Category: Jazz Ears

about jazz

WOODShedding

Happy Birthday Phil! On Friday, November 3, from 8pm to Midnight Eastern. WGBH 89.7FM’s Jazz From Studio Four host Steve Schwartz celebrates the 75th birthday of alto saxophonist Phil Woods (born Nov. 2, 1931) with a four-hour retrospective of his ongoing career. One of the true masters of the bop vocabulary, Woods has played with an impressive array of artists—touring and recording with jazz legends Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, and Benny Goodman and playing on pop albums by Billy Joel, Carly Simon and Steely Dan. I can’t think of a better way to enjoy an evening while simultaneously boning-up on large slice of jazz history. If you’re not within earshot via terrestrial radio, tune in online at wgbh.org/jazz

Meanwhile, here’s a little appetizer. It’s an excerpt from the liner notes I wrote for a live concert recording in honor of Johnny Pate, featuring Phil Woods, James Moody, Monty Alexander, Shirley Horn, and Ron Carter, among others.

…“Minor Detail,” opens with Pate playing solo piano – the first of many pleasures yet to come. The solo introduction to this minor-key ballad is thick with rich chordal harmonies that weave through the reed and horn sections. Then an alto saxophone is heard in the distance, and it’s Phil Woods, in his trademark black cap, who emerges from the wings playing. Soon a deeper horn sounds and James Moody wanders onstage playing tenor. Woods kisses the top of Moody’s balding head, and the two go on musically conversing with one another. The jazz ensemble members are mesmerized, and though it is not discernable to the ear, they are so awestruck that they nearly miss their musical cue to come back in. Woods and Moody wander off the stage.

At the microphone again, Pate waits just a beat to compose himself, and tries to lighten the moment by joking. “An intrusion,” he says, gesturing toward the wings. “They just let anyone wander around.” He tells the audience about the day he heard Phil Woods playing alto on a Dizzy Gillespie recording, and how he thought to himself that if he were ever in a position to produce records, Phil Woods would top his list of artists. Bringing Woods back onstage, “all the way from Pennsylvania,” his voice cracks with tears. A week earlier, Pate predicted this would happen, telling Spencer Patterson of the Las Vegas Sun, “I haven’t been in contact with most of these people for years. Seeing them all at once, all together will be quite a thing. I’ll need three or four boxes of Kleenex.”

It may not seem like such a long way from Pennsylvania to Nevada, but for someone battling emphysema and down with the flu just days earlier, it is a very long way indeed. Still, Woods would not have missed today’s events. Woods’ handwritten note to Pate, reprinted in the program book, says, “Your faith in me long ago lives forever in my heart.” Woods means it. He tells the audience about his life as a struggling musician in the 1960s. “I couldn’t get arrested. ‘Buy a flute, be a studio man,’ they told me. I said ‘forget it.’” Woods moved to Europe where he hoped the musical climate would be more hospitable to jazz musicians. But in 1968, salvation came from stateside in the form of Johnny Pate.

Then East Coast director of A&R for Verve Records/MGM, Pate was in a position to make Woods an offer. Tracking him down in France, Pate offered Woods a record deal with a dream rhythm section (Herbie Hancock on piano, Richard Davis on bass and Grady Tate on drums), augmented by a string section led by Gene Orloff. The album is titled Round Trip. “I’m talking the truth,” Woods tells us. “I went back to France with a shitload of money, and a few months later I was invited to play at Newport. I was back, baby! I was back, and that’s ’cause of Johnny Pate, and I want to say thank you.”

Woods sounds breathless when talking, but not when playing. He is featured on the next two selections, “Carolyn” and “Fill the Woods With Laughter,” both of which are on that 1968 recording. The first, a ballad dedicated to Pate’s wife, is a simple theme with variations, rich harmonies, a walking bass line, and a sweet trumpet turn at the end. The students acquit themselves well, breaking into double time before the bridge, but it is Woods who plays with such love that my eyes tear up. Pate is standing on stage, bending backward from the knees as if the music is the wind and he is a sail. Much later, the only words Pate will be able to muster are “I love what he does with a ballad. I just stood there in awe.” By the time they finish the second tune, the audience is cheering and all Pate can say now is “Wow!”

On The Edge

In my mailbox has been languishing a note from my friend, drummer Michael Stephans. It announces an audio interview he did with Richard Paske who produces an online monthly half-hour audio magazine called Notes From The Western Edge. Michael’s interview is one of the two pieces produced for October, and October is almost over. I logged on to hear it, but it cost money — $24/year for a streaming audio subscription, $36/year for the downloadable subscription.

I balked; what if Michael’s interview is the only one that will interest me? $24 is a lot to spend for one 15-minute audio clip.

But how dare I balk? Am I not also endeavoring to share my thoughts and skills via the internet for a price? SnapSizzleBop had a few free goodies, but yes, I hope people will become paying participants, even if only at the lowest $20 level. So, fair is fair and I decided to check out Notes From the Western Edge.

The home page of each issue offers brief excerpts so I was able to verify the excellence of both the interviewer and the production. In doing so I was delighted to find interviews with Maria Schneider, Joe Zawinul, Bennie Maupin, Chris Potter, and Ron McCurdy. I’m not sure how much I’m going to like David King’s “sonic tsunamis” or Nels Cline’s “Armageddon of screeching and howling feedback,” but I’ve put my money where my mouth is.

I encourage you all to support artists on the Internet. Perhaps you’ll find my “People On The Page” book project of interest…or not. Perhaps Notes From The Western Edge will be your cup of tea…or not. Maria Schneider, Jim Hall and Bob Brookmeyer are only three of the three-dozen-plus who have ArtistShare websites; browse through the ArtistShare list of Featured Artists. Check out Joe Lovano‘s, Billy Taylor‘s, Bill Mays‘ and Sonny Rollins‘ web sites too — all impressively produced by Bret Primack, and they are replete with wonderful audio and video clips and podcasts. On Taylor’s site I just watched a three-piano rendition of Perdido with a young BT playing with Duke Ellington and Willie “The Lion” Smith on the David Frost show. On Lovano’s site Primack has conceived and produced Video Liner Notes ™ for Lovano’s Streams of Expression recording. On Mays’ site you can watch Video Highlights that include clips with Freddie Hubbard, Red Mitchell, Gerry Mulligan, Toots Thielesman, and others.

I’ve put lots of links in today’s post, please click and enjoy. Surely there is something out there for you. And if you find something else that you think might be of interest to DevraDoWrite readers, please let me know and I’ll spread the word.

(P.S. This is not an invitation for every publicist in the world to send me their pitches. Either know me, or at least know my taste before sending anything.)

On the Road: Pittsburgh

I’m in Pittsburgh, at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild for a recording session. Marty and Jay Ashby, producers of Nancy Wilson‘s last three CDs, are going to lend their talents to my husbands latest project, a new recording for Clairdee and the promotion of an affordable entertainment package called Vocal Legacy featuring jazz vocalist Clairdee with guitarist/singer Henry Johnson. We are convinced that there are lots of people out there who want to enjoy an evening’s entertainment without breaking the piggy bank. John gets so many calls from organizations planning their annual dinner or convention and they can’t afford to hire performers such as Nancy Wilson or Dianne Reeves. Of course, part of the battle is name recognition and the lack of radio airplay for anyone except the commercially successful. But that’s another lament for another time.

If you happen to be in Pittsburgh on Thursday evening, it’s MCG Jazz Night at the Omni William Penn hotel. Clairdee and Henry will be doing two shows, 7 and 9 pm, in The Terrace Room, where I’m told they serve a delicious and affordable 3-course gourmet meal. (Call 412-553-5235 for reservations)

Drink Jazz?

Jazz, the word, has defined a music that I love. But over the years, the word — not the music — has lost its meaning. In some ways, you might consider it to be evolution — a good spin. After all, if the word was to adhere its meaning to a specific sound, jazz could be synonymous with Dixieland. So as the music grew in scope, jazz became an umbrella term – music that swings, uses syncopation, and, of course, music that is improvised on the spot. We had Dixieland, swing and be-bop, avant garde, modern and contemporary, even fusion.

The generic quality of the term also speaks to an increasing penchant for homogenization. Today, the only “jazz” you hear on radio or television is “smooth jazz” – Dave Koz, Kenny G, even The Rippingtons. The only “jazz singers” recognized are Jane Monheit, Michael Bublé, Nora Jones…even Mindi Abair makes the wiki list.

To add insult to injury, jazz is now a soft drink. For the last week or so television has been bombarding me with an ad for Jazz – Pepsi’s new diet cola drink — likely named to counter the high visibility garnered by the coke folks in sponsoring Jazz at Lincoln Center Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola — and Pepsi’s Jazz also comes in multiple flavors such as Strawberries & Cream, Black Cherry French Vanilla…

Look, to each their own flavor. I’m not going to knock The Rippingtons (whose new anniversary CD I am enjoying), I won’t even knock those performers whose work I do not care for at all, but I do not consider it to be jazz. Similarly, I’m not sure that the music of Maria Schneider or Bob Brookmeyer — music that I DO love — is best served by being dubbed “jazz.” As a writer what disturbs me is the loss of specificity in the use of the word. The umbrella is now so large as to be unwieldy, and any real meaning has taken flight on the winds of change leaving nothing on solid ground.

We need a new word to stand for that je ne sais quoi that I hear when listening to that music that I will now call “real jazz” — just until I find a better word. At first I thought that it was a matter of old vs. new, but I put that notion to rest when I listened to Serenade as played less than six months ago by Sonny Rollins at the Cerritos Performing Arts Center in California on April 11, 2006 (in celebration of his 70th birthday a video clip was made briefly available on Sonny’s web site). Then I thought maybe it was a difference in the sensibilities of older artists vs. younger ones — but dismissed that idea by listening to Ingrid Jensen‘s rendition of “There Is No Greater Love” on her At Sea CD. What is it that best describes this visceral reaction I have, and how can I describe the music?

I’m going to give this some more thought, meanwhile, write in and tell me what words you would use. If you could rename jazz, what would you call it?

I Call It Fun

A press release via email arrived to alert me to an anniversary CD+DVD release by The Rippingtons; included was a brief audio clip. A minute or two of an upbeat dance track titled “Bingo-Jingo” was enough to re-awaken memories of years gone by.

All of you straight-ahead jazzers may be aghast to hear that I rather like this group…I just wish that the word “jazz” was not used in the same sentence. Such is the way of the music biz, ascribing (or in many cases, usurping) niche identifications for the purpose of targeting sales. My dad says the term “music business” is itself an oxymoron. (Maybe just plain moronic would be more apt.) Of course the word “jazz” can also be used to mean “empty or insincere or exaggerated talk” as in “don’t give me any of that jazz,” but that’s another story.

Sometimes these appelations do more harm than good. I remember a few years back I was assigned to review a Rachael Z recording. The package arrived with the F word — Fusion — emblazoned on the front and had I not been on assignment it would have ended up in the round file without a hearing. That would have been my loss, and I said so in the review, noting that labels such as fusion, avant-garde, straight-ahead, and bop may be useful to the sales force, but they do little to illuminate our understanding as listeners.

But back to The Rippingtons. Despite the fact that they are billed as “smooth jazz pioneers,” their sound has a nostalgic appeal for me and I enjoy it for what it is…parts of it, anyway. Their “20th Anniversary Celebration,” a special CD/DVD retrospective, was released on July 25th on Peak Records, reuniting founding Rippingtons member Russ Freeman with past members, Dave Koz, Brian Mcknight, Jeffrey Osbourne and others.

The opening audio track has that electronic new-agey feel that leaves me cold, so I skip to track two, “Celebration,” which is the first of the four tunes that includes a horn section, the others being “Bingo Jingo,” “Rainbow,” and “A 20th Anniversary Bonus.” Those are the tracks I like best — they are jazzier and made me also want to revisit the sounds of those three-name groups: Blood, Sweat & Tears and Earth, Wind & Fire.

I wouldn’t describe The Rippingtons as playing deep music, but it is fun. And if you ARE a smooth jazz fan, The Rippingtons are among the best.

The DVD includes some cool computer-enchanced video of performances super-imposed over scenes of cavorting on the ski slopes (curves ahead) and sailing the seas (tourist in paradise). When I finally got around to watching the historical overview with interview snippets I was amused to see a tongue-in-cheek report from Canadian television grappling with how to describe the Rippingtons’ music, and gratified to hear Russ Freeman, back in his younger years, saying “I don’t even like the word jazz anymore.”

I’ll let Russ have the last word…today.

Angel Wing

It was just yesterday (technically early this morning) that I wrote about musical people who have left a void, and now I have just learned of the death of Lee Wing. You may not know her by name, but she wrote “An Older Man Is Like an Elegant Wine,” a song that was recorded to great acclaim by both Carol Sloane and Nancy Wilson.

Here’s a snippet from Nancy’s recording of An Older Man Is Like An Elegant Wine (that’s Toots Thielemans with her).

I never met Mrs. Wing, and all I knew about her was her talent as a songwriter. Now, reading her obituary (which I am posting below) I am fascinated to learn of her work in the fields of government and education. A common thread seems to be giving people a voice. Smart Start Kids is an Emmy-award-winning half-hour television program where preschool children are the “stars” of the show, and my eyes zoom in on phrases like “citizen call-ins,” and “connect people and their government.” It seems that her life touched on many of the same topics that I hold dear. Here, then, is her obituary from the Durham Herald-Sun, August 29, 2006.

Durham’s Honored Mrs. Wing dies

Lucie Lee Abramson Wing of Durham, who founded and served as president of Friends of University Network Television (WUNC) and was arts and communications policy adviser to Gov. Jim Hunt in the 1970s, died Sunday. She was 80 and had lived in Durham since 1965.

“I just loved her,” longtime friend Mary D.B.T. Semans said Monday. “She was so talented. I admired her so. She inspired me.”

Mrs. Wing also was executive director of the N.C. Agency for Public Telecommunications from 1979 to 1993, and created OPEN/net, a statewide satellite and cable television network with unscreened citizen call-ins designed to connect people and their government.

The network won the Ford Foundation and Harvard-Kennedy School of Government Award for Innovations in State and Local Government.

Mrs. Wing also received the Governor’s Award of Excellence and was inducted into the Order of the Longleaf Pine for her service to the state.

In 1993, she founded Responsive Media Inc. as a vehicle for new projects involving audience participation. She produced the Call-In Kids radio program from 1996 to 1999, and later created Smart Start Kids, produced by WRAL-TV, which won a regional Emmy Award in 2004.

Mrs. Wing also wrote music and lyrics. Her song “Pushing Forty” was recorded by Pearl Bailey and “An Older Man Is Like an Elegant Wine” was recorded by both Carol Sloane and Nancy Wilson.

From 1968 to 1972, Mrs. Wing was president of the Durham County Democratic Women. She co-chaired Terry Sanford’s 1972 presidential campaign and was a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention.

“She was such a believer in democracy and worked for it all the time,” Mrs. Semans said. “She cherished the Constitution and everything about it.”

Former state Rep. George Miller of Durham agreed.

“She was really the one person who originally advocated open government in North Carolina,” Miller said. “That included the Legislature, the Office of the Governor, state agencies, and the like…. She had many talents.”

Mrs. Wing is survived by her husband, Cliff; her son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Betsy; their daughters, Ann and Marion; her son and daughter-in-law, Scott and Natasha; and their sons, Erik and Nicholas.

The family said it will announce plans later to remember and celebrate her life.

My condolences to Mrs. Wing’s family and friends.

Validation

It was with a little trepidation that I shared with you the list of my latest jazz CD purchases. While I admit to being opinionated — I know what I like and what I don’t like, and usually can give some reason why — I do not by any stretch consider myself to be an expert, and though at times I am quite critical, I never claim to be A Critic. So I was very pleased to receive this succinct endorsement from Mr. Rifftides:

Good choices.

I am fortunate to be rubbing elbows all these years with many great artists who I am lucky to call my friends. Many of them no longer walk among us but they have left the wonderful gifts of their music preserved on recordings. From time to time I talk about Joe Williams and Shirley Horn, but there are so many more that I miss often and mention all too seldom. I spent many a night with Helen Humes, most often at The Cookery in NYC but also in Boston and in Nice. Even without the CD I can hear her singing “Every Now and Then” (for me, no one else can do justice to that song), “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me,” and “If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight.” She did an album in 1960 titled Songs I Like to Sing! that has all three of those songs and nine others that she really did like to sing because I heard her sing each and every one of them, often, right up until her death in 1981. Helen liked to have a good time (we had wonderful BBQs at the home of her niece in Los Angeles) and she loved to be naughty (lyrics to “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” were more often than not altered to “a hard man is good to find”).

Despite my taking lessons with some truly legendary jazz pianists, and my preference for Bill Evans over Beethoven, my limited pianistic talents were stronger in the classical arena. My “serious” music studies during my high school years were at the Westchester Conservatory, but it was Roland Hanna who introduced me to the music of Scriabin. “I can’t play jazz,” I said frequently. “It’s all the same,” Roland would say. Then he’d ask, “What are you working on?” Sitting at the piano in his 72nd street studio, I’d play whatever it was, maybe a Chopin Nocturne or a Brahms Rhapsody. Roland would stroke his chin, nudge me to the edge of the bench and re-interpret the piece, proving that jazz or classical, it’s all music with which you could do as you felt. He could play anything, classical or jazz, bop, swing or out-to-lunch. I cherish, too, the memory of those nights at Bradley’s where he often played solo. It’s his solo recordings that are my favorites, especially his first solo album, Sir Elf, with “Bye Bye Blackbird.” I think some Japanese company released a CD, but, alas, I can’t find it. My Hanna collection currently includes his solo concert at Maybeck Hall, the Duke Ellington Piano Solos, Tributaries: Reflections on Tommy Flanagan, Solo: Round Midnight which I think is no longer available, and one ensemble recording Sir Roland Hanna Quartet Plays Gershwin.

I also miss Paul Desmond, Zoot Sims, Etta Jones, Art Farmer, Thad Jones, and Sweets Edison, to name just a few. If you want to know about my Desmond reminiscences you’ll have to read Take Five, the fantastic biography by Doug Ramsey a/k/a Mr. Rifftides. (I’m on pages 264, 296-7). And I’ll save these other memories for another evening when nostalgia strikes again.

Christmas In August

Several weeks ago I shopped online at Concord’s Blowout Sale, filling some gaps in my CD library and stumbling across some old treasures. The package finally arrived.

Many years ago I feel in love with Brubeck’s Time Out and wore out several LPs. It was released when I was four years old; I probably didn’t hear it, or pay attention to it until I was 10 or 11. By the time I was 12 I had the printed music as well, and acquitted myself adequately playing “Blue Rondo A La Turk,” ‘Three To Get Ready,” and “Kathy’s Waltz.” I found the CD some years ago and bought it. It wasn’t until later that I heard Jazz At Oberlin, released before I was born, but I never owned that one…now I do.

I also learned and loved to play Bill Evan’s “Waltz For Debby.” Never mind that it wasn’t written for me, it was my calling card and I wowed a bunch of London musicians by playing it with Bill’s voicings at a party when I was 10 years old and the printed music wasn’t yet available overseas. (Mom and I were on the road with Dad who was playing six weeks at Ronnie Scott’s Club.) Now that you know that you’ll not be surprised that I had to buy the complete set of Bill Evans’ Riverside Recordings. If you’re surprised that I hadn’t yet owned them, don’t be — I bought the Fantasy set instead some years back. Now I’ve got both.

Long ago and far away (1970s, Boston and New York City) I took some lessons with some other noted pianists including Jaki Byard and Walter Bishop, Jr. Strangely enough I owned not a single Bish CD and only one by Byard (the solo recording at Maybeck Hall). Now that omission has been rectified with the purchase of The Walter Bishop Jr, Trio recorded in 1962-63 with Butch Warren and Jimmy Cobb, and Jaki’s Freedom Together recorded in 1966 with Richard Davis on bass, Alan Dawson on drums, and Jaki on piano, celeste, vibes, tenor saxophone and drums. I spent many a night at Bradley’s in NYC listening to Jaki on piano, but I don’t think I ever knew he played all those other instruments. Another gap in my education. The Bishop CD has a nice mix of standards and originals, but I wish it included “Giant Steps;” at the time I studied with him he was using that tune as a teaching tool and had worked out this exercise that, if my hazy memory serves, we used to work through key changes and full-fisted voicings.

And then there’s Wiggin’ Out — Gerry Wiggins playing Hammond organ with Jackie Mills on drums and Harold Land on tenor sax. As long as I have known Wig, about 35 years, I have never heard him play organ. I called him up to ask about it and he just laughed, saying “that’s probably the only time I ever did.”

What else did I buy? Four more that I haven’t played as yet. 1) A Leonard Feather production titled The Jones Boys with Thad, Reginald, Quincy, Jimmy, Jo and Eddie.
2) The MJQ’s Django — by that time I became familiar with the group Connie Kaye was playing drums. The tracks on this CD were recorded in the early 1950s with Kenny Clarke on drums.
3) Sonny Rollins with The Modern Jazz Quartet (I own several recordings by each but nothing with them together).
4) The Ellington Suites, recorded in 1959, 1971 and 1972 with Duke, Cat Anderson, Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves, Johnny Hodges, Butter Jackson, Clark Terry…..

And lest you think me selfish, I did buy a few others for my husband. He got first dibs on Milt Jackson/Wes Montgomery – Bags Meets Wes!, Cannonball Adderley – Know What I Mean?, and Cannonball Adderley/Milt Jackson – Things Are Getting Better.

This should keep us busy for awhile.

PS: Easy Listening — Talk about discovering oldies, I just browsed by The Overgrown Path where I read Sweden’s best kept secret – Jan Johansson and listened to the short audio clips — very pleasant and mildly reminiscent of John Lewis’s Bach’s Preludes & Fugues and Claude Bolling/Jean-Pierre Rampal’s Suite for Flute & Jazz Piano.

And….

Speaking of jazz classics, I just saw a press release reminding me that it has been 50 years since Paul Gonsalves’ six minute solo on “Diminuendo and Crescendo In Blue” brought the proverbial house down at the Newport Jazz Festival.

Tonight, on the radio, Columbia record producer George Avakian, Newport Jazz impresario George Wein, and critic Stanley Crouch will be savoring the memory of Duke Ellington and His Orchestra’s historic performance — the program is Open Source, it airs from Boston (89.7 on the dial) at 7 PM and can be heard online here.

I’ve Got Mail: Another Perspective

As you know, I’ve been embroiled in the online discussions with my classmates about the wars, and more specifically about human nature and whether we are wired to be violent, an inherency tempered only by our intellect and consciousness (and/or perhaps conscience). It was with that in mind that I posted the quote from Carl Jung (see yesterday’s post just below). Bill Crow writes in response:

Re your posted quote from Jung: He must have been talking about himself. I personally have come to consciousness many times with joy and pleasure, as when I first heard Louis Armstrong’s recording of West End Blues, when I first heard Duke Ellington’s recording of Creole Love Call, when I first heard Lester Young’s recording of I Got Rhythm, and when I first heard Charlie Parker’s recording of Ko Ko. Such moments of revelation have carried me happily through a life in music, without pain.
(The pain came later on, in my fingers, from struggling to transfer the consciousness of the music onto my instrument.)

Thanks, Bill, for providing a ballast, accentuating the positive, and reminding us of the power of music. I’m don’t know which specific renditions you have in mind (these guys having recorded these songs more than once) but I hope the above links to sound clips will give DDW readers a little sample.

Did you all know that the Army’s PsyOps division has used music as a weapon? I’ve been meaning to research the details, but I remember something about driving Noriega out of hiding by bombarding him with heavy metal music. No joke. I wonder what would happen if we were to fill the air in warring territories with great music. Now there’s a secret weapon I could support. Hmmm…