Jazz CDs
Jazz CDs
by Fergus Barrowman
OVER THE FENCE, Alan Broadbent Trio (Ode). Kiwi Alan Broadbent has been based in Los Angeles for nearly 40 years. He is best known to New Zealand jazz fans for his work as pianist and arranger with Charlie Haden, Diana Krall and many others. For anyone inspired by his Queen’s Birthday gong to check out his own music, this mid-price reissue is a great place to start. Recorded in Auckland in 1990 with Angeleno Putter Smith on bass and local Frank Gibson on drums, it showcases Broadbent’s buoyant playing and his preference for performing as a trio rather than in front of a rhythm section. Insightful new liner notes by Phil Broadhurst tell you just what he does to make standards like Groovin’ High sound fresh, and also draw your attention to the quality of the five Broadbent original compositions.
PRESENT TENSE, James Carter (Emarcy). James Carter was King of the Tenors through the 1990s, but has been quiet in the past few years, perhaps because of the jazz recording industry’s commercial woes. Present Tense is like a stake in the shifting sands: 10 tunes that run through a diversity of styles and allow him to show off all his horns in an exhibition of thrilling playing. At one extreme is the bracing Bro Dolphy, at the other a lyrical reading of the standard Tenderly. A genuinely exciting mainstream CD.
I AM I AM, JD Allen (Sunnyside). JD Allen, like Carter from Detroit, is an emerging saxophonist heard here on a brilliant trio CD that has something of the energy of the John Coltrane quartet with McCoy Tyner laying out. Allen is also a promising writer, as evidenced by these 10 concise, song-like numbers. This is one of a series of excellent recent releases from the (to quote its publicity) relaxed independent Sunnyside, which has nevertheless been quick to exploit the digital revolution. So if you prefer not to wait for your special order, the label’s music is instantly available from the usual legal sources.
