Attainment / Bannar, 1987

The story goes like this:

Charles Brackeen began to record jazz in 1968, went on to play with a who's who of jazz: Don Cherry, Frank Lowe, Carlos Ward, Dewey Redman, Leroy Jenkins, Paul Motian and Leo Smith throughout the 1970's and the early 1980's. Then he fell off the music map.

Then in the second half of the 1980's, trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez coaxed Brackeen to play on his album, Namesake. Brackeen began a recording contract with the Silkheart Records label and that's where we draw today's offering from.

These are manditory recordings! You must hear both of them!

Enjoy!

G Is For Gonzalez

It's been too long since my last Musical Alphabet posting and what better way to return (in my humble opinion) than to profile the Dallas jazz master Dennis Gonzalez. I was lucky to correspond with Mr. Gonzalez during a time of research I was conducting for a six part series on his recording career that I prepared for the jazz radio program I co-hosted at the time. I found Dennis Gonzalez to be a humble, spiritual, positive man who welcomed my questions with generosity and thoughtfulness. What you will hear with this collection of music is selections from several of his early recordings from his own daagnim label. I remember being blown away by the richness of all his music. I remember being baffled why a musician of his stature was not receiving the acollades he so richly deserved. He continues to make excellent recordings to this day! I urge everyone to search out every recording the man has ever made. And if that isn't a strong enough endorsement then listen to this post! The program plays out like this:

1. Hymn For Rivers  -  9:20 (Anthem Suite/Little Toot)

2. Aaron's Nuages  -  11:06 (Kukkia)

3. Beirut  -  6:52 (Witness)

4. Parachute One  -  7:14 (Hymn For The Perfect Heart of a Pearl)

5. Old Time Revival  -  8:35 (Old Time Revival)

6. Nils Petter's Foxtrot  -  15:41 (Yells At Eels - Home Away From Home)

You can get many of Dennis Gonzalez's recordings directly from him by going to: Amulets

Enjoy!

With a Sense of Tradition...

More than ten years ago (closer to fifteen now that I come to think about it) I heard Dallas trumpet player/composer/bandleader/artist/teacher Dennis Gonzalez for the first time. It was his albums The Earth and the Heart and Catechism. If I remember correctly, I read a glowing review for both and felt I should check out his music and these were recordings by him that were most easily attainable at the time. I was very impressed. Enough so that I chose The Earth and the Heart as one of the featured recordings for a music listening group to which I belonged. And, as is so often the case, my attention shifted as my scope of musical experience broadened. This seemed to coincide with a hiatus which Dennis took for a good portion of the 90's. In any event, his music was always in the back of my mind waiting to resurface.

Then in the early 2000's (which, I'm told, is called the "aughties") Dennis began to release a number of outstanding recordings on the Clean Feed label and my love affair with his music returned stronger than ever. I immediately knew I had to track down every Dennis Gonzalez recording I could find. I tracked down all his Silkheart recordings from the second half of the 80's, his recording Welcome To Us that was rereleased by Koch and all of his Clean Feed recordings that were available. It was at this point that I decided to present a multi-part series on the jazz radio show I co-hosted called NOW'S THE TIME. The more I read about Dennis Gonzalez the more I realized there was a tremendous gap in the recordings I possessed. So I wrote him asking how I could get all the recordings he released on his own daagnim label and whether he would agree to an email interview.

He replied with a gracious email detailing what he had available and that he would do the interview. Once I received all his music and began to listen to it all, I determined I would need six 90 minute shows to even remotely do this man's music justice. When I announced to my fellow NTT hosts my intentions they were dubious. None of them were familiar with his music and all felt six shows devoted to a "fringe" player was a bit excessive. I told them to listen to the first show if they needed convincing...

As the series progressed all agreed that Dennis Gonzalez, indeed, deserved six shows.

And this is what I offer up today: the six programs in the Dennis Gonzalez series. I decided to do this because the five of us who have been hosting NTT since 2003 have decided to pack it in. Our last episode airs this Thursday night. So, as a personal tribute to the show and a plug for the music of Dennis Gonzalez, I make the downloads for each of the six episodes available here. Check them out. I'm sure you will discover music you love.

Episode 1 - Intro show

Episode 2 - The daagnim years

Episode 3 - The Silkheart sessions

Episode 4 - Dennis Gonzalez & European collaborators

Episode 5 - The Clean Feed recordings

Episode 6 - The summation

Here are some of the recordings featured throughout the series (Dennis has recorded almost 40 releases in his career, many no longer available).

Enjoy!