Highly Recommended Jazz Album Review: HUBUB!
(Ted Kooshian)

by TONY FRANKEL on OCTOBER 2, 2022
in MUSIC, THEATER-SAN FRANCISCO / BAY AREA

I’LL TELL YOU WHAT THE HUBUB! IS ALL ABOUT: FUN

I just returned from the 2022 Monterey Jazz Festival, and as you can guess the players were magnificent. Not so the compositions, though. Highly experimental is great; after all, that’s what makes jazz, well, jazz. But much of the weekend was fusion, ya know jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm, but so repetitive and melodically abstruse. When vocalist Samara Joy hit the stage, the 22-year-old had throngs magnetized to the stage with appealing tunes, charm and downright fun.

I mention this because I just took pianist-composer Ted Kooshian‘s fifth album, Hubub! for a spin, and felt uplifted for all eleven tracks. Available October 7, 2022 via Summit Records, the album features Kooshian with trumpeter John Bailey, saxophonist Jeff Lederer, bassist Dick Sarpola and drummer Greg Joseph. It’s his first album of mainly original music since his acclaimed 2004 debut. The CD release party is on October 10 at Rockwood Music Hall in NY.

Normally, along with original compositions, Kooshian takes themes from his past and puts them the sausage grinder of his polychromatic soul, coming up with flavorful arrangements with his combo. And the results are always delightful. Here, we get one standard (a bouncy arrangement of Bernstein’s “Somewhere” from West Side Story) along with an all-original collection: interpretations of a few memorable characters (the funky “McQueen” is a tribute to the action star; the spacy “Shatner” is an ode to the star of his favorite show, the original Star Trek — both feature percussionist David Silliman); “Tornetto” — a portmanteau of “tornado” and “Ornette” — is definitely a whirlwind tribute to the great originator, played with kickin’ enthusiasm by saxophonist Lederer; the dreamy song “Hymn for Her” (co-written by Kooshian and Judy Barnett) features the dreamy 40s-style vocals of Jim Mola (and for this track, we get guests Katie Jacoby on violin and Summer Boggess on cello); and more. I’ll say it again: Appealing, inventive tunes and downright fun. What more could you ask?

by Edward Blanco

New York pianist and keyboardist Ted Kooshian continues his love affair with classic TV, cartoon themes and the pop scene, on Hubub!, offering a selection of striking originals influenced by his “enthusiastic love for pop culture,” which includes tributes to actors Steve McQueen and William Shatner of Star Trek fame. The album’s sole standard is Leonard Bernstein’s classic “Somewhere” from the West Side Story play, distinguishing this version from so many others with an atypically jaunty arrangement from the pianist.

To better understand and appreciate the music on this remarkable album, one should know that though now based in New York City, Kooshian was born in San Jose, California, and was raised in the Bay Area, where he was exposed to all of the cultural and musical influences that have formed and impacted the creative style of jazz he produces. Perhaps this is one of the reasons he is so unique.

Kooshian assembles a group of long-time collaborators, all seasoned musicians with whom he has worked on previous projects. The cast features trumpeter John Bailey, bassist Dick Sarpola, tenor saxophonist Jeff Lederer—who has appeared on all of Kooshian’s recordings—drummer Greg Joseph and percussionist Dave Silliman.

The title track, penned in 1992, starts the music rolling with a little help from his friends, Lederer and trumpeter Bailey on spritely solos as the funky, high-spirited piece kicks the music into high gear. In contrast to the opener, “Wandelen,” which translates to “walking” in Dutch, it is a more laid-back and gentle tune bringing back memories of several Dutch Islands. One of the North Sea Islands Kooshian and wife visited was “Schiermonnikoog,” which inspired the pianist’s piece of the same name, offering a bluesy-flavored rollicking burner.

Holding down the soft spot on the set is the gorgeous “Hymn for Her,” a love ballad with vocals from Jim Mola, accompanied by Katie Jacoby on the violin and the leader on warm keys. A tune with perhaps the best melody of the session is “Desert Island Tracks” featuring bold solo moments from the saxophonist, sturdy drumming and superb piano work in a bid from the leader in hoping that this track, would be on someone’s desert island picks.

“Space Train” lifts the music up into terrain Kooshian has previously explored with his cosmic Standard Orbit Quartet and features some of the best solo excursions from tenor man Lederer. The leader’s homage to actor Steve McQueen follows, with “McQueen,” much in the same texture as “Space Train” but, not as spacy as the finale tribute to the Star Trek actor “Shatner,” where Kooshian plays the electric piano to help this atmospheric piece of stellar music become one of the highlights of the album.

Pianist Ted Kooshian’s talents as a composer are on display here where hecrafts another “commotion” of an album, another “excitement” of a session in successfully engineering a call answering the question, what’s all the Hubub! about? The answer: it’s “all about jazz” in a unique vehicle that only Kooshian knows how to drive.

Track Listing
Hubub; Wandelen; Sparkplug-She Came to Play; Somewhere; Schiermonnikoog; Tornetto; Hymn for Her; Desert Island Tracks; Space Train; McQueen; Shatner.

Personnel
Ted Kooshian: piano; John Bailey: trumpet; Jeff Lederer: saxophone, tenor;
Dick Sarpola: bass; Greg Joseph: drums.

Album Information
Title: Hubub! | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Summit Records

May 2023 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Hubub!

Ted Kooshian (Summit)

by Ken Dryden

Ted Kooshian is most widely known for playing electric keyboards in the Ed Palermo Big Band for over three decades, though in more recent years he has released a series of outstanding albums for Summit as a leader. This release is the latest, with Kooshian focusing on his original compositions and piano—his core band including John Bailey (trumpet), Jeff Lederer (tenor), Dick Sarpola (bass) and Greg Joseph (drums).

It’s hard to miss the influence of Thelonious Monk in “Hubub”, though Kooshian’s brisk playing makes it clear he has his own sound. “Sparkplug—She Came to Play”, named for his treasured dog, opens with a far-ranging solo piano introduction; it’s only as the band joins him that the familiar chord changes from the standard “Stella by Starlight” come into the picture, showcasing Bailey’s spirited trumpet. Kooshian’s fresh scoring of Leonard Bernstein’s “Somewhere” incorporates a unique rhythmic approach and blends the lush harmonies of Lederer and Bailey (on flugelhorn), spotlighting Sarpola’s fluid, understated bass. The uptempo, off-center vibe of “Tornetto” has an aura of early Ornette Coleman; the leader’s darting chords support strong solos by Bailey and Lederer, though the pianist’s feature takes things into more abstract territory. The lush ballad “Hymn for Her” adds vocalist Jim Mola (singing Judy Barnett’s heartfelt lyric), Katie Jacoby (violin) and Summer Boggess (cello). The breezy afro-Cuban flavor of “Desert Island Party” would get any crowd on its feet, with the pianist’s jaunty solo keeping the energy high. Kooshian switches to electric keyboards for his funky “McQueen”, with its somewhat ominous air suggesting a ‘70s suspense-film soundtrack.

Ted Kooshian: Hubub!
by George W. Harris • November 7, 2022

Pianist Ted Kooshian swings hard and joyfully with a core mainstream team of John Bailey/tp+fh, Jeff Lederer/ts, Dick Sarpola/b and Greg Joseph/dr. The tenor/trumpet front line is right from the Blue Note School of hard bop, with Bailey’s warm horn gliding over the tide of the title tune, while his flugelhorn is fluffy on the autumnal “Somewhere.” Lederer has big and beefy tone, having a hoot of a time around Kooshian’s clever chords on the kinetically Monkish “Sparkplug-She Came To Play” and getting down over the military riff laid down by Joseph on “Schiermonnikoog”. Kooshian shows rich ideas on the pen, plugging in on a funkified Bullitt-themed “McQueen” and going to where no man has gone before in an intergalactic “Shatner,” while the rhythm team takes a Caribbean cruise on “Desert Island Tracks.” Rich textures are proved by a string section and Jim Mola’s voice on a lovely “Hymn For Her,” with other delicate ideas hovering on “Space Train.” A modern jazz messenger.

Σάββατο 5 Νοεμβρίου 2022

TED KOOSHIAN το “Hubub!” είναι ένας πολύ σημαντικός νέος τζαζ δίσκος

TED KOOSHIAN’s “Hubub!” is a very important new jazz record. Ted Kooshian
is an American jazz composer, pianist and keyboardist, with a bit of a history now,
since he has been on the scene since the 80s, and he has been recording since the
mid 90s. As a session musician, Ted Kooshian has participated in several albums
(being a member of the Ed Palermo Big Band), but his personal discography
begins in 2004, and “Hubub!” [Summit Records, 2022] is his fifth album in 18
years.

In addition to being an outstanding pianist, Kooshian is also a very good composer,
and this is proven by the tracks on “Hubub!” (ten of the eleven are his, as there is
also a version of “Somewhere” by Leonard Bernstein), one more beautiful than the
other.

Having something “old” as a composer, with the swinging and groovy feeling
dominating even when his compositions develop slowly, or slower anyway,
Kooshian impresses almost from the beginning with the 9-minute long “Wandelen”
(his second track), which has a pleading gospel touch, and is characterized by the
excellent trumpet solo (John Bailey) and the heavy drumming (Greg Joseph), with
the piano playing rhythmically.

Ted Kooshian proves how worthy a soloist he is in the very next track, “Sparkplug
– She came to play”, where his piano introduction properly prepares us for
excellent hard bop.

Composing not only for himself, but for his entire band, which is a quintet (Ted
Kooshian piano, keyboards, John Bailey trumpet, flugelhorn, Jeff Lederer tenor
sax, Dick Sarpola bass, Greg Joseph drums – there are extra musicians in voice,
violin, cello and percussion), Kooshian constantly delivers dynamic tracks, with
impressive contributions from all instruments, such as for example the open drum
solo in “Schiermonnikoog”, an amazing blues, performed with tremendous energy
(and with a solo that sticks you to the wall by Lederer on tenor).

And of course the influences on Kooshian’s tracks are many and varied, as on the
very fast “Tornetto”, with the Miles-esque trumpet solo from Bailey and the
generally elusive rhythm section creating a platform upon which wonders can be
created.