|
|
Second CourseMany people have preconceived notions of those who live in different geographic regions. All people from the east coast are rude and constantly in a hurry, all Californians surf and/or are vegetarians, all southerners are rednecks, and so forth. I have lived in each of these areas, and generally find that people are people, no matter where you go. The same is true of music. There seems to be a prevailing attitude that jazz - or more generally creative improvised music - does not happen outside of New York City. And you certainly would not expect to find it in a place like Colorado, according to conventional wisdom. But I assure you that it exists. Now, I do not mean to imply that the Colorado jazz scene is as broad or deep as it is in NYC, but there are some wonderful musicians here, and I have had the pleasure of working with many of them. And of course there are other benefits to living in this scenic state. I originally found myself here almost ten years ago as a result of a previous career as a software engineer, but have found little reason to leave. This CD was recorded at a pivotal time in my life, less than a month after leaving the aforementioned computer job to become a full-time musician. The music here represents a cross-section of some of the activities in which I have been involved lately. Playing solo is a part of every pianist's life, of course, and three of these compositions are performed unaccompanied. Most pianists also lead trios, and while I certainly do this, my preferred outlets for many of my compositions and arrangements are other ensembles. While it was, in fact, a competition won by my trio that got me into the studio to record, the music I wanted to document was not a trio music, so you will not hear my trio here except as part of a quartet or quintet. The band that plays on a plurality of the tracks is called The Spanish Inquisition, and it features Peter Sommer, a young saxophonist from whom you will certainly be hearing more in the future. This was my first experience working with two bassists (who play together on three compositions), and probably theirs as well, but I have played with both Roger Barnhart and Erik Turkman individually for so long, it seemed only natural to include both of them on this recording. I have been playing with drummer Tom Van Schoick for the longest of any of these musicians, and his empathy for my music is something I have really come to appreciate. The remaining tracks feature trumpet player Hugh Ragin, who is probably familiar to many listeners of this CD from his recordings with David Murray and others. We have been working together as a duo for almost as long as I have lived in Colorado. At first, as with many pianists, duo performance was uncomfortable for me. Unlike in a trio or quartet, I had to cover the bass part, but unlike solo performance, I felt constrained to stay within what my partner was doing. With more experience, however, I reached a point where the duo has become one of my favorite modes of expression. I feel I have learned how to be a bass (and when not to be one), and I find the interaction with a single partner to be more stimulating than playing solo, yet more liberating than playing in a quartet. The original compositions found here range from rough sketches for free improvisation like Dave & Sharon, Horsetooth Rock, and Perseids, to straightahead bebop pieces like Monk's Got Rhythm and Bud-like. To Whom It May Concern fits somewhere in between, I suppose. The odd man out is Fifteen Bucks and a Beer, a blues in bar-room style, which was written in honor of all those poorly paying gigs that we musicians have to endure at times. For this CD, I also recorded some other musicians' compositions that have special appeal to me. Charles Mingus' The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jive-Ass Slippers is, quite simply, one of the masterpieces of modern jazz. It was originally scored for a much larger ensemble, and I am indebted to Andrew Homzy for providing me with a score of one of these arrangements, which I used as a basis for my own quartet version. Keith Jarrett's Everything That Lives Laments and David S. Ware's Aquarian Sound are pieces that commanded my attention when I first heard them. They were easily adapted from quartet to a two-bass quintet. I understand and share some reservations about covering other peoples' compositions so literally, but these are hardly overplayed standards, and I believe that a musician can define himself in part by the music he chooses to play. Which brings me to Jacques Offenbach's Can-Can (from Gaîté Parisienne). There is not much I can say about this, except that it was my way of taking revenge on a melody that locked itself in my brain for weeks on end and would not leave. I'm sure you will understand. By the way, I should note that the version of Shoes' included on this CD was not recorded during the sessions that produced the rest of the music. It came instead from a live performance broadcast on KUVO, the Denver jazz radio station. KUVO, along with Cognac-Hennessy, co-sponsored the competition that resulted in the sessions that produced the rest of the CD. KUVO and Cognac-Hennessy both deserve a special "thank you" for making this recording possible. Special thanks also go to Paul Warburton and Bob Ross for loaning Erik the bass used on this recording. Bob and Paul recently began making basses, and this was the first instrument they built, finished just weeks before the session. Both of the bass solos heard here were played on this instrument - Erik uses it for his solo on Everything That Lives Laments (accompanied by Roger on a much older bass), and Roger uses it on To Whom It May Concern.
Marc Sabatella |
|
All content copyright © The Outside Shore Marc Sabatella /
marc@outsideshore.com |
