The keyboardist and composer Joe Zawinul passed away recently at age 75 from cancer. Some of my first jazz listening was Joe Zawinul: One of my first jazz purchases was a Cannonball Adderley album called ‘The Price You Gotta Pay To Be Free’, which was JZ's last record with Cannon. His tune ‘Rumplestiltskin’ was my favorite tune on that record and contained the elements so intrinsic to his music – harmonic mystery, melody, and personality.
In recent years I have more closely checked out his early '60s work with Cannonball. Joe sounds great, a forward thinking jazz pianist among many during that time. He was very loyal to Cannon, who apparently was a great bandleader and appreciated Joe's talent. Zawinul was an imposing pianist technically, but there is no virtuosity for its own sake in his jazz playing- he was all about the music.
Joe was one of the last jazz musicians to create a new genre. Innovators of this kind are relatively few. The whole jazz-rock movement was more subtle in its ‘67-‘73 transformative period than many claim, and Joe's creativity and vision during this time was one of such subtlety. He popularized the Fender Rhodes electric piano, and approached it by playing fewer notes and letting the sound permeate the rhythm section. Subsequently, Miles Davis became infatuated with the Rhodes and asked his pianists to play it. As a result, the music took on different dimensions- the introduction of funkier rhythms, electric bass or amplified acoustic bass, and more open improvisation. Although he was never a member of Miles's band, Joe played on and contributed compositions to the In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew albums. He gave a lot of his talent to Miles, who took a lot of the credit, much of it deserved. But Joe took the opportunity of a lifetime to accelerate his own creative vision.
In 1970 Joe formed Weather Report with Wayne Shorter in the musical image of the style created for Miles, but the band grew over time into a larger, more arena rock ensemble that attracted a fairly large rock audience (particularly with the addition of Jaco Pastorius on electric bass). In the '70s Joe helped to popularize keyboard synthesizers. He was extremely creative with them, and used his knowledge of orchestration to create interesting music. His ability to manipulate several keyboard synths simultaneously, shifting sounds, textures and voicings, constituted a veritable one-man band. In fact, he often composed by recording his improvisations and transcribing the results.
WR also introduced musicians from the Afro-Carribean basin and Brazil. Later, African and other international musicians became part of Zawinul’s own group, The Zawinul Syndicate. His music since WR became a kind of global polyglot that was difficult to categorize, but uniquely personal.
The influence of Joe Zawinul is also felt by the number of musicians who grew up influenced by Weather Report and later became high level instrumentalists in the pop field. For example, at one time in the early '90s Madonna's rhythm section was made up of the same rhythm section WR had in the mid '80s. There is no question that WR, even 20 years after Joe and Wayne Shorter officially called it quits, is a huge presence today.
Most great jazz musicians of the past were innovators in their youth. Joe was an excellent musician who became an innovator in early middle age. His creative restlessness caused him to constantly challenge himself well past the point when most musicians of his generation had stopped. The term genius is a cliché, but Joe Zawinul transformed himself into one. He was a larger than life personality, very sure of himself, brutally honest with others, and competitive.
RIP Joe Zawinul! May your deep Viennese soul rest well.
Here is a small, select list of favorites with Joe:
Any Cannonball Adderley record from 1961-70
Miles Davis- In A Silent Way
Bitches Brew
Zawinul- his solo album from 1971, a masterpiece
Weather Report- first album, self-titled
Mysterious Traveller
Heavy Weather
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Max Roach
Max Roach, the great jazz drummer, passed away last month. Max was a great American artist who transcended the jazz idiom. I only saw him play twice. The first time was in the late '70s at Sandy's in Beverly MA with a quartet- Billy Harper, Cecil Bridewater and (probably) Avery Sharpe. Max sent chills up my spine when he performed 'South Africa Goddam' as a solo piece for drum set- a compelling composition. I also remember that a 12 year old Terri Lynn Carrington sat in on 'Straight, No Chaser' while her father snapped pictures. The next time I saw him play was in 1998 with the So What Brass Quintet. Max looked thin, but dapper in a suit. Even though his chops were down, he still played musically. I loved the texture of the brass quintet plus drum set, the programming and pacing. It was a wonderful concept.
The last time I saw him was at Birdland in 2000. I went to see Lee Konitz and Max was sitting at the bar. On a break I was talking to Jeff Williams and Konitz, who was talking with Max, asked Jeff to join them for a minute. I suppose I should have insinuated myself into the proceedings, but it didn't seem appropriate. Jeff told me later that for the second set Max came and sat down at a table in front of the drums- only in New York!
Max, like all great jazz creators, was an original and didn't copy anybody. He created a level of dignity for the instrument and the art form by insisting on it. He elevated the drum set to a concert level instrument. His playing was compositional, architectural, polyrhythmic. In the '40s, he codified- after Klook- the bebop idea of creating the time on the 'ride' cymbal and playing independently with the rest of his limbs. His concept required a smaller drum set, with improved tom toms and a more integrated design. On the records with Clifford he plays a drum solo on virtually every tune, playing through the form, creating distinct compositional ideas that became his unique language. He played phrases that transcended individual licks or patterns. His improvising always had a subtext- music and form. He had a beautiful sound and used musical space as part of the fabric of his dramatic inventions. He seemed like he had total control of all of the elements of his performances, which were courageous in their artistic integrity. Max improvised solos that had the presence of a composed piece of music.
He brought odd meters into the jazz aesthetic and created original rhythms from them that became the basis for some of his drum set compositions. Try to find anything like that in the jazz composition world- Max created a new genre with these distinctive pieces. Max's percussion ensemble, MBoom, was unique in that it created music drawn from the jazz aesthetic for an ensemble comprised primarily of orchestral percussion plus drum set. Max also worked with the string quartet. The piece Survivors features music composed for string quartet by Peter Philips while Max improvises- for 20 minutes! Max also worked with his daughter's string quartet in collaboration with his jazz quartet to create a successful meld, due in no small part to the fact that all of the string players could improvise.
Max also was involved in the struggle for civil rights for African-Americans, and reflected his political ideas in his music. The best known of these efforts is The Freedom Now Suite from 1960, a suite of original music in collaboration with the lyrics of Oscar Brown, Jr. that features, among others, the enduring, compelling artistry of the vocalist Abbey Lincoln.
Max was special. His timeless, eternally modern music will always be part of the soundtrack of jazz for me and synonymous with creativity in this music. Here is a list of some of my favorite Max albums under his leadership, most of which are in print or available at ITunes:
The Many Sides of Max Roach
Any Clifford Brown/Max Roach album
Jazz In 3/4 Time
The Freedom Now Suite
The Long March (with Archie Shepp)
Survivors
I will post more later about some of the essential attributes of Max's long career, which began before bebop, a music he helped to invent through his contributions to the music of Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Mingus, Sonny Rollins and so many others.
The last time I saw him was at Birdland in 2000. I went to see Lee Konitz and Max was sitting at the bar. On a break I was talking to Jeff Williams and Konitz, who was talking with Max, asked Jeff to join them for a minute. I suppose I should have insinuated myself into the proceedings, but it didn't seem appropriate. Jeff told me later that for the second set Max came and sat down at a table in front of the drums- only in New York!
Max, like all great jazz creators, was an original and didn't copy anybody. He created a level of dignity for the instrument and the art form by insisting on it. He elevated the drum set to a concert level instrument. His playing was compositional, architectural, polyrhythmic. In the '40s, he codified- after Klook- the bebop idea of creating the time on the 'ride' cymbal and playing independently with the rest of his limbs. His concept required a smaller drum set, with improved tom toms and a more integrated design. On the records with Clifford he plays a drum solo on virtually every tune, playing through the form, creating distinct compositional ideas that became his unique language. He played phrases that transcended individual licks or patterns. His improvising always had a subtext- music and form. He had a beautiful sound and used musical space as part of the fabric of his dramatic inventions. He seemed like he had total control of all of the elements of his performances, which were courageous in their artistic integrity. Max improvised solos that had the presence of a composed piece of music.
He brought odd meters into the jazz aesthetic and created original rhythms from them that became the basis for some of his drum set compositions. Try to find anything like that in the jazz composition world- Max created a new genre with these distinctive pieces. Max's percussion ensemble, MBoom, was unique in that it created music drawn from the jazz aesthetic for an ensemble comprised primarily of orchestral percussion plus drum set. Max also worked with the string quartet. The piece Survivors features music composed for string quartet by Peter Philips while Max improvises- for 20 minutes! Max also worked with his daughter's string quartet in collaboration with his jazz quartet to create a successful meld, due in no small part to the fact that all of the string players could improvise.
Max also was involved in the struggle for civil rights for African-Americans, and reflected his political ideas in his music. The best known of these efforts is The Freedom Now Suite from 1960, a suite of original music in collaboration with the lyrics of Oscar Brown, Jr. that features, among others, the enduring, compelling artistry of the vocalist Abbey Lincoln.
Max was special. His timeless, eternally modern music will always be part of the soundtrack of jazz for me and synonymous with creativity in this music. Here is a list of some of my favorite Max albums under his leadership, most of which are in print or available at ITunes:
The Many Sides of Max Roach
Any Clifford Brown/Max Roach album
Jazz In 3/4 Time
The Freedom Now Suite
The Long March (with Archie Shepp)
Survivors
I will post more later about some of the essential attributes of Max's long career, which began before bebop, a music he helped to invent through his contributions to the music of Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Mingus, Sonny Rollins and so many others.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Herb Pomeroy
The great trumpeter and educator Herb Pomeroy passed away this past summer. I didn't know Herb well, but I played with him a few times over the years. He never forgot a name, or so it seemed. Whenever I saw him- which was infrequently- he remembered me and spoke about a couple of the people we both knew. What a special person. I loved his playing, which was so musical- compositional without sounding too intellectual or consciously organized. He had a beautiful individual sound that was timeless; you could never date it. One of the last times I saw him play was at The Regattabar a few years ago with a kind of Boston All-Star group. It was Charlie Mariano's gig, and he had Herb and Ray Santisi with him, plus John Lockwood and Bob Gullotti. It was an interesting night and Herb sounded great as usual, on all kinds of different material.
I remember playing a weekend of gigs with Herb about twenty years ago. The trombonist Tim Sessions hooked it up. We played a weekend at a hotel that was featuring jazz in those days, and played a Sunday concert. In addition to Herb, Tim and myself, the musicians included Tony Gaboury and Ben Street. I recall that Herb wanted to play UMMG by Billy Strayhorn, and it was the first time I had heard that beautiful tune. Herb was very gracious and interested in the musicians playing with him, and not just interested in himself. He was a musician who was looking for the pure expression of each player, unconcerned with finding fault.
I read somewhere that Sam Rivers had said that without Herb there would probably be no Berklee. It certainly would not have been the same. His name was synonymous with Berklee, along with John LaPorta and a handful of others. Herb was an innovator in jazz education, a very important American figure.
I remember playing a weekend of gigs with Herb about twenty years ago. The trombonist Tim Sessions hooked it up. We played a weekend at a hotel that was featuring jazz in those days, and played a Sunday concert. In addition to Herb, Tim and myself, the musicians included Tony Gaboury and Ben Street. I recall that Herb wanted to play UMMG by Billy Strayhorn, and it was the first time I had heard that beautiful tune. Herb was very gracious and interested in the musicians playing with him, and not just interested in himself. He was a musician who was looking for the pure expression of each player, unconcerned with finding fault.
I read somewhere that Sam Rivers had said that without Herb there would probably be no Berklee. It certainly would not have been the same. His name was synonymous with Berklee, along with John LaPorta and a handful of others. Herb was an innovator in jazz education, a very important American figure.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)