Uptown 27.52
The most successful couplings in jazz describe a canny balance between compatibility and deviation. Trombonists Frank Rosolino and Carl Fontana certainly fit that complicated bill of opposite attraction. Divergent in both temperament and style, the two nevertheless shared a lasting friendship on stage and off. Rosolino’s erratic personality led to severe problems personal and professional and ultimately to a paucity of paying gigs. Fontana’s lackadaisical outlook oddly had an opposite effect and he was frequently one to opt out of offered work. Both men came of musical age in the big bands of Stan Kenton and others with approaches that blended the style points of bop and swing.
This recently minted Uptown release documents their final recorded meeting, a club date taped in the summer of 1978 in Vancouver, British Columbia. A multinational threesome headed by American pianist Elmer Gill handles rhythms section duties. Gill takes a handful of solos to balance things out a bit, but no doubt exists as to whom the audience has paid their shekels to see and the two graying brass men do not disappoint in terms of spontaneous loquaciousness. Danish bassist Torban Oxbol and local drummer George Ursan dutifully leave the jovial fisticuffs and fireworks to the frontline.
In reliable Uptown fashion, there’s a great deal of bang for the buck both in terms of music and expert annotation. Only two of the tracks clock below thirteen minutes and all six serve up separate smorgasbords of trombone to sup on. Monk’s “Well, You Needn’t” and Dizzy’s “Ow” act as rhythmic and harmonic obstacle courses as well as veritable aural textbooks in terms of bop-grounded improvisation. Each is also instructive in limning the differences between the principals’ articulation and attack, with Fontana frequently taking a smoother more overtly eloquent stance and Rosolino just as often going for the audience jugular or funny bone. Lest either be typecast, both also adopt traits associative of the other: Fontana blows fleet furry-edged phrases on “All Blues” and Rosolino reels in his raucous side on a lushly drawn rendering of “Just Friends”. With arrangements largely incidental there are some rough spots in the interplay, but the sporadic missed cues and trampled segues just add to the seat-of-the-pants aura of the set. Fans of full-bodied bop trombone should not pass this one up.
~ Derek Taylor
Posted by derek on November 13, 2007 2:13 PMOh Dear I love trombone. My favourite trombone player now is Paul Hubweber. He did a fantastic duo in Brussels 11th nov. with pianist Philip Zoubek, a young viennese virtuoso yet in his twenties and bsed in Cologne. They forn the very best duo of free improv trombone / piano heard in my life time. His dates in Brussels will be november 22nd in St Lucas school, 24th (private appartment loft solo gig) and 25th in Ateliers Mommen , the local peanuts meeting point. Plenty of trombone by a great master of the instrument post Mangelsdorff , Rutherford, Christmann and Malfatti. Oh Dear !!
I like all these be bop Fontana , Rosolino, Knepper etc... trombone guys....... All Mingus trombone players were great !!
In that case, I think this one is right up your alley, jean michel. No shortage of great trombonists, that's for sure. Spinning Joe Fiedler's new Clean Feed disc The Crab as I type this & it's sounding mighty sweet.
Posted by: derek at November 19, 2007 7:16 PMDerek
Joe Fiedler , I don't know well but I'd love to discover. I have heard Mr Swell on cd and met him once. I love his cd with Sabir Mateen and Klaus Klugel on Cadence. I will check the US trombonists... for sure. One of my favourite is Miss Gail Brand, a truly sincere improvisor. Joe Bowie is living in Holland now. Difficult instrument.
Few trombone players in teh US free jazz during the sixties early seventies.
Fiedler’s still under-represented as a leader, but he’s kept busy as a sideman playing a gamut from Braxton to Bobby Sanabria. His album of Albert Mangelsdorff “covers”, also on Clean Feed, is well worth checking out.
Swell has something of a cottage industry on the Cadence family of labels. I sometimes wish for a bit more levity in his work, but Ray Anderson is only a few shelves away so I can usually get my comedic brass fix that way.
I’m with you on Gail Brand. Only know her work on Emanem, but I’ve enjoyed most of it, esp. w/ Lunge.
It’s definitely an excellent time to be a ‘bone lover.
Posted by: derek at November 21, 2007 6:44 AMAbout Gail Brand , there is another great recording : super model super model with the late Matt Sperry, Ton Nunn, Gino Robair, John Shiurba. I think also that the recordings involving these Californians have always something very special !
Paul Hubweber duo with Ulli Böttcher is also one of the most intriguing combination acoustic vs electronic. Why do you think theplay in trio with Michaël Waiszwics, the Steim Wizard himself ?
Is there a recording of that trio? I saw them last year and they were sensational. But when I played at STEIM this June I asked Michel if there were any albums out and he said he wasn't interested in recording very much.
Posted by: Dan Warburton at November 23, 2007 11:38 PMSome news from a bone's master (Roswell RUDD) :
http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/11/23/travel/escapes/23away.html?ref=todayspaper
Posted by: guillaume at November 24, 2007 7:00 AMGreat (Roswell) ! Did you check the "Audio Slide Show" ? What a voice ! - reminds me of his solo (trombone + voc) on "Darn It" (Paul Haines, American Clavé)
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