The dog days of summer! I love this time of year and thats because I can actually almost count the days unti the summer is done on on my fingers…ALMOST. All in all its been a very good August so far but July was a bit weird. Oh well, its gone, done, in the past! August has been great and this weekend is gonna be a blast with Harlem B3 Organist Seleno Clarke.
This week was particularily gratifying for me in terms of response to my album Everything Is Coming Up Weeds. First off I got home to an email from Lisa Reedy of Jazz Promotion who handles all of my radio tracking saying that NPR.og has done a feature called Oh Canada Jazz From The North where they feature a track from my record called Biru Kirusai. There are 5 albums mentioned: Oscar Peterson- Trail of Dreams: A Canadian Suite, Diana Krall - Girl in the Other Room. Sophie Milman -Take Love Easy and fellow Vancouverite (at least for another month) Amanda Tosoff - Wait and See. I can’t explain how flattered I am to mentioned with these artists! So the second email from Lisa is regarding a review from Rick Erban, KIOS Omaha. To say its a good review would be an understatement:
Every now and then an album comes along that jumps right out at one – hittin’ on all cylinders. Such is the case with this new release from Cory Weeds. Weeds is owner of the Vancouver, BC Cellar Restaurant and the Cellar Live record label that has been issuing numerous sessions recorded at his venue. He is also a fine tenor saxophone player, as evidenced by this recording – his second (preceded by last year’s “Big Weeds”). “Everything’s Coming Up Weeds” is a marvelous post-bop session that showcases the saxophonist in a quintet setting featuring a great group including trumpeter Jim Rotondi, pianist Ross Taggart, bassist John Webber and drummer Willie Jones III.
Names of themselves do not a good session make. There must be a certain chemistry, the presence of which ignites all of the artists in both group cohesiveness and individual fire. That is what is on display and contributes to the satisfaction one obtains while listening to this album.
The opening track, “B.B.’s Blue Blues” by pianist Taggart comes right out of the old hard-bop school with an upbeat, bluesy theme as foundation for the soloists. “Biru Kirusai”, co-written by Rotondi and Eric Alexander, has a Japanese flavor to its insistent minor melody and the tune smokes. Rotondi takes the first solo with perfectly placed, soaring notes in his concise style that nicely balances soul and technique. Weeds comes in next with a beautifully rich tone and progressively captivating choruses, further increasing the ante for Taggart to carry-on at the piano. He does so with a beautifully constructed solo embracing chords and single note lines that rhythmically and spiritually continue to raise the excitement level on this number.
Taggart’s “Ella’s Walk” is a brisk, boppish melody featuring Weeds’ agile tenor work and Rotondi’s muted horn. Again, Taggart at the piano impresses. “Little Unknown One” by Weeds is a lovely ballad written with the care exercised by the legendary “standards” composers. It begs for lyrics. The tune is done in a quartet setting with some fine lyrical work by the leader and sensitive piano by Taggart. As, throughout the album, bassist Webber and drummer Jones provide steadfast, tasteful support. “I’ve Never Been In Love Before” features straight-ahead blowing along with the opportunity to hear drummer Jones step out with a solo.
“Bailin’ On Lou” is an in-the-pocket cooker, this time giving John Webber a chance to solo; Taggart’s “Cyclaman” is a tender ballad and Weeds’ “The Pour” a number reminiscent of Art Blakey And His Jazz Messengers. There’s a lot to like on this fine recording by Cory Weeds and company.
To top it all off there were a succession of email telling me the various cities and stations that Everything’s Coming Up Weeds has been added to the Top 10:
CHRW 94.9 FM London, ON
CHUO 89.1 FM Ottawa, ON
KCHO Chico, CA
KRCC 91.5 FM Colorado Springs, CO
KWCW 90.5 FM Walla Walla, WA
WCFM 91.9 FM Williamstown, MA
WECS 90.1 FM Willimantic, CT
WNCW 88.7 FM Spindale, NC
WNMC 90.7 FM Traverse City, MI
Im pretty excited about the response to the record and even more excited about the upcoming tour!