B.B. King: In France – Live at the 1977 Nancy Pulsations Festival (Deep Digs 004)
“Ladies and gentlemen, the king of the blues, Mr. B.B. King!” rang the introduction on tour of the most successful blues artist of all time, doing approximately 250 shows every year. Considering King”s charisma and universal appeal, not to mention his unique tone, one can’t but fully agree on him carrying the crown, still undisputed 10 years after his passing in 2015, regardless of preferences. I’ve been lucky to see him proudly carry it around three times. My initiation into the live realm of B.B. King in 1989 was rather unforgettable.
It’s probably a sentiment that’s also familiar to audience members who were present at King’s show in Nancy, France in 1977, dug from the vaults by Zev Feldman’s Deep Digs label. I was barely three years old then, ignorant of B.B. King’s 52. King kickstarted his career in the early 1950s and reached the top in the late 60s/early 70s after his crossover to, in that order, counterculture and general white audiences. King’s performance at the festivities surrounding the Rumble In The Jungle fight between Ali and Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaïre was a highlight so far in his career.
King and his band don’t waste any time, both in high gear. King thrives on razor-sharp horn jabs, the solid beat, accents and loud/soft dynamic of drummer Calep Emphrey Jr., factually the band’s conductor. King alternates perennial favourites such as Caldonia, Sweet Little Angel and The Thrill Is Gone (he never seemed to tire of those) with new material, notably the uptempo I Like To Live The Love and Stevie Wonder’s To Know You Is To Love You, soul-blues at its best.
Although the abundance of slow blues holds few surprises, it’s a part of the game that King expresses to perfection, and a part that cuts to the bone, arguable more so through his guitar work than through his singing. Gospel-blues Have Faith is my album highlight, almost as hot and buoyant and intense as his (impossible-to-beat) eponymous Blues Is King gig from 1967, when he was on the cusp of breakthrough, king of the chitlin’ circuit blues. Somewhat the king of the archival business, Feldman has remained true to his high standards and produced a release that scores four stars on sound, design and information.
Edgar van Asselt: Major League (Left to Write Music 20242)
Major League is a reissue of Van Asselt’s Checkin’ The Vibes from 1997, when neo-tradition and the resurgence of soul jazz reached its peak. Van Asselt led a promising group including trumpeter Ruud Breuls and saxophonist Miguel Martinez – a side project of a versatile pianist immersed in both tradition and Caribbean music and a prolific educator and social entrepreneur. Last year, Van Asselt released The Gentle Insult featuring ace drummer Jorge Rossy.
In the slipstream of the frontrunners like Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton and Eric Alexander, Van Asselt put his stamp on 60s jazz culture with flair. Though it presents an abundance of funk – the opening boogaloo track instilled a fear into this reviewer of being caught up in a forgettable roots date – Major League is far from corny, chock-full of excellent solos that imbue both gospel romps such as Harlem Sunday and sassy tunes reminding of Bobby Timmons et al such as Dial B For Blue with plenty of depth.
Waltz For Wayne is homage not only in words (Shorter, obviously) but in notes as well – note the nocturnal vibe and angular harmonic shifts. Bittersweet Breuls plays the leading role in the lovely ballad Song For Suzanne, a beautiful mixture of Kenny Dorham and Chet Baker. Van Asselt clearly had a good thing going on, an energetic band with top-rate repertory.
Dayna Stephens: Hopium (Contagious Music 010)
Consistently at the forefront of cutting-edge jazz, Dayna Stephens is known both for high-quality contributions to records and shows of Ambrose Akinmusire, Gerald Clayton and Taylor Eigsti and an excellent string of solo records since 2007, two of those featuring pianist Brad Meldhau. Hopium is already the saxophonist’s 13th album. In this case, 13 is not an unlucky number. The correlation between hope and opium implied by the album title is reflected succinctly by the music, a deft blend of stormy weather and foreboding calm.
The title song is at once dramatic and frivolous, curiously not unlike Balkan folk, bursting with emotive battles between Stephens and drummer Gregory Hutchinson. Semi-free passages – present in both the suite-like Occasionally Cynical and the sweeping melody line Drive North To Find The Oranges Out West – benefit from similarly intense interaction, prompted in no small doses by the misterioso lines of pianist Aaron Parks – passages that remain coherent regardless of outlandish tendencies.
This tight-knit band, which also includes bassist Ben Street completing the all-star line-up, is perfectly suited to perform this kind of charged jazz on the cutting face of mysticism and inner-city angst and expectations.
