CECIL TAYLOR - Born March 25, 1929; Died April 5, 2018
Obituary & Appreciation by Jack Kenny
Some thoughts.
Cecil Taylor who died on 5th April 2018 dominated a great deal of my jazz listening. He has been there like an Everest, challenging me to engage with his music. Often, I tried and could only reach the foothills as I struggled to get through the tangled thickets of the lower slopes.
Cecil Taylor was remarkable there was no one like him, no one played the piano like him: he was forceful, uncompromising and did not deviate in any way.
Two insights helped me to gain an understanding into the turbulent music: I began to relate his work to 20th century classical music; there was the often-repeated observation that Taylor was using the piano like tuned drums.
Where did it all come from? He was born in Long Island City, Queens. Taylor studied at the New England Conservatory which sparked an interest in contemporary European art music: Bartok and Stockhausen notably influenced him. His piano style was influenced by Duke Ellington’s percussive pianistics. He was also influenced by Lennie Tristano and the harmonic side of Dave Brubeck. Taylor told writer A. B. Spellman ‘When Brubeck opened in 1951 in New York I was very impressed with the depth and texture of his harmony, which had more notes in it than anyone else's that I had ever heard. It also had a rhythmical movement that I found exciting... I was digging Stravinsky, and Brubeck had been studying with Milhaud. But because of my involvement with Stravinsky, and because I knew Milhaud, I could hear what Brubeck was doing.’ ‘ Tristano: interested me because he was able to construct a solo on the piano, and I guess that has a lot to do with why I dug Brubeck too. Brubeck was the other half of Tristano; Tristano had the line thing and Brubeck had the harmonic density that I was looking for, and that gave a balance.’
Taylor told AB Spellman that what he was trying to do was to harness the energies of the European composers, their technique, consciously, and blend this with the traditional music of the Afro American, and to create a new energy.
Eventually Taylor met up with alto saxophone player Jimmy Lyons, an association that would last more than 20 years. In the US, Taylor often had to work outside music. In a relationship with Europe that would prove more fruitful than his own country, Taylor would record many albums over the years. The first was ‘Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come’ an album by the Cecil Taylor Unit, recorded live at the Café Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark on November 23, 1962: Lyons on alto and Sonny Murray on drums were his collaborators. At that time engagements in the US were not frequent. In 1966 he recorded the album “Unit Structures” for Blue Note. Taylor was organising music in his own unique ways, putting him in front of the avant-garde!
In the summer of 1988, Mr. Taylor played a series of concerts in East and West Berlin — solo, in duos and with groups of various sizes — which were recorded and resulted in a
box set of thirteen albums which aficionados regard as the culmination of Taylor’s work. Evan Parker, Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley all took part. Oxley became Taylor’s regular drummer in recent years.
Taylor became known for his solo piano performances. The Willisau album is a good example. It is a good album to experience the essence of Taylor: the percussive style, the rhapsodic almost Debussyean beauty. There is the lyrical intensity, the subtle dynamics, the propulsion and the wild momentum leading to abandon and, above all, the energy.
He would occasionally perform duets with another artist. The collaboration with pianist Mary Lou Williams proved to be a disaster; the work with Max Roach in 1979, 1989 and 2000 was a success. He even worked with dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Eventually, there was more recognition and he was given a Guggenheim fellowship in 1973, a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters award in 1990, a MacArthur fellowship in 1991 and the Kyoto Prize in 2014.
Some thoughts.
Cecil Taylor who died on 5th April 2018 dominated a great deal of my jazz listening. He has been there like an Everest, challenging me to engage with his music. Often, I tried and could only reach the foothills as I struggled to get through the tangled thickets of the lower slopes.
Cecil Taylor was remarkable there was no one like him, no one played the piano like him: he was forceful, uncompromising and did not deviate in any way.
Two insights helped me to gain an understanding into the turbulent music: I began to relate his work to 20th century classical music; there was the often-repeated observation that Taylor was using the piano like tuned drums.
Where did it all come from? He was born in Long Island City, Queens. Taylor studied at the New England Conservatory which sparked an interest in contemporary European art music: Bartok and Stockhausen notably influenced him. His piano style was influenced by Duke Ellington’s percussive pianistics. He was also influenced by Lennie Tristano and the harmonic side of Dave Brubeck. Taylor told writer A. B. Spellman ‘When Brubeck opened in 1951 in New York I was very impressed with the depth and texture of his harmony, which had more notes in it than anyone else's that I had ever heard. It also had a rhythmical movement that I found exciting... I was digging Stravinsky, and Brubeck had been studying with Milhaud. But because of my involvement with Stravinsky, and because I knew Milhaud, I could hear what Brubeck was doing.’ ‘ Tristano: interested me because he was able to construct a solo on the piano, and I guess that has a lot to do with why I dug Brubeck too. Brubeck was the other half of Tristano; Tristano had the line thing and Brubeck had the harmonic density that I was looking for, and that gave a balance.’
Taylor told AB Spellman that what he was trying to do was to harness the energies of the European composers, their technique, consciously, and blend this with the traditional music of the Afro American, and to create a new energy.
Eventually Taylor met up with alto saxophone player Jimmy Lyons, an association that would last more than 20 years. In the US, Taylor often had to work outside music. In a relationship with Europe that would prove more fruitful than his own country, Taylor would record many albums over the years. The first was ‘Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come’ an album by the Cecil Taylor Unit, recorded live at the Café Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark on November 23, 1962: Lyons on alto and Sonny Murray on drums were his collaborators. At that time engagements in the US were not frequent. In 1966 he recorded the album “Unit Structures” for Blue Note. Taylor was organising music in his own unique ways, putting him in front of the avant-garde!
In the summer of 1988, Mr. Taylor played a series of concerts in East and West Berlin — solo, in duos and with groups of various sizes — which were recorded and resulted in a
box set of thirteen albums which aficionados regard as the culmination of Taylor’s work. Evan Parker, Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley all took part. Oxley became Taylor’s regular drummer in recent years.
Taylor became known for his solo piano performances. The Willisau album is a good example. It is a good album to experience the essence of Taylor: the percussive style, the rhapsodic almost Debussyean beauty. There is the lyrical intensity, the subtle dynamics, the propulsion and the wild momentum leading to abandon and, above all, the energy.
He would occasionally perform duets with another artist. The collaboration with pianist Mary Lou Williams proved to be a disaster; the work with Max Roach in 1979, 1989 and 2000 was a success. He even worked with dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Eventually, there was more recognition and he was given a Guggenheim fellowship in 1973, a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters award in 1990, a MacArthur fellowship in 1991 and the Kyoto Prize in 2014.
Taylor has gone but the work is still there and it still remains challenging. In the fifth edition of the ‘Penguin Guide to Jazz’, Richard Cook and Brian Morton say of Taylor: ‘Throughout his career, both on and off the record, there has been no suspicion of any compromise at any point.’ How many in jazz can you say that about?
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
The Willisau Concert Intakt CD 072
Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come Freedom (FLP-40124)
The Complete Cecil Taylor In Berlin ’88 FMP (Bandcamp)
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
The Willisau Concert Intakt CD 072
Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come Freedom (FLP-40124)
The Complete Cecil Taylor In Berlin ’88 FMP (Bandcamp)
JON HENDRICKS - Born 16 September 1921; died 22 November 2017
The "Real" Jon Hendircks:
An Appreciation by Frank Griffith
With all respect to Jimi Hendrix, an equally important an innovative icon of 20th century American popular music I would like to share my work with singer/lyricist Jon Hendricks in the wake of his recent passing.
As a saxophonist/arranger, resident in NYC from 1980-96 I first met Jon in December 1993 when an arranger colleague of mine, Mark Lopeman,asked me to assist him with some last minute orchestrations for Jon in anticipation of some gigs around Christmas of that year. Jon had been writing lyrics to several Miles Davis solos from Gil Evans arrangements from their 1957 "Miles Ahead" LP on Columbia. These included "My Ship" "I Don't Wanna Be Kissed", "New Rhumba" and "The Maids of Cadiz". These were also performed the following year for Jon's Christmas week long engagement at NYC's Blue Note club. The band included such luminaries as Wynton Marsalis, Red Holloway,Benny Golson and Al Grey.
Without getting too technical, my task was to transcribe the original Gil orchestrations (no published scores existed then) and then transpose them into Jon's key as his tenor voice was considerably lower than Miles' trumpet and reorchestrate to a nonet with 5 horns. So, in the end quite a few "plates to spin" concurrently but this was mitigated by the sheer enjoyemnt of getting to know this great music intimately going through the process of transcribing and adapting it.
Jon's enthusiasm with this new and forward looking project was so infectious and inspiring that only a fool would turn down this arranging opportunity. Hard work, yes, but well worth it in so many ways.
Later on, I adapted Gershwin's ""Bess Oh Where Are You Now" from the 1958 "Porgy and Bess" LP. After copying the chart by hand we discovered at rehearsal that its key of Db was not suitable due to one high note at the end being beyond Jon's reach and it had to be recopied into the key of C! Sadly, this was before computer music software allowed one to transpose a chart at the push of one button so I had to recopy the chart again. Oh well....all part of the fun.
I also did several gigs with Jon's nonet during this time which were all very enjoyable as his ebullience on stage with the both the band and audience was infectious even if the music went awry, on occasion. I can also remember ringing Jon to discuss his key for "The Maids of Cadiz" and I suggested Eb instead of E to which he asked "Which one's higher?" Not sure if he was serious or not.
In my visits to Jon and Judith's rather spartan 2 bedroom apartment in Lower Manhattan's Battery City it would not be uncommon to find him still in his pajamas at 2.00pm in the afternoon. The second bedroom was the office often full of staff tending to matters to do with publishing royalties and gig bookings,etc. Lots going on in that place. Jon and Judith's lifestyle and work were inseparable- leaving no demarcating lines between them. I believe that this could have a played a role (along with his good genes) in his longevity (96). He was naturally a good natured and optimistic kind of guy and this certainly came through each time he picked up the microphone as well.
As many readers will know, pianist, vocalist, choir leader and arranger (is there anything that he doesn't do?) Pete Churchill, had collaborated with Jon over the last ten years to adapt and orchestrate an entire programme's worth of Gil/Miles material for the twenty five strong London Vocal Project choir. The LVP performed this material at St Peter's Church in NYC in February 2017 all to great acclaim. Jon did attend the event but did not perform but certainly would have imbued the event greatly with his presence. The concert was documented in both audio and video formats and we all await the forthcoming release of this with great anticipation. I am also very pleased (and honoured) to have been involved in the beginnings of this project twenty three years ago and never would have imagined that it would have reached the stages that it has through the efforts of my friend and colleague (and neighbour), Pete Churchill.
Maybe they should rename the NYC venue of the premiere St Peter's Churchill?
(Or maybe not...?)
The "real" J Hendricks was a truly inspirational and positive force in the world of vocal jazz. Long may he and his music live.
An Appreciation by Frank Griffith
With all respect to Jimi Hendrix, an equally important an innovative icon of 20th century American popular music I would like to share my work with singer/lyricist Jon Hendricks in the wake of his recent passing.
As a saxophonist/arranger, resident in NYC from 1980-96 I first met Jon in December 1993 when an arranger colleague of mine, Mark Lopeman,asked me to assist him with some last minute orchestrations for Jon in anticipation of some gigs around Christmas of that year. Jon had been writing lyrics to several Miles Davis solos from Gil Evans arrangements from their 1957 "Miles Ahead" LP on Columbia. These included "My Ship" "I Don't Wanna Be Kissed", "New Rhumba" and "The Maids of Cadiz". These were also performed the following year for Jon's Christmas week long engagement at NYC's Blue Note club. The band included such luminaries as Wynton Marsalis, Red Holloway,Benny Golson and Al Grey.
Without getting too technical, my task was to transcribe the original Gil orchestrations (no published scores existed then) and then transpose them into Jon's key as his tenor voice was considerably lower than Miles' trumpet and reorchestrate to a nonet with 5 horns. So, in the end quite a few "plates to spin" concurrently but this was mitigated by the sheer enjoyemnt of getting to know this great music intimately going through the process of transcribing and adapting it.
Jon's enthusiasm with this new and forward looking project was so infectious and inspiring that only a fool would turn down this arranging opportunity. Hard work, yes, but well worth it in so many ways.
Later on, I adapted Gershwin's ""Bess Oh Where Are You Now" from the 1958 "Porgy and Bess" LP. After copying the chart by hand we discovered at rehearsal that its key of Db was not suitable due to one high note at the end being beyond Jon's reach and it had to be recopied into the key of C! Sadly, this was before computer music software allowed one to transpose a chart at the push of one button so I had to recopy the chart again. Oh well....all part of the fun.
I also did several gigs with Jon's nonet during this time which were all very enjoyable as his ebullience on stage with the both the band and audience was infectious even if the music went awry, on occasion. I can also remember ringing Jon to discuss his key for "The Maids of Cadiz" and I suggested Eb instead of E to which he asked "Which one's higher?" Not sure if he was serious or not.
In my visits to Jon and Judith's rather spartan 2 bedroom apartment in Lower Manhattan's Battery City it would not be uncommon to find him still in his pajamas at 2.00pm in the afternoon. The second bedroom was the office often full of staff tending to matters to do with publishing royalties and gig bookings,etc. Lots going on in that place. Jon and Judith's lifestyle and work were inseparable- leaving no demarcating lines between them. I believe that this could have a played a role (along with his good genes) in his longevity (96). He was naturally a good natured and optimistic kind of guy and this certainly came through each time he picked up the microphone as well.
As many readers will know, pianist, vocalist, choir leader and arranger (is there anything that he doesn't do?) Pete Churchill, had collaborated with Jon over the last ten years to adapt and orchestrate an entire programme's worth of Gil/Miles material for the twenty five strong London Vocal Project choir. The LVP performed this material at St Peter's Church in NYC in February 2017 all to great acclaim. Jon did attend the event but did not perform but certainly would have imbued the event greatly with his presence. The concert was documented in both audio and video formats and we all await the forthcoming release of this with great anticipation. I am also very pleased (and honoured) to have been involved in the beginnings of this project twenty three years ago and never would have imagined that it would have reached the stages that it has through the efforts of my friend and colleague (and neighbour), Pete Churchill.
Maybe they should rename the NYC venue of the premiere St Peter's Churchill?
(Or maybe not...?)
The "real" J Hendricks was a truly inspirational and positive force in the world of vocal jazz. Long may he and his music live.
JOHN ABERCROMBIE - Born December 16, 1944 – Died August 22, 2017
An obituary by Carl Orr
I first heard John Abercrombie in my home town of Adelaide,South Australia in 1976, at fifteen years old when a friend of mine played me his copy of Billy Cobham’s “Crosswinds”. I was very intrigued by John’s playing, especially his snarling jazz-rock solos that were notable for their logical and patient development from initial melodic statements to their climactic finishes. His guitar playing made a powerful impression on me, and I had no idea at the time that I would wind up playing on a few Billy Cobham records myself. Not long after that I heard John’s “Gateway” album. He was still identifiable at some points as the crazed fusion beast of Billy Cobham’s band but “Gateway” revealed a great deal more about him; his tremendous sense of swing, his ability to weave a spontaneous melody,his mastery of delicate ballads, the reckless abandon of his free improvisation, but most of all, his ability to function as an empathetic part of a group.
Gateway was three highly accomplished musicians, John, Jack de Johnette and Dave Holland, but they sounded as if they played with a single mind. The more I listened to John, the more I realised that he brought this special quality to every situation; the power of the group working a whole, rather than a soloist out front with a ‘backing band’. Great jazz is created in part by the musicians actively listening to each other at all times. To me, this is the quality that absolutely defines the finest of jazz music of all styles and all eras. John embodied this approach more than any other guitarist. As time went on, John increasingly reached a level of pure improvisation, utterly unconcerned about showing off, but weaving spontaneous melodies and gently interacting with the other musicians, creating musical poetry that was absolutely compelling in its vulnerability and empathy to a degree of perfection that very few others have achieved. It is a sublime sound that could only be created by master musicians who have the greatest respect for both each other and the listening audience, and who are making a conscious effort towards world peace .
Over the decades, I saw John play live a few times and bought a whole stack of albums featuring him; as well as his huge body of work as a leader he made exemplary sideman appearances on recordings by Enrico Rava, Dave Leibman, Kenny Wheeler, Colin Walcott and many others. He showed himself to be a multi-dimensional guitarist who distinguished himself in a wide variety of contexts, figuring out ways for the guitar to function as a rhythm section instrument that were totally original, from the high-pitched multiple overdubbed distorted virtual ‘guitar section’ of Enrico Rava’s “By The Sea”(The pilgrim and the stars ECM 1975) to his delicate Jim Hall-esque acoustic guitar accompaniment on “Parks” from the same album to his understated , unpredictable dual guitar antics behind Lester Bowie on Jack de Johnette’s “New Directions”.
As Pat Metheny said of John: His work with Jack DeJohnette, Enrico Rava, and Charles Lloyd in quartet settings are some of the greatest examples of what a guitarist can offer as an alternative to a pianist as a primary comping instrument that you could find in recorded jazz history. John always finds something special and central to each of the many situations that he finds himself in.
As a solo artist and collaborator John covered an impressive amount of ground; from the Mahavishnu-influenced “Timeless” with Jan Hammer and Jack de Johnette, to Gateway, to his ethereal duets with Ralph Towner , to his guitar synthesiser explorations of the 80s ,to his sublime take on the organ trio in the 90s and the poignant chamber jazz of his latter years. However, as varied as his albums are, one thing they have in common is plenty of examples of John’s tremendous compositions. I have always thought that John Abercombie was one of the finest writers of jazz tunes. I remember reading an interview with John many years ago in which he insisted that he wasn’t a composer, but was in fact a ‘tunesmith’. I suppose by that he meant that he didn’t write for a large variety of large and small ensembles as a composer would, but rather composed tunes for his band to play. And what tunes they are; from the triadic folky simplicity of “Timeless” to the eccentric wild west swagger of”Clint” to the ruminative “Isla” and the gently, unpredictably unfolding lyricism of “Dansir”, John Abercrombie left behind a large body of recordings of a bewildering array of compositions, all of them written to the highest of standards.
I first heard John Abercrombie in my home town of Adelaide,South Australia in 1976, at fifteen years old when a friend of mine played me his copy of Billy Cobham’s “Crosswinds”. I was very intrigued by John’s playing, especially his snarling jazz-rock solos that were notable for their logical and patient development from initial melodic statements to their climactic finishes. His guitar playing made a powerful impression on me, and I had no idea at the time that I would wind up playing on a few Billy Cobham records myself. Not long after that I heard John’s “Gateway” album. He was still identifiable at some points as the crazed fusion beast of Billy Cobham’s band but “Gateway” revealed a great deal more about him; his tremendous sense of swing, his ability to weave a spontaneous melody,his mastery of delicate ballads, the reckless abandon of his free improvisation, but most of all, his ability to function as an empathetic part of a group.
Gateway was three highly accomplished musicians, John, Jack de Johnette and Dave Holland, but they sounded as if they played with a single mind. The more I listened to John, the more I realised that he brought this special quality to every situation; the power of the group working a whole, rather than a soloist out front with a ‘backing band’. Great jazz is created in part by the musicians actively listening to each other at all times. To me, this is the quality that absolutely defines the finest of jazz music of all styles and all eras. John embodied this approach more than any other guitarist. As time went on, John increasingly reached a level of pure improvisation, utterly unconcerned about showing off, but weaving spontaneous melodies and gently interacting with the other musicians, creating musical poetry that was absolutely compelling in its vulnerability and empathy to a degree of perfection that very few others have achieved. It is a sublime sound that could only be created by master musicians who have the greatest respect for both each other and the listening audience, and who are making a conscious effort towards world peace .
Over the decades, I saw John play live a few times and bought a whole stack of albums featuring him; as well as his huge body of work as a leader he made exemplary sideman appearances on recordings by Enrico Rava, Dave Leibman, Kenny Wheeler, Colin Walcott and many others. He showed himself to be a multi-dimensional guitarist who distinguished himself in a wide variety of contexts, figuring out ways for the guitar to function as a rhythm section instrument that were totally original, from the high-pitched multiple overdubbed distorted virtual ‘guitar section’ of Enrico Rava’s “By The Sea”(The pilgrim and the stars ECM 1975) to his delicate Jim Hall-esque acoustic guitar accompaniment on “Parks” from the same album to his understated , unpredictable dual guitar antics behind Lester Bowie on Jack de Johnette’s “New Directions”.
As Pat Metheny said of John: His work with Jack DeJohnette, Enrico Rava, and Charles Lloyd in quartet settings are some of the greatest examples of what a guitarist can offer as an alternative to a pianist as a primary comping instrument that you could find in recorded jazz history. John always finds something special and central to each of the many situations that he finds himself in.
As a solo artist and collaborator John covered an impressive amount of ground; from the Mahavishnu-influenced “Timeless” with Jan Hammer and Jack de Johnette, to Gateway, to his ethereal duets with Ralph Towner , to his guitar synthesiser explorations of the 80s ,to his sublime take on the organ trio in the 90s and the poignant chamber jazz of his latter years. However, as varied as his albums are, one thing they have in common is plenty of examples of John’s tremendous compositions. I have always thought that John Abercombie was one of the finest writers of jazz tunes. I remember reading an interview with John many years ago in which he insisted that he wasn’t a composer, but was in fact a ‘tunesmith’. I suppose by that he meant that he didn’t write for a large variety of large and small ensembles as a composer would, but rather composed tunes for his band to play. And what tunes they are; from the triadic folky simplicity of “Timeless” to the eccentric wild west swagger of”Clint” to the ruminative “Isla” and the gently, unpredictably unfolding lyricism of “Dansir”, John Abercrombie left behind a large body of recordings of a bewildering array of compositions, all of them written to the highest of standards.
John played a wide variety of instruments over the years; he used quite an assortment of electric guitars, from the Bigsby-equipped Gibson SG of the early 70s to a Sadowsky Telecaster, to a Tom Anderson semi-hollowbody and a whole variety of others, and he made great use of effects, in particular delay, phaser, distortion and chorus. However he also recorded many great performances on acoustic guitar, classical guitar, electric mandolin and guitar synthesiser. John was a true colorist who used a wide palette; originally a plectrum guitarist, in the last twenty or so years of his life, he abandoned the pick in favour of fingers and thumb, no doubt for the soft, pliant tone that results from playing that way. His later performances and recordings featured a distinctive guitar tone that was the result of the unorthodox combination of the guitar’s magnetic pickups mixed with a contact pickup(piezo) mounted in the bridge, creating a piercing, silvery sound, sometimes subtly enhanced with distortion and phaser, with the attack softened by John’s use of the flesh of his fingers and thumb.
John Abercombie, while a somewhat overlooked figure compared to the superstars of jazz,has had a tremendous amount of influence. The first time I explicitly heard his influence on a guitarist was in Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter’s fantastic opening solo on “Parker’s Band”, Steely Dan’s tribute to Charlie Parker on their Pretzel Logic album. Baxter’s phrase at 0.22 is undeniably a direct cop from John, and it works a treat. However, in a broader sense John is the bridge between the older generation of Barney Kessel, Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall and the modern styles of Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell and their musical descendants. Frisell and Metheny are two of the most influential living jazz guitarists and neither of them would play quite the way they do without the influence of John Abercrombie, who carved out a distinctly different role for the guitar in the world of modern jazz, always looking ahead while deeply connected to the jazz guitar tradition.
I met John a few times. I had a lesson with him in August 1991 and I still frequently practise the improvisation exercises he gave me to work on. It was a great lesson; I learned a lot and we had plenty of laughs.I wrote a tune inspired by and dedicated to him just a couple of months ago, unaware that he was dying. He influenced me a lot with his understatement, his dogged originality and his great compositions. I was very impressed by his quiet, humble intelligence, his friendly, down-to-earth character and his great sense of humour. He was easy to like; he was a true gentleman. A gentle man. RIP gentle John.
John Abercombie, while a somewhat overlooked figure compared to the superstars of jazz,has had a tremendous amount of influence. The first time I explicitly heard his influence on a guitarist was in Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter’s fantastic opening solo on “Parker’s Band”, Steely Dan’s tribute to Charlie Parker on their Pretzel Logic album. Baxter’s phrase at 0.22 is undeniably a direct cop from John, and it works a treat. However, in a broader sense John is the bridge between the older generation of Barney Kessel, Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall and the modern styles of Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell and their musical descendants. Frisell and Metheny are two of the most influential living jazz guitarists and neither of them would play quite the way they do without the influence of John Abercrombie, who carved out a distinctly different role for the guitar in the world of modern jazz, always looking ahead while deeply connected to the jazz guitar tradition.
I met John a few times. I had a lesson with him in August 1991 and I still frequently practise the improvisation exercises he gave me to work on. It was a great lesson; I learned a lot and we had plenty of laughs.I wrote a tune inspired by and dedicated to him just a couple of months ago, unaware that he was dying. He influenced me a lot with his understatement, his dogged originality and his great compositions. I was very impressed by his quiet, humble intelligence, his friendly, down-to-earth character and his great sense of humour. He was easy to like; he was a true gentleman. A gentle man. RIP gentle John.
NAT HENTOFF - Born 10 June, 1925-Died 7 January, 2017
An Appreciation by Jack Kenny
There have been some great writers on jazz: Whitney Balliett who wrote extensively for the New Yorker, Benny Green who wrote for the Observer and Nat Hentoff who wrote for the Village Voice, New Yorker and Downbeat.
Hentoff who died this month was one of the most interesting. His writings went well beyond jazz into politics, race, the constitution, civil liberties, censorship.Above all, he was a polemicist, a controversialist. He valued being out of step, could not be pigeon holed. His views on abortion in recent years, he opposed it, angered many people. Hentoff could not see why people who opposed war and capital punishment could support the ending of life in the womb. One of his core beliefs was about the primacy of human life.
It was jazz however that animated him. He was an articulate ambassador for the music. In his writings he describes his friendships with people such as Ben Webster, Duke Ellington and Paul Desmond. In 1958, he was a founding editor of The Jazz Review, an important publication that treated jazz as an art form that lasted until 1961. In 1960, he began a short career as a record producer, with albums by Mingus, Max Roach and others for the Candid label. In 2004, Hentoff was the first non-musician to be named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment of the Arts.
One of his most important books was “Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya: The Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It” (1955), which he edited with Nat Shapiro. In the book Hentoff edited together interviews that he'd had with numerous musicians. Views on the music were unmediated straight from the musicians. It was a technique that has been widely used since.
Born in Boston he was educated at Boston Latin, the oldest public school in America. In Boston clubs he discovered the music of Artie Shaw and Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller and other jazz legends. Hentoff also wrote about and promulgated musicians such as Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus and, later, Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane Cecil Taylor. He was one of the first critics to recognise Bob Dylan.
Hentoff wrote mainly for the Village Voice where he had a column for fifty years. In addition to the column, Hentoff continued to write about jazz. He wrote over thirty books over his career, including novels, memoirs, young adult books and non-fiction works. His columns appeared in magazines ranging from Playboy, The New Yorker, The Washington Post and New York Times.
Nat Hentoff’s son said that when Nat died he was surrounded by his family as he listened to Billie Holiday. In ‘At The Jazz Band Ball’ Hentoff describes one of the great moments in jazz that featured Billie Holiday and Lester Young. It was during the recording of a TV programme ‘The Sound Of Jazz’.
“Billie was to be accompanied in this quieter session by Lester, seated in a semicircle with Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, trumpeters Roy Eldridge and Doc Cheatham, trombonist Vic Dickenson, Gerry Mulligan on baritone saxophone, and a rhythm section of drummer Osie Johnson, bassist Milt Hinton (“the Judge,” musicians called him), and guitarist Danny Barker. Her number was her own composition, a blues number, “Fine and Mellow.”
In the control room we expectantly leaned forward. Billie was her usual knowing tender, subtly sensual, and swinging self. When it was time for his solo, Lester did not remain seated, as I’d suggested to him he could be; Prez played a spare, pure, transcendent blues chorus that brought tears to my eyes and, as I looked around, to the eyes of Robert Herridge, Jack Smight and the sound engineer. Billie, her eyes meeting Lester’s, was nodding, smiling, and seemed to me to be with him, back in time, in a very private place.”
Recently Hentoff was asked how he would like to be remembered. His reply? "You could hear the voices of the musicians in just about everything he wrote."
There have been some great writers on jazz: Whitney Balliett who wrote extensively for the New Yorker, Benny Green who wrote for the Observer and Nat Hentoff who wrote for the Village Voice, New Yorker and Downbeat.
Hentoff who died this month was one of the most interesting. His writings went well beyond jazz into politics, race, the constitution, civil liberties, censorship.Above all, he was a polemicist, a controversialist. He valued being out of step, could not be pigeon holed. His views on abortion in recent years, he opposed it, angered many people. Hentoff could not see why people who opposed war and capital punishment could support the ending of life in the womb. One of his core beliefs was about the primacy of human life.
It was jazz however that animated him. He was an articulate ambassador for the music. In his writings he describes his friendships with people such as Ben Webster, Duke Ellington and Paul Desmond. In 1958, he was a founding editor of The Jazz Review, an important publication that treated jazz as an art form that lasted until 1961. In 1960, he began a short career as a record producer, with albums by Mingus, Max Roach and others for the Candid label. In 2004, Hentoff was the first non-musician to be named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment of the Arts.
One of his most important books was “Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya: The Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It” (1955), which he edited with Nat Shapiro. In the book Hentoff edited together interviews that he'd had with numerous musicians. Views on the music were unmediated straight from the musicians. It was a technique that has been widely used since.
Born in Boston he was educated at Boston Latin, the oldest public school in America. In Boston clubs he discovered the music of Artie Shaw and Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller and other jazz legends. Hentoff also wrote about and promulgated musicians such as Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus and, later, Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane Cecil Taylor. He was one of the first critics to recognise Bob Dylan.
Hentoff wrote mainly for the Village Voice where he had a column for fifty years. In addition to the column, Hentoff continued to write about jazz. He wrote over thirty books over his career, including novels, memoirs, young adult books and non-fiction works. His columns appeared in magazines ranging from Playboy, The New Yorker, The Washington Post and New York Times.
Nat Hentoff’s son said that when Nat died he was surrounded by his family as he listened to Billie Holiday. In ‘At The Jazz Band Ball’ Hentoff describes one of the great moments in jazz that featured Billie Holiday and Lester Young. It was during the recording of a TV programme ‘The Sound Of Jazz’.
“Billie was to be accompanied in this quieter session by Lester, seated in a semicircle with Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, trumpeters Roy Eldridge and Doc Cheatham, trombonist Vic Dickenson, Gerry Mulligan on baritone saxophone, and a rhythm section of drummer Osie Johnson, bassist Milt Hinton (“the Judge,” musicians called him), and guitarist Danny Barker. Her number was her own composition, a blues number, “Fine and Mellow.”
In the control room we expectantly leaned forward. Billie was her usual knowing tender, subtly sensual, and swinging self. When it was time for his solo, Lester did not remain seated, as I’d suggested to him he could be; Prez played a spare, pure, transcendent blues chorus that brought tears to my eyes and, as I looked around, to the eyes of Robert Herridge, Jack Smight and the sound engineer. Billie, her eyes meeting Lester’s, was nodding, smiling, and seemed to me to be with him, back in time, in a very private place.”
Recently Hentoff was asked how he would like to be remembered. His reply? "You could hear the voices of the musicians in just about everything he wrote."
BOB CRANSHAW - Born 10 December, 1942 - Died 2 November, 2016
Obituary by Euan Dixon
Bob Cranshaw, the very name reflects a `regular guy` type of image that bespeaks dependability and solid reliability, just the sort of qualities one looks for in a bass player and which have endeared him to so many of his contemporaries in jazz as well as the wider musical profession. By his own admission Melbourne Robert Cranshaw, to give him is full name, never sought star billing preferring a sideman role, albeit as a “super sideman” and that he achieved his ambition is evidenced by the size of his discography and the roster of key jazz figures who sought and valued his services. The names include Lee Morgan, Dexter Gordon, Duke Pearson, Horace Silver, Grant Green, Joe Zawinul and most notably of all Sonny Rollins with whom he maintained a life - long connection beginning with a performance at the 1959 `Playboy Jazz Festival` and the saxophonist’s great comeback album `The Bridge` of 1962.
His warm toned sound is captured on recordings by most of the major labels but it was his association with Blue Note Records in the mid -sixties, where he was involved in some of the most memorable hard-bop sessions, that proved his most concentrated body of work. Notable amongst these is his contribution to Lee Morgan’s game changing `Sidewinder` whose catchy, danceable vamp he launches with a descending four note motif that he ultimately develops into a pleasing walk through solo. Less important than his solo work though, was his facility in providing an uncomplicated solid rhythmic anchor and communicating what he described as “an inner feeling”, preferring straight ahead playing in four time and “laying in the pocket” to more showy demonstrations of virtuosity. Not that this should be interpreted as reticence or lack of technique but more from his belief that rhythm should not compete with the soloists. Nor did he avoid risk taking projects for he was as comfortable with gritty proto avant-garde sessions like Grachan Moncur’s `Evolution` as well as the cosier musical environments of Dexter Gordon’s `Gettin’ Around` and Grant Green’s `Idle Moments`, maintaining an even handed approach whatever the setting.
A highly industrious performer his talents found plenty of employment outside the world of jazz in the pit orchestras of the great white way and in television where he was the house bassist for `Sesame Street` and a number of late night talk shows hosted by people like David Frost. Such was his exposure to and familiarity with the ways of the music industry that in the nineties he became a central figure in the New York Musicians Union where he brought his wealth of experience to the service of his colleagues for whom he will be a great loss just as those of us who have valued his contribution to jazz will feel keenly the loss of the presence that graces so many of our favourite recordings.
Bob Cranshaw, the very name reflects a `regular guy` type of image that bespeaks dependability and solid reliability, just the sort of qualities one looks for in a bass player and which have endeared him to so many of his contemporaries in jazz as well as the wider musical profession. By his own admission Melbourne Robert Cranshaw, to give him is full name, never sought star billing preferring a sideman role, albeit as a “super sideman” and that he achieved his ambition is evidenced by the size of his discography and the roster of key jazz figures who sought and valued his services. The names include Lee Morgan, Dexter Gordon, Duke Pearson, Horace Silver, Grant Green, Joe Zawinul and most notably of all Sonny Rollins with whom he maintained a life - long connection beginning with a performance at the 1959 `Playboy Jazz Festival` and the saxophonist’s great comeback album `The Bridge` of 1962.
His warm toned sound is captured on recordings by most of the major labels but it was his association with Blue Note Records in the mid -sixties, where he was involved in some of the most memorable hard-bop sessions, that proved his most concentrated body of work. Notable amongst these is his contribution to Lee Morgan’s game changing `Sidewinder` whose catchy, danceable vamp he launches with a descending four note motif that he ultimately develops into a pleasing walk through solo. Less important than his solo work though, was his facility in providing an uncomplicated solid rhythmic anchor and communicating what he described as “an inner feeling”, preferring straight ahead playing in four time and “laying in the pocket” to more showy demonstrations of virtuosity. Not that this should be interpreted as reticence or lack of technique but more from his belief that rhythm should not compete with the soloists. Nor did he avoid risk taking projects for he was as comfortable with gritty proto avant-garde sessions like Grachan Moncur’s `Evolution` as well as the cosier musical environments of Dexter Gordon’s `Gettin’ Around` and Grant Green’s `Idle Moments`, maintaining an even handed approach whatever the setting.
A highly industrious performer his talents found plenty of employment outside the world of jazz in the pit orchestras of the great white way and in television where he was the house bassist for `Sesame Street` and a number of late night talk shows hosted by people like David Frost. Such was his exposure to and familiarity with the ways of the music industry that in the nineties he became a central figure in the New York Musicians Union where he brought his wealth of experience to the service of his colleagues for whom he will be a great loss just as those of us who have valued his contribution to jazz will feel keenly the loss of the presence that graces so many of our favourite recordings.
BOBBY WELLINS - Born 24 January, 1936 - Died 27 October, 2016
An Appreciation by Clark Tracey
On Wednesday 27th October we lost another of this country’s jazz musicians who truly deserved legendary status, Bobby Wellins. Bobby was a part of my life from the moment I was born – he and my father Stan had already met two years earlier working with drummer Tony Crombie at the Flamingo every Sunday in 1959.
Bobby had moved from Scotland to London a few years earlier, working in the quintet of saxophonist Buddy Featherstonhaugh, alongside Kenny Wheeler. Prior to this, Bobby studied alto, clarinet and piano in his home town of Glasgow, before taking up the tenor in the RAF.
Stan and Bobby hit it off musically and socially immediately. They recorded and performed at first with Tony Crombie, then became part of a jazz & poetry ensemble with Michael Horowitz called New Departures which lasted some years. While Stan was working every night at Ronnie Scott’s Club backing a wealth of American visitors, Bobby was integrating into the scene, Ronnie often giving him the opportunity to play at the club in his place.
In 1965 they recorded that milestone in British jazz, Under Milk Wood, or Jazz Suite as it was originally titled. Stan always attributed the success of that recording to Bobby, particularly the way he interpreted Stan’s music. Sadly they both became fell ill from the perils of Soho nightlife and eventually parted ways, Stan recovering at home and Bobby moving to Bognor Regis with his wife Isobel and his children, Fiona and Elizabeth.
Bobby formed his own group made up of south coast musicians (Pete Jacobsen, Adrian Kendon & Spike Wells), recording 3 albums in the 1970s, and in the 1980s worked and recorded with Jimmy Knepper, the Charlie Watts Orchestra, in quintet with Don Weller and later Jim Mullen. In the 1990s he also recorded with Claire Martin and formed a new group with Liam Noble, Simon Thorpe & Dave Wickens. He also reunited with Stan again, recorded together and performed Under Milk Wood with narration extensively.
Bobby was also a gifted composer. His ‘Birds Of Brazil’ from 1989 featuring a string quartet was highly acclaimed and one of his pieces ‘CUCB’ has been recorded a few times by others.
I feel privileged to have spent so much time in his musical company as well as getting to know Bobby as an adult. I know Bobby was crushed when Stan died three years ago and I can’t help thinking he had lost more than a close friend. Their musical partnership was unrivalled and it was always a joy to watch the evening unfold on stage. Off stage they were like a pair of kids, giggling and full of memories. Voices like Bobby’s are very rare in music. We will all miss his sound, his humour, his haunting melodies, his super hip swing, his kindness and his friendship.
Rest In Peace Robert Coull Wellins.
On Wednesday 27th October we lost another of this country’s jazz musicians who truly deserved legendary status, Bobby Wellins. Bobby was a part of my life from the moment I was born – he and my father Stan had already met two years earlier working with drummer Tony Crombie at the Flamingo every Sunday in 1959.
Bobby had moved from Scotland to London a few years earlier, working in the quintet of saxophonist Buddy Featherstonhaugh, alongside Kenny Wheeler. Prior to this, Bobby studied alto, clarinet and piano in his home town of Glasgow, before taking up the tenor in the RAF.
Stan and Bobby hit it off musically and socially immediately. They recorded and performed at first with Tony Crombie, then became part of a jazz & poetry ensemble with Michael Horowitz called New Departures which lasted some years. While Stan was working every night at Ronnie Scott’s Club backing a wealth of American visitors, Bobby was integrating into the scene, Ronnie often giving him the opportunity to play at the club in his place.
In 1965 they recorded that milestone in British jazz, Under Milk Wood, or Jazz Suite as it was originally titled. Stan always attributed the success of that recording to Bobby, particularly the way he interpreted Stan’s music. Sadly they both became fell ill from the perils of Soho nightlife and eventually parted ways, Stan recovering at home and Bobby moving to Bognor Regis with his wife Isobel and his children, Fiona and Elizabeth.
Bobby formed his own group made up of south coast musicians (Pete Jacobsen, Adrian Kendon & Spike Wells), recording 3 albums in the 1970s, and in the 1980s worked and recorded with Jimmy Knepper, the Charlie Watts Orchestra, in quintet with Don Weller and later Jim Mullen. In the 1990s he also recorded with Claire Martin and formed a new group with Liam Noble, Simon Thorpe & Dave Wickens. He also reunited with Stan again, recorded together and performed Under Milk Wood with narration extensively.
Bobby was also a gifted composer. His ‘Birds Of Brazil’ from 1989 featuring a string quartet was highly acclaimed and one of his pieces ‘CUCB’ has been recorded a few times by others.
I feel privileged to have spent so much time in his musical company as well as getting to know Bobby as an adult. I know Bobby was crushed when Stan died three years ago and I can’t help thinking he had lost more than a close friend. Their musical partnership was unrivalled and it was always a joy to watch the evening unfold on stage. Off stage they were like a pair of kids, giggling and full of memories. Voices like Bobby’s are very rare in music. We will all miss his sound, his humour, his haunting melodies, his super hip swing, his kindness and his friendship.
Rest In Peace Robert Coull Wellins.
RUDY VAN GELDER - Born 2 November, 1924 - Died 25 August, 2016
An Appreciation by Jack Kenny
Just the other day I was listening to an SACD of the album of an album that I know well, ‘Gil Evans and Ten’, I was amazed at the clarity and definition of the sound. It was, of course, recorded by Rudy Van Gelder. The purity of the sound, from the SACD, that he had captured in 1957 was revealed as though someone had blown the dust off. Steve Lacy sounded even more like Steve Lacy; Jimmy Cleveland’s tone had a roundness and richness it was like listening for the first time. All recorded by Van Gelder for the Prestige label.
Van Gelder was credited with achieving what became known as the Blue Note sound. He was not the only audio engineer to develop a personal style, Roy DuNann on the west coast recorded for Contemporary and all his albums sound as though they were recorded last week. The Sonny Rollins ‘Way Out West’ is spacious and detailed. DuNann, however, did not record the range of musicians and styles that Van Gelder eventually did.
Van Gelder who died last month started his working life as an optometrist but he had developed a love for recording sound from a young age. His first studio was at the home of his parents in Hackensack, New Jersey. Producers from small labels soon realised the quality and the value that they could obtain from Van Gelder. Eventually in 1959 he built a new studio at Englewood Cliffs. Neighbours thought it was going to be a church. The architect was a pupil of Frank Lloyd Wright. The emphasis was on wood and high ceilings to get the spacious acoustics. DownBeat described it as ‘a chapel-like space with a 39-foot-high ceiling made of cedar with arches of laminated Douglas fir, which created a natural reverb.’
One musician described the experience of working there: ’The room we used was round and was supposed to have a natural ambiance it was owned and run by Rudy Van Gelder, a German optometrist by trade, who’d become a recording engineer with impeccable credentials. He‘d worked with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, and was said to be responsible for the Blue Note Sound. He had top-notch Neumann microphones and state-of-the-art eight-track recording equipment with mixing consoles and equalizers. He sat in his recording booth manning the controls like some mad scientist. He literally wore white gloves to make his very antiseptic, high-fidelity recordings’
He was meticulous, geeky. Any musician who touched a mike would be severely reprimanded. The gloves were to ensure that no dust, sweat or grease would interfere with the technology. He was one of the first studios to use tape, he saw the advantages of digital recording and, of course, he remastered and digitised much of his earlier work.
There were critics. Charles Mingus refused to record with him. On a Blindfold test the great bassist said: ‘The drummer sounded like Art Blakey, and I like Art so much—but, man, I don’t think you machine makes it because everything sounds blurry—the tenor player, Hank Mobley, sounds as if he’s trying to play like Sonny Rollins. I never before heard Hank trying to sound like that. Or else it’s the way they’re recording. Rudy van Gelder makes those kind of records. He tries to change people’s tones. I’ve seen him do it; I’ve seen him do it; I’ve seen him take Thad Jones and the way he sets him up at the mike, he can change the whole sound. That’s why I never go to him; he ruined my bass sound.’
Just the other day I was listening to an SACD of the album of an album that I know well, ‘Gil Evans and Ten’, I was amazed at the clarity and definition of the sound. It was, of course, recorded by Rudy Van Gelder. The purity of the sound, from the SACD, that he had captured in 1957 was revealed as though someone had blown the dust off. Steve Lacy sounded even more like Steve Lacy; Jimmy Cleveland’s tone had a roundness and richness it was like listening for the first time. All recorded by Van Gelder for the Prestige label.
Van Gelder was credited with achieving what became known as the Blue Note sound. He was not the only audio engineer to develop a personal style, Roy DuNann on the west coast recorded for Contemporary and all his albums sound as though they were recorded last week. The Sonny Rollins ‘Way Out West’ is spacious and detailed. DuNann, however, did not record the range of musicians and styles that Van Gelder eventually did.
Van Gelder who died last month started his working life as an optometrist but he had developed a love for recording sound from a young age. His first studio was at the home of his parents in Hackensack, New Jersey. Producers from small labels soon realised the quality and the value that they could obtain from Van Gelder. Eventually in 1959 he built a new studio at Englewood Cliffs. Neighbours thought it was going to be a church. The architect was a pupil of Frank Lloyd Wright. The emphasis was on wood and high ceilings to get the spacious acoustics. DownBeat described it as ‘a chapel-like space with a 39-foot-high ceiling made of cedar with arches of laminated Douglas fir, which created a natural reverb.’
One musician described the experience of working there: ’The room we used was round and was supposed to have a natural ambiance it was owned and run by Rudy Van Gelder, a German optometrist by trade, who’d become a recording engineer with impeccable credentials. He‘d worked with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, and was said to be responsible for the Blue Note Sound. He had top-notch Neumann microphones and state-of-the-art eight-track recording equipment with mixing consoles and equalizers. He sat in his recording booth manning the controls like some mad scientist. He literally wore white gloves to make his very antiseptic, high-fidelity recordings’
He was meticulous, geeky. Any musician who touched a mike would be severely reprimanded. The gloves were to ensure that no dust, sweat or grease would interfere with the technology. He was one of the first studios to use tape, he saw the advantages of digital recording and, of course, he remastered and digitised much of his earlier work.
There were critics. Charles Mingus refused to record with him. On a Blindfold test the great bassist said: ‘The drummer sounded like Art Blakey, and I like Art so much—but, man, I don’t think you machine makes it because everything sounds blurry—the tenor player, Hank Mobley, sounds as if he’s trying to play like Sonny Rollins. I never before heard Hank trying to sound like that. Or else it’s the way they’re recording. Rudy van Gelder makes those kind of records. He tries to change people’s tones. I’ve seen him do it; I’ve seen him do it; I’ve seen him take Thad Jones and the way he sets him up at the mike, he can change the whole sound. That’s why I never go to him; he ruined my bass sound.’
The way that van Gelder recorded pianos was often criticised too. Pianist Benny Green described how Van Gelder achieved his piano sound: ‘Rudy wraps one of his piano mikes in a soft thin chamois cloth, and tucks this inside one of the middle holes in the piano soundboard. It's a Rudy thing, and what it does, as I hear it and from having recorded on his piano ---the same instrument that is on every classic Blue Note and Prestige studio recording --- is it gives a particular kind of middle register enhancement that sort of deepens the 'belly' register of the music; it makes that middle register extra dark and rich --- the Blue Note house pianists, beginning with Horace Silver and Sonny Clark, came up with a way of utilizing this quality of the middle register of the piano in such beautiful ways.’
In an interview with Marc Myers, Van Gelder said when asked about records that had made an impression on him: ‘The most momentous recording of the 1960s for me was John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. It was hypnotic. It was exciting. It was different. But I didn't have those views when it was recorded. I came to that realization only when I remastered the album for its digital reissue in 2002. You have to understand, I was busy making sure that the work was recorded perfectly. It wasn’t until I was working on updating the original master that I listened intently to the music.’
He also told Marc Myers his goal was: “to get electronics to accurately capture the human spirit,” and to make the records he engineered sound “as warm and as realistic as possible.”
So look through your Prestige, Verve, A and M, Blue Note, CTI and Impulse albums. Miles Davis' ‘Workin'’, Sonny Rollins' ‘Saxophone Colossus,’ Art Blakey's ‘Moanin',’ John Coltrane's ‘A Love Supreme,’ Wayne Shorter's ‘Speak No Evil’ and Freddie Hubbard's ‘Red Clay’. Look for the name Van Gelder and give thanks to the man who defined the sound of much of the jazz that we have listened to over the years.
In an interview with Marc Myers, Van Gelder said when asked about records that had made an impression on him: ‘The most momentous recording of the 1960s for me was John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. It was hypnotic. It was exciting. It was different. But I didn't have those views when it was recorded. I came to that realization only when I remastered the album for its digital reissue in 2002. You have to understand, I was busy making sure that the work was recorded perfectly. It wasn’t until I was working on updating the original master that I listened intently to the music.’
He also told Marc Myers his goal was: “to get electronics to accurately capture the human spirit,” and to make the records he engineered sound “as warm and as realistic as possible.”
So look through your Prestige, Verve, A and M, Blue Note, CTI and Impulse albums. Miles Davis' ‘Workin'’, Sonny Rollins' ‘Saxophone Colossus,’ Art Blakey's ‘Moanin',’ John Coltrane's ‘A Love Supreme,’ Wayne Shorter's ‘Speak No Evil’ and Freddie Hubbard's ‘Red Clay’. Look for the name Van Gelder and give thanks to the man who defined the sound of much of the jazz that we have listened to over the years.
JOE TEMPERLEY - Born 20 September, 1927 - Died 11 May, 2016
An appreciation and obituary by Jack Kenny
Joe Temperley, one of the greatest Scottish Jazz musicians died last week in New York. He was born in Lochgelly, Fife in 1927. His first instrument was a cornet but he graduated to alto then tenor. At around twenty he moved to London.
He first came to prominence with the bands of Harry Parry, Joe Loss, Jack Parnell and Tony Crombie before working for eight years with Humphrey Lyttelton’s band. It was then that he decided to concentrate on baritone saxophone. He played all over the UK and the sound of his baritone, bass clarinet and other woodwinds became an essential part of UK jazz.
He took the brave step of moving to New York City in the mid-sixties. In a relatively short time he was accepted completely by the jazz community. Over the next few years he worked with Woody Herman, Clark Terry, Buddy Rich, Gerry Mulligan, Benny Carter, Buck Clayton, Dick Hyman, Thad Jones – Mel Lewis. When Harry Carney died in 1974 Temperley took his place in the Ellington band then directed by Mercer Ellington. In 1990 he joined the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. He has worked with the orchestra for nearly three decades playing its wide-ranging book covering all styles and eras.
Few musicians have made a success of the baritone. Obviously, influenced initially by Harry Carney, Temperley developed his own sound and his gruff romanticism was at the heart of everything he played. He was as essential to the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as Carney had been to Ellington.
Temperley also taught at Juillard and the Manhattan School of Music. On his frequent visits to Scotland he was guest mentor for the Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra .
Wynton Marsalis summed up the thoughts of those who played Joe Temperley in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. . ‘It's difficult to express in words the depth of respect and admiration we have for Joe. And it's not just about music. It's also a personal, a spiritual thing. His approach is timeless. And he's the centre of our band. With Joe, there’s the sound, and the integrity in the sound, the originality of it. When you hear his sound, you know him automatically, because it’s so full of warmth, soul and feeling. We would always have Joe play at or near the end of pieces because his sound carried the meaning of our music. For someone from another country and culture to exhibit the depth of belief that animated his sound was, and still is, truly miraculous. From the coal mines of Scotland to clubs and concert halls all over the world, Joe’s journey was epochal, and he did it with integrity, style, and piss and vinegar. We will miss him deeply and his spirit will forever live on in the sound of our orchestra.’
Joe Temperley, one of the greatest Scottish Jazz musicians died last week in New York. He was born in Lochgelly, Fife in 1927. His first instrument was a cornet but he graduated to alto then tenor. At around twenty he moved to London.
He first came to prominence with the bands of Harry Parry, Joe Loss, Jack Parnell and Tony Crombie before working for eight years with Humphrey Lyttelton’s band. It was then that he decided to concentrate on baritone saxophone. He played all over the UK and the sound of his baritone, bass clarinet and other woodwinds became an essential part of UK jazz.
He took the brave step of moving to New York City in the mid-sixties. In a relatively short time he was accepted completely by the jazz community. Over the next few years he worked with Woody Herman, Clark Terry, Buddy Rich, Gerry Mulligan, Benny Carter, Buck Clayton, Dick Hyman, Thad Jones – Mel Lewis. When Harry Carney died in 1974 Temperley took his place in the Ellington band then directed by Mercer Ellington. In 1990 he joined the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. He has worked with the orchestra for nearly three decades playing its wide-ranging book covering all styles and eras.
Few musicians have made a success of the baritone. Obviously, influenced initially by Harry Carney, Temperley developed his own sound and his gruff romanticism was at the heart of everything he played. He was as essential to the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as Carney had been to Ellington.
Temperley also taught at Juillard and the Manhattan School of Music. On his frequent visits to Scotland he was guest mentor for the Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra .
Wynton Marsalis summed up the thoughts of those who played Joe Temperley in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. . ‘It's difficult to express in words the depth of respect and admiration we have for Joe. And it's not just about music. It's also a personal, a spiritual thing. His approach is timeless. And he's the centre of our band. With Joe, there’s the sound, and the integrity in the sound, the originality of it. When you hear his sound, you know him automatically, because it’s so full of warmth, soul and feeling. We would always have Joe play at or near the end of pieces because his sound carried the meaning of our music. For someone from another country and culture to exhibit the depth of belief that animated his sound was, and still is, truly miraculous. From the coal mines of Scotland to clubs and concert halls all over the world, Joe’s journey was epochal, and he did it with integrity, style, and piss and vinegar. We will miss him deeply and his spirit will forever live on in the sound of our orchestra.’
PAUL BLEY - Born 10 November, 1932 - Died 3 January, 2016
An appreciation and obituary by Jack Kenny
Paul Bley played through it all, completely oblivious. If ever there was an unsuitable venue for one of the quietest most cerebral groups in jazz it was Camden’s Jazz Cafe when the Jimmy Giuffre Trio played there. Plates clattered, waiters took orders, kitchen doors swung backwards and forwards all night, people chattered and underneath it all Paul Bley, Steve Swallow and Jimmy Giuffre created their intricate, considered and exquisite jazz as if they were in the Wigmore Hall..
Paul Bley has been oblivious to the lack of recognition all his life. He is a major innovator; there is no one quite like him. As with the Giuffre trio, Bley’s innovations are not raucous or obvious. From the beginning, Bley was linked to the avant-garde and free jazz but that description does not encapsulate his music. He once said: “total improvisation just simply means that you’re not going to quote any known references. But, as for unknown references, you may quote all you like. It’s okay to steal, but only from oneself. When you take risks, over time you develop a certain instinct and judgment. If the risks you take turn out to be useful and successful then you accumulate some of the knowledge of what to do in the case of a risk.’
Bley’s music has been described as a conversation. He said in an interview: ‘If music is conversation then questions will come up because in conversation there are many questions that come up. Questions lead to answers, which lead to more questions. That is what makes the music continue: the questions and their answers. My solo piano playing is a question in itself. The question is ‘why?’, and after ‘why?’ comes ‘what?’ and after ‘what?’ comes ‘when?’ So these questions are food for thought for the improvisation.’
Bley’s life work was the avoidance of cliché and he was successful at that. He cultivated ‘a disdain for the known.’ He recorded with a vast variety of musicians and every one of his dozens of albums are as fresh now as when he recorded them. His attitude and music and improvisations have been criticised for being detached and aloof. It was partly true because he did not court easy popularity.
Bley was born in Montreal 10th November 1932. He died on 3rd January 2016 in Stuart, Florida . He started playing piano when he was eight. In 1949 he took over a gig from fellow Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson at the Alberta Lounge in Montreal. In 1950 he studied at Juilliard in New York. One of his first albums was with Charles Mingus who mentored the young pianist. In 1953 Bley worked around New York and played with Charlie Parker. ’Playing with Charlie Parker showed me how much I didn’t know.’ He took part in ground-breaking sessions with George Russell.
He moved to the west coast in the late fifties. His work there led to a meeting with the almost unknown Ornette Coleman. Ornette first came to prominence when he worked with Bley at the Hillcrest Club in Los Angeles and the startling bootleg that resulted is essential listening for anyone enthralled by the pianist and the first glimpses of Ornette and Don Cherry. In an attempt to give publicity to the jazz avant-garde Bley helped to
form the Jazz Composers’ Orchestra. The group brought together nearly all the leaders of the free jazz movement and produced the 1964 album ‘Communication’.
Bley chose intriguing life partners. He married Carla Bley in 1957 and encouraged her to write, frequently using her compositions throughout his life; there are at least two albums dedicated to her pieces. He married Annette Peacock in 1966 and she encouraged his interest in electronic music. Digital video artist Carol Goss collaborated with Bley in recent years.
Bley was essentially a loner. His piano music, never ingratiating, had a strange integrity. He has not inspired disciples; he has never been a disciple. The body of music that he has left will continue to be both inspiring and enigmatic.
Paul Bley played through it all, completely oblivious. If ever there was an unsuitable venue for one of the quietest most cerebral groups in jazz it was Camden’s Jazz Cafe when the Jimmy Giuffre Trio played there. Plates clattered, waiters took orders, kitchen doors swung backwards and forwards all night, people chattered and underneath it all Paul Bley, Steve Swallow and Jimmy Giuffre created their intricate, considered and exquisite jazz as if they were in the Wigmore Hall..
Paul Bley has been oblivious to the lack of recognition all his life. He is a major innovator; there is no one quite like him. As with the Giuffre trio, Bley’s innovations are not raucous or obvious. From the beginning, Bley was linked to the avant-garde and free jazz but that description does not encapsulate his music. He once said: “total improvisation just simply means that you’re not going to quote any known references. But, as for unknown references, you may quote all you like. It’s okay to steal, but only from oneself. When you take risks, over time you develop a certain instinct and judgment. If the risks you take turn out to be useful and successful then you accumulate some of the knowledge of what to do in the case of a risk.’
Bley’s music has been described as a conversation. He said in an interview: ‘If music is conversation then questions will come up because in conversation there are many questions that come up. Questions lead to answers, which lead to more questions. That is what makes the music continue: the questions and their answers. My solo piano playing is a question in itself. The question is ‘why?’, and after ‘why?’ comes ‘what?’ and after ‘what?’ comes ‘when?’ So these questions are food for thought for the improvisation.’
Bley’s life work was the avoidance of cliché and he was successful at that. He cultivated ‘a disdain for the known.’ He recorded with a vast variety of musicians and every one of his dozens of albums are as fresh now as when he recorded them. His attitude and music and improvisations have been criticised for being detached and aloof. It was partly true because he did not court easy popularity.
Bley was born in Montreal 10th November 1932. He died on 3rd January 2016 in Stuart, Florida . He started playing piano when he was eight. In 1949 he took over a gig from fellow Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson at the Alberta Lounge in Montreal. In 1950 he studied at Juilliard in New York. One of his first albums was with Charles Mingus who mentored the young pianist. In 1953 Bley worked around New York and played with Charlie Parker. ’Playing with Charlie Parker showed me how much I didn’t know.’ He took part in ground-breaking sessions with George Russell.
He moved to the west coast in the late fifties. His work there led to a meeting with the almost unknown Ornette Coleman. Ornette first came to prominence when he worked with Bley at the Hillcrest Club in Los Angeles and the startling bootleg that resulted is essential listening for anyone enthralled by the pianist and the first glimpses of Ornette and Don Cherry. In an attempt to give publicity to the jazz avant-garde Bley helped to
form the Jazz Composers’ Orchestra. The group brought together nearly all the leaders of the free jazz movement and produced the 1964 album ‘Communication’.
Bley chose intriguing life partners. He married Carla Bley in 1957 and encouraged her to write, frequently using her compositions throughout his life; there are at least two albums dedicated to her pieces. He married Annette Peacock in 1966 and she encouraged his interest in electronic music. Digital video artist Carol Goss collaborated with Bley in recent years.
Bley was essentially a loner. His piano music, never ingratiating, had a strange integrity. He has not inspired disciples; he has never been a disciple. The body of music that he has left will continue to be both inspiring and enigmatic.
Some essential albums
The Fabulous Paul Bley Quintet (Jasnet Records)
Open To Love (ECM)
Paul Plays Carla (Steeplechase)
1961 Jimmy Giuffre (ECM)
Partners with Gary Peacock (ECM)
The Fabulous Paul Bley Quintet (Jasnet Records)
Open To Love (ECM)
Paul Plays Carla (Steeplechase)
1961 Jimmy Giuffre (ECM)
Partners with Gary Peacock (ECM)
DON RENDELL - Born 4 March, 1926 - Died 20 October, 2015
An appreciation by Jack Kenny
Don Rendell led a rich jazz life. He discovered the music of Lester Young in his teens and his early work was heavily influenced by Lester. It must have seemed extraordinary to Don to play the Lester role accompanying Billie Holiday when she played at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester in1954. In an interview later he said: ‘The opportunity to play a few notes behind her vocals on a couple of numbers that evening gave me some moments that I never dreamed possible and ever since I have regretted that I never had a second chance to improve my part in her performance that night...’
Born in Plymouth in 1926, he started playing in his teens and turned professional in 1943 and for the next few years worked with the dance bands of Oscar Rabin and Frank Weir. His first break into jazz came when he was selected by John Dankworth to be a founder member of the Dankworth Seven one of the first purely modern jazz groups in the UK.
The Ted Heath band was the most prominent band in the fifties playing a mixture of jazz and music for dancers. In 1955 Rendell spent six months with the band. In 1956 a couple of Stan Kenton’s saxophonists were sent back to the USA in the middle of the UK tour. Rendell and baritone player Harry Klein were recruited and completed the UK section of the itinerary and went on to tour Europe with the band. In 1959 Woody Herman founded an Anglo-American band to tour the UK and Rendell was an important member of the saxophone section.
After Herman, Rendell joined with altoist Graham Bond in 1961 to play some very straight-ahead rip-roaring music. Their album ‘Roaring’ is representative of the music they produced.
The Don Rendell-Ian Carr Quintet was formed in 1964 with bassist Dave Green, drummer Trevor Tomkins and pianist Michael Garrick who also contributed many compositions to the band’s book. The music was unique, always with a cerebral edge. The albums that they produced were well received. In 1968 they received international recognition when they played at the Antibes Jazz Festival.
Critic Derrick Stewart- Baxter reviewing the album ‘Phase 111’wrote in the Jazz Journal of April 1968 that ‘this is an LP of which we in Great Britain can be proud. It is no mere chauvinism on my part when I say that this Quintet is superior to any modern group I heard in America. For sheer originality and brilliant musicianship, this record is unbeatable.’
It was brave of Stewart- Baxter to write that when UK jazz was always seen as inferior when compared to American jazz. He was right: the music stands the test of time well. It still sounds fresh, brave and innovative in the 21st century.
The Rendell-Carr albums that were recorded in the late sixties were a pinnacle. Anyone who finds original vinyls should guard them carefully; they change hands for hundreds of pounds. However they are worth much more musically.
The quintet broke up in 1969 when Ian Carr went on to form Nucleus. Rendell was not happy with moving to fusion and rock he continued with jazz played sessions and worked with the BBC Showband. He also played with Barbara Thompson and the composer Neil Ardley, Teaching became important and he taught students privately and at summer schools and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Most of his work in recent years was working with pick up bands across the country. His soft tone reminiscent of Lester gradually took on some of the harsher tones of Coltrane.
Don was an innovative musician who was the equal of many highly rated Americans. The music that he created with Ian Carr and Michael Garrick has not dated and adventurous souls who care to listen to it will be surprised by an intelligence, range, elegance and lucidity that still has not been equalled.
Don Rendell led a rich jazz life. He discovered the music of Lester Young in his teens and his early work was heavily influenced by Lester. It must have seemed extraordinary to Don to play the Lester role accompanying Billie Holiday when she played at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester in1954. In an interview later he said: ‘The opportunity to play a few notes behind her vocals on a couple of numbers that evening gave me some moments that I never dreamed possible and ever since I have regretted that I never had a second chance to improve my part in her performance that night...’
Born in Plymouth in 1926, he started playing in his teens and turned professional in 1943 and for the next few years worked with the dance bands of Oscar Rabin and Frank Weir. His first break into jazz came when he was selected by John Dankworth to be a founder member of the Dankworth Seven one of the first purely modern jazz groups in the UK.
The Ted Heath band was the most prominent band in the fifties playing a mixture of jazz and music for dancers. In 1955 Rendell spent six months with the band. In 1956 a couple of Stan Kenton’s saxophonists were sent back to the USA in the middle of the UK tour. Rendell and baritone player Harry Klein were recruited and completed the UK section of the itinerary and went on to tour Europe with the band. In 1959 Woody Herman founded an Anglo-American band to tour the UK and Rendell was an important member of the saxophone section.
After Herman, Rendell joined with altoist Graham Bond in 1961 to play some very straight-ahead rip-roaring music. Their album ‘Roaring’ is representative of the music they produced.
The Don Rendell-Ian Carr Quintet was formed in 1964 with bassist Dave Green, drummer Trevor Tomkins and pianist Michael Garrick who also contributed many compositions to the band’s book. The music was unique, always with a cerebral edge. The albums that they produced were well received. In 1968 they received international recognition when they played at the Antibes Jazz Festival.
Critic Derrick Stewart- Baxter reviewing the album ‘Phase 111’wrote in the Jazz Journal of April 1968 that ‘this is an LP of which we in Great Britain can be proud. It is no mere chauvinism on my part when I say that this Quintet is superior to any modern group I heard in America. For sheer originality and brilliant musicianship, this record is unbeatable.’
It was brave of Stewart- Baxter to write that when UK jazz was always seen as inferior when compared to American jazz. He was right: the music stands the test of time well. It still sounds fresh, brave and innovative in the 21st century.
The Rendell-Carr albums that were recorded in the late sixties were a pinnacle. Anyone who finds original vinyls should guard them carefully; they change hands for hundreds of pounds. However they are worth much more musically.
The quintet broke up in 1969 when Ian Carr went on to form Nucleus. Rendell was not happy with moving to fusion and rock he continued with jazz played sessions and worked with the BBC Showband. He also played with Barbara Thompson and the composer Neil Ardley, Teaching became important and he taught students privately and at summer schools and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Most of his work in recent years was working with pick up bands across the country. His soft tone reminiscent of Lester gradually took on some of the harsher tones of Coltrane.
Don was an innovative musician who was the equal of many highly rated Americans. The music that he created with Ian Carr and Michael Garrick has not dated and adventurous souls who care to listen to it will be surprised by an intelligence, range, elegance and lucidity that still has not been equalled.
Selected Discography
* Shades of Blue (1964: BGO) — Rendell–Carr Quintet
* Don Rendell Four and Five & Rendell–Carr Quintet 1964–68 (1964–68: Spotlite)
* Live in London (1965: Harkit Records) — Rendell–Carr Quintet
* Dusk Fire (1966: BGO) — Rendell–Carr Quintet
* Phase III (1967: BGO) — Rendell–Carr Quintet
* Shades of Blue (1964: BGO) — Rendell–Carr Quintet
* Don Rendell Four and Five & Rendell–Carr Quintet 1964–68 (1964–68: Spotlite)
* Live in London (1965: Harkit Records) — Rendell–Carr Quintet
* Dusk Fire (1966: BGO) — Rendell–Carr Quintet
* Phase III (1967: BGO) — Rendell–Carr Quintet
COLERIDGE GOODE - Born 29 November 1914 - Died 2 October 2015
Coleridge Goode: Double bassist who played with some of the greatest names in jazz, including Django Reinhardt
By John Stevenson
The double bassist Coleridge Goode, who has died aged 100, distinguished himself on the British jazz scene for more than 60 years, playing with some of the most innovative musicians of the postwar period.
Thanks to his finesse and sophistication, not to mention his technical gifts and singing ability, Goode was often in demand for recording sessions and live performances across Europe. He played on the original recording of Django Reinhardt’s jazz standard, Belleville, for the Decca label in 1946, on a date that also featured Stephane Grappelli on violin. He recorded with the pianist George Shearing and the drummer Ray Ellington as part of the Stephane Grappelli Quintet, and with the Tito Burns Sextet. He also featured in the band of the Jamaican alto saxophonist Joe Harriott, an experience he described as among the “greatest musical adventures of my life”.
Goode’s bass lines illuminated Harriott’s experimentations in free-form and hard-bop jazz on albums such as Southern Horizons and Free Form (both 1960), Abstract (1960), Movement (1963), and High Spirits (1964), on which he appeared alongside the Vincentian trumpet and flugelhorn player Shake Keane, the pianist Pat Smythe and the drummers Bobby Orr and Phil Seamen. He also worked extensively with the pianist Mike Garrick, contributing a fine vocal in the manner of Leroy “Slam” Stewart to The Lord’s Prayer on Garrick’s 1968 album, Jazz Praises.
Memories of church in Jamaica
Goode’s singing on that composition would undoubtedly have conjured up for him memories of growing up in the shadow of the church in the Caribbean, for he was born into a religious family in Kingston, Jamaica. His father, George, was a part-time choirmaster and organist at the St Michael’s and All Angels church in Kingston, and his mother, Hilda, sang in the Kingston parish choir. Thus the young Coleridge – he was named after the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – grew up listening to the works of Handel and Bach.
From an early age he excelled at playing the violin, but he also nurtured a desire to become an electrical engineer, and left Jamaica in 1934 to attend Glasgow’s Royal Technical College (now the University of Strathclyde). From there he went on to obtain a degree in electrical engineering at the University of Glasgow.
Discovering jazz on the radio as a student, and falling under the sway of Walter Page, Count Basie’s bassist, Goode took up playing the bass and, to his parents’ disappointment, abandoned his ambitions of returning to the Caribbean as an engineer, choosing instead to become a professional musician. He moved to London in 1942, quickly establishing himself both in small Caribbean clubs and larger West End venues such as the Panama Club. He began to perform in groups with the pianist Dick Katz, the trumpeter Johnny Claes and the guitarist Lauderic Caton, swiftly progressing to recording sessions with some of the most exciting talents on the jazz scene.
Early use of the electric pickup
Besides Page, Goode had paid particularly close attention to the playing style of Slam Stewart, especially the way in which he plucked (or bowed) the strings of his double bass and the fact that he also sang – both facets that quickly became part of Goode’s approach. He was also an early pioneer of the use of an electric pickup to amplify his double bass, deploying it on one of his recordings with Grappelli in 1946.
Goode remained active in British jazz until his 90s, when he could still be seen playing in the house band at the drummer Laurie Morgan’s Sunday jam sessions at the King’s Head pub in Crouch End, north London.
In 2011 he was honoured at the All-Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group’s awards for services to jazz, and in 2014 he celebrated his 100th birthday at a special performance organised for him as part of the annual London Jazz Festival.
His wife, Gertrude, died in June at the age of 96. He is survived by their daughter, Sandy, and son, James.
Coleridge George Emerson Goode, musician, born 29 November 1914; died 2 October 2015
By John Stevenson
The double bassist Coleridge Goode, who has died aged 100, distinguished himself on the British jazz scene for more than 60 years, playing with some of the most innovative musicians of the postwar period.
Thanks to his finesse and sophistication, not to mention his technical gifts and singing ability, Goode was often in demand for recording sessions and live performances across Europe. He played on the original recording of Django Reinhardt’s jazz standard, Belleville, for the Decca label in 1946, on a date that also featured Stephane Grappelli on violin. He recorded with the pianist George Shearing and the drummer Ray Ellington as part of the Stephane Grappelli Quintet, and with the Tito Burns Sextet. He also featured in the band of the Jamaican alto saxophonist Joe Harriott, an experience he described as among the “greatest musical adventures of my life”.
Goode’s bass lines illuminated Harriott’s experimentations in free-form and hard-bop jazz on albums such as Southern Horizons and Free Form (both 1960), Abstract (1960), Movement (1963), and High Spirits (1964), on which he appeared alongside the Vincentian trumpet and flugelhorn player Shake Keane, the pianist Pat Smythe and the drummers Bobby Orr and Phil Seamen. He also worked extensively with the pianist Mike Garrick, contributing a fine vocal in the manner of Leroy “Slam” Stewart to The Lord’s Prayer on Garrick’s 1968 album, Jazz Praises.
Memories of church in Jamaica
Goode’s singing on that composition would undoubtedly have conjured up for him memories of growing up in the shadow of the church in the Caribbean, for he was born into a religious family in Kingston, Jamaica. His father, George, was a part-time choirmaster and organist at the St Michael’s and All Angels church in Kingston, and his mother, Hilda, sang in the Kingston parish choir. Thus the young Coleridge – he was named after the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – grew up listening to the works of Handel and Bach.
From an early age he excelled at playing the violin, but he also nurtured a desire to become an electrical engineer, and left Jamaica in 1934 to attend Glasgow’s Royal Technical College (now the University of Strathclyde). From there he went on to obtain a degree in electrical engineering at the University of Glasgow.
Discovering jazz on the radio as a student, and falling under the sway of Walter Page, Count Basie’s bassist, Goode took up playing the bass and, to his parents’ disappointment, abandoned his ambitions of returning to the Caribbean as an engineer, choosing instead to become a professional musician. He moved to London in 1942, quickly establishing himself both in small Caribbean clubs and larger West End venues such as the Panama Club. He began to perform in groups with the pianist Dick Katz, the trumpeter Johnny Claes and the guitarist Lauderic Caton, swiftly progressing to recording sessions with some of the most exciting talents on the jazz scene.
Early use of the electric pickup
Besides Page, Goode had paid particularly close attention to the playing style of Slam Stewart, especially the way in which he plucked (or bowed) the strings of his double bass and the fact that he also sang – both facets that quickly became part of Goode’s approach. He was also an early pioneer of the use of an electric pickup to amplify his double bass, deploying it on one of his recordings with Grappelli in 1946.
Goode remained active in British jazz until his 90s, when he could still be seen playing in the house band at the drummer Laurie Morgan’s Sunday jam sessions at the King’s Head pub in Crouch End, north London.
In 2011 he was honoured at the All-Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group’s awards for services to jazz, and in 2014 he celebrated his 100th birthday at a special performance organised for him as part of the annual London Jazz Festival.
His wife, Gertrude, died in June at the age of 96. He is survived by their daughter, Sandy, and son, James.
Coleridge George Emerson Goode, musician, born 29 November 1914; died 2 October 2015
PHIL WOODS - Born November 2, 1931 - Died September 29, 2015
Obituary by John Stevenson
Phil Woods, who owed his style of playing to Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker, died on September 29th 2015, aged 83.
He was one of the most accomplished and admired technicians of the alto saxophone and distinguished himself in jazz and popular music.
Philip Wells Woods was born in Springfield Massachusetts. He inherited an alto saxophone from his uncle when he was 12. He took lessons, while he still in high school from pianist Lennie Tristano and frequented the jazz clubs in New York City. This led to his enrolling at the prestigious Juilliard School of Music.
After graduating from Juilliard, Woods soon became part of the fertile New York City jazz scene of the early 1950s, eventually joining trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and taking the spot occupied by Charlie Parker in 1956, a year after the eminent altoist passed away. Woods was a devotee of Parker and married Parker’s former partner, Chan Richardson.
Phil Woods also worked in bands led by Quincy Jones, Benny Goodman, Clark Terry and Buddy Rich and played on countless recording sessions including, notably, Thelonius Monk’s Monk at Town Hall (1959).
In 1968, he and Chan moved to Paris, France where he formed the Rhythm Machine which for a time featured British jazz pianist Gordon Beck. Woods returned to America in 1972 and settled in Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, launching a quartet and later a quintet.
He was known for his fleet-fingered Bird-like improvisations and lyrical, well-crafted soloing. Among his most outstanding albums (as a leader) are: Woodlore (1955); Rights of Swing (1961); Phil Woods and his European Rhythm Machine Live at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival (1970) and; Altology (1976). He made at least a hundred albums as a leader and scores of records as a member of several aggregations over the course of his stellar 70 year career.
Outside of jazz, Phil Woods’ most memorable contributions can be heard on Billy Joel’s 1977 pop hit, ‘I Love You Just the Way You Are’, Steely Dan’s ‘Dr Wu’ (1975 ), and Paul Simon’s ‘Have a Good Time’(1975).
Toward the last decade of his life, he suffered from emphysema and depended on an oxygen tank. His last concert was at the Manchester Craftsman’s Guild in Pittsburgh, on September 4.
After his divorce from Chan Richardson in 1977, he married Jill Goodwin (the sister of his drummer Bill Goodwin). He is survived by a son and three stepdaughters.
Shortly after news surfaced of his death, protégé Richie Cole said:
“For me, Phil Woods was the world’s greatest alto saxophone player. He was nothing but supportive and a great influence and inspiration to me.”
Phil Woods, who owed his style of playing to Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker, died on September 29th 2015, aged 83.
He was one of the most accomplished and admired technicians of the alto saxophone and distinguished himself in jazz and popular music.
Philip Wells Woods was born in Springfield Massachusetts. He inherited an alto saxophone from his uncle when he was 12. He took lessons, while he still in high school from pianist Lennie Tristano and frequented the jazz clubs in New York City. This led to his enrolling at the prestigious Juilliard School of Music.
After graduating from Juilliard, Woods soon became part of the fertile New York City jazz scene of the early 1950s, eventually joining trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and taking the spot occupied by Charlie Parker in 1956, a year after the eminent altoist passed away. Woods was a devotee of Parker and married Parker’s former partner, Chan Richardson.
Phil Woods also worked in bands led by Quincy Jones, Benny Goodman, Clark Terry and Buddy Rich and played on countless recording sessions including, notably, Thelonius Monk’s Monk at Town Hall (1959).
In 1968, he and Chan moved to Paris, France where he formed the Rhythm Machine which for a time featured British jazz pianist Gordon Beck. Woods returned to America in 1972 and settled in Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, launching a quartet and later a quintet.
He was known for his fleet-fingered Bird-like improvisations and lyrical, well-crafted soloing. Among his most outstanding albums (as a leader) are: Woodlore (1955); Rights of Swing (1961); Phil Woods and his European Rhythm Machine Live at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival (1970) and; Altology (1976). He made at least a hundred albums as a leader and scores of records as a member of several aggregations over the course of his stellar 70 year career.
Outside of jazz, Phil Woods’ most memorable contributions can be heard on Billy Joel’s 1977 pop hit, ‘I Love You Just the Way You Are’, Steely Dan’s ‘Dr Wu’ (1975 ), and Paul Simon’s ‘Have a Good Time’(1975).
Toward the last decade of his life, he suffered from emphysema and depended on an oxygen tank. His last concert was at the Manchester Craftsman’s Guild in Pittsburgh, on September 4.
After his divorce from Chan Richardson in 1977, he married Jill Goodwin (the sister of his drummer Bill Goodwin). He is survived by a son and three stepdaughters.
Shortly after news surfaced of his death, protégé Richie Cole said:
“For me, Phil Woods was the world’s greatest alto saxophone player. He was nothing but supportive and a great influence and inspiration to me.”
JOHN TAYLOR - Born September 25, 1942 – Died July 17, 2015
An Obituary & Aprreciation by Euan Dixon
The jazz world is reeling with shock at the news of John Taylor’s death following a heart attack whilst performing at a jazz festival in France on June 17th. Taylor was a talent to match the biggest names on the world stage of jazz piano to which he brought a unique combination of lyric sophistication, harmonic intelligence and rhythmic subtlety suffused with an appreciation of classical impressionism and the pastoral musings of English romantic music as interpreted by the likes of Vaughan –Williams and Delius: all of which he melded into a jazz style inspired by his early veneration of Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson.
Amazingly for a pianist of such advanced technique he was self taught and began his career in his home town of Manchester, playing for local dance bands before entering the fertile jazz in scene of late sixties London where he performed with John Dankworth and Cleo Laine eventually becoming something of a fixture at Ronnie Scott’s where he accompanied many leading American visitors. It was there that I first heard him, spinning out long lines of melodic commentary to Lee Konitz’s cerebral alto sax deliberations: a perfect marriage of musical minds.
Subsequent achievements of note included the formation of `Azimuth`, a trio matching his thoughtful musical ideas to those of trumpeter, Kenny Wheeler and the vocal talents of his first wife, Norma Winstone. Pastoral and folk song references dominated his work with saxophonist John Surman which resulted in `Ambleside Days` of 1992, an exquisite evocation of the English Lake District and also informed his projects with the ECM label where he worked with Jan Garbarek and other international stars.
As a performer it is said that Taylor achieved more exposure and was better known in Europe than his native country which may have been as a consequence of his academic activities – he was appointed professor of jazz piano at the Cologne Music Academy in 1993 – but later in his career he became more visible in the UK serving as Artist –in-Residence for the Cheltenham Jazz Festival of 2004. Fronting a big band composed largely of British frontrunners he was able to give vent to his talent as a composer and orchestrator whilst his `International Quartet` he shared the stage with guitarist John Abercrombie and violinist Mark Feldman in a chamber jazz set of spontaneous beauty. More recently a trio formed with bassist Palle Danielsson and drummer Martin France achieved great critical acclaim with performances in Montreal and Vancouver and added another notable recording to a discography that, when one considers the number of musical luminaries Taylor has worked with, gives testimony to the universal appeal of his music. His untimely death has deprived us of a gifted artist who was still delivering at the height of his powers and we may take some comfort from the existence of a recorded legacy that will preserve his reputation as one of our finest British born musicians. Poignantly this recorded wealth will be added to next month with the release of a new album in which he performs with Richard Fairhurst, a former student.
Amazingly for a pianist of such advanced technique he was self taught and began his career in his home town of Manchester, playing for local dance bands before entering the fertile jazz in scene of late sixties London where he performed with John Dankworth and Cleo Laine eventually becoming something of a fixture at Ronnie Scott’s where he accompanied many leading American visitors. It was there that I first heard him, spinning out long lines of melodic commentary to Lee Konitz’s cerebral alto sax deliberations: a perfect marriage of musical minds.
Subsequent achievements of note included the formation of `Azimuth`, a trio matching his thoughtful musical ideas to those of trumpeter, Kenny Wheeler and the vocal talents of his first wife, Norma Winstone. Pastoral and folk song references dominated his work with saxophonist John Surman which resulted in `Ambleside Days` of 1992, an exquisite evocation of the English Lake District and also informed his projects with the ECM label where he worked with Jan Garbarek and other international stars.
As a performer it is said that Taylor achieved more exposure and was better known in Europe than his native country which may have been as a consequence of his academic activities – he was appointed professor of jazz piano at the Cologne Music Academy in 1993 – but later in his career he became more visible in the UK serving as Artist –in-Residence for the Cheltenham Jazz Festival of 2004. Fronting a big band composed largely of British frontrunners he was able to give vent to his talent as a composer and orchestrator whilst his `International Quartet` he shared the stage with guitarist John Abercrombie and violinist Mark Feldman in a chamber jazz set of spontaneous beauty. More recently a trio formed with bassist Palle Danielsson and drummer Martin France achieved great critical acclaim with performances in Montreal and Vancouver and added another notable recording to a discography that, when one considers the number of musical luminaries Taylor has worked with, gives testimony to the universal appeal of his music. His untimely death has deprived us of a gifted artist who was still delivering at the height of his powers and we may take some comfort from the existence of a recorded legacy that will preserve his reputation as one of our finest British born musicians. Poignantly this recorded wealth will be added to next month with the release of a new album in which he performs with Richard Fairhurst, a former student.
GUNTHER SCHULLER - Born, New York, 11th November 1925 - died Boston, June 21st 2015
An obituary and appreciation by Euan Dixon
Of his many achievements Gunther Schuller will probably be best remembered by readers of these pages for coining the term `Third Stream Music` , a fusion of classical and jazz modes , an enthusiasm he shared with a select coterie of musicians including John Lewis with whom he founded `The Jazz and Classical Music Society` to propagate their ideas.
As a young French horn player active in the classical sphere both as a performer and a composer with avant-garde leanings he developed an early interest in jazz and can be heard on four of the `Birth of the Cool` tracks as a member of the Miles Davis Nonet and in other orchestral collaborations with the trumpeter and Gil Evans as well as leading the brass ensemble associated with the aforementioned society. It was, however, his role as a promoter and educator that gave the movement impetus, most significantly his involvement in the Fourth Festival of the Creative Arts held at Brandeis University in June 1957 when several newly commissioned Third Stream works were premiered. Alongside works by Lewis, Teddy Charles, George Russell and Jimmy Giuffre and others from the world of jazz there were compositions from contemporary classical composers, Milton Babbitt , Harold Shapero and Schuller himself , all seeking a confluence of styles that would energise their respective spheres. Schuller’s aim was not to indulge in `jazzin’ the classics` whimsy or simply plunder the classical repertoire for musical devices with which to ornament jazz but create what he described as a “ co-existence of musics that complement and fructify each other”.
As a young French horn player active in the classical sphere both as a performer and a composer with avant-garde leanings he developed an early interest in jazz and can be heard on four of the `Birth of the Cool` tracks as a member of the Miles Davis Nonet and in other orchestral collaborations with the trumpeter and Gil Evans as well as leading the brass ensemble associated with the aforementioned society. It was, however, his role as a promoter and educator that gave the movement impetus, most significantly his involvement in the Fourth Festival of the Creative Arts held at Brandeis University in June 1957 when several newly commissioned Third Stream works were premiered. Alongside works by Lewis, Teddy Charles, George Russell and Jimmy Giuffre and others from the world of jazz there were compositions from contemporary classical composers, Milton Babbitt , Harold Shapero and Schuller himself , all seeking a confluence of styles that would energise their respective spheres. Schuller’s aim was not to indulge in `jazzin’ the classics` whimsy or simply plunder the classical repertoire for musical devices with which to ornament jazz but create what he described as a “ co-existence of musics that complement and fructify each other”.
Throughout a long career, which included writing, conducting, composition, education and the creation of the first university jazz department at the New England Conservatory in Boston, he pursued projects that sought to fulfil this ambition from ,what many regard as his magnum opus, `Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee` with its mixture of serialism, orientalism and jazz pulses, via `Abstraction`, in which he showcased the talent of Ornette Coleman, to more recent collaborations with Joe Lovano which include the `Birth of the Cool Suite` of 2005 in which he added newly composed elements to three of the familiar tunes. Another notable achievement was his realisation of `Epitaph`, a huge compilation of pieces by Charles Mingus that the composer failed to perform in their intended format during his lifetime. From an assemblage of familiar pieces and fragmentary scores discovered after Mingus’ death Schuller put together what became a five hundred page score and gave the piece its premier with a thirty piece band at Alice Tully Hall, New York in 1989, an project he regarded as one of the most difficult he had undertaken.
Though not all musical commentators are convinced that the `Third Stream` phenomenon produced jazz of any real substance , when one looks at the output of labels like ECM and ACT as well as individual artists like Tim Garland, Keith Jarrett, to name but two, it cannot be denied that the cross fertilisation of musical genres is an abiding and potent creative element in contemporary music and has liberated it from the blind alleys of serialism and minimalism on the one hand and undisciplined free expression on the other. Gunther Schuller’s achievement lives on in these stimulating collaborations.
Schuller earned many awards and academic distinctions, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 and in 2011 published his autobiography `Gunther Schuller: A Life in Pursuit of Music and Beauty`. He is survived by sons, George and Ed, both musicians.
Though not all musical commentators are convinced that the `Third Stream` phenomenon produced jazz of any real substance , when one looks at the output of labels like ECM and ACT as well as individual artists like Tim Garland, Keith Jarrett, to name but two, it cannot be denied that the cross fertilisation of musical genres is an abiding and potent creative element in contemporary music and has liberated it from the blind alleys of serialism and minimalism on the one hand and undisciplined free expression on the other. Gunther Schuller’s achievement lives on in these stimulating collaborations.
Schuller earned many awards and academic distinctions, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 and in 2011 published his autobiography `Gunther Schuller: A Life in Pursuit of Music and Beauty`. He is survived by sons, George and Ed, both musicians.
ORNETTE COLEMAN - Born Fort Worth 9th March 1930 - Died
New York 11th June
2015
An Obituary and an Appreciation by Jack Kenny
One memory. It was
after the concert at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival in 2005 that Ornette walked
into the main room of the hotel where he was staying; those who had been to the
concert applauded him. Ornette simply smiled and shook hands with every person
there. For me, it was shaking hands with one of the key players in
jazz history! With the exception of
Cecil Taylor no one has challenged the jazz establishment in the way that
Ornette did.
Next memory. The guy behind the counter at Dobell’s Jazz Record shop in the Charing Cross Road in 1962 reluctantly sold me a copy of The Shape of Jazz to Come. He handed it over but not before he delivered a lecture to me about what a charlatan Ornette Coleman was. The man in Dobell’s was not alone. Roy Eldridge said: ‘I’d listened to him all kinds of ways. I listened to him high and I listened to him cold sober. I even played with him. I think he's jiving baby.’ Miles Davis was just as blunt. ‘Hell, I just listen to what he writes and how he plays. If you’re talking psychologically, the man is all screwed up inside.’ ‘I don’t know what he’s playing,’ said Dizzy Gillespie, ‘but it’s not jazz.’ They were all concerned that someone who ignored all the skills they had spent years acquiring was getting so much attention.
‘No one has to learn to spell to talk, right?’ said Ornette wittily.
What the critics did not realise was that Ornette appealed to the romantics. Jazz was starting to forget where it had come from, what it was about. He was someone who came from nowhere, defied all the rules, played his own way and created idiosyncratic, achingly beautiful music that was almost naïve, not beholden to anyone except in a convoluted way to those itinerant blues players in the past . ‘Avant gutbucket’ was how someone described the music.
Ornette had come out of Fort Worth in Texas where he was born on the 9th March 1930. Initially, he played tenor saxophone in a rhythm and blues band. His already individual way of playing antagonised some people so much that his tenor saxophone was destroyed. He turned to alto saxophone toured in another band and eventually ended up in Los Angeles.
Ornette in the capital of cool must have been a strange sight. Paul Bley was one of his earliest supporters. They formed a group and a kind of bootleg exists of their work at the Hillcrest Club. Ornette’s first record, Something Else, was produced by the Contemporary label in 1958. In 1959 he formed the group that would eventually be signed to Atlantic: Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, Billy Higgins. ‘The Shape of Jazz to Come was recorded that year. That pivotal record and the other albums for Atlantic divided musicians and the listening public.
Next memory. The guy behind the counter at Dobell’s Jazz Record shop in the Charing Cross Road in 1962 reluctantly sold me a copy of The Shape of Jazz to Come. He handed it over but not before he delivered a lecture to me about what a charlatan Ornette Coleman was. The man in Dobell’s was not alone. Roy Eldridge said: ‘I’d listened to him all kinds of ways. I listened to him high and I listened to him cold sober. I even played with him. I think he's jiving baby.’ Miles Davis was just as blunt. ‘Hell, I just listen to what he writes and how he plays. If you’re talking psychologically, the man is all screwed up inside.’ ‘I don’t know what he’s playing,’ said Dizzy Gillespie, ‘but it’s not jazz.’ They were all concerned that someone who ignored all the skills they had spent years acquiring was getting so much attention.
‘No one has to learn to spell to talk, right?’ said Ornette wittily.
What the critics did not realise was that Ornette appealed to the romantics. Jazz was starting to forget where it had come from, what it was about. He was someone who came from nowhere, defied all the rules, played his own way and created idiosyncratic, achingly beautiful music that was almost naïve, not beholden to anyone except in a convoluted way to those itinerant blues players in the past . ‘Avant gutbucket’ was how someone described the music.
Ornette had come out of Fort Worth in Texas where he was born on the 9th March 1930. Initially, he played tenor saxophone in a rhythm and blues band. His already individual way of playing antagonised some people so much that his tenor saxophone was destroyed. He turned to alto saxophone toured in another band and eventually ended up in Los Angeles.
Ornette in the capital of cool must have been a strange sight. Paul Bley was one of his earliest supporters. They formed a group and a kind of bootleg exists of their work at the Hillcrest Club. Ornette’s first record, Something Else, was produced by the Contemporary label in 1958. In 1959 he formed the group that would eventually be signed to Atlantic: Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, Billy Higgins. ‘The Shape of Jazz to Come was recorded that year. That pivotal record and the other albums for Atlantic divided musicians and the listening public.
The group played in New York at the Five Spot Club. People
flocked to see what all the fuss was about.
John Lewis from the MJQ was an early supporter, as was Leonard
Bernstein. One of Ornette’s records at that time was Free Jazz a double quartet. The record had the Jackson Pollock
painting ‘The White Light’ on the sleeve. The even more uncompromising music
on that album caused further controversy. Coleman was clearly announcing
that he wanted to be treated as an artist.
Ornette’s insistence, at this time, on equality with classical musicians sometimes restricted his appearances and bookings but he refused to compromise. He formed a new group with Charles Moffett on drums and David Izenzon on bass. This group toured Europe in 1965 including the UK and recorded a concert at Fairfield Hall in Croydon. It was at this concert when someone yelled out, obviously hoping to bring Ornette down, ‘Now play Cherokee’. The incident, and Ornette’s witty musical riposte, is preserved on that record.
It was in 1966 that Ornette introduced his son Denardo to his music. The 10 year old Denardo played drums on the album he Empty Foxhole. Denardo worked with his father on and off for the rest of Ornette’s life.
Ornette steadily widened his activities. He went to Morocco to play with local musicians. His Skies of America based on Ornette’s harmolodic theories was recorded in England in 1972 by the London Symphony Orchestra. David Cronenberg used some of Ornette’s music in the film of ‘The Naked Lunch’.
Probably the biggest change was the formation of the electric group Prime Time in 1976. Ornette challenged the blandness of funk. At the core of the new group was free contrapuntal improvisation: two guitars, two basses and two drummers. Musicians James Blood Ulmer, Vernon Reid, Ronald Shannon Jackson and Jamaaladeen Tacuma played and graduated from the band. King Crimson, Henry Cow, Soft Machine and Gentle Giant were heavily influenced. Now artists such as Wadada Leo Smith, Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, Matana Roberts, Rudresh Mahanthappa and Greg Ward acknowledge the influence.
We have been fortunate in the UK to have seen some of Ornette’s most idiosyncratic events. Ornette discovered Yoko Ono at the same time as John Lennon did. Yoko sang with Ornette’s group at the Albert Hall in 1968. The reunion of his classic quartet with Don Cherry played here. The London Symphony Orchestra recorded his Skies Of America in 1972. Ornette brought the Moroccan Joujouka musicians to the Meltdown Festival in 2009 that he curated at the Festival Hall in a week that everyone who attended will remember. The onstage duet with Charlie Haden as they played ‘Lonely Woman’ was the highlight. Even the white plastic Grafton alto that he loved for a time was produced in England.
What is often forgotten is the quality of the tunes that he composed. Listen to ‘Latin Genetics’ and you will find it difficult to shake it out of your head. ’Turnaround’ has been taken up by many musicians. ‘Ramblin’, ’ Una Muy Bonita’, and ‘Lonely Woman’ is one of the most beautiful pieces composed in the last century.
There was always a philosophical and political edge to Ornette. Charlie Haden was arrested in Portugal as they toured in 1971 because the group played Haden’s tune ‘Song for Che’ and dedicated it to freedom fighters. Ornette’s philosophical harmolodic theories, derided by many, were at their heart quite simple: harmony, melody, speed, rhythm, time and phrases all have equal position. Simply it was returning music to an earlier time and on a human scale.
Ornette was truly radical. He endured sneering rejection and being patronised. His vision changed jazz profoundly. He took jazz away from the structure of popular tunes, even from the structure of the blues. It was a blend of blues and modal, atonal, and freeform. He put emotion and individuality in the centre of his music.
As with all great jazz what will be remembered is the sound, the call of that raw alto that pierced and wailed with the feeling of freedom as the curious inimitable, lyrical melodies poured out of him.
Ornette’s insistence, at this time, on equality with classical musicians sometimes restricted his appearances and bookings but he refused to compromise. He formed a new group with Charles Moffett on drums and David Izenzon on bass. This group toured Europe in 1965 including the UK and recorded a concert at Fairfield Hall in Croydon. It was at this concert when someone yelled out, obviously hoping to bring Ornette down, ‘Now play Cherokee’. The incident, and Ornette’s witty musical riposte, is preserved on that record.
It was in 1966 that Ornette introduced his son Denardo to his music. The 10 year old Denardo played drums on the album he Empty Foxhole. Denardo worked with his father on and off for the rest of Ornette’s life.
Ornette steadily widened his activities. He went to Morocco to play with local musicians. His Skies of America based on Ornette’s harmolodic theories was recorded in England in 1972 by the London Symphony Orchestra. David Cronenberg used some of Ornette’s music in the film of ‘The Naked Lunch’.
Probably the biggest change was the formation of the electric group Prime Time in 1976. Ornette challenged the blandness of funk. At the core of the new group was free contrapuntal improvisation: two guitars, two basses and two drummers. Musicians James Blood Ulmer, Vernon Reid, Ronald Shannon Jackson and Jamaaladeen Tacuma played and graduated from the band. King Crimson, Henry Cow, Soft Machine and Gentle Giant were heavily influenced. Now artists such as Wadada Leo Smith, Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, Matana Roberts, Rudresh Mahanthappa and Greg Ward acknowledge the influence.
We have been fortunate in the UK to have seen some of Ornette’s most idiosyncratic events. Ornette discovered Yoko Ono at the same time as John Lennon did. Yoko sang with Ornette’s group at the Albert Hall in 1968. The reunion of his classic quartet with Don Cherry played here. The London Symphony Orchestra recorded his Skies Of America in 1972. Ornette brought the Moroccan Joujouka musicians to the Meltdown Festival in 2009 that he curated at the Festival Hall in a week that everyone who attended will remember. The onstage duet with Charlie Haden as they played ‘Lonely Woman’ was the highlight. Even the white plastic Grafton alto that he loved for a time was produced in England.
What is often forgotten is the quality of the tunes that he composed. Listen to ‘Latin Genetics’ and you will find it difficult to shake it out of your head. ’Turnaround’ has been taken up by many musicians. ‘Ramblin’, ’ Una Muy Bonita’, and ‘Lonely Woman’ is one of the most beautiful pieces composed in the last century.
There was always a philosophical and political edge to Ornette. Charlie Haden was arrested in Portugal as they toured in 1971 because the group played Haden’s tune ‘Song for Che’ and dedicated it to freedom fighters. Ornette’s philosophical harmolodic theories, derided by many, were at their heart quite simple: harmony, melody, speed, rhythm, time and phrases all have equal position. Simply it was returning music to an earlier time and on a human scale.
Ornette was truly radical. He endured sneering rejection and being patronised. His vision changed jazz profoundly. He took jazz away from the structure of popular tunes, even from the structure of the blues. It was a blend of blues and modal, atonal, and freeform. He put emotion and individuality in the centre of his music.
As with all great jazz what will be remembered is the sound, the call of that raw alto that pierced and wailed with the feeling of freedom as the curious inimitable, lyrical melodies poured out of him.
