DOCSLIB.ORG

Proquest Dissertations

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Proquest Dissertations THE MASTER PLAN: THE PROCESS OF COMPOSING, RECORDING AND PRODUCING AN ALBUM KENNETH MALCOLM MCDONALD A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN MUSIC YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO NOVEMBER 2009 Library and Archives BibliothSque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'Sdition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-62305-3 Our file Notre r6f6rence ISBN: 978-0-494-62305-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by partelecommunication o u par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondares ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Canada ABSTRACT The writing, recording and production of a jazz recording are processes that differ for each individual. The discipline for a project of this grandeur has to be self-automated and will incorporate several trial and error procedures in order to complete it successfully. This thesis will document the process of creating the recording The Master Plan and how it serves as a step towards a career as a professional musician. Included will be the scores of all compositions composed during the process along with other relevant transcriptions and analysis. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to formally thank Professor David Mott, Professor Barry Elmes and Professor Michael Coghlan for their wisdom, guidance and encouragement over the course of my studies. I would also like to thank Karen Ng, Demetri Petsalakis, Jay Sussman, George Karounos, Barry Romberg and Jeff Elliot for their creative and professional involvement in the recording. Finally I would like to thank Jacklin Falconer and the McDonald and Falconer families for their ceaseless support throughout this entire project. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract iv Acknowledgements v List of Figures vii Introduction 1 Chapter One: The Purpose of the Master Plan - Explaining the Need to Compose 3 - Urgency 12 - Why Now? Pros and Cons 13 Chapter Two: Issues of Aesthetics - What Makes for a Good Jazz Ensemble? 18 - What Makes for a Good Jazz Composition? 26 - What Makes for a Good Jazz Recording? 31 Chapter Three: Influences - Jazz Influences 33 - Other Musical Influences 36 - Non-Musical Influences 41 Chapter Four: The Compositional Process - Preparation 44 - Theories and Techniques 46 - Making The Cut 49 Chapter Five: Preparing for the Session - Rehearsals 52 - How Rehearsal Changed the Compositions 54 - Choosing a Studio 56 Chapter Six: Capturing the Moment - The Recording Session 59 - Mixing, Mastering and Manufacturing 62 Conclusion 65 Appendix 68 Bibliography 122 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure One "The Outlaw" from Further Explorations by the Horace Silver Quintet 5 Figure Two "Nica's Dream" from Horace-Scope 7 Figure Three "To Whom It May Concern" from Horace Silver and The Jazz Messengers 8 Figure Four "One by One" by Wayne Shorter 10 Figure Five "Juju" by Wayne Shorter 11 Figure Six "From 10 To 11 Blues" Alto Solo Excerpt 21 Figure Seven "Peace" Ornette Coleman Solo Excerpt 29 Figure Eight "Waltz for JS" Lead Sheet 38 Vll Introduction For my master's thesis I compiled a body of original compositions and recorded them for professional and commercial purposes. From August 2007 to July 2008 I wrote fifteen compositions that would be suitable for a jazz recording. I picked the eight strongest compositions and had them recorded and pressed as my debut recording entitled The Master Plan. I have included scores of all fifteen compositions along with other relevant transcriptions that help explain my feelings towards the music. Within this thesis I plan on demonstrating why composition is important myself as a musician and to music in general. I will do so by elaborating on the development of my compositional skills and by investigating the developing careers of other significant composers. I will also discuss the important elements of a jazz composition and compositional practice using examples of my own work and the work of others. I will document how the compositions of The Master Plan were chosen, rehearsed, recorded and indicate how they were developed through these processes. Then I will further notate how this recording has since helped me initiate a professional music career and a strong work ethic. This thesis serves as my rite of passage into the world of the professional musician. Before this my education in jazz music had been exclusively formal and academic. Very little had been done outside of the university environment to further my career as a jazz musician. So I was compelled to take action. Even though this thesis counts as an academic accomplishment it also serves as something much more specific and practical. It was mostly self-automated (with some help from my professors) and has led to many other extra-curricular ventures such as self promotion, grant applications, concert bookings and touring, none of which were related to the 1 thesis. This thesis project has enabled me to become a better musician and has made me more ambitious towards what I want to accomplish. 2 Chapter One: The Purpose Of The Master Plan Explaining the Need to Compose So, if we waive for a moment the question of ethics and morals, and simply go to the point where 'responsibility' means 'being aware of all the needs of oneself in order to maintain one's existence,' then I propose that the role of the composer is to retard the decay of the system. The decay of the system is here not meant to be a purely biological fact, like getting old or becoming redundant, but is connected a little bit with the loss of information that prevails whenever one explores a system. The more we know about it, the less there remains to be known. So that curiosity for exploration decreases with age. In order to retard that decay of curiosity - this decay of delight in exploration - the composer stipulates certain configurations he calls 'new systems,' says about them that for him (and if possible for his society) these are unexplored systems (with other words, in a kind of disorder or chaos), and proceeds to systematically order it by exploring it and documenting the traces left by this exploratory process. These are then compositions, sometimes.1 Herbert Brim's statement effectively describes the importance of composition in an evolving musical climate. Jazz has a vast repertoire that gives many "systems" for musicians to explore. That being said, the idea of using someone else's system may seem rather limiting and building new systems may be more appealing. While composing music intended for improvisation, I am creating a new musical structure that allows me to explore rhythmic and harmonic elements that interest me at this particular moment in time. I can input ideas developed upon through private musical practice (be it instrumental or compositional) or I can take ideas that I have discovered through other recordings or compositions. This is a great way to delay musical boredom when one is tired of playing standard jazz repertoire. While I still enjoy performing standard jazz repertoire through improvisation, I do get the urge to create new musical structures that are exclusive to myself and differ from standard melodic, harmonic and rhythmic traditions. 1. Briin, Herbert. "Towards Composition," When Music Resists Meaning, ed. Arun Chandra (Widdleton: Wesleyan University Press, 2004) 78-79. 3 The compositions featured on The Master Plan provided new musical systems for my ensemble to explore. Often I will compose with a certain instrumentalist in mind and create something that accents their musical strengths. This allows for the given musicians to express their musical tendencies in a system that is exclusive to them. For example, "A Fistful of Swing," the penultimate composition on my recording, was written with saxophonist Karen Ng in mind. I wanted her to play the baritone saxophone, an instrument she plays well but does not play as often as the alto saxophone, on at least one composition. I did this because Ng adapts well to different and challenging musical situations and comes up with ideas that are different from what she would usually create. Not only did I write a composition where she needed to play a different saxophone but I used an awkward key (Ab minor concert).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Hybridity and Identity in the Pan-American Jazz Piano Tradition
    Hybridity and Identity in the Pan-American Jazz Piano Tradition by William D. Scott Bachelor of Arts, Central Michigan University, 2011 Master of Music, University of Michigan, 2013 Master of Arts, University of Michigan, 2015 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2019 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by William D. Scott It was defended on March 28, 2019 and approved by Mark A. Clague, PhD, Department of Music James P. Cassaro, MA, Department of Music Aaron J. Johnson, PhD, Department of Music Dissertation Advisor: Michael C. Heller, PhD, Department of Music ii Copyright © by William D. Scott 2019 iii Michael C. Heller, PhD Hybridity and Identity in the Pan-American Jazz Piano Tradition William D. Scott, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2019 The term Latin jazz has often been employed by record labels, critics, and musicians alike to denote idioms ranging from Afro-Cuban music, to Brazilian samba and bossa nova, and more broadly to Latin American fusions with jazz. While many of these genres have coexisted under the Latin jazz heading in one manifestation or another, Panamanian pianist Danilo Pérez uses the expression “Pan-American jazz” to account for both the Afro-Cuban jazz tradition and non-Cuban Latin American fusions with jazz. Throughout this dissertation, I unpack the notion of Pan-American jazz from a variety of theoretical perspectives including Latinx identity discourse, transcription and musical analysis, and hybridity theory.
    [Show full text]
  • Bright Moments!
    Volume 46 • Issue 6 JUNE 2018 Journal of the New Jersey Jazz Society Dedicated to the performance, promotion and preservation of jazz. On stage at NJPAC performing Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s “Bright Moments” to close the tribute to Dorthaan Kirk on April 28 are (from left) Steve Turre, Mark Gross, musical director Don Braden, Antoinette Montague and Freddy Cole. Photo by Tony Graves. SNEAKING INTO SAN DIEGO BRIGHT MOMENTS! Pianist Donald Vega’s long, sometimes “Dorthaan At 80” Celebrating Newark’s “First harrowing journey from war-torn Nicaragua Lady of Jazz” Dorthaan Kirk with a star-filled gala to a spot in Ron Carter’s Quintet. Schaen concert and tribute at the New Jersey Performing Arts Fox’s interview begins on page 14. Center. Story and Tony Graves’s photos on page 24. New JerseyJazzSociety in this issue: New Jersey Jazz socIety Prez Sez . 2 Bulletin Board . 2 NJJS Calendar . 3 Jazz Trivia . 4 Prez sez Editor’s Pick/Deadlines/NJJS Info . 6 Change of Address/Support NJJS/ By Cydney Halpin President, NJJS Volunteer/Join NJJs . 43 Crow’s Nest . 44 t is with great delight that I announce Don commitment to jazz, and for keeping the music New/Renewed Members . 45 IBraden has joined the NJJS Board of Directors playing. (Information: www.arborsrecords.com) in an advisory capacity. As well as being a jazz storIes n The April Social at Shanghai Jazz showcased musician of the highest caliber on saxophone and Dorthaan at 80 . cover three generations of musicians, jazz guitar Big Band in the Sky . 8 flute, Don is an award-winning recording artist, virtuosi Gene Bertoncini and Roni Ben-Hur and Memories of Bob Dorough .
    [Show full text]
  • Bobby Watson Kirk Knuffke Guillermo Gregorio Horace Silver Coltrane
    AUGUST 2019—ISSUE 208 YOUR FREE GuiDe TO THE NYC JaZZ SCENE NYCJaZZRECORD.COM RAVICOLTRANE next trane comin’ bobby kirk GuiLLERMo horace watson knuffke GREGorio siLver Managing Editor: Laurence Donohue-Greene Editorial Director & Production Manager: Andrey Henkin To Contact: The New York City Jazz Record 66 Mt. Airy Road East AUGUST 2019—ISSUE 208 Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520 United States Phone/Fax: 212-568-9628 new york@niGht 4 Laurence Donohue-Greene: interview : bobby watson 6 by ken dryden [email protected] Andrey Henkin: artist feature : kirk knuffke 7 by john sharpe [email protected] General Inquiries: on the cover : ravi coLtrane 8 by russ musto [email protected] Advertising: encore : GuiLLERMo GREGORIO 10 by steven loewy [email protected] Calendar: Lest we forGet : horace siLver 10 by scott yanow [email protected] VOXNews: LabeL spotLiGht : aLeGre recorDs 11 by jim motavalli [email protected] VOXNEWS by suzanne lorge US Subscription rates: 12 issues, $40 11 Canada Subscription rates: 12 issues, $45 International Subscription rates: 12 issues, $50 For subscription assistance, send check, cash or obituaries 12 by andrey henkin money order to the address above or email [email protected] festivaL report 13 Staff Writers Duck Baker, Stuart Broomer, Robert Bush, Kevin Canfield, cD reviews 14 Marco Cangiano, Thomas Conrad, Pierre Crépon, Ken Dryden, Donald Elfman, Phil Freeman, Miscellany Kurt Gottschalk, Tom Greenland, 31 George Grella, Tyran Grillo, Alex Henderson, Robert Iannapollo, event caLenDar Mark Keresman, Marilyn Lester, 32 Suzanne Lorge, Marc Medwin, Jim Motavalli, Russ Musto, John Pietaro, Joel Roberts, John Sharpe, Elliott Simon, Anna Steegmann, Scott Yanow Contributing Writers Brian Charette, George Kanzler, Improvisation is the magic of jazz.
    [Show full text]
  • Semester at Sea, Course Syllabus Colorado State University, Academic Partner
    Semester at Sea, Course Syllabus Colorado State University, Academic Partner Semester: Fall 2016 Discipline: Ethnomusicology Course Number and Title: MU 332 History of Jazz (Section 2) Course Level: Upper Faculty Name: David Borgo, Ph.D. Semester Credit Hours: 3 Prerequisites: none COURSE DESCRIPTION Explores the history of jazz from its roots to the present day. The course begins with an investigation into African and African American musical precursors, including spirituals, work and play songs, minstrel traditions, ragtime and the blues. It continues by exploring the emergence of jazz in New Orleans, Chicago, Kansas City, and New York City, as well as the exportation of jazz to locales around the world. Special attention will be paid to jazz artists and practices in Africa, Cuba, Brazil, Panama, and Peru. In addition to a survey of the most important performers and their associated styles and techniques (e.g., swing, bebop, cool, modal, avant-garde, jazz-rock fusion, etc.), this course explores the often provocative role jazz music has played in American and global society, and the diverse perceptions and arguments that have surrounded its production and reception. The course is designed to increase our abilities to hear differences among performances and styles of jazz, and to interpret the meanings of such differences. We will learn to use historical perspective, social context, and technological mediation as prisms through which we can understand why a piece of music sounds the way it does, what the music signifies about a particular time and place, and how its meanings may change for musicians and audiences over time.
    [Show full text]
  • 21St Century Jazz-Rock and Much More: Guitarist Rez Abbasi & Junction Bring Together a Vast World of Influences on Behind the Vibration
    Bio information: REZ ABBASI & JUNCTION Title: BEHIND THE VIBRATION (Cuneiform Rune 424) Format: CD / DIGITAL Release Date: May 20th, 2016 Cuneiform promotion dept: (301) 589-8894 / fax (301) 589-1819 email: joyce [-at-] cuneiformrecords.com (Press & world radio); radio [-at-] cuneiformrecords.com (North American & world radio) www.cuneiformrecords.com FILE UNDER: JAZZ / JAZZ-ROCK / ELECTRIC JAZZ / FUSION 21st Century Jazz-Rock and Much More: Guitarist Rez Abbasi & Junction Bring Together a Vast World of Influences on Behind the Vibration “it was time for all these musical worlds to collide.” –Rez Abbasi A junction is the point at which several things converge. For the visionary and award-winning jazz guitarist Rez Abbasi, his new band Junction weaves together musical currents he’s spent his career navigating. Abbasi has been at the center of some of the most enthralling and culturally expansive music of the past two decades, and his Cuneiform debut Behind the Vibration introduces a bracing new body of music, a sinewy 21st century approach to jazz-rock inspired by his far-flung influences. In myriad inspired collaborations, from the South Asian jazz synthesis of alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coaltion to the Punjab-meets-Tuareg vocal flights of Kiran Ahluwalia, Abbasi has manifested an uncommon gift for creating new sounds in settings deeply inflected by traditional forms. In his own projects, the Pakistani-American musician has displayed similarly fierce creativity, like his gorgeous unplugged reimagining of jazz-rock classics with the Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet’s (RAAQ) critically hailed 2015 album Intents and Purposes (Enja), and his all-star quintet (and sometimes sextet) Invocation with Mahanthappa, Vijay Iyer, bassist Johannes Weidenmueller, drummer Dan Weiss, (and latest addition cellist Elizabeth Means).
    [Show full text]
  • UVM Septembre 2Eme Partie
    Nouveautés Septembre - 2ème Pare Labels distribués: Acousence, Ama, Ambitus, Ars Produckon, ATMA Classique, AVID, Bayer Records, Black Line/StarsLine, Budapest Music Center, Champs Hill Records, Charade, Choc Classica Collecon, Classiquez !, Compass, Connuo Classics, Coviello Classics, Cyclone Producon, Daphne, Delphian, Tél.: 01 42 59 33 28 Discamera, Doremi, Doron music, EASonus, ES-Dur, Euphonia, Europ&Art, Farao Classics, Feel Good Music, FLORA, Fra Bernardo, Harp&Co, Hello Stage, Hortus, ICA CLassics, Jazzwerksta, Jean-François Producon, Leman Classics, Lodia, MA Recordings, Maguelone, Marcal classics, Fax : 09 72 47 72 96 Maxanter, Melba Recordings, Membran, Meridian, Metronome, Odradek records, OUR Recordings, Phaia music, Premiers Horizons, Printemps des Arts de Monte Carlo, PROFIL, Prova Records, Recart, Relief, Scoville, Signum Classics, Skarbo, STUNT/Sundance, Storyville, Suoni e Colori, [email protected] Sonar, Toccata Classics, Troba Vox, Tudor, Tuxedo, Urtext, VLF Producons, West Wind, WW1 Music En magasin le : 22 Septembre 2017 Anton Bruckner - La Collection Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) : Symphonies n°0 à 9 (Intégrale), Symphonie en fa min n°00 "Symphonie d’études”, Messe en do Maj, Messe n°3 en fa min, Messe n°2 en mi min, Te Deum en do Maj WAB 45, Missa Solemnis pour solists, choeur et orchestre en si b min WAB 29, Psaume 112, Psaume 146 WAB 37, Psaume 150 pour soprano, choeur et orchestre, Requiem en ré min, Oeuvres pour orgue, Quintettes à cordes en fa Maj et do min, Trois pièces orchestrales, Oeuvres pour piano Ania Vegry / Franziska Gottwald / Leontyne Price Hilde Rössel-Majdan / Fritz Wunderlich / Walter Berry Iris Vermillion / Michael Schade / Pamela Coburn Wolfgang Brunner / Michael Schopper Klaus Tennstedt / Kurt Sanderling / Günter Wand Bernard Haitink / Christian Thielemann Herbert von Karajan / Helmuth Rilling ..
    [Show full text]
  • 28958 Hon. Ike Skelton Hon. Edolphus Towns Hon. Gene
    28958 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS, Vol. 155, Pt. 21 December 1, 2009 barriers in evaluating pathology, bilingualism, A TRIBUTE TO MRS. JENNETTE of our Nation’s defense as the commanding cross-cultural issues in mental health and EICHELBERGER WAITERS officer of a United States Navy destroyer. chemical dependency, language and psycho- Commander Sethi is a native of Reno, Ne- therapy, meaning of silence in psychotherapy, HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS vada but was raised in Connecticut, New York, Oregon, and California. Her step-father elective mutism, cognitive restructuring, de- OF NEW YORK pression and suicide. is Hall of Fame drag racer Conrad ‘‘Connie’’ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Dr. Urcuyo is married to Sue Ellen Carney, Kalitta and she spent many of her formative Ph.D., and is the proud father of two children, Tuesday, December 1, 2009 years at the track honing her mechanical Dr. Sergio Urcuyo and Ms. Anya Elena Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, I rise today skills. She graduated from Norwich University Urcuyo. in recognition of Jennette Eichelberger Waiters in 1993 with a degree in International Affairs Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to who was born in Columbia, South Carolina. and commissioned through the NROTC pro- join me in recognizing Dr. Leonel Urcuyo. Mrs. Waiters migrated to Brooklyn, NY to fur- gram. She holds a Masters Degree in Inter- f ther her education. national Policy and Practice from The George RECOGNIZING MAJOR GENERAL Mrs. Waiters worked at Kings County Hos- Washington University. At sea, Commander Sethi served on USS JOHN R. ALISON pital as a nurse’s aide and then attended Wyckoff Hospital School of Practical Nursing.
    [Show full text]
  • Swinging Around Golf (Continued from Page 20) Owner-Builder, Dewey Davis, Has Open- Ed His Oak Grove GC, 9-Holes
    Gene Sarazen did a champion's job for U.S. foreign relations on a four-day good- will mission for the U.S. State depart- ment to Rangoon, Burma, recently . Burma's government, headed by Gen. Ne Win, has numerous officials who are golf enthusiasts and they have a pretty good course . The General himself is a good businessman golfer, Gene says . There was a reception for Gene,, given by the American ambassador and 300 attended . Gene's visit, first to Rangoon by an American golf champion, made page one of the communist-slanted Rangoon press. Sarazen, the Germantown Globe-trotter, says the new course near the Athens air- port is an excellent "layout and bound to be a tourist attraction in Greece . He SWINGING adds that Athens is the cleanest city in the world — and that includes German- town . * . When the Squire boosts he AROUND boosts all the way . Gene was in Athens for the filming of Shell's Wonderful World GOLF of Golf contest between Tony Lema and Roberto De Vincenzo . Tony and Ro- berto played for $10,000, plus all ex- News of the Golf penses . Gene says that in the old days World in Brief in exhibitions he and Walter Hagen play- ed two months to make that much. HERB GRAFFIS Bert Purvis, upstate New York pro By salesman, writes from his home office at Mattydale, N.Y., of some changes in pro jobs on liis beat: . Bed LaVergne now is at the Lyndon GG, Fayetteville, N.Y., where John Murray runs the club . John Johnson now at Lake Shore Golf FRONT COVER Genter, Rochester .
    [Show full text]
  • Proceedings of the 2007 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium
    United States Department of Agriculture Proceedings of the 2007 Forest Service Northeastern Recreation Northern Research Station Research Symposium General Technical Report NRS-P-23 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium Policy Statement The objective of the NERR Symposium is to positively influence our profession by allowing managers and academicians in the governmental, education, and private recreation and tourism sectors to share practical and scientific knowledge. This objective is met through providing a professional forum for quality information exchange on current management practices, programs, and research applications in the field, as well as, a comfortable social setting that allows participants to foster friendships with colleagues. Students and all those interested in continuing their education in recreation and tourism management are welcome. NERR 2007 Steering Committee Kelly Bricker –Devine Tarbell and Associates Robert Bristow – Westfield State College Robert Burns – West Virginia University (Program Chair) Chad Dawson – SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry Alan Graefe – Penn State University Laurie Harmon – George Mason University Andrew Holdnak – University of West Florida David Klenosky – Purdue University Deborah Kerstetter – Penn State University David Klenosky – Purdue University Diane Kuehn - SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry (Website Coordinator) Walter Kuentzel – University of Vermont Gerard Kyle – Texas A&M University Bruce Lord – Penn State University Thomas More – USDA Forest
    [Show full text]
  • JTM1711 Insidecombo 170920.Indd
    On May 31, drummer Louis Hayes celebrated his 80th birthday and a new album at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York, surrounded by friends, collaborators and acolytes, including drummers Michael Carvin, Nasheet Waits and Eric McPherson, and trumpeters Jimmy Owens and Jeremy Pelt, the latter of whom sat in. Another presence loomed large: pianist-composer Horace Silver, the subject of Hayes’ recent Blue Note debut, Serenade for Horace, a heartfelt tribute to the man who gave Hayes his start in 1956 with “Señor Blues.” It was the beginning of a three-year col- laboration that helped codify both hard bop and the Rudy Van Gelder sound over five albums. Hayes left Silver in 1959 to join the Cannonball Adderley Quintet, but the two re- mained close until the hard-bop progenitor’s passing in 2014. Stints followed with Oscar Peterson, the Louis Hayes-Woody Shaw Quintet, Stan Getz, McCoy Tyner and the Can- nonball Legacy Band, which Hayes leads. Throughout his career he’s solidified a place as one of jazz’s most soulfully swinging drummers, and become a cornerstone of the legacy of Detroit-born percussionists that includes Elvin Jones, Roy Brooks, Frank Gant and Oliver Jackson, and extends forward to Gerald Cleaver. At Dizzy’s, Hayes used his hyper-responsive left hand to goose the soloists in his sextet while keeping the fugitive spirit alive with his right on the ride cymbal. His approach seemed to declare the ensemble’s m.o., which balanced rhythmic ferocity and harmonic adventurousness with a reverence for the Silver sprezzatura.
    [Show full text]
  • “He [Foster] Knocked Me out Because He Had Such a Groove and He Would Just Lay It Right in There. That Was the Kind of Thing I Was Looking For
    Al Foster, master drummer, has been a major innovator in the world of jazz for five decades. A member of Miles Davis’ band for 13 years, Foster’s contribution to the music is articulated by Davis himself in his 1989 autobiography, Miles, where Davis describes the first time he heard Foster play live in 1972 at the Cellar Club on 95th Street in Manhattan: “He [Foster] knocked me out because he had such a groove and he would just lay it right in there. That was the kind of thing I was looking for. Al could set it up for everybody else to play off and just keep the groove going forever.” Aloysius Tyrone Foster was born in Richmond, Virginia on His first big break in the business came in 1964 when he January 18, 1943. joined Blue Mitchell’s group on the classic recording The Thing To Do for Blue Note records. Recorded at Rudy Van His family moved to Harlem, New York when he was a Gelder’s studio, with Alfred Lion producing, this record has child. This presented him with the opportunity to live near become a classic. It features Blue Mitchell, trumpet, Junior and study the masters who lived in his neighborhood. Jazz Cook, Tenor, Chick Corea, Piano, and Gene Taylor, bass. drummer Art Taylor lived in the same building as Al’s aunt, and Art’s mother took a special interest in Al, sensing his Al quickly became a working musician on the Jazz scene in love of the music her son was playing. New York.
    [Show full text]
  • Silver,Let'sgettonitty
    ROTH FAMILY FOUNDATION Music in America Imprint Michael P. Roth and Sukey Garcetti have endowed this imprint to honor the memory of their parents, Julia and Harry Roth, whose deep love of music they wish to share with others. The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution to this book provided by the Music in America Endowment Fund of the University of California Press Foundation, which is supported by a major gift from Sukey and Gil Garcetti, Michael Roth, and the Roth Family Foundation. LET’S GET TO THE NITTY GRITTY LET’S GET TO THE NITTY GRITTY THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HORACE SILVER HORACE SILVER Edited, with Afterword, by Phil Pastras Foreword by Joe Zawinul University of California Press Berkeley Los Angeles London University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2006 by The Regents of the University of California Excerpts from “How Calmly Does the Orange Branch,” by Tennessee Williams, from The Collected Poems of Tennessee Williams, copyright © 1925, 1926, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1942, 1944, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1971, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1991, 1995, 2002 by The University of the South. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.
    [Show full text]