Enj Sociiety

Barbara Dennerlein - That's Me (1992) {Enja Records ENJ-7043 2}
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© 1992 Enja Records | ENJ-7043 2
Jazz / Third Stream / Jazz Funk / Post Bop / Hammond B3 Organ

By adding synthesizers and MIDI to her sound, Dennerlein has largely escaped from the dominant Jimmy Smith influence that buries most organists' potential musical personalities. With the exception of the somewhat overblown "Love Affair - The Ballad," she excels on the swinging set, holding her own with such extroverted soloists as trombonist Ray Anderson, tenor-saxophonist Bob Berg and guitarist Mitch Watkins; drummer Dennis Chambers completes the quintet.

Elvin Jones - Going Home (1993) {Enja ENJ-7095 2}
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© 1993 Enja Records | ENJ-7095 2
Jazz / Post Bop / Drums

On Elvin Jones' third Enja CD of the 1990s, the legendary drummer continues with the same formula used on his previous recording, Youngblood, with one exception. Jones adds the veteran Chicago pianist Willie Pickens to a group of younger players – trumpeter Nicholas Payton, saxophonists Javon Jackson and Ravi Coltrane, flutist Kent Jordan, and bassist Brad Jones – as they perform a program of standards and originals powered by Jones' always dynamic drumming.

Elvin Jones - Youngblood (1992) {Enja ENJ-70512 rel 2000}
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© 1992, 2000 Enja Records | ENJ-7051 2
Jazz / Post Bop / Drums

Although this superior set features three of the top Young Lions (tenors Joshua Redman and Javon Jackson and trumpeter Nicholas Payton), along with the fine bassist George Mraz, drummer Elvin Jones, 64 at the time, sounds like the youngest member of the group. The well-rounded CD has individual features for Redman ("Angel Eyes"), Payton ("Body and Soul") and Mraz ("My Romance"), along with the leader (the unaccompanied drum solo "Ding-A-Ling-A-Ling"), and has consistently inspired playing from all of the musicians. An excellent effort.

Bobby Previte - Dangerous Rip (1998) {Enja ENJ-9324 2}
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© 1998 Enja Records | ENJ-9324 2
Jazz / Modern Postbebop / Jazz Rock / Soul Jazz / Experimental / Modern Creative

As both bandleader and sideman, drummer/composer Bobby Previte is well-known for his forays into New York downtown avant jazz, but how about avant blues-rock? Well, why not? Previte has never been one to shrink from challenging music, but he also seems inclined to want to have a jammin' good time more than many of his cohorts on the scene. And blues-based forms certainly seem ripe for investigation by someone with his sensibilities. After hearing Previte's "bar band" Latin for Travelers get down on Dangerous Rip, one wonders why others haven't thrown electric blues-rock into the avant jazz mix quite like this before.

Hal Galper - Rebop (1994) {Enja Records ENJ-9029 2}
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© 1994-95 Enja Records | ENJ-9029 2
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

On this live recording from Switzerland, the underrated pianist Hal Galper and his trio (Jeff Johnson, bass, and Steve Ellington, drums) are joined by tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi. Galper sticks to standard jazz repertoire but gives it a very personal touch, taking songs such as Johnny Mercer's "Laura" and Thelonious Monk's "Jackie-ing," and crafting new rhythmic material to enhance the familiar themes. Both Bergonzi and Ellington lay out for Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne's "It's Magic," an inspired ballad feature on which Galper slides in and out of tempo, with Johnson on bass following his every step.

Rabih Abou-Khalil - Em Português (2008) {Enja Records ENJ-9520 2}
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© 2008 Enja Records | ENJ-9520 2
Jazz / Oriental Jazz / Fado / Ethnic / Oud

Oud master Rabih Abou-Khalil has been known to mix and match various ethnic strains, but in the case of Em Portugues, he's outdone himself. The music has the obvious Middle Eastern tinge you would expect, but also sounds more like a head-on collision of fado and Hasidic or klezmer music underneath heavily sexual Brazilian sounds. What is most striking is that what Abou-Khalil has concocted sounds nothing like any of these distinct musics individually, but more a brand-new hybrid that only he could provide a definition for.

Maria Schneider Orchestra - Allégresse (2000) {Enja Records ENJ-9393 2}
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© 2000 Enja Records | ENJ-9393 2
Jazz / Modern Big Band / Experimental Big Band / Progressive Jazz

GRAMMY–NOMINATED – Best Large Jazz Ensemble Recording. There have been very few orchestral composers in jazz who achieved creative success, if only because such a combination of talents–from logistics to force of will to the openness to input from the players–is wildly rare. Maria Schneider, once a protégée of Gil Evans, has been demonstrating those talents since her orchestra's debut in 1994, Evanescence. The vagaries of big bands make working relationships particularly important, and Schneider is attuned to every nuance and timbre of her musicians.

Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra - Evanescence (1994) {Enja ENJ-8048 2}
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© 1994 Enja Records ‎| ENJ-8048 2
Jazz / Experimental Big Band / Post-Bop / Modern Big Band / Progressive Jazz

Maria Schneider's debut as a leader is quite impressive. Her complex arrangements of her nine originals are most influenced by Gil Evans and Bob Brookmeyer, although her own musical personality shines through. There are strong solos from tenors Rick Margitza and Rich Perry, trumpeter Tim Hagan, altoist Tim Ries, and particularly pianist Kenny Werner, but it is the moody ensembles that most stick in one's mind. Schneider's arrangements are often dense, a bit esoteric, and thought-provoking; this music may need several listens for one to grasp all that is going on.

Nels Cline - Angelica (1987) {Enja ENJ-9577-2 rel 2011}
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© 1987, 2011 Enja Records | ENJ-9577-2
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Creative / Post Bop / Guitar

Released in semi-obscurity 25 years ago (2012), Angelica was American guitarist Nels Cline’s first date as leader and shows a remarkable maturity. Cline is better known these days as guitarist with Chicago hipsters Wilco, and there are few modern musicians who can run with the jazz hare and hunt with the rock hounds with such ease. This well-deserved reissue is a chance to hear where the young guitarist’s head was at and is notable also for an unusually consonant contribution from saxophonist Tim Berne – now undisputed heavyweight champion of New York’s downtown scene, then barely out of his 30s.