.K. £3.50 .K. u downbeat.com June 2010 2010 June DownBeat ChiCk Corea // Bill Evans // wallaCe Roney // Bobby Broom // 33rd Annual StuDent Music AwarDs June 2010 June 2010 Volume 77 – Number 6 President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer Editor Ed Enright Associate Editor Aaron Cohen Art Director Ara Tirado Production Associate Andy Williams Bookkeeper Margaret Stevens Circulation Manager Kelly Grosser AdVertisiNg Sales Record Companies & Schools Jennifer Ruban-Gentile 630-941-2030 [email protected] Musical Instruments & East Coast Schools Ritche Deraney 201-445-6260 [email protected] Classified Advertising Sales Sue Mahal 630-941-2030 [email protected] offices 102 N. 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Inquiries: U.S.A. and Canada (877) 904- 5299; Foreign (651) 251-9682. ChAngE of Address: Please allow six weeks for your change to become effective. When notifying us of your new address, include current DOWNBEAT label showing old address. DOWNBEAT (issn 0012-5768) Volume 77, Number 6 is published monthly by Maher Publications, 102 N. Haven, Elmhurst, IL 60126-3379. Copyright 2010 Maher Publica- tions. All rights reserved. Trademark registered U.S. Patent Office. Great Britain regis- tered trademark No. 719.407. Periodicals postage paid at Elmhurst, IL and at additional mailing offices. Subscription rates: $34.95 for one year, $59.95 for two years. Foreign subscriptions rates: $56.95 for one year, $103.95 for two years. Publisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited manuscripts, photos, or artwork. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without written permission from publisher. Microfilm of all issues of DOWNBEAT are available from University Microfilm, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106. MAHER PUBLICATIONS: DOWNBEAT maga- zine, MUSIC INC. magazine, UpBeat Daily. PoStmaster: Send change of address to: DownBeat, P.O. Box 11688, St. Paul, MN 55111–0688. CABLE ADDRESS: DownBeat (on sale May 18, 2010) Magazine Publishers Association樗 Á 4 DOWNBEAT JUNE 2010 JUne 2010 ON The COveR 26 Chick Corea Further Explorations of Bill Evans By MARIuS noRDAL The piano giant joins bassist Eddie 38 Gomez and drummer Paul Motian to mark the 40th anniversary of Bill Evans’ death with a special engage- ment at New York’s Blue Note club. The group aims to rekindle the rare kind of trio interplay that Evans established on landmark albums like Sunday At The Village Vanguard and Waltz For Debby. FeatuReS 34 Bill Evans Bobby Broom Classic Interview: MARK SHELDON New Intuitions Cover photography by Lynn Goldsmith. Inset photo of Bill Evans by Jan Persson. By LEn LyonS // MARCh 11, 1976 38 Bobby Broom Transcending Sideman Status By LLoyD SAChS 42 Wallace Roney 54 Brad Mehldau 62 frank Kimbrough 57 nels Cline Singers 54 Cindy Blackman Controversy, Frustration, Brilliance By JIM MACnIE DepartmeNTS 46 Indie Life 71 33rd Annual 8 First take 22 Players 106 Master Class Student Music 10 Chords & Discords Antonio Ciaccia 108 Transcription Awards Ralph Lalama 13 The Beat Catherine Russell 110 Jazz on Campus 96 Jazz Education 14 The Question Sharell Cassity 114 Blindfold test hall of fame & Stanley Clarke Achievement 16 European Scene 51 Reviews Awards 20 Caught 102 Toolshed 6 DOWNBEAT JUNE 2010 first take | By ED EnRIght Bill Evans ERSSON p AN j Bill Evans Remembered hen Bill Evans passed away from a bleeding ulcer and bron- chial pneumonia on Sept. 15, 1980, he had more than 50 al- bums to his name, even though he was only 51 years old. WHis substantial discography attests to the imaginative diversity, unflag- ging taste, rigorous instrospection, intelligence and consummate craft of a sensitive contemporary musician, one who came to national promi- nence with Miles Davis on the classic LP Kind Of Blue (1959) and went on to become one of the greatest jazz pianists and trio leaders in history. Evans’ obituary, which ran in the December 1980 issue of Down- Beat, provided a succinct summary of his career and his enormous in- fluence, which is still felt by jazz musicians today—from this year’s Student Music Award winners (Page 71) to this month’s cover subject, Chick Corea (Page 26), who will honor the man and his craft with a series of special performances in New York this spring. No byline ran with Evans’ DownBeat obit, but editors at the time included Charles Carmon, Howard Mandel and John Litweiler. A brief excerpt from the article paints a vivid picture of the pianist, who was two nights into a weeklong engagement with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe LaBarbera prior to his death: “As his music reflected, Evans was a quiet, thoughtful man. Hunched over the keyboard, his head parallel to his hands, he gave an impression of loneliness, concentration, despair, perhaps tragedy. Rare- ly displaying open enthusiasm at the piano, he was extremely critical of his own talents. In the mid ’70s, his playing took on a new aggressive- ness and his personality seemed to blossom with a marriage [to Nen- ette], the birth of a son [Evan] and adoption of a daughter [Maxine].” In 1979, Evans told DownBeat’s Lee Jeske: “My image seems to be … the intellectual, serious, romantic, lyric ballad player, and this is certainly one side of myself. But I think I put much more effort, study and develop- ment and intensity into just straightahead jazz playing …swinging, energy, whatever. It seems that people don’t dwell on that aspect of my playing very much; it’s almost always the romantic, lyric thing, which is fine, but I really like to think of myself as a more total jazz player than that.” DB 8 DOWNBEAT JUNE 2010 chords & discords Don’t Forget The Words As a practicing musician, I found J.B. Dyas’ recent column, “Methods for Fighting the Epidemic of Tune Illiteracy,” both helpful and somewhat infuriating (“Woodshed,” May). His four steps are certainly a thorough program for familiarizing yourself with all the melodic, harmonic and structural contours, quirks and transitions of a song. But how can a musician possess any insight into a song, or interpret its sentiment with any sort of credibility, with no knowledge of the lyrics? Sure, this doesn’t necessarily apply to instru- mentally composed pieces—although those compositions often have a story behind them, the knowledge of which would enrich any performance. I have been in so many situations in which a musician has a complete knowledge of the chord progression and melody at hand, and yet his or her interpretation is bafflingly wrong-headed with respect to the emotional tenor of the piece. While Dyas’ technique may be rewarded. Suggestion for next year—how be adequate for generating competent scale- about a panel of experts nominating their spinning, the difference between merely capable favorite solo piano recordings? improvisation and transcendence lies in a genu- Harry BRIGGS ine appreciation of a song’s sentiment, and the IRvINe, CALIF. ability to extend upon that and personalize it. I wish I had a quarter for every time a young musi- Chicago Memories Via Hooper cian said to me, “You mean ‘Body And Soul’ has It was great to read the review of the sorely words?” You’d never know it by following Dyas’ overlooked composer/arranger Les Hoop- advice as presented here. er’s new CD, Live At Typhoon (“Reviews,” R.B. Martin May). Les has been creatively applying his [email protected] craft for four decades while flying totally under the radar. Those of us older Chica- Critic Must Know ‘Beyond’ go natives remember his wonderful charts It is obvious from John McDonough’s review performed over countless Monday nights in of Mose Allison’s The Way Of The World the 1970s by big bands led by Dave Reming- (“Reviews,” April) that he is unaware of pro- ton and Roger Pemberton at the Wise Fools ducer Joe Henry’s significance. This is another Pub on the city’s North Side. Thank you for example of one of your lead reviewers knowing exposing Les Hooper to a wider audience. little about the “Beyond” music in your banner BILL BeNJAMIN head. Still, he redeemed himself by giving it four Biltmore LAKe, N.C. stars. I’ll order it immediately, but in the future please just give him “Jazz” CDs to review.