3D Jazz Trio's I Love to See You Smile

My latest Vinyl Anachronist music review is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. You can read it here.

Five Play Live from the Firehouse Stage

When you first see the cover to Five Play Live from the Firehouse Stage and you see the photo of five women, it's easy to get caught up in the all-girl band excitement and not just judge the music on its own merits. I've mentioned this before, probably while discussing the excellent releases from the Diva Orchestra over the last couple of years, but I'm torn between the feeling that we should treat women jazz musicians as something other than novelties, and the feeling that we should keep celebrating this sort of egalitarian support and encouragement. Jazz music, after all, is known for having rich contributions from both genders all through its history.

I'm sure there are stories. Bad ones. That's a given.

And still there's this feeling that we need to mention that Five Play, which is actually a "sister" group to the Diva Orchestra, is made up of women. I can almost envision the cock-eyed forum discussions about whether male and female musicians in jazz approach their instruments with any audible differences, or something asinine about women gravitating toward tenor horns because baritones need that extra dollop of manly elbow grease to coax out the notes with the right authority. Please, let's not. Instead, let's talk about Five Play and how hard they swing in this album. I'm talking about major swing, the kind that starts kicking at your heels and telling you to stay with the beat or exit through the gift shop. (Was thinking of Banksy earlier today, sorry.)

This project was inspired by the Diva Jazz Orchestra's 25th Anniversary Project, which I reviewed here. While Five Play refers to the Diva Orchestra as "the mothership," I feel like the quintet is operating on an almost independent vision, one where the playing is confident and there's more of a platform for improvisation. The majority of tunes here are originals by one of the members--drummer and leader Sherrie Maricle, pianist Tomoko Ohno and bassist Noriko Ueda all take on an almost equal amount of the writing. The quintet is then fleshed out by the horn section, trumpet and flugelhorn player Jami Dauber and sax and clarinet player Janelle Reichman (who contributes just one song, "Circles"), and someone winds up stepping on the gas, and the energy levels rise and, best of all, the entire set was recorded live with an enthusiastic and grateful audience.

There's also a hidden meaning behind it all, a little personal touch that makes it even better. The Firehouse Stage isn't some New York City hot spot where the top jazz performers play every Friday night, but a small venue in Johnson City, New York, near the Pennsylvania border. Maricle grew up near there, not far from where I'm writing this, and she explains that "From the moment it opened, I have been a fan of this extraordinary performance space." It is a nice -sounding venue, warm and comfortable and not too intimate. She made the right choice about the venue, and fortunately her quintet was inspired while they stood on its stage.

The Diva Jazz Orchestra's 25th Anniversary Project

For the last few weeks--months, really--I've been working on that 2-part North Texas University Jazz article for Part-Time Audiophile. It's a fairly large undertaking, being that I have to review 11 CDs full of big band music than spans several decades. The music is absolutely fantastic, but I've been reluctant to review any other big band music at the same time because much of it's running together. In the meantime, I've received at least four other releases by big band ensembles, and I feel I need a break.

This particular album from The Diva Jazz Orchestra stood out, however. It's just so clean and punchy and, well, professional. I know that I'm supposed to mention that the remarkable thing about DJO is that it's comprised entirely of women, the eponymous divas, and that brings me back to the minor criticism I had when I reviewed the 3Divas release for Positive Feedback Online a few months ago. I find the term diva rather anachronistic these days, and that we shouldn't elevate a particular release just because it's performed by an all-female ensemble. It should just be considered by the music and not by any particular gender-based novelty. I wrote:

"It's part of the corporate branding, after all, the very name of the record label and all the people involved, so I don't think anything will change soon. But if these three women were in their twenties, they probably wouldn't be basking in their diva-ness. It's a conceit from a time that has passed. The days of Sweet Sue and her Society Syncopators are long gone, right?"

Well, the diva moniker has persevered--this 25th anniversary release from DJO has something in common with the 3Divas, and that's music director and talented drummer Sherrie Maricle. So this album represents part of a greater whole, a powerful force in today's jazz. In its largest iteration, DJO has little to do with the fact that women can play jazz just as well as men. Of course they can!

The 25th Anniversary Project is, of course, an incredible summation of the skills of DJO. In the liner notes, it's mentioned that "DIVA performs all over the world playing contemporary, mainstream big band jazz composed and arranged to fit the individual personalities and styles of the players." That's exactly what you get here, an extraordinary collection of jazz musicians, individuals who all get to spend time in the spotlight and reveal their notable strengths. I mentioned the word "punchy" before, and that's what sets this ensemble apart. There is no loose, sloppy playing. The DJO exhibits an incredible precision in these performances, all the result of Maricle who reflects "deeply about the outstanding talent that has shaped the band and the writers." As with 3Divas, the glue that holds this gorgeous-sounding machine together is the exciting drum work by Maricle herself. She is a fascinating, adept drummer with notable athleticism.

All of the songs were composed by DJO members, which makes the project sound even more impressive. I've used this description many times before, but it's amazing when a contemporary jazz composer creates something new that sounds like a lost classic, and here you get ten wonderful examples of the craft. If you're a fan of big band jazz, this is obviously a stand-out in a crowded field, and it matter not one whit that the players and composers are women.

Now to get back to the University of North Texas.