May 6, 2010

Jane Ira Bloom - Mighty Lights

barabara sounds sez:
More fine music from the neglected and mostly OOP enja catalog. Jane Ira Bloom plays soprano sax, one of the few who do, and she produces some good sounds with it. In more recent years she has used live electronics in her sets, but this 1982 joint is strictly mainstream. She has some top musicians alongside her here — Fred Hersch on piano; Charlie Haden on bass; and Ed Blackwell on drums — and this swings nicely.

Two things worthy of note about Jane Ira Bloom: she was the first musician to be commissioned by the NASA Art Program — though I haven't heard any of her three musical compositions. She also has an asteroid named after her.


AMG (Chris Kelsey) sez:
This was, in a way, Jane Ira Bloom's debut, in that it was the first of her albums to be put out by a label she did not herself own -- her first two records were self-produced. Even at such an early stage in her development one can hear the attention to craft that would always characterize her work, though her skills at this point were not what they would later become. Bloom's control over the horn was occasionally dubious, but she evidenced an attractive tone and a coherent (if a bit immature and self-conscious) manner of phrasing. Her tunes were already quite sophisticated and distinctive, pointing to the even more ambitious composer into which she evolved. On the other hand, her band for this album will probably not be excelled for the rest of her career. Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell are pretty heavy company for such a callow young musician to be keeping, and pianist Fred Hersch is certainly no slouch. Obviously, the rhythm section's work raises this music to a higher plane than it would have reached had not Bloom the wherewithal to engage the services of these gentlemen.

19 comments:

taro nombei said...

finally...

http://www.mediafire.com/?lkirimmmmrm

and remember, comments are mighty fine...

Anonymous said...

Thanks, I'm looking forward to hearing this. -mb

taro nombei said...

you're very welcome

mk said...

Nice one! Thanks alot

taro nombei said...

cheers!

tommythomaso said...

Thanx, Barbara, for this fresh Bloom. Moab jazz lovers will taste Ira this (or next) Wednesday.

taro nombei said...

@ tommythomaso

Greetings, welcome and thanks for stopping by.
And thanks for all comments too — I appreciate the feedback.

Just one small and trivial point: my name is not Barbara; and nor is my blog.

cheers
TN

Newk said...

So many Enja recordings out there that are impossible to track down. The Amiri Baraka CD disappeared instantly. I owned this a while back, but remember little. Can't lose with that rhythm section.

taro nombei said...

@ Newk
you're not wrong about that!

Uri said...

Hi There

I've just discovered your blog. Great stuff !!!

Finally a blog that post my kind of music.

This particular album was the first Jane Ira

Bloom I purchased around 20 years ago.

It sound great today as it did then.

Many thanks.

Uri.

taro nombei said...

@ Uri
thanks for dropping by — and for saying hi!
always nice to know... ;-)

Anonymous said...

Thans a lot fot this nice post!

Jane Ira Bloom sounds so nicely...

A Dutch lady sounds like her, anyway = his name is Tineke Postma.
Maybe it can be an idea for a next post!

Anonymous said...

Thans a lot fot this nice post!

Jane Ira Bloom sounds so nicely...

A Dutch lady sounds like her, anyway = his name is Tineke Postma.
Maybe it can be an idea for a next post!

BlueNote97 said...

¡Hola!

Jane I.Bloom is my favorite sopranist. I am going to enjoy a lot. Just on the right side of my computer is 'As One' (Bloom & Hersch), so you can undertand how much I appreciate your sharing. Thank you very much.

PS. In my humble opinion Dutch altoist Tineke Postma (I have got her three first CD's -her last one is uninteresting to me-) does not compare with Jane Ira Bloom.

taro nombei said...

@ BlueNote97
¡Hola! So pleased you like J.I.B... Thanks for the feedback.

@ anon
I will check out Tineke Postma. I spend too much time in the 60s, 70s and 80s — need to hear more contemporary sounds!

Anonymous said...

Hello from Greece.
Thank you so much for this outstanding album.
I'm grateful for this post.
Keep it up!!!
Thanks for sharing.


Procrastinator Procrustes

taro nombei said...

@ Procrastinator

You're welcome!
Judging from your name, though, I'm guessing you DLed this back in May and only just got around to commenting ;-)

Anonymous said...

Hi !!!
I downloaded this album yesterday searching for this album.
There are 3 more albums I haven't got.

Regards

Procrastinator Procrustes

taro nombei said...

@ PP

wow that's fast for a procrastinator :-)

thanks for commenting — and I hope you find what you're looking for!