Bass Solo

Dialogues may be one of saxophonist Lee Konitz's best albums in a discography both prolific and still expanding. The sounds of Bert van den Brink (piano), Hein Van de Geyn (bass) and Hans van Oosterhout (drums) blend perfectly with the leader's alto sax. So attractive is the sound that one hopes this session is not a one-off affair.

Charles 'Baron' Mingus - West Coast, 1945-49 (2000) {Uptown Records UPCD 27.48}
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© 1945-49, 2000 Uptown Records | UPCD 27.48
Jazz / Bop / Bass

This anthology collects a number of obscure 78s by Charles Mingus, many of which have not been reissued since they were originally released during the 1940s. Many of the vocal features are fairly traditional ballads, and Mingus was by no means an inventive lyricist, but it is the strong solos by the musicians within these tracks and the often rather progressive arrangements (even if their execution is not always perfect) that generally merit the most attention.

The double bass is an instrument that can all too often be misunderstood and is often lightly dismissed: due to its impressive size it is assumed that the instrument is only capable of ponderous, heavy, grumpy sounds. The fact that there is not a grain of truth in either of these urban myths is borne out by the double bass sonatas on the present album and the soloist, Romanian double bassist Petru Iuga: music is innate to this instrument that is anything but cumbersome; it is in fact capable of producing sensuous melodies, virtuoso forms of expression suit it just as well as contemplative ones do, and its spectrum ranges from the deepest gruff growl to the brightest, most heartfelt burst of laughter…

The tension between David Paton's pop songcraft and Billy Lyall's art rock aspirations is one of the things that made the band Pilot so interesting. Lyall left Pilot because he felt that Paton's twee power pop ditties were overshadowing his arty songs, but the split was amicable enough that his former bandmates played on his lone solo album, Solo Casting…