Jazz Pianists of Baltimore, Maryland, Part 1

Every jazz musician has their influences. Many musicians talk fondly of their favorite recorded music. However, if you go back to earlier generations, you find that musicians talk more about the players that they heard live and the players that they knew, or even studied with. Jazz started as more of a folk tradition, with information being handed down to the next generation, and each generation adding to the tradition. I believe that has changed somewhat, due to the lack of local venues, and our increasingly isolated society. After all, it is a great thing to take from recorded music; it's actually essential. But what about hearing people live? Don't you think music has more of an impact when you can actually see the musicians and feel the vibrations?

Gary Bartz

I feel lucky that I was in Baltimore when there were still a lot of gigs going on, although many of the
piano gigs were in hotels or restaurants. I missed the era of The Closet, a great jazz club that closed not long after I arrived at Peabody Conservatory (I did see one performance of Gary Bartz and his quartet before they went out of business, but the Closet used to be the spot where New York musicians would come down and play with the top local rhythm sections). But I did spend a lot of time at the New Haven Lounge, which had New York players and top local players every weekend. I also used to go to the One Step Down and Blues Alley and Twins in Washington D.C., which had even more name acts. Baltimore and Washington D.C. are so close that, at least in the 90's, it was considered the same "market" and musicians would frequently drive back and forth between both cities.

Tim Murphy

One of the pianists who was a huge influence on me was Tim Murphy. I first heard Murphy at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Baltimore in 1987. My friend and fellow Peabody classmate, trumpeter Alex Norris, took me down there to hear the house trio, which featured vocalist Shelia Ford, pianist Armen Boyajin, bassist Larry Kinling, and drummer Jim Hannah. But Boyajin was not playing piano this time, he was playing violin, and Tim Murphy was playing piano. I remember hearing Murphy play some harmonies that sounded like Hindemith on absinthe! And I wasn't yet serious about the piano as my main instrument, but the more I listened to Murphy that night, the more I had the inclination that "I want to do what HE is doing...."

It turned out that Tim Murphy is actually very studied in the jazz tradition: he can show you two

Messian

handed Oscar Peterson blues licks for days, and he's transcribed a lot of Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner. But he also happens to be a virtuoso classical organist, and he has performed many works for pipe organ by Oliver Messian. Messian had his own system of harmony based on "modes of limited transposition", which includes what you might know as the diminished scale. Murphy urged me to look at Messian's book entitled The Technique Of My Musical Language, which I did, although it was kind of advanced for me at the time, in retrospect.

Murphy and I ended up playing together in the Baltimore-based Latin Jazz band called Rumba Club; I was playing timbales in the band, if you can believe that! But I used that vantage point to check out what Murphy was playing, and any time he played a chord I wanted to steal, I would yell from the timbales, "What was that chord?" and Murphy would shout back,"I'll tell you later!" And eventually, Murphy couldn't make a lot of the Rumba Club gigs, so I ended up subbing for him, and trying to basically sound exactly like him, which of course I couldn't.

You might know Murphy's playing if you are a Gary Thomas fan; Murphy is on many of Thomas' recordings, including Code Violations, By Any Means Neccessary, 'Til We Have Faces, Exile's Gate, and The Kold Kage. Unfortunately, Murphy has not to my knowledge recorded as a leader, and at this writing he is still in Maryland,  teaching in the Peabody Jazz Program and also at Towson University. I think Murphy is one of the most unique players that remains in obscurity. Murphy never had the desire to move to New York and join the Jazz Rat Race, which is unfortunate, because I think he is deserving of wider recognition.

Bob Butta

Another big influence on my decision to switch to jazz piano is another Baltimore native named Bob Butta. The only time I ever went to The Closet, Butta was in the rhythm section backing Gary Bartz (with Geoff Harper on bass and Steve Williams on drums). I remember thinking at the time that that was first time I ever heard a band that sounded close to what the John Coltrane Quartet must have sounded like live; they played with so much intensity, and they really stretched out. Butta is a forceful accompanist, channeling the likes of Wynton Kelly, McCoy Tyner, and Horace Silver all at once. And Butta has the "right hand of doom"; he took the Tyner pentatonic idea and put his own stamp on it.

I probably saw Butta play more than anybody in Baltimore. I followed Butta around so much that he
started joking that "Yeah, he's my son!" I tried to absorb his techniques. Butta really knows the history; in his playing you'll hear Red Garland, Bill Evans, Cedar Walton, and Theolonious Monk. Butta is a real " jazz pianist's jazz pianist". It's unfortunate that he, like Murphy, never moved to New York. Although, there is a legendary story about Butta being in New York at the Star Cafe jam session in the 80's and while he was playing, bassist Lonnie Plaxico ran in and said in Butta's ear, "Art Blakey needs a piano player, we are driving to Canada tonight!" And Butta replied, "Can I finish playing this tune first?" And then when the tune was over, Plaxico was gone, and Blakey had driven off. (At least that's how I recall Butta telling me the story, I would accept some corroboration....")



For more on Tim Murphy, click here. For more on Bob Butta, click here.

McCoy Tyner's Solo on Blues on The Corner

The great McCoy Tyner

OK, sports fans! I get the message. Based on my stat counter, there is considerable interest in transcribed solos. And, in my effort to try not to disappoint my readers, I have decided to keep the momentum going by digging up this McCoy Tyner transcription. It's from The Real McCoy, a classic album on Blue Note from the 60's featuring Tyner on piano, Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone, Ron Carter on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. If you want the quintessential McCoy Tyner, this is the album to have.

Tyner has long been one of my favorite pianists: indeed, I felt as though I had to stop listening to him, in order to not sound like him so much.  However, sometimes it's more beneficial to go deeper into one's study of a particular artist, as opposed to developing a superficial imitation. With more in depth study, one can realize that "gee, I don't sound like my favorite jazz musician after all." I also felt, from an educational and academic standpoint, I wanted to see exactly what Tyner was doing, and document it, just to be thorough. It took some time-and if you see me in the vicinity of a piano, do NOT ask me to play this transcription, 'cause it's HARD.

One aspect that made my transcription of "Blues On The Corner" difficult was the left hand. It wasn't so much the notes as it was the rhythms. Oftentimes, piano solo transcriptions will omit the left hand. However, I believe the left hand gives an important look at what the pianist was thinking, and how the pianist "comps" for himself or herself. And in McCoy Tyner's case, his playing is very two-fisted. So that took extra time. Another thing that made this transcription challenging was the predominant triplet
rhythm of the piece. Sometimes, it was perplexing as to whether to notate a particular passage as swung eighth notes , or triplets, or in the case of double time, sixteenths. Finally, some of the right hand runs were so fast that even slowing the recording down to 25% speed didn't make it any easier. So only Tyner might actually know what he really played.

So here is is. As before, it's fun to listen along with the track while you follow the written music. And some of this solo really surprised me: for example, the left hand chords will be three note fourth voicings, and then all of a sudden switch to four note third voicings, which might be considered inconsistent, but it all sounds right- because all of the music has that magical "McCoy Tyner touch". Also, Tyner uses more augmented 4ths, whole tone scale, and diminished implying harmony that I realized. The pacing of the solo is great, and there is much use of motivic and harmonic development. Even just a bar or two of this solo can open up a whole world of ideas for you. Enjoy!

Hank Mobley's Solo on "Remember"

If you are trying to develop your vocabulary as a jazz improviser, you'll want to transcribe from other players, hopefully great jazz players. You can do entire solos if you have the time, but you should at the very least take some "licks" from the masters and work them into your own solos. You'll start to see how linear vocabulary works with jazz harmony, and if you really stick with it, it should all snowball into you being able to improvise in a jazz manner. The goal is to have your own sound, or at the very least, being able to "put it in your own words", so to speak. Be that as it may, it can be fun and valuable to transcribe an entire jazz solo. This can give you a sense of the overall structure of a solo, and it's a way for the student to sort of "step into the shoes of a master".

I personally haven't transcribed a lot of solos in their entirety. However, I wanted to share one that I did a few years ago. It's tenor saxophone legend Hank Mobley's solo on Irving Berlin's "Remember", from the classic Mobley album Soul Station (with Wynton Kelly, piano, Paul Chambers, bass, Art Blakey, drums). Here is a link to the recording on youtube. I've known about this album for years, but initially, it was hearing drummer Carl Allen sing this entire solo along with the recording that made me want to transcribe it. The whole album is great, and this solo is great because Mobley's lines make so much sense, and they outline the harmony perfectly.

I think this is a good solo for students because there are many small phrases which could be incorporated easily into one's vocabulary. I have marked some of these phrases in red. It's fun to just follow along while you listen, but the next step would be to learn to play along with the solo, or maybe take some of the small phrases and transpose them to all keys. Keep in mind, that I am not a saxophone player, so there might be some better ways to notate some of the idiosyncratic aspects of the solo. Also, some of the rhythms I had to approximate, because they were not 100 percent falling into western rhythmic notation. This is why it's good to learn solos by ear first, so that you get the organic rhythmic feel of the artist.

The first chorus is obviously the melody of "Remember", with rhythmic interpretation and also some embellishments. Mobley gets right to it with a two bar solo break pick up. There are lot of nice sequences (taking the same idea and repeating it but in a different key), which go well with the descending chromatic chord progression. It's all a really good example of Hard Bop, with a lot of "bebop" lines and some "bluesy" interludes. Around letter J,K, and L, which is the second improvised chorus, Mobley implies double-time, but in a complex way, which made it hard to notate. I mused about different options, and went with what you see here. Hopefully it makes sense. Again, it's best to listen to the solo as you read. I like how bar 120 and 121 have a nice diminished scale idea that feels really natural.


If you see anything that really looks wrong, let me know. I haven't looked at this in a while, and just like the written parts of my blog, I can always use some proofreading. I'm hoping to post more solos in the future, and I'm also hoping to get to some more transcribing this summer. I have a hard time doing entire solos nowadays because I find that I can get a lot of mileage out of even one bar from a masterful solo. But I'll have my keyboard with me on tour, so I'm hoping to get to it. So anyway,  here is Mobley's solo, enjoy!

A Short Story About Harold Mabern

The great Harold Mabern

When I was in living in Washington D.C. in the early 90's, I attended performances at a great jazz club called the One Step Down. I saw many New York greats such as Mulgrew Miller, Joe Lovano, Marc Copeland, Tom Harrell, James Williams, Steve Wilson, etc... I also saw many local greats such as Rueben Brown, Bob Butta, Lawrence Wheatley, and Shirley Horn(although at that point she was internationally recognized). It was THE jazz club in D.C., besides Blues Alley and Twins, which also had their merits. But the One Step was the REAL jazz club to me. I ended up playing there many times over the years before they closed in the late 90's. But I had many wonderful experiences there.

I remember I went down to the One Step Down to hear the great pianist Harold Mabern with his trio. If you don't know Mabern, he's part of the Memphis piano clique( which includes James Williams, Donald Brown, Mulgrew Miller, and for some reason, Geoffrey Keezer, who is actually from Wisconsin!). He worked over the years with many of the greats, including Miles Davis, albeit briefly. You might know him from Lee Morgan's albums Live At The Lighthouse and The Gigolo. He's a giant of a man: his hands on the piano have a span of almost an octave and a half! His style is a mixture of many traditional elements like bop, stride, and gospel, but he can pound in a McCoy Tyner-ish fashion with the best of them. (I've seen the piano shake when Mabern is playing.)

The legend is that Mabern knows at least 5,000 tunes. Yes, jazz students. 5000 tunes. Deal with it. He's forgotten more tunes than you'll ever learn in your life. Well, I can't prove that, but my point is the man knows a lot of music. I heard him do a modern rendition of Steely Dan's "Do It Again" that was, to me, a revelation. He also recorded a great version of Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing". I'm saying that he knows tunes from all different kinds of genres.

The few times I've met Mabern over the years, I found him to be friendly, and very down to earth. He's been teaching at William Paterson University for many years. He seemed like a natural born educator: someone who is passionate and knowledgeable about the music. But very honest and straightforward. ( For example, I remember I saw him lead a jam session at the Musician's Union when I first moved to New York. On one tune, the drummer was not up to snuff. Mabern said aloud:" Now, let's get serious: I took a bus and three trains from Brooklyn to get here, so can we get a REAL drummer up here. I mean, somebody that can REALLY play?)

What a fondly remember about this experience at the One Step Down was that Mabern played a wonderful version of the Sammy Cahn classic entitled " Be My Love." You might know it from legendary tenor Mario Lanza's famous version. Well, Mabern's version was wonderful. He added a kind of pedal point interlude to the piece that was quite inspirational. I wasn't familiar with the tune at the time, but I was curious.

That was the last tune of the night. The One Step Down was usually a three set gig, so this was after three 1 hour sets. As the audience was paying their tabs and filing out of the club, I felt the need to approach Mabern and ask him some questions. I tried not to be annoying.

I asked Mabern about the last tune he had played, and when he told me it was " Be My Love", I said, "Wow, I really want to learn this tune." So Mabern said, "Oh, OK, I'll write out a chart for you right now."

I assumed he was joking. It was 2 in the morning, he had just played three sets of trio, and was dripping with sweat. I said, " Oh, no, you don't have to do that." But he was already writing on manuscript paper. And he sat there for 15 minutes and made me a chart of " Be My Love." I was floored at his generosity, not to mention his stamina. So he finished the chart and gave it to me and was very nonchalant about the whole thing. He didn't want money or anything. He just seemed to want to impart knowledge.

I think about that story now when I teach. While I don't have the depth of his experience, or even that kind of energy, I try to be as generous as I can with what I know. I've written out chords for my students at jam sessions. I've given free lessons to people who couldn't afford it, or who seemed to really need some help. Much of that attitude comes from that experience I had that night at the One Step Down, when Harold Mabern, who could have easily shrugged me off, sat down and wrote me a very detailed chart on "Be My Love."

Time To Call Jazz Something Else....Like Syncopep?

Wu Tang is comin thru, to a jazz festival near YOU!

I'm noticing more and more that, on many of the international so-called jazz festivals, there is an alarming lack of jazz being booked. Now, I'm not a purist, and I'm not here to get on a soapbox about "the tradition" and "swing" and so forth. However, I think it's just illogical to call something a Jazz Festival and then refuse to book anything even remotely related to jazz. I don't know, I guess Eric Clapton is related to jazz by the fact that he's a blues guitarist? But when you have Lionel Richie and the Wu Tang Clan as headliners for major JAZZ festivals, then I think it is at least worth questioning. Let's put it this way: If there was a hip-hop festival, you wouldn't see Bucky Pizzarelli as the headliner! You wouldn't see Junior Mance at a rock festival! So why is everything besides jazz squeezing out the music for which these festivals are named after?

Obviously, some of the problem stems from the fact that jazz has always been a hybrid sort of music. Much like the way tofu takes on the flavors of whatever seasoning is around it, jazz can easily absorb new styles and approaches and it can still be called jazz. This is probably why there are so many sub-genres of jazz. And more than other styles of music with their own sub-genres, jazz has almost as many sub-genres as their are individual jazz musicians . Since we are all trying to "develop our own sound", this makes for jazz which always has the possibility of some new addition or subtraction to the recipe. Unfortunately, this makes for many misconceptions about the music.

Kenny G. Get a haircut, you hippie......

Because it's so hard to define jazz in a "pure" sense, I think it's easier to lump other styles of music into the "jazz" bucket. For example, the whole Smooth Jazz phenomenon is confusing: the wonderful, talented, superbly-coiffed Kenny G is a great saxophonist in the category of Instrumental Pop (if there is such a category....how about Highly Sophisticated Elevator Music....). But judging from what I hear at the dentist office, his "music" is not very jazzy to me. But because of the " Smooth Jazz" label, it gets thrown into the public's consciousness as some form of "jazz". However, David Sanborn, who might also not be considered a jazz musician by many, to me sounds much more like jazz than much of the Smooth Jazz that accidentally permeates my ear canal while I wait for my prescription at Shoppers Mart.

Kirk Whalum

I think it's ironic that some of those supposedly smooth jazz musicians don't even consider themselves to be that. I was on a recording date recently where Kirk Whalum was a special guest. He was a super nice guy, and he confided that he considered himself a " R&B and Gospel saxophone player." He also talked a bit about the "powers-that-be" of Smooth Jazz Radio, consisting of a panel of judges who decided whether or not one's music was "smooth" enough to play on the radio. "I'm considered a smooth jazz player," Whalum testified," but now it's become so controlled, that even I'm considered too jazzy to be on the smooth jazz format!"

 Many discussions have endured regarding the name "jazz", by critics and fans and musicians alike, since the beginnings of the music. Originally spelled "jass" some say it comes from an African word, others speculate that it comes from the French jaser ( to chatter). Some say it refers to the sex act in various ways. Apparently the first evidence of the word comes from a newspaper article about baseball, in which the columnist used jazz as a synonym for "energy" or "pep". In fact, one early contest was held to "rename" jazz, the winner being "syncopep" which thankfully never caught on as a new word to replace jazz.

Often I am asked about my profession. " I am a musician, " I say. After the required "Are you in a band?" they inevitably ask, " what kind of music?" "Jazz" I say, waiting for that confused look on their face. " Oh, I love jazz. Spyro Gyra is my favorite band...." or  "Have you heard the new Sade CD?", or
"My grandfather likes jazz." or just blank stare...." Do you want me to trim your sideburns?"

As the interest in jazz seems to be slipping from our grasp, I think it's time once again to consider renaming our old friend jazz. Perhaps it will have the re-branding effect which Madison Avenue marketers look for when they try to do P.R. for some big mega-company,which needs to re-make their image after it comes to light that they gunned down some of their employees during a wage strike.

How about RHYTHM MUSIC? or Rhythmic Music? Many jazz schools in Europe are now calling themselves Rhythmic Music Schools (There's at least one in Denmark).

Or Contemporary Improvisational Music? Too long? Too pretentious?

What about American Classical Music? Too "Jazz -At -Lincoln -Center-esque"?

What about Instrumental Improvisation? But then people will call it I I for short, and then you'll feel like your in the Navy or something. " What kind of music shall we hear?" " Aye, Aye, Captain....."

What about naming it after one of the greats? What about Gillespie Music? or Coltrane Music? Obviously that would spark a debate.

How about Future Bop? or JamBop? Ugh.....

What about combine all the elements into one colorful word. jazzbopswingfunksoulbluesimprov.
It might come out as jaboswifunsblupov. And then jaboswulbov. And then jwapov. This is clearly not working!
Feel free to post your own ideas. And no profanity or euphemisms for sex. That's why we're in this predicament in the first place!

Bill Milkowski: Drop The Needle...( as in the needle for a turntable...)

Bill Milkowski

In one of the previous blogs, I did a short review of a book about bassist Jaco Pastorius, written by Bill Milkowski, one of my favorite jazz writers. Bill really knows his stuff and is highly respected in the field. I thought it would be cool to have him do a blindfold test(although I want to call it something else because Downbeat probably has that trademarked)for my blog. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's where I select music and the other person has to tell me who is playing without any prior knowledge, or hints about it("this drummer's name rhymes with Fax Coach.....duh!"). I came up with 10 tunes from the jazz and R&B world to see if they were recognized or not. Mr. Milkowski did not disappoint and I think this yielded great results. Thanks, Bill! Also, I have included youtube links where possible so you can listen along while you read. How's THAT for being thorough?YOU'RE WELCOME!

Frank Zappa

1. (“Peaches En Regalia”: Frank Zappa-Hot Rats- released in 1969)(Bill knows right away.)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaKPqSNYknI
“Peaches En Regalia” from Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats – I had a cassette of this
album which I used to play at full blast volume in the cassette deck of my brown
Chevy van as I tooled down Lincoln Memorial Drive along Lake Michigan during
my Milwaukee youth. I was a huge Zappa fan, primarily for his extraordinary
guitar playing but also because of his subversive streak, which came out more
blatantly on Freakout! and We’re Only In It For The Money. Hot Rats was unique
in Zappa’s discography at the time it came out because it was not a Mothers of
Invention project, it was essentially a Zappa solo project done in conjunction with
multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood and a few special guests soloists, like Jean
Luc Ponty on the jazzy “It Must Be A Camel.” Also, it was primarily an
instrumental album (Captain Beefheart was featured bellowing on the
nasty “Willie the Pimp” which featured some great, wailing violin work from
Sugarcane Harris and a brilliant extended wah-wah guitar solo from
FZ). “Peaches En Regalia” had a chamber-like exactness to it, as did “Son of Mr.
Green Genes.” There were some very interesting allusions to jazz on this record,
like on the soulful rubato number “It Must Be A Camel,” full of odd intervals from
Underwood’s overdubbed horns. Zappa would continue to explore this straddling
of jazz and rock on his next album with the Mothers of Invention, Weasles Ripped
My Flesh, particularly on avant garde pieces like “The Eric Dolphy Memorial
Barbecue,” “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask” and the
title track. For me, Zappa is an under-recognized pioneer of fusion music and
these two brilliant albums – Hot Rats and Weasles Ripped My Flesh – are
landmarks in bridging those disparate worlds of rock and jazz.

2.(I Should Care:Abbey Lincoln and Hank Jones from When There Is Love-released 1994)(Bill knows again right away...) That is unmistakably the late, great Abbey Lincoln doing the Sammy Cahn
standard, “I Should Care.” Such a spell-binding, heart-wrenching quality in
that voice of her. Dig that little break in her voice toward the end when she
goes, “Oh!” Goosebumps. This is more intimate and revealing than the Betty
Carter version of this tune, which I also love. It’s a sparse piano-voice duet with
Hank Jones from a great early ‘90s Verve album, When There Is Love. Hank had
played on Abbey’s previous Verve recording, You Gotta Pay the Band, which
also featured Stan Getz and Charlie Haden. I have great memories of seeing
Abbey perform at Fat Tuesdays during the ‘80s. I actually did a Blindfold Test
with her in the late ‘80s at her place. I remember playing her an Aretha Franklin tune,
one of her early John Hammond-produced tracks, “Blue Holiday.” Abbey
was sitting on her couch, listening and as the song progressed she started
talking back to Aretha, “Sing it, girl!” and “Wooooooo!” At one point she got so
animated, she started laughing out loud at how baaaaad Aretha was that she
nearly fell off the couch. Abbey was an incredibly soulful, beautiful spirit, genius
lyricist and commanding presence on stage. Last time I saw her in concert was
when she opened for Ornette Coleman at Carnegie Hall as part of the 2004 JVC
Jazz Festival. It was a riveting performance that ripped the heart out of everyone
in the audience. And then I was totally knocked out by her last Verve recording,
2007’s Abbey Sings Abbey, which featured some radical reinventions of her
tunes by arrangers Gil Goldstein and Larry Campbell. She’s one of the all-time
greats.

3.(Outa Space: Billy Preston released in 1972) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75-gcaA850g&feature=fvw
You gotta be kidding me! I was JUST THINKING ABOUT THIS SONG
YESTERDAY!! It has deep connections for me on a number of levels. Billy
Preston’s “Outa Space,” which was an instrumental pop hit in 1972. This tune
was all over the radio during the summer of ’72 and one of my high school pals,
Bruce Guckleberg (who is now an evangelist preacher in Upstate New York),
actually adopted this as his personal theme song and developed an elaborate
choreography for it that involved perfectly-timed forearm smashes that were in
synch with Billy’s funky clavinet accents (a kind of homage to his boyhood hero,
Green Bay Packers middle linebacker Ray Nitchske). Guck, as we called him,
was a big animal of a football player himself and he used to literally ‘lose it’
whenever this song came on the radio, like a trance would come over him. He’d
go into this kind of robot dance and then forearm anyone or anything in his
vicinity when those downbeats came. I was on the receiving end of many of those
forearm smashes back in those days. My other memory of this tune was seeing
Billy Preston in concert with the Rolling Stones that same year, 1972, at
Milwaukee County Stadium (former home of my beloved Milwaukee Braves, who
moved to Atlanta in 1965 and then home of the brand new Milwaukee Brewers
franchise). The Stones gave Billy a featured spot in the show in which he came
out front with a portable clavinet strung around his shoulder like a guitar and he
played “Outta Space.” And Mick Jagger worked out some intricate choreography
with Billy, but unlike my pal Guck it didn’t involved well-timed forearm smashes
but instead involved Jagger coming up behind Preston, grabbing him tightly
around the waist and executing some deep thrusting hip-grinding into Billy’s
backside. Whether it was violent forearm smashes or simulated ass-fucking, this
catchy clavinet-fueled funk number never failed to trigger movement. Hell, I’m
dancing right now! This tune may have been one of the first to prominently
feature the clavinet. Stevie Wonder followed later that year with “Higher Ground”
and of course Herbie Hancock layered on some funky clavinet in 1973
on “Chameleon.” Some of the baddest clavinet ever is on an obscure track “A
Little Love’ll Help” from an obscure 1978 Paul Jackson Jr. album, Black Octopus,
which he recorded in Japan. Yes, that’s Herbie on clavinet. He’s the
baddest…STILL!

4. (Household of Saud:Charles Tolliver, from Paper Man, recorded in 1968, released in 1975. Charles Tolliver, trumpet; Gary Bartz, alto;Herbie Hancock, piano;Ron Carter, bass;Joe Chambers, drums)Sounds like John Hicks on piano. Not sure who is playing the very tight
trumpet-alto sax unisons on the head. Sounds kind of like Woody Shaw, but not
as wild and commanding in the chops department. This sounds like an older
recording…not a particularly great mix. The piano seems way too prominent
in the mix (even when comping) and the trumpet solo, though killing, is buried
somewhat. The drummer doesn’t sound particularly hip in terms of cutting up
the beat in unpredictable and creative ways (a la Roy Haynes). Sounds like
more of an old school time-keeper with that incessant ride cymbal work. Maybe
Jimmy Cobb. It’s definitely not Louis Hayes, who is more interactive on an upbeat
swinging tempo like this. Can’t hardly hear the bass player. Man, that piano is
brittle-sounding. Hey, that’s a Herbie riff on that solo. This is very energetic stuff,

Charles Tolliver

like something from the India Navigation or Strata-East labels from late ‘70s.(Editor's Note:Charles Tolliver was part of Strata East...GC)
It’s not Don Pullen. Is it Stanley Cowell? It’s a brisk neo-bop kind of tune with a
challenging arrangement, but I don’t know who the trumpeter is. He lacks the
chops of Freddie or Faddis or Woody Shaw, but he’s a stellar player. Sounds
like something that David Weiss’ band The Cookers (with Eddie Henderson, Billy
Harper, Craig Handy, Cecil McBee, George Cables) would play. But it’s definitely
an older recording. I’m stumped.

Marcus Miller

5. ( Nikki's Groove; Marcus Miller from M2, released in 2001.)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgcNKZTBhW4

That’s unmistakably Marcus Miller. No one slaps with the kind of incredible
facility that he does. I mean, I heard him do a slap version of Jaco’s chops-
busting anthem “Teen Town.” Slapping through that whole head. And those
hammer-ons trills are signature Marcus. I don’t know the name of this tune but
it’s no doubt from one of his recent solo albums. His arrangements are always
so cool because he’s got a lot of Stevie Wonder in him and he layers all kinds
of slick little ear cookies on listeners, whether it’s a well-placed clavinet or bass
clarinet. This is so Stevie influenced. Very virtuosic yet very catchy. I’m not a
particular fan of that alto tone…kind of piercing. But this is a perfectly-crafted
pop instrumental that could be a giant radio play hit, like Billy Preston’s “Outa-
Space” was in 1972, if the whole system wasn’t so fucked up beyond belief. This
would’ve been all over the radio back in the ‘70s.

Chaka Khan

6. (Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most: Chaka Khan, vocal. From Echoes Of An Era; Chick Corea, piano)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmJUA2PGsK8
 Right away, from the kind of staccato attack on the keyboard, it’s gotta be
Chick Corea. Vocals? And not Gayle Moran? Soul singer. Chick’s flowery
accompaniment behind her reminds me of Leprachaun. Oh, it’s that record he
did with Chaka Khan that Lenny White produced. With Freddie Hubbard and
Stanley Clarke – Echoes of an Era on Bruce Lundvall’s label at the time (Elektra-
Musician). It’s “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most,” performed as a duet
with Chick. I’m not a great fan of Chaka. Her screech tones hurt. And there’s too
much affectation in her phrasing here, like she’s trying to ‘do’ Sarah Vaughan
on the low notes. Oy! And the belting! My ears are bleeding already! And
please, someone please turn down the reverb. Jeez! This sounds like a tortured
performance. I would’ve must preferred to hear this done with Abbey Lincoln.

7. (The Windup; Keith Jarrett, Belonging; released in 1974; Jarrett, piano; Jan Gabarek, saxophones; Palle Danielsson, bass: Jon Chistiansen, drums.)Jarrett in his gospel-Americana Impulse phase. No, this is with his European
group with Jan Garbarek. It’s a catchy, familiar theme from one of those ECM
albums from the early ‘70s. Can’t remember the name. The drummer, Jon
Christiansen, sounds great here, like a lighter version of Jack DeJohnette.
Very interactive and swinging and really reacting to everything Keith does,
especially in this free section. They got a nice dialogue going on here while the
bass player is pedaling along in the background. Garbarek’s sax sounds like a
kazoo to me. Wimpy-ass tone, though some of his ideas here – floating in half
time over the churning rhythm section, a la Ornette – are cool. I’m really digging
this drummer. I haven’t listened to these recordings in literally decades. Might
be time to reinvestigate this stuff…or at least get updated to what Christiansen
has been doing. He’s another one of those brilliant European jazz artists that
Americans (like me) seem to overlook. Ah, and they’re back to that catchy theme.
Jarrett is great at creating those great, catchy heads, like on Treasure Island and
Expectations and Fort Yawuh. He’s really brilliant. If only he weren’t such a prick.

8. (Paraphernalia:Miles Davis, from Paraphernalia;Live in Paris 1969; Davis, trumpet;Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone; Chick Corea, Fender Rhodes; Dave Holland, Bass; Jack Dejohnette, Drums.) This is “Paraphernalia” from Miles in the Sky. But it’s not as hip as the album
version that I loved and committed to memory like a Beatles or Stones tune.
Must be from a concert. The Teo Macero-produced version starts out with a
crack from Tony Williams’ snare drum, followed by driving octaves from George
Benson on guitar while Tony heads into a Papa Jo Jones mode on the hi hat. It
has immediate impact and shape and a direction. This version I’m listening to is
meandering, not as focused or punchy as the original studio version. Not sure
what this is. Seems like it starts in the middle of an expansive jam where Herbie
is noodling around on a Fender Rhodes. Spacey and cool, but not as hip as the
punchy original with Benson on guitar. This has gotta be live. Miles’ playing is so
adrenalized here, and that’s definitely not Tony on drums. So it’s gotta be Jack
DeJohnette. Jack is amazing but his approach to the kit is rawer or more Elvin
influenced than Tony, who was so crisp and precise and quick-wristed…some
aspects of Buddy Rich in his playing, just in terms of peerless technique.
Jack is a wildman on the kit. He plays LOUD and forces those around him to
elevate their playing just to hang with him. I recently saw him bring out the more
aggressive aspects in John Scofield’s and Joe Lovano’s playing when they did
an all-star benefit gig together at The Falcon in Marlboro, New York. He’s a force
of nature, like Elvin. The soprano solo sounds like Wayne really opening up. And
that Rhodes player doesn’t sound like Herbie…too spiky and experimental. It’s
probably Keith Jarrett. Is this from the Antibes Festival, 1969? It’s cool and full
of raggedy, risk-taking energy but I much prefer the hipper, tighter studio version
with Herbie, Benson, Tony, Ron and Wayne.

9. ( Black Nile; from Thunder And Rainbows; released in 1995. Kenny Kirkland, piano; Charles Fambrough, bass. Jeff Watts, drums.)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn6UQHD4GAs
Great piano player. The drum solo sounds like Jeff “Tain” Watts with that amazing metric modulation thing he does and that incredible rolling, off-kilter

Charles Fambrough, who was the 

leader of this record date!

polyrhythmic thing he does that sounds like his kit is falling down a staircase. So
this could be Kenny Kirkland. Or maybe George Cables. Both are very fiery yet
full of finesse…creative, expansive players. Or maybe even Geri Allen. Clever
use of that quote from “Softly As In a Morning Sunrise” throughout this piece. Not
sure who the bass player is.

10. (Vulcan Worlds; Return To Forever, from Where Have I Known You Before; released in 1974; Chick Corea, keyboards; Al Di Meola, guitars;Stanley Clarke, bass; Lenny White, drums.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WPv5P-G4tQ
Again, triggering deep-seated memories from my impressionable years in
Milwaukee. This is “Vulcan Worlds” from Return To Forever’s Where Have I
Known You Before. It came out in 1974 just as I had turned 20 and it hit me
on a number of levels. The sheer power of the record blew me away and the
funkiness of the rhythm tandem of Stanley Clarke and Lenny White connected
it to a Sly Stone aesthetic, but it also had one foot in the jazz camp. This was
exciting new music to me at the time. I was coming from a Hendrix-Zappa-James
Brown-Sly Stone place, so these virtuosic jazz-rock bands played right into my
wheelhouse. And I ate it all up. Just as Ira Gitler had embraced the music of
Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie when he was 20, I embraced RTF and the
Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report when I was 20. And I felt especially
connected to RTF in particular because the hotshot young guitarist in the band,
Al Di Meola, was my same age (two months older). For most Return To Forever
fans, Romantic Warrior was their Sgt. Pepper’s. But I preferred Where Have I
Known You Before for its rawer edge and its exhilarating go-for-it energy. Plus,
it was the album that initiated me into the RTF cult. (By the way, I preferred
Revolver to Sgt. Pepper’s for the same reasons).

George, most of this music was right in my wheelhouse. All stuff I grew up with
and was imprinted on my teenage brain for all times.

Ken Burns Jazz:The War of Episode 10

Narrator and potential ass-whupper Keith David

While I don't consider myself a jazz historian, I do teach Jazz History at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. (Hey, I tried to tell them!) And so, in my efforts to try to come up with interesting ways to teach the class, I have found that Jazz-A Film By Ken Burns is highly useful. When it was first released, it was highly controversial among my peers, for reasons I will discuss later. But I have found the first few chapters to be excellent in showing us the real root origins of jazz music in America. It says it better than I ever could. (I wish I had narrator Keith David's rich low baritone voice. Keith David is probably immortalized in most people's minds as the father-in-law of Mary from There's Something About Mary. His famous line? "Don't make me open up a can of whup-ass on you...")

If you see this 10 part documentary for what it is, and not for what it isn't, then it's a wonderful teaching tool. The demonstration of how this distinctly American music was created is very clear and compelling: the new world and it's extreme culture clashes slowly developed a completely unique musical language. Sure, you could read Gunther Schuller's scholarly tome Early Jazz and read what comes off like a doctoral thesis and bore your class to tears. (Sorry Gunther; with all due respect to your vast knowledge, the explanations of how African traditions infiltrated European sensibilities is completely thorough- it's just not sexy!)But in Chapter 1 of Burns' film, you have a real picture of the era; the brave new world and it's rugged lifestyles, the horror of slavery, the ironic controversy of minstrel shows, the intensity of New Orleans during Reconstruction. For young students who may have no idea what jazz is about beyond one Brad Mehldau CD and a copy of the Real Book, it should be inspiring. And it should hopefully inspire students to look for more information themselves. After all, no historical perspective should be viewed as the absolute truth.

I believe that is where the controversy lies in this film. Although other experts are given a chance to speak in the film, we definitely see way too much of Wynton Marsalis. Now I will gladly give Marsalis his props as a trumpet virtuoso. But is he the best authority on jazz history that Ken Burn's could find?

too much Wynton?

Clearly this was a political move. And while I still think that Marsalis gives some great commentary, at times he seems out of his element, and almost seems like he's pulling information out of thin air. Furthermore, Marsalis' agenda is well known to most jazz musicians; traditional blues and swing are the most important thing in jazz, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong are the most important influences in the jazz of any decade, and anything that goes beyond that is a travesty. Fusion, jazz-funk, certain avant-garde musicians are an aberration. Hence, the contention regarding Episode 10.

Admittedly, I had not watched this chapter until now. (I spent more time with the previous nine episodes because, despite the bias, they are great for the classroom, especially for today's youth, who tend to think of Duke Ellington as some vague royal European.) Episode 10 begins with Dexter Gordon, goes into the rise of the Beatles and some commentary by late vocalist Abbey Lincoln regarding the idea that "somebody" was trying to get rid of jazz by bring over British rock musicians. There is a short bit about how Louis Armstrong, although not enthusiastically, recorded "Hello Dolly" which became a hit; Armstrong had no idea about the success of the recording and had to send for the sheet music during a tour. Then, they play some of the Max Roach/ Abbey Lincoln piece We Insist! Freedom Now, which leads to talk of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. Charles Mingus' political music is discussed. Some of the music during this period is described by the narrator as "musical militancy." The Art Ensemble of Chicago and Cecil Taylor are presented well. Even Joao Gilberto, Stan Getz and Bossa Nova are given air time.This is all, so far, great, true, and relevant, and on the surface should not be controversial.

But then we jump back to Duke Ellington, who, great as he is, has already gotten a lot of space in this mini-series length film. And we also see Marsalis again, who is conspicuously absent from any commentary on all of the musicians in my previous chapter. We get to see some good footage of John Coltrane, although I find Gary Giddins' comments, as well as Marsalis', to be superfluous(although earlier in the documentary, Giddins comes off as knowledgeable.) More great footage appears regarding Miles Davis' 60's quintet. I have no real complaints so far, and can't see why anyone else would.

Then there is some incredible footage of the 1969 Newport Jazz Festival where Sly and the Family Stone rock the house; according to George Wein, this had a huge impact on Miles Davis, which led him into the jazz-rock and fusion which Marsalis' clearly has a disdain for. Again, for a classroom, it's still good viewing, because it does present the history, however, Marsalis can't hide his disgust.(They should have left his little snide comments out, in my opinion.) And then we cut back to Louis Armstrong and then back to Ellington. OK, there's isn't much time left in the show, you have three more decades to cover, why are we cutting back to them? Maybe Burns is trying to tie it all together, however, it does seem like, according to this documentary, that jazz died with Armstrong and Ellington. Here's where it starts to get preachy. Marsalis gets on his soapbox and starts talking about the music "will become itself..." or something. Burns and Marsalis, you kind of lost me here.

Leaving out Woody Shaw equals FAIL!

Moving into the homestretch,we cut back to Dexter Gordon, and his homecoming to New York from decades in Europe. And then, whaddya know! Wynton Marsalis, in his debut with Art Blakey in the early 80's is presented as the savior of jazz. Uhh, talk about a conflict of interest! Talk about PROPAGANDA(Good thing Ken Burns doesn't play an instrument, maybe he'd try to sell himself as the greatest xylophone player in jazz.). Much of the information on Marsalis is true; his rise in popularity did create a new generation of young jazz players. Some refer to this era as the Young Lions phase of the 80's and 90's; neo-traditionalists playing sort of a modern straight-ahead style(although Kenny Kirkland and Jeff Watts probably had as much to do with that inspiration as Marsalis.) However, wow, SO many things left out. No mention of anything about all the great music in the 70's, and the 80's up until 2000 are so rushed, it might as well have been left out. No mention of Woody Shaw, one of the last great innovators on the trumpet, so even that gives it an automatic ZERO!

Apparently, Burns admitted that he didn't know much about Jazz until he did this documentary. While the first nine episodes are great for their own sake, the last episode shows how ignorant and easily manipulated Burns is about the music. I think Burns should have made a shorter documentary and just called it Armstrong and Ellington:America's Originals. (But no one ever listens to me! Burns, why didn't you return my calls?)And I think the worst thing about it is that this glaring omission, by something that claims to be all encompassing, does it in a very sneaky way. You don't realize it until the last half-hour:"Hey, where's Return to Forever? Where's Sphere? Where is OTB? Where is George Duke? Where is John Zorn? No M-Base?"

Bowl Hair Cuts: A Film By Ken Burns

It's too bad, because it's a great idea to do such a documentary. Plus I really enjoyed Burns' documentary on World War II. And I will still use this series for my class. It only means that I have to be able to talk about all the musicians that Burns and Marsalis left out. (Hmm, maybe somebody should do a documentary on that, called Jazz: All The Cats That Burns and Marsalis Forgot. Come on people, these are brilliant ideas, where's my hand-held pretentious idea recorder?)