SF Jazz Collective [Live]

Amazon.com
In 2002, tenor/soprano saxophonist Joshua Redman moved back to his native Bay Area, became the Spring Season Artistic Director of the non-profit SFJAZZ organization, and formed an octet: the SF Jazz Collective. Their blazing, Millennium swing is evident on their debut CD, recorded in 2004. The rhythm section, drummer Brian Blade, bassist Robert Hurst, and pianist Renee Rosnes, buoys Redman's Shorter-by-Henderson improvisations, alto saxophonist/flutist Miguel Zenon's angular phrases, trumpeter Nicholas Payton's Crescent City cries, trombonist Josh Roseman’s buttery tones, and vibraphonist/marimba virtuoso Bobby Hutcherson's oblique lines. There are four original selections and three of Ornette Coleman's free-jazz/harmolodic classics: "Peace," "When Will the Blues Leave," and "Una Muy Bonita," pulsed by Blades infectious, Louisiana licks. Released simultaneously with Redman’s Momentum CD, by his fusion-friendly Elastic Band, this recording should hold off the jazz police, who stand ready to charge the multi-faceted Redman with losing his well-earned jazz cred. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Product Description
The debut of the SFJazz Collective, under the artistic direction of saxophonist and Nonesuch artist Joshua Redman, was one of the most eagerly anticipated jazz events of 2004. As part of the SFJazz Organization's spring concert series, Bay Area native Redman brought together seven other jazz masters from all over America to form a multi-generation super-group that the San Francisco Chronicle called "an exceptionally gifted and varied cast of musicians."

Tracks:

Moment's Notice
Naima
Scrambled Eggs
Half Full
2 And 2
Crescent
Africa
Development

Customer Reviews:

A Great Octet.......2007-03-03

This album is a very good example of live modern jazz. All the players are in great form, especially Nicholas Peyton.He is a great jazz trumpeter. Favourite track is the final offering, 'Development', credited to the drummer Eric Harland. The intro really annoys me (whooping sounds by some of the octet), but once it gets going it's awesome.

Hope they tour outside of the USA. I'd love to see them in Australia.

SF Jazz Collective.......2007-03-01

BE AWARE this is only a 1 disc compilation. This is a great selection of the material commisioned, and covered in the 2nd season. All the selections are Live performances and are nothing less than greatness.

Top-notch.......2007-01-21

The SF Jazz Collective continues to march on, this time focusing on John Coltrane. The opener, "Moment's Notice" is a barnstormer, followed by another Coltrane song, "Naima". Bobby Hutcherson's vibe solo is the centerpiece of the song. The lineup has a few changes -- Isaac Smith on trombone, Matt Penman on bass, and Eric Harland on drums are the new guys. Nicholas Payton penned "Scrambled Eggs", which as the name implies has some odd-sounding lines in it. It then settles into a 4/4 groove with Payton then Rosnes soloing. "Half Full" is a Redman composition, with a melody that could have fit into his "Mood Swings" CD. "2 and 2" is a wistful-sounding Zenon song, and he takes the first solo. As the song evolves, it ends with a drum solo over a two-note bass ostinato. "Crescent", a Coltrane song, is something of a let-down compared to the others. Coltrane's "Africa" picks things up, since it has a more memorable melody, and then a nice Redman solo. "Development" starts off a little silly, with the collective making vocal percussive noises. The initial melody is played with too much hesistation for my taste, although the song develops and ends with a more confident, assertive version of the melody. This is a very good CD, one of the best ones to come out in 2006. It's roughly equal in quality to the first SFJC CD, maybe the first one gets a few points for being first.

The meaningless of superlatives.......2006-03-29

With a running time of 75.30 and only 6 complete plays to listen to it, it's time to write a review to try and persuade the unconvinced that though it will take a lot more plays before it reveals all its secrets, this is a must have recording in a world where the phrase 'must have' is overused. With four John Coltrane tracks (1,2,6&7) and four original compositions from the ensemble this showcases both the collective an individual expertise of all 8 players, and the remarkable job that Gil Goldstein has done as an arranger for all 8 tracks. If you're familiar with the Coltrane tracks it would be invidious to try and compare these versions with the originals. What each provides is a reconstruction of the basic form by an octet who meld together to produce something which is faithful to the original and yet leads the composition off in new directions. All the tracks work well, but for me the one that stands out is also the longest "Africa" which clocks in at 14.04 and allows the theme to be developed fully. Of the ensemble written tracks Nicholas Peyton's "Scrambled Eggs" which starts off with what I can only describe as a 'scrunch' of brass with Payton (who is on absolutely scintilating form throughout the whole album) and Renee Rosnes playing a pivotal part in its development.Miguel Zenon's "2 and 2" gives a chance for some great interplay and some wonderful vibes playing from Bobby Hutcherson. If there is one aspect of the album that disappoints it's that there is not a more prominent part for Isaac Smith's wonderfully fluid trombone playing (however he's been replaced by Andre Hayward for the forthcoming tour) but otherwise this is a recording for which I run out superlatives.Two final thoughts - the album is 'live' and the performances must have been astounding. The best reason to buy it is that I doubt - even at this early stage of the year - that there'll be another fully rounded JAZZ album this year which will continue to unravel in so many layers.

Average customer rating:

An All Star Group That Really WORKS
Landmark
Harmonic Manipulations on a Beat by Blade
Music for the ages

SF Jazz Collective
SF Jazz Collective
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Live Albums | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

SF Jazz Collective, Vol. 2
Momentum
Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall
Underground
Beyond the Sound Barrier

ASIN: B000927638
Release Date: 2005-05-24

Tracks:

Lingala
Peace
Of This Day's Journey
When Will the Blues Leave
Rise And Fall
Una Muy Bonita
March Madness

Amazon.com

In 2002, tenor/soprano saxophonist Joshua Redman moved back to his native Bay Area, became the Spring Season Artistic Director of the non-profit SFJAZZ organization, and formed an octet: the SF Jazz Collective. Their blazing, Millennium swing is evident on their debut CD, recorded in 2004. The rhythm section, drummer Brian Blade, bassist Robert Hurst, and pianist Renee Rosnes, buoys Redman's Shorter-by-Henderson improvisations, alto saxophonist/flutist Miguel Zenon's angular phrases, trumpeter Nicholas Payton's Crescent City cries, trombonist Josh Roseman's buttery tones, and vibraphonist/marimba virtuoso Bobby Hutcherson's oblique lines. There are four original selections and three of Ornette Coleman's free-jazz/harmolodic classics: "Peace," "When Will the Blues Leave," and "Una Muy Bonita," pulsed by Blades infectious, Louisiana licks. Released simultaneously with Redman's Momentum CD, by his fusion-friendly Elastic Band, this recording should hold off the jazz police, who stand ready to charge the multi-faceted Redman with losing his well-earned jazz cred. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Album Description

The debut of the SFJazz Collective, under the artistic direction of saxophonist and Nonesuch artist Joshua Redman, was one of the most eagerly anticipated jazz events of 2004. As part of the SFJazz Organization's spring concert series, Bay Area native Redman brought together seven other jazz masters from all over America to form a multi-generation super-group that the San Francisco Chronicle called "an exceptionally gifted and varied cast of musicians."

Customer Reviews:

An All Star Group That Really WORKS.......2005-09-16

SFJazz is a wonderful interesting cd in the collaborative spirit of Mingus and the more recent Dave Holland Group. The heroes are the compositions and arrangements. The band indulges in group improvisation, colors and shading and point counterpoint rather than the individual solos and the head. It works and it works very well. I've been pretty leary of "all star" meetings lately with the awful Saxaphone Summitt, Directions in Music and Wayne Shorter's terribly overated and incoherent all star band in Footprints Live and Beyond the Sound Barrier that have been puffed up by critics and loving fans of the individual personalities. Too often excellent players are playing excellently just not with each other. The SF Jazz Collective works because it is "a band" in a similar way that the fantastic collaborations within the Jazz Composer's Collective[Ben Allison,Ted Nash, Michael Blake,etc.] shine bright in modern jazz. The MVP's of this team seem to be the interesting compositions by Miguel Zenon [also great in his cd Jibaro]and the wonderful Bobby Hutcherson. They contribute the best compositions along with 3 quirky Ornette Coleman tunes. I seem to only enjoy Coleman's tunes when they're not played by Ornette. All the players contribute and all the tunes work to varying degrees. By the way as a "live " concert the sound and mix is fantastic. Congrats to Joshua and the gang for an experiment that was a terrific sucess. Reccommended.

Landmark.......2005-08-22

This is a stunning live recording and is one of the best new releases I have heard since I began listening to jazz 10 years ago. First, the playing, and especially the compositions, are top notch. The compositions by Zenon and Rosnes are so beautiful and rousing that at points in both pieces I practically feel like bounding out of my chair to join the crowd in whooping and cheering. But what makes this a landmark recording, in my opinion, is the paradigm established by Redman and the SFJazz folks. With an octet, they've chosen a mid way between the big band and small group configurations...a mid way that allows for a lot of freedom but features the colors and background riffs that make big band music so appealing. AND, most importantly, the paradigm emphasizes composition and allows the octet to have workshop time to refine the composing process within a group context. For jazz to move forward, I believe it's going to be on the shoulders of composers..this is where the music has been lacking (with notable exceptions of course) with the demise of tin pan alley. Anyway, I love this release and heartily recommend it.

p.s. the recording engineers did an excellent job--the instruments are well balanced and vibrant and, unlike a lot of live recordings, the bass is clearly heard and defined. Icing on the cake.

Harmonic Manipulations on a Beat by Blade.......2005-05-27

Jazz is a very broad field. You have musicians such as David Sandborn and Bob James who continue to merge the fields of popluar music and jazz. In another corner, musicians like Keith Jarrett and Don Pullen (RIP) take away most theroretical components of music and construct masterpieces based on thier 'stream of consciousness'.

In yet another corner of the jazz dechohedron (10-sided), there are music ensembles that work to add a symphonic and atmospheric quality to the music. Such albums demostrating this quality were the bread of Gil Evans and can be found in the recordings of Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, Coral by David Sanchez, and in the SF Jazz Collective.

Note: This is a 'Greatest Hits' disc of thier first season. The complete first season is available on sfjazz.org. It features around 15 cuts taking a monsterously long 3 hours to preform (each song adveraging 10-15 minutes).

This album is not bop, progressive, avante garde, or big band. It's just music (see my review of Coral for more information into what I mean by 'just music'). The tonal quality is serene, airy, and rhythmically 'jaunty'. There are a good number of meter and key changes that catch you off-guard but work very well.

Listen to Lingala by Miguel Zenon. The group shows what they have to offer in this performance. I'm constantly setting track 1 on repeat as this is to me the best on the disc (if they really want me to get the 3-disc set, make this years or next years 'artist of concentration' Latin-American). It swings and has power behind it. The horns are bright and in sync harmonically and metergically.

Other points of interest are Rise and Fall and Of This Day's Journey. The Ornette Coleman pieces, to me, sound like they did originally: a bit 'muero'. However, Una Muy Bonita does have some Samba flare to it.

The album over all gets four stars. I love the music by the members but the Ornette leave me a bit chilled (as Ornette does to me in general).

This group provides harmonic manipulations on a Beat by Blade.
Well worth the $15. Better yet, the 3-CD set is worth the $35.

Music for the ages.......2005-05-25

The SF Jazz Collective, brainchild of founder and executive director Randall Kline and artistic director Joshua Redman, has come up with something spectacular.

The idea here is simple, but one that has seldom if ever been applied to jazz: find a younger established but adventurous musician, make him artistic director and give him the power to select a continuing group of players, fund them to write and practice, and then send them on the road. Lots of potential pitfalls there--will the musicians mesh, will too much practice make them sound precise but stilted, how will they fit this work in with other gigs--but this group has seemingly managed to avoid them all. Having the luxury of three weeks to practice--something unheard of in jazz--enables them to achieve the exact right balance between precision and spontaneity.

An additional idea is for the group to select one major jazz figure per year on whose music to concentrate. The initial selection of Ornette Coleman was a wise choice: he's modern, but approachable; well-known, but not overexposed; melodic, but quirky; and he's had a deep impact on lots of current younger jazz men and women. This disc contains three Coleman songs and four group originals. Somewhat surprising to me is that the originals are every bit as strong and stirring as the Coleman numbers, seeing as the group had the vast spectrum of the Coleman canon to choose from. Especially wonderful are Miguel Zenon's snappy "Lingala" and Renee Rosnes's "Of This Day's Journey."

An octet of mostly younger players--Joshua Redman (artistic director, tenor and soprano sax), Miguel Zenon (alto sax, flute), Nicholas Payton (trumpet), Josh Roseman (trombone), Renee Rosnes (piano), Robert Hurst (bass), Brian Blade (drums)--the ringer is old guy Bobby Hutcherson on vibes and marimba. Including him was a brilliant choice. Still at the top of his game as a mallet player, he brings both stability and added coloration, broadening out the proceedings away from a hackneyed post-bop direction and toward a welcome world jazz course.

There aren't a lot of precedents for this music, but Wayne Shorter's Alegria and Michael Brecker's Wide Angle operate in somewhat similar territory, each with adventurous writing and distinct coloration. What's different is that this isn't either a core of musicians augmented by additional players (Alegria) or a one-off project (Wide Angles): this is a real band. Consequently, everything seems to be working at a higher level--group conversation, compositional and arranging ingenuity, ensemble voicings, and soloing.

This is simply wonderful music, brilliantly conceived, played, and recorded. Certainly among the very top releases of 2005.

Average customer rating:

III C
President's Breakfast
Manufacturer: Disc Lexia
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00021RGEA
Release Date: 2002-01-15

Tracks:

What If....
Giants
Keyhole
Dub Catapult
Love Supreme I
Love Supreme II
Love Supreme III
Extenuating Circumstances
Rooscus Brothers
Restless One
What If...
What If...
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake
Samples, You May Partake

Product Description

Jazz funk on a dub production tip. A collective of some of the SF Bay Areas best Jazz and Funk players under the direction of Click Dark. TRACKS 1. What If... (Kevin Cooper) 2. Giants 3. Keyhole 4. Dub Catapult 5. Love Supreme I 6. Love Supreme II 7. Love Supreme III 8. Extenuating Circumstances 9. Rooscus Brothers 10. Restless One 11. What If... (Mumia Abu-Jamal) 12. What If... (Inst.)

Average customer rating:

Nothing's changed, still top notch

Live 2006: 3rd Annual Concert Tour
SF Jazz Collective
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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Back East

ASIN: B000NDYX0W

Customer Reviews:

Nothing's changed, still top notch.......2007-06-02

The third edition of the SF Jazz Collective plays the songs of Herbie Hancock (and one original per member) and trades Isaac Smith for Andre Hayward on trombone. If you've heard the first two SF Jazz discs, you can predict what you're getting on the third. There's the arrangements of a jazz great, and straightforwardly great jazz playing. All of the songs are tasteful, and don't ruffle too many feathers.

Disc one starts with "Parallelogram", which takes some time to build up steam, then turns into a satisfyingly slanted song. The first thing I noticed was that these CD's will play more quietly than most, you'll want to turn the volume up on your stereo. "And What If I Don't" is, like all of the Hancock songs, a very good arrangement with melody intact and very good soloing. "Sudoko" is, like the title predicts, a tricky-sounding Payton composition. "Serene Intentions", by Hayward, has a descending melody. "Actual Proof" is the sole representative of Hancock's funky side, and the Collective keeps it fun.

Disc two opens with "Collective Overture", which has "simple melody" and "complex melody" parts sandwiched around the solos. "Maiden Voyage" has a long Hutcherson feature. "Mirror Images" has an nice evocative melody. "Imminent Treasures" is a nicely evolving Hutcherson-penned song. "Triumph" sounds at first like a fanfare, but by the third note is really quite soft. It's mostly one of the quieter songs, though there's a long section towards the end where vibes and piano play a repeating figure under a thunderous drum solo.

The two disc version is very good, I'm sure the more readily available one disc version will pare off some of the weaker songs, but you can't halve the length without removing some very good songs.

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