Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Takehiro Honda: Japanese Jazz Piano Trio

I have to say that I am a huge fan of the piano trio format. In fact Bill Evans 'Sunday at The Village Vanguard' was the first Jazz album I ever owned. Ever since hearing this album, I have always taken the opportunity to buy and listen to as much piano trio jazz as I possibly can. Which takes me to my record shopping experience in Tokyo. I've always had a keen interest in Japanese jazz. From the far out realms of Kaoru Abe and Masayuki Takayanagi, Toshinori Kondo to more mainstream artists bebop influenced artists. One of the more mainstream Japanese jazz musicians I like is the relatively obscure (at least outside Japan) pianist Takehiro Honda. Takehiro sounds a little bit like Oscar Peterson, with spliced with Erroll Garner, with a pinch of Ray Bryant. His playing style isn't exactly the most unique, but it's still infused with a heavy dose of energetic bop.

I found out about him simply by chance. I was in the Jazz Disk Union store, and was looking through the Japanese Jazz section, where I came across some LPs that were extraordinarily low priced. One of these albums was Honda's "The Trio", a 1970 album priced at a remarkable 140 yen ($1.20 US). At that price, I couldn't refuse to "give it a try". Thankfully for my good fortune the LP was well worth the dollar (and a bit) I paid for it.


The Cheapest LP in Tokyo

At the same time I picked up a second album by Honda that was a little more pricey (but in better condition) at 800 yen ($6.70 US). The LP was a later album entitled "I Love You" released in 1973.


The Album Cover of "I Love You"









Sunday, November 27, 2005

Jimmy Lyons


Jimmy Lyons, a Free Jazz musician that reads sheet music!
Jimmy Lyons holds a unique place in the crossbridge between bebop and free jazz. As a young man he was friends with such Bebop musicians as Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Elmo Hope. These early jazz associations clearly had an effect on his future playing style. Chris Kelsey suggests that Lyons' "slippery, bop-derived rhythms and melodic contours" are more reminiscent of Charlie Parker than his contemporary free jazz entourage. Lyons bridges the jazz/free jazz divide and acts as suggested by Eugene Chadbourne as a "thinking man's Charlie Parker".

Only a month ago I was in Tokyo, Japan as part of my world "Record Collecting" trip. The record stores in Tokyo were quite amazing, and I spent a good deal of money buying records there. Amongst one of my best finds was an original copy of Jimmy Lyons' debut album as a leader "Other Afternoons". It features an all-star free jazz band, that included Lester Bowie (of Art Ensemble of Chicago fame) on Trumpet, Alan Silva on Double Bass, Andrew Cyrille on Drums and Lyons leading the band on Saxophone.

BYG/Actuel was a record label that issued some of the best and most unusual/experimental jazz music in history.

The song I have used to backup my following comments, is the second on side one. It's title is "Premonitions". In the song Lyons and Bowie challenge each other, pushing the boundaries. Alan Silva is featured in an amazingly beautiful plucked bass solo by Alan Silva. There is also a short solo by Lyons playing on top of Alan Silva's bowed bass, and Andrew Cyrille's snare drumming.

Jimmy Lyons - Premonitions



The band in action

Chris Kelsey's Jimmy Lyons Biography

Eugene Chadbourne's Review of "Other Afternoons"

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Hypochristmutreefuzz

Hello an welcome to "Hypochristmutreefuzz",

Hypochristmutreefuzz is a blog dedicated to the discussion and criticism of music and film.

Some of you may be wondering what exactly "Hypochristmutreefuzz" means. Its origins stem from a composition by Dutch free jazz musician Misha Mengelberg. It was featured on Eric Dolphy's "Last Date", a brilliant album recorded in 1964 that featured Dolphy playing among two revolutionary European jazz fingers. The emerging Misha Mengelberg and his partner in crime drummer Han Bennink. The composition itself is greatly influencfed by Thelonious Monk, with a slightly more avant-garde edge. Imagine a crossbreed between Monk and Cecil Taylor. Dolphy plays the bass clarinet, an instrument not widely used in jazz music then and now. His solo is full of zestful expressionism, improvising in style that has not been emulated since. Indeed it was a tragedy that Dolphy died only 27 days after the recording.

Eric Dolphy - Hypochristmutreefuzz






















Eric Dolphy and

Misha Mengelberg [Jazzarchieve of Paul Karting]

For more info on Eric Dolphy please visit this website
http://adale.org/Discographies/EDIntro.HTML

It's a very valuable source of information on who I consider to be the greatest jazz musician of them all.