Music Monday means it’s time for GBH’s All Things Considered Turntable, where we turn to our favorite in-house music connoisseurs to hear what they’ve been listening to lately.
This week, GBH Jazz’s Al Davis joined GBH’s All Things Considered host Arun Rath to share his playlist picks. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation.
Arun Rath: Al, great to sit down with you!
Al Davis: Hey, how are you, Arun?
Rath: Doing pretty well!
Davis: On this hot summer day.
Rath: It is hot. Let’s dig right into this playlist. I hope, maybe, this playlist will cool us off.
Davis: Yeah, there’s some hot music out here, too, but you’re right — maybe this music will cool us off. Music is cool.
Rath: Absolutely. So, what do you have for us first?
Davis: Up first, which I find quite interesting, is a tribute to Wes Montgomery, the guitarist.
Rath: I love Wes Montgomery.
Davis: Yes, yes. Love that sound. His music has been out for quite some time now — many, many years, as we all know — and he’s recorded with many artists, like Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and others. But this one was done nicely by the Chicago Jazz Orchestra. It’s called “More Amor: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery,” featuring Bobby Broom, who’s a guitarist.
It was arranged and conducted by Jeff Lindberg, who is the artistic director of this group, and the music is just absolutely fabulous. Big band arrangement — not a lot of strings. It’s more horns. It has a great sound to it, a lot of energy to it, and Bobby Broom really sets it off with his sound and that mimic of Wes Montgomery, so it’s pretty nice.
We’ll take a listen to a very popular tune that was recorded by Wes Montgomery. It’s called “Road Song.” I think you’ll recognize it as soon as you hear it.
[“Road Song” from More Amor: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery — Chicago Jazz Orchestra feat. Bobby Broom]
Rath: Well, we were talking about that — that’s definitely, that’s cool. That definitely helps out with the heat. I have not heard a lot of Bobby Broom. Does he typically sound that much like Wes Montgomery, or is he kind of sounding extra Wes Montgomery-ish for this?
Davis: I think he sounded a little extra like Wes Montgomery. I’ve heard some of his solos in the past. It’s close, but this one he really stretched out and said, “Well, let’s bring forward that Wes Montgomery sound.” And he does a great job at it!
Rath: That is brilliant.
Davis: Yeah, absolutely.
Rath: So, what do you have for us next?
Davis: Next, man, this is a group my boss Phil [Jones] was telling me about. He was saying, “Al, when you go down to the Newport Jazz Festival, there’s a couple I want you to listen to, if you get the chance: Rachael & Vilray.”
They’re interpretational. Their music is so different. It’s more like Broadway back in the ’40s, or something like that kind of approach. She’s a vocalist, and he plays guitar. He’s a vocalist as well. Their newest recording is called West of Broadway.
It’s real soothing; it takes you back in time. It makes you think of the roaring 20s, a little bit, but it also has that Broadway effect on you as well. The way she comes across puts that extra punch to it. And then the band that’s with these guys is kind of laid back, but effective. They added Warren Wolf, the vibraphonist, in this group as well.
It brings out this old-time feeling, but it’s very effective. To see this live was a first, and then I just received this release from them, West of Broadway, just the other day. So, it all came together. This was supposed to happen.
[“Forever Never Lasts” from West of Broadway — Rachael & Vilray]
Rath: That is nice. It really does take you to a different time, almost.
Davis: That’s right. “Forever Never Lasts” is the name of the tune. And there are other ones on here — “Is It Jim?,” “To Change,” “Off Broadway,” “Closer.” The band has that nice sound to it, just the harmony between the horns and then the vocals and, of course, Warren Wolf on vibraphone.
And this is different from Warren, too, playing vibes. I’m used to him being out front, but this time, he’s part of the band. It kind of all blends in together — and nicely, I will say.
Rath: Are these original songs? That sounds like something familiar, but I’m wondering if it just has an old-timey feel to it. It sounds like something you’ve heard before.
Davis: I think it’s an original, but it has that old-timey, as you mentioned, old-timey sound to it, which makes it unique in a way because you don’t hear that sound too much anymore.
Rath: No, no.
Davis: They’ve brought it to the forefront, and it sounds good the way they arrange it and put it all together. I’m on board with it.
Rath: Yeah, great sound.
Davis: Yeah, absolutely.
Rath: We have time for one more. What’s your third pick?
Davis: My third pick is saxophonist Jimmy Greene. He’s from the Connecticut area, and he has a nice band with him, like Aaron Goldberg, Mike Marano, Dezron Douglas and Jonathan Barber, and, of course, Jimmy Greene, who plays tenor and soprano.
As we are now, this is his most recent recording and, for a gentleman who hasn’t been around for many years, to come back and play, he sounds absolutely phenomenal. So, let’s take a listen to his most recent recording from saxophonist Jimmy Greene.
[“Unburdened” from As We Are Now — Jimmy Greene]
Rath: That is nice. I could just settle into that for a while.
Davis: Absolutely, absolutely. He sounds good on tenor. He also plays soprano. He worked with folks like Harry Connick Jr., Ron Carter, Freddie Hubbard, Tom Harrell, Horace Silver and others. He’s been in the business for many years, and he sounds absolutely fabulous.
Rath: And this is — I don’t know if you’d call it a comeback, but you said it’s been a few years since his last record?
Davis: Yeah, he’s had an absence for a while, probably hasn’t really played live, but he’s been recording for many years. But he’s probably been playing because you listen to him, you know, and it seems like he’s never stopped.
Rath: It sounds like he’s just going to keep going and going.
Davis: Yeah, exactly. He sounds fabulous. His newest one is called As We Are Now, from saxophonist Jimmy Greene.
