What Now?
No, that’s not a cry of rage against the latest Bush outrage. It’s a jazz CD recorded in 2005 that I recently had the pleasure of hearing. Recorded in New York 1-2 June 2004, the 2005 release features Kenny Wheeler on flugelhorn, Chris Potter on tenor sax, John Taylor on piano, and Dave Holland on double bass. Follow me over the fold for more…
All are experienced musicians, and it shows. While all the tunes are original compositions by Wheeler, you’ll find yourself reminded of some of the great jazz you’ve heard before, as I was when I listened to the second track, “One Two Three,” which was reminiscent of Herbie Hancock’s album “Maiden Voyage.” There’s the same sophisticated post-bop melodic creativity and harmonies – which is a lot of fancy talk to say that if you like albums like “Maiden Voyage,” or Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue,” or Wayne Shorter’s “Speak No Evil,” or McCoy Tyner from the same period, you’ll like this CD. Am I saying it’s an accomplishment equal to those giants? No, but let’s say it’s a fish from the same cool pond.
It’s complex stuff in spots, and I don’t say that to scare you off so much as to say that this is an intense album; one of those CDs that you’ll hear new things on with each listening. Sometimes musicians achieve such a level of chemistry, of mind reading, that it’s almost as if they’re a four-part instrument being played by God – a magic that leaves your mouth hanging open in awe. These guys have that groove going here.
And just in case you think I’m trippin’ on something here, the CD was nominated for a Grammy for “Best Jazz Instrumental Album – Individual or Group” in 2005, which was a heck of a year for new jazz releases: Lots of competition. On-line reviewers liked it too; one mentioned Wheeler’s earlier CD “Angel Song” in their reviews; I’m on the hunt for that one now.
Aside – interestingly, there’s no drummer on this CD, so if you’re a drummer you can play along – if you think you’re up to it (the faint-hearted need not apply)! If any drummers out there who accept the challenge, let us all know how it goes.
And with that lead-in, I should take this opportunity to provide a little information about the four musicians on this CD:
At Age 76, Canadian trumpeter Kenny Wheeler is a veteran on the jazz scene (biographical information at link) with a unique sound:
“The Wheeler sound is one of the most distinctive in the history of the jazz trumpet. A thin, overblown note is followed by a florid flurry, the high squeal by a long low note he rolls around his mouth like a chewy mint. Although his phrases are bordered, like blotting paper in ink, with romanticism, the comforting phrase is superseded by the querulous, a moment of tenderness by a scream of panic. He has his trademark tics, but is incapable of producing a hackneyed phrase. Like words from a prophet, every note counts.”
– Sholto Byrnes in The Independent, 20th August 2002
Englishman Dave Holland was discovered in 1968 in London by Miles Davis, and played with Davis’ groups in 1968-70. He then left, playing with Chick Corea and other notables on the jazz scene in the 1970s, establishing himself through the `80’s and 90’s as a name in his own right. His website is here.
“One of the things that’s happening to me as I get older,” says Holland, now 60, “is that I’m thinking more and more about using the totality of my experience as a player. Something Sam Rivers said a long time ago has stayed with me: ‘Don’t leave anything out, use it all.’ That’s become almost a mantra for me over the years as I’ve tried to find a way to build a vehicle which lets me utilize the full spectrum which includes the tradition, which includes playing the blues, which includes improvising freely. I love all that music, and there’s been a desire to reconcile all those areas, to make them relevant, hopefully, in a contemporary context, as one music.”
John Taylor is another sixty-something Englishman; he was playing in a trio by 1969 but came into prominence as vocalist Cleo Laine’s accompanist in the early 1970’s. By the late 70’s he had played with Wheeler for the first time, and went on to a successful career in several groups detailed at the link.
…Taylor played as if the piano were his orchestra, always intriguing and filled with sumptuous chords, groove-alerting cross-rhythms and nimble lines. His playing is strikingly original and immediate, as if the piano has revealed all kinds of secrets to him that are kept from most other musicians…
– Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen
The “youngster” of this group at 35, Chris Potter is also the token American in the group. His official website is here (downloads available). He was something of a musical child prodigy:
Jazz singer/bassist Jim Ferguson recalls:
“Chris Potter used to sit in with us when I was in college. His folks would bring him to the gigs. He was eight or nine years old at the time and could play well even then.”
As a teenager he was winning awards, and was discovered by Marian McPartland at age 15. In college at The New School in New York, he continued to amaze
…teacher Kenny Werner relates:
“Chris was in my composition class at the New School for about a year. When he called me for a private lesson, I had no idea how he played. We started with a bebop tune; but he went further out on the second thing we played, and on the third tune he was playing in the language of my contemporaries, guys who grew up following all of Miles’ bands and aspiring to the kind of spiritual strivings that defined Coltrane’s music. By the fourth tune, I wanted to take a lesson from Chris.”
He has gone on to a very successful career, but not without its darker moments; in recent years Chris has experienced recurring bouts with Meniere’s disease, which has cost him virtually 100% of the hearing in his left ear.
…Well, now that I know a bit more about the musicians, no wonder the CD was so good! Enjoy!
