It's probably not good news for the jazz scene that the most exciting, buzz-inducing products to hit the market in the last few years have come from the archives. Historically, jazz has been about newness, about moving forward, and while innovation's still valued among coteries of today's artists, the fact remains that John Coltrane, dead 40 years, is more marketable than Joshua Redman, very much alive.
Joining recently unearthed audio recordings of Charlie Parker, Coltrane/Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus and a few others is a series of DVDs called Jazz Icons, by Reelin' in the Years Productions. They're handsomely packaged and intelligently annotated, but more importantly, the sound and video quality are almost always impeccable.
The company just unleashed its second batch of titles, all of them culled from black-and-white European TV shows. It follows a first round that included Art Blakey, Count Basie, Chet Baker, Monk and others. Each of these DVDs is vital in its own way — some more than others. I'm not enough of a jazz scholar to gauge which among the series is the most important, but I know which are most important to me, and I'll rank them accordingly.
John Coltrane: Live in '60, '61 & '65 — This set, clocking in at two and a quarter hours, offers a fascinating overview of Coltrane's artistic trajectory in the '60s. The first program, shot in Germany, finds the saxophonist in pre-icon status, leading Miles Davis' rhythm section through a series of close-to-the vest standards like "On Green Dolphin Street," "Walkin'" and "Hackensack." (Miles declined to show up, so Trane stepped in.) The last couple of tunes feature guest shots by sax man Stan Getz and pianist Oscar Peterson. Rare stuff, indeed.
A year and a half later, in December '61, Trane had established himself as a jazz star. Appearing on an industrial-looking set in Germany, he opens with his semi-hit "My Favorite Things," keeping it fairly in line with the recorded version. This time, he's working with his regular band: drummer Elvin Jones, pianist McCoy Tyner and bassist Reggie Workman, plus guest reed man Eric Dolphy. The gem of this set is a pell-mell "Impressions," and the bonus is a frenetic alto solo by Dolphy, valuable footage of an artist who was rarely captured on video.
The most spellbinding portion of the DVD is the 1965 Belgian concert. By this time, Trane had jumped headlong into the avant-garde and was exploring various dissonant techniques on his horn as if he were expurgating demons. The opening five-minute segment is a freewheeling tenor/drums duet in which Coltrane contorts his face and body, wrenching hard-won sounds out of his sax. Trane and company follow with the meditative ballad "Naima," which builds into a chaotic group improvisation, followed by a 20-minute "My Favorite Things," played far more aggressively than in '61, the quartet fraying and all but disintegrating, taking the music to the edge of the abyss. Classic late-period Coltrane.
Charles Mingus: Live in '64 — The bassist/composer's 1964 European tour is widely regarded as a watershed moment featuring perhaps his best band: drummer Dannie Richmond, pianist Jaki Byard, tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan and Dolphy on various reeds. This two-hour DVD captures three Scandinavian shows shot during a weeklong period.
The band chemistry is uniformly superb as the players navigate Mingus' blues-drenched compositions; the solos are consistently inspired. The tradition-in-transition aspect of Mingus' music is adroitly captured in "So Long Eric" from the second set: Byard plays a rousing, full-fisted solo pulled from the past; later, Dolphy's alto excursion is a forward-looking romp full of flurries and squeaks and angular lines.
The surprise stuff in Live in '64 is a couple of rehearsal segments: In one, the notably demanding and cranky Mingus begins to upbraid the band, then gathers himself, apologizes and calmly reiterates the arrangement. A revealing glimpse of the man behind the artist.
Duke Ellington: Live in '58 — Ellington is certainly among the most important composers in the annals of American music, but he never forgot one important thing: He was a pop artist. This hour-and-20-minute show in Amsterdam captures the legend in a familiar concert setting — performing for a well-groomed theater crowd and always entertaining them.
All the earmarks are here: the resplendent Ellington addressing the crowd; the impeccable ensemble work by his remarkable (tux-clad) band; tightly calibrated but effective solo turns by stalwarts like Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney and Clark Terry; a couple of hip (and revelatory) vocal cameos by Ozzie Bailey; an expertly paced program that includes ballads, lively swing and creamy, quasi-classical interludes, capped by a medley of hits that includes "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)," "Mood Indigo," "I Got it Bad and That Ain't Good," "Sophisticated Lady" and others. Great art that's greatly crowd-pleasing.
Sarah Vaughan: Live in '58 & '64 — She was probably the most gifted jazz vocalist ever, with a staggering range and total command over her phrasing. In these two sets, six years apart and clocking in at just over an hour, we get Vaughan backed only by a rhythm section, using her elastic voice to great effect but never undermining the melodic integrity of songs like "Lover Man," "Tenderly," "Misty," "I Feel Pretty" and others, as well as uptempo bebop workouts like "Cherokee" and "I Got Rhythm."
In the first show, shot in Holland, a 34-year-old Vaughan comes off as girlish and rather inscrutable. She wasn't inclined to the pain-baring approach of a Billie Holiday. She stands nearly stock still, her facial expression suggesting she's removed from the proceedings. In '64, closing in on 40 and wearing a Supremes-style hairdo, Vaughan shows a lot more swagger and confidence, her voice huskier and more inclined to the lower register. Each show is beguiling in its own way.
Wes Montgomery: Live in '65 — He played the hollow-body jazz guitar on par with anyone. During the '60s, Montgomery was roundly considered the best. These three shows find him performing hot-swinging, blues-informed sets with pickup rhythm sections, employing choice single-note lines and countering with his famed sliding octaves. The first segment, filmed in Holland, includes a rehearsal where the guitarist explains how he'd like to approach "The End of a Love Affair," and walks Dutch pianist Pim Jacobs through the chord changes. Montgomery comes off as the antithesis of the aloof, moody bebopper; he's genial and quick to chuckle. During the performances, the many close-ups of his hands exhibit the astounding ease with which he played.
Dexter Gordon: Live in '63 & '64 — Gordon was among the most dapper of the second-generation beboppers, so it's only fitting that the opening segment of this DVD, filmed in Holland, finds him swaggering into an intimate jazz club where his rhythm section is already playing, handing his trench coat and hat to the bartender, then strolling to the stage to strap on his tenor sax and introduce "A Night in Tunisia" with exaggerated flair. In later years, Gordon's playing would become breathy and languid, but here he attacks a series of extended solos with plenty of verve and bite. He's never been one of my favorites, so an hour-plus of his performance became something of a chore, but Gordon fans can't go wrong with this set.
Dave Brubeck: Live in '64 and '66 — A favorite of horn-rimmed-glasses-wearing college kids in the '50s and early '60s, Brubeck is one of the most filmed figures in jazz history, so this DVD doesn't feel like that much of a discovery. I've always found his music too academic and emotionally stilted to truly appreciate, and this DVD, running just over an hour, didn't change my mind. I do admit a fondness for Paul Desmond's arid tone on alto sax, though.
For more info on this DVD series, go to jazzicons.com.
This article appears in Oct 3-9, 2007.