Trumpeter Hagans’ ‘Animation’ Certainly Fits Grammy Category

Some jazz critics have questioned the inclusion of trumpeter Tim Hagans’ Blue Note recording “Animation Imagination” among the nominees in the Grammy Awards’ best contemporary jazz performance category. The disc, influenced by the current drum ‘n’ bass and electronica pop movements, was largely ignored or panned by the traditional jazz press when it was released in the spring of 1999.

But among the nominees, a group including saxophonist David Sanborn, keyboardist Bob James and bassist Victor Wooten, and in a field dominated by a jazz, R&B; and funk hybrid that hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years (trumpeter Russell Gunn’s blend of jazz and hip-hop, “Ethnomusicology: Volume 1,” is something of an exception), Hagans’ recording stands out as the most truly contemporary of the nominations in the contemporary category.

“It seemed nobody knew what to make of ‘Animation Imagination’ and hoped it would go away,” Hagans writes in an e-mail from Sweden, where he is the artistic director for the Norrbotten Big Band, a state-run touring organization last heard on the Double-Time recording “Future North.” “We wanted to make music for the future and not just pay tribute to the past.”

The forward-looking nature of the music is reflected in strong beats from drummer Billy Kilson, high-tech synthesizer effects from Scott Kinsey as well as dubs and electronic color from DJs Smash and King Size. In a moment of irony, the dubbed voice of Blue Note founder Alfred Lion is heard to muse on “the Blue Note sound.”

Though a dead issue with the jazz press, the recording received some buzz on the Internet. In a jazz version of the online, word-of-mouth drive behind the film “The Blair Witch Project,” pop culture magazines and chat rooms helped spread the word. Hagans reports that the disc generated enough interest to put the band out on tour this coming summer.

Despite its new-thing leanings, “Animation Imagination” also has ties to the jazz tradition, especially in Hagans’ fine trumpet play. The opening cut, “The Original Drum and Bass,” makes a solid connection between the interplay of today’s drum-bass duos with the great jazz rhythm sections of days past. There are references to past jazz works, though not necessarily the ones treasured by the mainstream jazz audience.

“[Our influences] stop with the Miles Davis of ‘Filles De Kilimanjaro,’ ‘Bitches Brew’ and ‘On the Corner,’ the real hard-core electric Miles,” says Bob Belden, the album’s producer and longtime Hagans associate who plays soprano sax and keyboards on the disc. “Everybody is now so paralyzed by the jazz tradition that they’re not going anywhere. [“Animation Imagination”] is the kind of thing that we remaining jazz maniacs are doing while everybody else is dying around us.”

Hagans, who says he is thrilled with the nomination, has solid jazz credentials. A veteran of the bands of Stan Kenton and Woody Herman, his previous Blue Note recording was a tribute to Freddie Hubbard with fellow trumpeter Marcus Printup. His mix of hard-bop intensity and tech-driven pop culture seems just the thing to introduce the now generation to jazz.

*

Juvenilia: Rare recordings of pianist Bill Evans made when he was a teenager are being released by his son, 24-year-old movie composer Evan Evans. The first of five CDs covering the years 1943-52 in the “Very Early” series is due out in March. On it, a family member is heard introducing the 13-year-old Evans as “Willy ‘Fingers’ Evans” before the pianist sends out a version of “C Jam Blues” to his brother in the service. In a 1949 recording, he’s heard to play Aram Khachaturian’s Tocatta for Piano.

Evans, who discovered the material stored in his mother’s attic, says he felt he needed to preserve the recordings and present them to the public. The Glendale-based son of the revered pianist recently scored the Rebecca DeMornay vehicle “Wicked Ways.” Information on the recordings, along with a wealth of Evans background, can be found at https://www.billevans.org.

*

Scene and Heard: It was standing-room-only at the Knauer/Johnston Studio in Santa Monica Jan. 15 when the Inner Ear series presented a tribute to composer-clarinetist John Carter. Performances from his “Roots and Folklore” suite and small-group compositions by an ensemble under the direction of cornetist and longtime Carter colleague Bobby Bradfordconfirmed the late composer’s uncanny ability to suggest visual and emotional images. . . .

Saxophonist Ralph Moor and trumpeter Sal Marquez joined pianist Cedar Walton’s trio for the last two nights of a three-night run at Rocco last weekend. Saturday night’s performance highlighted Walton’s unusually sympathetic and responsive accompaniment style. Drummer Billy Higgins, who opened with the trio, missed the final two nights with a strained back. He was replaced by drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath. . . .

Lan Xang, the ambitious New York-based collaboration between bassist Scott Colley, alto saxophonist Dave Binney, tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin and drummer Kenny Wollesen, capitalized on multidimensional themes and offbeat alto tenor harmonies when it closed a two-night stand at the Jazz Bakery Tuesday. Binney, a most under-appreciated alto player, added eerie sampler effects to Colley’s articulate solos or McCaslin’s intense confessions. The Naxos Jazz label will release the group’s next recording in March.

*

Tribute: Art Farmer, Milt Jackson and Horace Tapscott will be remembered at a Black History Month event presented by Billy Higgins at the Center in Watts Feb. 4. Pianist Cedar Walton, trumpeter Oscar Brashear, saxophonist Bennie Maupin, trumpeter Jerry Rusch, trombone quartet Bonesoir and others will appear. No word on whether Higgins will be well enough to perform. Reservations: (323) 563-5639.