quincy, Dick Morrisey et al in full jazz rock mode. Although the quality of the colour presentation and graphics show their age in a way black and white doesn’t seem to do somehow, the music still stands up well and, as you would expect with such a lineup, the playing is excellent.
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News piece on recent press conference
Categories: Features/Interviews
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