Monday, April 23, 2012

2012 JJA Nominees: Player of Instruments Rare in Jazz

Don't ask me why, but I am fascinated by jazz musicians who play what the Jazz Journalists Association calls "instruments rare in jazz." Maybe it's because my daughter plays the French horn, which qualifies as a rare instrument in jazz, or because I like to hear jazz musicians trying something new, something out of the ordinary.

Whatever it is, I enjoy hearing the various musicians using their non-traditional (for jazz) instruments to explore the music: people like Don Elliott (who played the mellophone and won the Downbeat readers' poll for miscellaneous instrument from 1953 through 1960), Julius Watkins (French horn), Jean-Luc Ponty (violin), Rahsaan Rolan Kirk (manzello and stritch), and Bela Fleck (banjo).

This year, the Jazz Journalists Association has nominated four musicians for its 2012 JJA Jazz Awards in the category entitled Player of Instruments Rare in Jazz, and I want to call attention to those individuals here.

Edmar Castañeda is a jazz harpist from Colombia, who has been called "almost a world unto himself" by the New York Times and "an enormous talent [who] has the versatility and the enchanting charisma of a musician who has taken his harp out of the shadow" by Cuban jazz legend Paquito D'Rivera. Castañeda tours with the Edmar Castañeda Trio and has performed with Paquito D'Rivera, Wynton Marsalis, and other jazz greats. Jazz critic James Hall has called him "the world's premier — and to your humble reviewer's knowledge, only — master of this instrument in the jazz idiom." Castañeda and his trio play the title cut from their album Entre Cuerdas here:



Grégoire Maret is a Swiss harmonica player who has toured with the Pat Metheny Group, with whom he recorded the Grammy-winning album, The Way Up. He has also played with George Benson, Cassandra Wilson, and Herbie Hancock, and in 2012, he recorded his first album as a leader, Grégoire Maret. Jazz critic Bill Milkowski says that Maret plays "with a perfect blend of passion and stunning virtuosity that has audience members shouting out encouragement from their seats." Maret plays "The Man I Love" here:



Toots Thielemans is a Belgian harmonica player who was selected as an NEA Jazz Master in 2009, thus achieving the highest honor for a jazz musician in the U.S. Thielemans began his jazz career in the late 1940s in Europe as a guitarist, but in the mid-1950s introduced the chromatic harmonica as a jazz instrument. He has played with numerous jazz artists, from Charlie Parker to Miles Davis to Oscar Peterson. He plays perhaps his best known piece, "Bluesette," here:



Gary Versace plays organ, keyboards, and accordion and has been nominated by the JJA for his work with the latter instrument. Versace has performed or recorded with artists from John Abercrombie and the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra to Chris Potter and Adam Nussbaum. Legendary jazz pianist Marian McPartland called Versace "endlessly inventive" and "an extraordinary talent." Versace plays accordion here with a Regina Carter group:



These are not the only individuals playing jazz on such non-traditional instruments, of course, and I encourage you to check out some of the others who are making beautiful music with their beautiful — but rare in jazz — instruments:

Robert
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Posted by Unknown at 9:19 PM