Music

divagations on love and marriage eidiernsilly or phony, or both. This is not wartime,nwhen a brief erotic episode—or sonit has been argued many times—hasnsome moral and existential justification.nWhat the girls in An Officer seem to benmotivated and guided by is the CondenNast Publications cum Ms. magazinencum ERA-certified ethos, but at thensame time they are reaching for somenother epoch’s dilemmas and glamoursnthat have been pronounced obsolete bynthe propagandists of the modern “freedoms.n” It would be fatuous to claim thatnthe military-school neighborhoods werenpopulated by wide-eyed ingenues: inn1930’s movies of the same genre, therenwere “good” girls and “bad” girls, andnthe labels—regardless of their superficiality—were,nin both cases, departurenpoints for interesting treatises on phoninessnand experience. To pretend that an”quickie” is—in any way—a means tonreach the altar involves quite anothernkind of humbug; it may pass for sophisticationnin Mademoiselle, but it is purelynMUSICnRecords: Jazz Survivors and Othersnby Doug RamseynSince the recent deaths of TheloniousnMonk, Sonny Stitt, Art Pepper, CalnTjader, Wingy Manone, Sonny Greer,nand Gabor Szabo, the title of Milt Jackson’snnew recording, “Ain’t But A FewnOf Us Left” (Pablo 2310-873), has takennon a disturbing ring. Mournfulness,nhowever, does not characterize thisnmusic. With pianist Oscar Peterson,nbassist Ray Brown, and drummer GradynTate, Jackson’s vibraharp provides musicnthat rings with affirmation. Even the balladsn”Body and Soul” and “If I ShouldnMr. Ramsey is a frequent contributor tonthe Chronicles.nspurious in real life—even among liberatednor dull-witted cadets. The “good”ngirls from more conventional times maynnot actually have been good, but theynknew what they wanted and how to getnit—with time-honored chastity gamesnand prescribed doses of innocence, all accordingnto circumstances and well-establishednpriorities. This included a lot ofnold-fashioned hypocrisy and a gamut ofnnuances ranging from guilelessness tonfakery, but the more we progress towardnsexual amorphousness the more we missnthe refined hypocrisy that regulatednamatory malaises. “Don’t sit under thenapple tree with anyone else but me”nwould be the wrong anthem for today,nand it was hardly a trustworthy picture ofnlife even at the time of World WarnII—but soldiers died in defense of thatncontrived imagery. What the futurenNavy pilots of A» Officer and a Gentlemannare supposed to die for is hard tonfigure out. For a one-night stand?n—Eric ShapearonLose You” are given swinging, mediumtempontreatments. Though “A Time FornLove” is played closer to conventionalnballad speed, the performance is seizednby Jackson and friends as an occasion fornfurther joy.nSince his emergence from the ModernnJazz Quartet when it disbanded severalnyears ago, Jackson has concentrated onndispensing what he describes as “my ownnkind of music—plain, straight, swingin’njazz or bebop or whatever you want toncall it.” His approach to Coleman Hawkins’snclassic “Stuflfy” illustrates the modusnoperandi: a forthright setting of thentempo by the protean Peterson in an unaccompaniednintroduction, a vigorousnunison exposition by Peterson and Jack­nnnson of the riff-ladeii melody, then severalnchoruses of unremitting swing and invention,nwith solos from everyone butnTate, a drummer who finds it unnecessarynto solo to make his points.nNorman Granz, who owns Pablo, isncommitted to recording the jazz artistshenconsiders most valuable. His tracknrecord over more than thirty years is virtuallynimpeccable. Granz believes thatnOscar Peterson is an enormously importantnmusician, and he records Petersonnon a regular basis, both in concert and innthe studio. The Pablo catalogue lists overn20 albums for Peterson, and he appearsnon many more with other artists. EachnPeterson album is rich with the essentialnelements of jazz—unflagging swing,nproductive interplay among the instrumentsnand superior melodic invention.nIn “Skol” (Pablo Live 2308-232), Petersonnand his trio are joined by violinistnStephane Grappelli in concert at TivolinGardens in Copenhagen. The 74-yearoldnGrappelli is superb in “Nuages,” thenhaunting ballad by Django Reinhardt,nwith whom Grappelli starred nearly fiftynyears ago in the Quintet of the Hot Clubnof France. Peterson’s unaccompaniednsolo is in the Tatum tradition, lovelynbecause of the pyrotechnics, not in spitenof them. “Skol Blues” is a prime examplenof the kind of rolling blues-playingnthat develops when Peterson is at thenhelm of any aggregation. “Live at thenNorthsea Jazz Festival” (Pablo Liven2620-115) includes the same musicians,nwith harmonica virtuoso Toots Thielemansnreplacing Grappelli. I can think ofnno better introduction to Thielemansnthan his wizardry on “Straight, NonChaser.”nPeterson, Ray Brown, guitarist JoenPass, and drummer Bobby Durhamnserve primarily as accompanists in “ThenAlternative Blues” (Pablo Todayn2312-136). The beneficiaries of their effortsnare trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie,nClark Terry, and Freddie Hubbard. Innaddition to several slow blues, there is an”Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams” innwhich Hubbard shines. Hubbard’s worknthroughout this album is gratifying ton141novemberl98Sn