Raimonds Pauls & the Latvian Radio Big Band: Jazz Suite Moments
Little known in the UK, Ojārs Raimonds Paul (b. 1936) is a Latvian pianist, composer and band leader, famous in the Baltic countries and Eastern Europe. During the 1940s he began playing piano at clubs and restaurants in Riga. In 1973 he founded the jazz-rock group Modo, and five years later became music director and conductor of the Latvian radio and television orchestra. His compositions include two musicals, TV and film scores, over 300 popular songs and some jazz pieces usually performed by the Latvian Radio Big Band. From 1988 to 1993 he was the Latvian Minister of Culture and in 1985 was named as a People’s Artist of the (former) USSR. In 2006 Raimonds recorded a double album of jazz compositions – My Favourite Melodies / So Many Stars.
This vinyl EP is a tribute to jazz trumpeter and arranger Gunārs Rozenbergs and features Pauls with a 19-piece orchestra conducted by Kārlis Vanags. Side A runs at 16.27, while side B has a total playing time of only 7.44. A listing of the participating musicians by name and the titles of the five “parts” would be of questionable use to non-Latvian readers/speakers.
But the vigorous music speaks for itself. There is a 1950s-60s US big-band ambience to the compositions, with precision section playing and well-crafted arrangements. Pauls opens each section with a nimble and memorable solo, and there are hints of his familiarity with Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner. The lead-section players offer cogent and imaginative contributions, and the sections have a bite and energy reminiscent of the Herman Herds, with echoes of the Atomic-period Basie band. Sound is excellent and Pauls is a confident and supportive leader. I must add a special note of commendation for the rhythm section which includes a Hammond organ. If only there was more to enjoy – including some sleeve notes in English.
Discography
Pirmā Daja/Part One; Otrā Daja/Part Two; Trešā Daja/Part Three (16.27) – Ceturtā Daja/Part Four; Piektā Daja/Part Five (7.44)
Raimonds Pauls Latvian Radio Big Band. Riga, Latvia, March 2025.
Jersika Records JRD017
Jimmy Cobb Quartet: Jazz In The Key Of Blue
In 2008 drummer Jimmy Cobb – a mere 79-year-old and the last surviving member of the Miles Davis group which recorded the seminal 1959 Kind Of Blue LP – assembled a hand-picked quartet featuring Roy Hargrove (trumpet and flugelhorn), Russell Malone (guitar) and John Webber (bass) – minus a pianist. The music they played is now available again on this remarkable CD reissue, recorded at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, in New York City. The record is mainly confined to ballads, with two tunes (Johnny Mandel’s Emily and Billy Preston’s With You I’m Born Again) in 3/4 time. But the tempo increases on their version of I Had the Craziest Dream. New liner notes from Charles Waring benefit from his conversations with bassist Webber. All the members of this well-integrated quartet are in great form, including the leader himself, who confines himself to subtle brush work on almost every track.
The outstanding figure is Hargrove (supported by Malone) who brings a unique sound to both of his instruments. He is particularly impressive on a “serious” interpretation of Stairway To The Stars. Webber, a lesser-known member of the quartet, recalled that he and his colleagues were initially surprised that “Jimmy was leading a date that was basically all ballads. [It] was Jimmy’s wife’s idea. Jimmy just let her say what she wanted on the record .I don’t think we rehearsed at all. It was just like playing a gig.”
Every track has its own distinctive merits. As Charles Waring concludes, Jazz In The Key Of Blue is “a master class in subtlety and quiet restraint, a triumph of nuances and atmosphere… a perfect example of small group jazz at its best”.
Discography
Every Time We Say Goodbye; With You I’m Born Again; I’ll Still Be In Love With You; Emily; Stairway To The Stars; I Had The Craziest Dream; Remembering U; What Will I Do; If Ever I Would Leave You; We’ll Be Together Again (53.27)
Cobb (d); Roy Hargrove (t, flh); Russell Malone (g); John Webber (b). St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, New York City, 14 October 2008.
Chesky EVSA 3488S
Tetsuro Hoshii: Everything Is Alive
The Japanese composer and pianist Tetsuro Hoshii is based in New York City. Self-taught from the age of four, he graduated from Senzoku College of Music in Japan and from the jazz composition programme at Berklee College of Music, winning the prestigious Wayne Shorter Award. His oeuvre demonstrates various influences – jazz, classical music, film soundtracks and musicals. He has also written an instruction book for piano students (children and adults): The Adventures Of Pinpi And Dandar. In 2015 he formed The Doggy Cats which performs regularly at Sunny’s Bar in New York. Their first album Daikon Pizza (2019) received favourable reviews and featured on NPR’s programme Fresh Air.
This self-released solo album, recorded in a single session in 2022, was mastered in Oslo, Norway in 2025. It is a reflective, tranquil and generally satisfying 20 track compilation which, in Hoshii’s words, “combines lyrical improvisation with elements of the contemporary jazz and modern classical piano”. In an (unsolicited) letter he said “Everything Is Alive captures spontaneous solo performances that explore quietness, resonance and space, in the tradition of improvised solo piano music. Created in the aftermath of the pandemic, the album was intended as something soothing and healing during a difficult and uncertain time.” Gnomically, he adds that all the tracks are “fully improvised” – apart from track nine, Bravery, and track 14, A Fisherman’s Grave. The first is a brief (2.19) elegiac and contemplative piece; the second is more satisfying because of its structure and duration (4.04).
This then is a deeply personal and reflective album (in excellent sound) but given the similarity of the 20 tracks, it rather over-eggs the pudding. Also the CD lacks any notation or illustration – apart from the intelligence that the abstract cover “artwork” is by Jason Rosenberg. The question arises as to whether this is jazz. My answer is “hardly” but try it anyway.
Discography
Wherever We Go; A World Melts Into A Stream; Joy’s Spark; Microdose Of Sadness; A Place To Fly, A Place To Land; White Refrigerator; Everything Is Alive; Helluva Journey; Bravery; Raking The Earth Room; River Song; Strange Night; Brown Water Fantasy; A Fisherman’s Grave; Berg; Forest Song; Memory Before Dawn; American Cherry Pie; Morning On The Pier; Time Has Ended (53.27)
Tetsuro Hoshii (p). Big Orange Sheep, Brooklyn, NY, 30 June 2022.
Independent
