Jazz guitar is one of my main loves, whether it’s Eddie Lang’s work with Bing Crosby in the early ’30s or Rick McRae playing at an Austin restaurant next week. But to be honest, much of what I hear these days bores me. Too much is an empty display of chops or arrangements that lack imagination and personality. Thankfully, some new music avoids those pitfalls.
Equally at home playing bebop or Brazilian jazz, Israeli Yotam Silberstein surrounded himself with a hard-to-top group of jazz stalwarts for Standards. Tenor saxophonist George Coleman was a member of the early-’60s Miles Davis Quintet, drummer Billy Hart is an alumnus of Davis’ early-’70s albums, and bassist John Patitucci has worked with Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and Michael Brecker, among numerous others.
Appropriately, one of the standards getting a brisk workout is “Little Willie Leaps,” written by Davis and recorded by Charlie Parker. Everyone solos on Tommy Flanagan’s “Eclypso,” with Hart’s tom-toms supplying a Latin groove before lifting to swing rhythm.
Coleman guests on his angular composition “Lo-Joe” and the ballad “Never Let Me Go.” The test of any standard is to give your own spin, and with the latter that’s a tall order in light of great existing interpretations by Dinah Washington, Bill Evans, and Nat King Cole. But Coleman weaves around the melody beautifully as Silberstein supports with lush chords and a succinct solo. Silberstein’s music is new to me, though this is his tenth album as a leader, and he has recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Monty Alexander, and others. I intend to dig deeper into his catalog.
When one thinks of Latin jazz, it’s usually bossa nova from Brazil, and I’ll use the cliché “close enough for jazz” to include this next artist. Millions of listeners were introduced to Cuban “son” music in the ’90s by the Buena Vista Social Club and tres player Eliades Ochoa. But, Kiki Valera’s family pre-dated that phenomenon on the important 1987 compilation Antologia Integral Del Son Volumen.
Vacilon Santiaguero by Kiki Valera y Su Son Cubano is Valera’s second U.S. release after years as director and fourth-generation member of La Familia Valera Miranda. The repertoire is spirited and infectious, featuring Valera’s virtuoso picking on cuatro – a four-course guitar, as opposed to the three courses of the tres. He also plays bass, and the rest of the group consists of trumpets and lots of percussion (conga, bongos, claves, maracas), with lead vocalist Carlos Cascante of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra.
Stretching the jazz theme undoubtedly outside the genre is Woody Jackson. In addition to two solo albums, the guitarist/producer/composer has recorded with singer/violinist Petra Haden (on their 2008 duo album Ten Years), Hotel X, Money Mark, Doyle Bramhall II, Daniel Johnston, Eleni Mandell, and David Holmes (on the soundtrack for Ocean’s Thirteen). He was also a member of Friends Of Dean Martinez with steel-guitarist Bill Elm, with whom he composed music for video games including “Red Dead Redemption.” His work with Daniel Lanois for “Red Dead Redemption 2” won the 2018 Game Awards for Best Score/Music.
Jackson owns Electro-Vox Recording Studio in Hollywood, a facility that houses his mind-boggling array of vintage guitars, amps, pedals, keyboards, and things like the drum kit previously belonging to Jim Gordon of Derek & the Dominos. He also owns several instruments that belonged to L.A. studio legend Bob Bain, including a ’32 Gibson L-5. On his 50th birthday, his wife, Sharon, gave him the gift of a lifetime – the ’53 Telecaster Bain played on Henry Mancini’s themes for The Pink Panther movie and “Peter Gunn” TV series. As Jackson says, “She pulled off the unattainable dream.” It was featured in VG’s May ’12 cover story.
Besides Mancini, Jackson’s influential film scorers include Ennio Morricone’s spaghetti Westerns, Angelo Badalamenti’s work on “Twin Peaks,” and Masaru Sato (Throne Of Blood, Yojimbo). One of his favorite jazz guitarists is Gabor Szabo. The 54-year-old describes the style of his new solo effort, Cowboy Yoga, as “ambient Western.” In addition to the Bain ’53, he plays mandocello, six-string bass, vibraphone, Guitorgan, cello, and viola da gamba.
An unabashed minimalist, Jackson says, “I love to write music that makes musicians play less.” So who better to add to the mix than Bill Frisell (VG, July ’24), another guitarist with an appreciation for space? Also guesting is the unpredictable Marc Ribot. All three guitarists intertwine on “Theodora Roosevelt,” with at least one sounding backward. The title track features Frisell’s specialty, folk-jazz. It’s a study in theme and variation, with drummer Jay Bellerose and bassist Jennifer Condos slowly building dynamics.
Speaking of slowness, Friends Of Dean Martinez hardly ever did an uptempo song. Their 1997 album, Retrograde, has one cha-cha, a swinging shuffle, and 10 slow numbers. I highly recommend it.
This article originally appeared in VG’s November 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
