THE TENOR - The Return of the
Tenor may sound like a sci-fi flick, but really it is nothing so dramatic.
I could never give up the soprano, which after exclusively concentrating
on for 15 years does at its best feel like an extension of my entire
physical and mental being. But the tenor beckons for several reasons, both
musical and personal. I am approaching 50 years old a few months from this
writing and I'm marking off the occasion with some special projects: a
new, updated "Self-Portrait of a Jazz Artist" (Advance Music) as well as a
solo project which will serve as a follow-up to the "Loneliness of a Long
Distance Runner", recorded near my 40th year for CMP in 1985 (which by the
way is one of my personal favorites). Coming to terms with the big horn
has been looming in my head as a kind of mid-life challenge. After all, I
began tenor at thirteen years old with my first teacher, Nat Shapiro, and
went on to study with the legendary Joe Allard. Until 1980, it was one of
the constants in my teenage and adult life as well as a vehicle of
inspiration through Coltrane and Rollins which propelled me towards my
life's work of playing and understanding jazz. It's time to "fess-up"
which I will do as honestly as possible here.
One of the
reasons I put the tenor down, besides wanting to see if concentrating on
soprano would further me artistically, was because the style that I played
in (referred to as post-Coltrane) was by the late 1970's becoming too
common and cliched for my taste. I figured that the next (one or two)
generations of Trane-inspired tenorists would extend the language
beyond what Steve Grossman and myself had done (especially when we
recorded "Live at the Lighthouse" with Elvin Jones in 1972) and that would
be that!! To my ears, by and large, this has not happened, at least on a
level prominent enough to have a major effect. Outside of some very
individual sopranoists who have constructed a unique approach, it is my
feeling that with our culture's emphasis upon and rewarding of conformity
rather than originality, much creative energy has been increasingly
stifled in the past decade or so. What I mean is that I haven't heard much
on the tenor in these 15 years that impresses me beyond great flash and
technique.
The result of
this feeling is that I am personally less self-conscious about my Coltrane
roots and in fact am not deterred from facing this head on; something I
was not mature enough to do when I was younger. Also, to manifest two
different aspects of one's personality on each horn doesn't disturb me as
it did when I wasn't really confident about who I was. I know myself
better now and the confusion of identities I was experiencing playing
tenor, soprano and flute is no longer a problem. I'm not worried about
sounding like someone else as I feel that the point has been made on
soprano.
I must admit
that friends and associates who knew my tenor playing were very supportive
and made me feel they missed my sound and approach. After all, where an
instrument begins is in the sound. One can only do so much manipulation of
technique and equipment before the inborn physical and mental attributes
of an individual will assert themselves to form a personal sound. I don't
know where my tone comes from, but I do know what other tones I like and
dislike. Now when I hear my tenor, I realize that the sound is rather
distinctive. Finally, after recently recording on the tenor in two, as of
now unreleased free jazz settings (which incidentally takes me back to the
60's scene where I began) and then doing this present set of standards in
early 1996, I hear how differently I treat the two horns. I know for a
fact that by being so close to Miles Davis' playing for a few years in the
early 70's, I consciously and unconsciously absorbed some definite
trumpetisms on the soprano -- in general, a way of finessing the music --
playing over, around and under it. To be honest, pushing a lot of emotion
through the soprano by and large is not very attractive aesthetically to
my taste. I have been guilty of it, so I know!! In my better musical
moments I have used the soprano as a kind of gliding voice, beguiling the
rhythm section, cautiously "tiptoeing through the tulips" in a sense, but
the tenor is different.
It's a wild
animal, a bucking bronco. With it, I tend to go more directly head to head
inside the music. Maybe this translates musically to more chances taken,
more densely packed lines, more roughness and use of overtone combinations
in the sound, more vocalizations, freer and faster rhythmic groupings, a
pronounced Rollins influence, etc. For sure, it feels like a major piece
of machinery compared to the "fish" horn. Without making a sales pitch,
playing the German made Keilwerth tenor does satisfy the physical and
sound characteristics I need to feel good about the whole experience. In
any case, the tenor is back in my arsenal for the time being.
The Recording.
It is appropriate that the first pieces of a complete tenor recording be
standards. And I mean STANDARDS!!! After all these are the tunes I played
as a teenager on club dates and in the Catskill Mountain hotel region near
New York before I knew that jazz musicians used them as improvisational
vehicles. Essentially, these are jam session tunes. Except for "Lover
Man", I have not recorded any of these previously. Having recorded dozens
of both jazz and standard American songs, I decided to concentrate only on
the latter, leaving jazz originals for another time. There are no
purposeful or planned reharmonizations or elaborate arrangements which I
have been prone to on other "repertoire" recordings. This was to be
different - an old fashioned blowing date.
For my present
group it was a challenge since all our previous recordings have been
heavily composed and arranged, even the standards. Many jazz musicians
come from this material for their beginnings and in our case we have never
played together in this context. Finally for the sake of variety, and also
to feature these wonderful musicians I have been playing with since 1991
on this, our 5th recording, I broke the group up into duo, trio, quartet
along with the usual quintet setting.
The Music. We
started the session with "All the Things" and had no discussion about it.
In fact, I just began as you hear on the first track, without announcing
the tune. Check out how Vic immediately shades me and Phil's chords
increase in dissonance and spaciousness as we progress. Jerome Kern's
opus, so widely performed, is as sophisticated as it gets in the idiom,
harmonically, melodically, and even the 36 bar form. The little pedal
intro and fade have become an intergal part of the tune and are nice to
play as a balance to all the modulating harmonies.
"Blackbird" to
me is a signature Miles Davis tune - the feel, the tempo, the approach,
the long tag. Tony's solo is like a prelude for the ensuing solos, replete
with quotes, which inspires both Vic and myself likewise. There is a
playfulness about this tune which I've always enjoyed. I remember Miles
and Trane (especially on his own version) playing the tag even longer than
the body of the tune itself.
I recorded
"Lover Man" before with Richie Beirach on "Double Edge" (Storyville) with
the flute. It's one of my all time favorites, possibly due to the title
being a play of Lieb (love in German)
Man!! I also played this for
Caris at our wedding. The range in this key (F major) is wonderful for
playing in the high and low range of the tenor. Phil mixes in some jazz
root facets (blues licks,
boogie woogie like bass) along with his
usual fluid right hand lines in a very logically formatted solo.
"Secret Love"
is a great vehicle for a Latin feel. Also, because the Bb pedal works for
so much of the tune, there are some obvious "side-slipping" possibilities
(meaning half step movement) and even room for a short "Giant Steps"
pattern (minor thirds ascending, fifths descending). It is the major key
quality that I like most about this composition.
"Another You"
was recorded in a trio format in 1959 by Rollins (with an outstanding
chromaticism of the melody) but here I have Jamey switching between double
and normal time while I try to play opposite. Tony lets melody dictate his
direction, never just running the changes. In fact in this tune Tony seems
to attain a kind of Wilber Ware feeling.
The little
vamp introduction and ending on "Yesterdays" is similar to what we used to
do with the Elvin Jones Group in the early 70s. In fact, one of my
audition tunes for that gig was this one. I particularly enjoy playing
with Vic in this trio context as we did on "Classic Ballads" (Candid) a
few years ago. His layed back time with Tony's support here feels so nice,
and believe it or not, after five years of hearing Tony, this is the first
arco solo from him. Tenor-wise, I try to do something that only the big
horn can do - a breathy, (Ben Webster) sub-tone sound in the bottom
register.
The
sheer simplicity of "No Greater Love" has always attracted me because both
the harmony and melody allow for so much natural chromaticism. Once again
Miles immortalized this tune forever. The rhythm section gets an up and
down quality throughout, especially during Phil's solo. This is Tony and
Jamey doing their thing which even inspires me to return and play a bit
more after my initial solo statement. The tag which starts out as a normal
III-VI-II-V progression evolves to its own character.
I don't know
where or even if I ever heard "Summertime" played in a kind of Elvinish
3/4 feel, but it seems appropriate for the title as well as the McCoy type
fourth chord voicings from Phil. This is another very simple tune,
basically I-IV-V in minor. Jamey and Tony really get a relaxed glide on
this.
Finally, an
even simpler "All of Me" which was a frequent vehicle from one of my first
teachers, Lennie Tristano, is done in a kind of round robin fashion, with
two of us always playing around the melody. Playing very fast tempos is
not something I enjoy much anymore, (maturity or old age?). This proved
interesting and challenging to do on the tenor. Again, the C major quality
of this tune is refreshing.
Final
Observations.
Most of these tunes are very simple,
which for me is the reason to play them with a spontaneous, quasi jam
session type of attitude. Standards should be fun to play and allow the
artists to use their common language as a vehicle for creativity and self
expression. It's odd - but after listening back to a take of these tunes
at the session, I couldn't judge them in an objective way as I can for my
own music. Playing this style is like diving into the ocean with countless
versions of these tunes racing around your subconscious. One thing is for
sure, it's a lot of fun to use these wonderful compositions as vehicles
for a group to communicate together. We had a great educational experience
doing this.
Dave Liebman,
January '96
