The Early Years the Early by Phil Woods
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
DOWNBEAT 212 Great Jazz Venues The Paul Motian Tribute PHIL WOODS // STANLEY JORDAN STANLEY // GARY SMULYAN GARY // DAFNIS PRIETO // PAUL MOTIAN PHIL // JAZZ VENUE GUIDE WOODS Stanley Jordan THE EARLY YEARS BY PHIL WOODS Gary Smulyan Dafnis Prieto Jeff “Tain” Watts FEBRUARY 2012 U.K. £3.50 BLINDFOLD TEST FEBRUARY 2012 FEBRUARY Dave Liebman TRANSCRIPTION DOWNBEAT.COM FEBRUARY 2012 VOLUME 79 – NUMBER 2 President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer Managing Editor Bobby Reed News Editor Hilary Brown Reviews Editor Aaron Cohen Contributing Editors Ed Enright Zach Phillips Art Director Ara Tirado Production Associate Andy Williams Bookkeeper Margaret Stevens Circulation Manager Sue Mahal Circulation Assistant Evelyn Oakes 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] Advertising Sales Assistant Theresa Hill 630-941-2030 [email protected] OFFICES 102 N. Haven Road Elmhurst, IL 60126–2970 630-941-2030 / Fax: 630-941-3210 http://downbeat.com [email protected] CUSTOMER SERVICE 877-904-5299 [email protected] CONTRIBUTORS Senior Contributors: Michael Bourne, John McDonough Atlanta: Jon Ross; Austin: Michael Point, Kevin Whitehead; Boston: Fred Bouchard, Frank-John Hadley; Chicago: John Corbett, Alain Drouot, Michael Jackson, Peter Margasak, Bill Meyer, Mitch Myers, Paul Natkin, Howard Reich; Denver: Norman Provizer; Indiana: Mark Sheldon; Iowa: Will Smith; Los Angeles: Earl Gibson, Todd Jenkins, Kirk Silsbee, Chris Walker, Joe Woodard; Michigan: John Ephland; Minneapolis: Robin James; Nashville: Bob Doerschuk; New Or- leans: Erika Goldring, David Kunian, Jennifer Odell; New York: Alan Bergman, Herb Boyd, Bill Douthart, Ira Gitler, Eugene Gologursky, Norm Harris, D.D. Jackson, Jimmy Katz, Jim Macnie, Ken Micallef, Dan Ouellette, Ted Panken, Richard Seidel, Tom Staudter, Jack Vartoogian, Michael Weintrob; North Carolina: Robin Tolleson; Philadelphia: David Adler, Shaun Brady, Eric Fine; San Francisco: Mars Breslow, Forrest Bryant, Clayton Call, Yoshi Kato; Seattle: Paul de Barros; Tampa Bay: Philip Booth; Washington, D.C.: Willard Jenkins, John Murph, Michael Wilderman; Belgium: Jos Knaepen; Canada: Greg Buium, James Hale, Diane Moon; Den- mark: Jan Persson; France: Jean Szlamowicz; Germany: Detlev Schilke, Hyou Vielz; Great Britain: Brian Priestley; Japan: Kiyoshi Koyama; Portugal: Antonio Rubio; Romania: Virgil Mihaiu; Russia: Cyril Moshkow; South Africa: Don Albert. Jack Maher, President 1970-2003 John Maher, President 1950-1969 SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: Send orders and address changes to: DOWNBEAT, P.O. Box 11688, St. Paul, MN 55111–0688. 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 79, Number 2 is published monthly by Maher Publications, 102 N. Haven, Elmhurst, IL 60126-2970. Copyright 2012 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 art- work. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without written permission from publisher. MAHER PUBLICATIONS: DOWNBEAT magazine, 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 January 17, 2012) Magazine Publishers Association. Á FEBRUARY 2012 Dan Ouellette (left) conducts a Blindfold Test with drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts ON THE COVER 26 Phil Woods Phil Woods Takes Manhattan BY PHIL WOODS WITH TED PANKEN In his remarkable memoir, My Life In E-Flat, alto saxophonist Phil Woods candidly explores his turbulent life and times. This exclusive excerpt paints a vivid portrait of Woods’ first year in New York City. Just out of high school in Springfield, Mass., our hero leaves the comforts of home to bunk on the Upper West Side with guitarist Sal Salvador, bassist Chuck Andrus and pianist- 98 arranger Hal Serra while attending the Juilliard School of Music. Cover photo of Phil Woods shot by Michael Jackson, 2001. Image above courtesy of Detroit Jazz Festival, shot by Ara Howrani. FEATURES 32 Dafnis Prieto Breaking The Wall BY TED PANKEN 38 Stanley Jordan The Science of Guitar 70 Christian McBride 74 Dan Blake 76 Lalah Hathaway 83 São Paulo Underground BY FRED BOUCHARD 44 Gary Smulyan DEPARTMENTS Baritone Believer BY GEOFFREY HIMES 8 First Take 20 Vinyl Freak 86 Master Class 50 Paul Motian By Tony Dagradi The Music in Motian 10 Chords & 22 Players 88 Transcription BY KEN MICALLEF Discords Dimitri Vassilakis Franco D’Andrea 90 Toolshed 13 The Beat 53 212 Great Jazz Rooms Darius Jones An International Listing 94 Jazz On Campus 14 Riffs Rick Drumm of the Best Places to See 98 Blindfold Test and Hear Live Jazz 17 European Scene 67 Reviews Jeff “Tain” Watts 6 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2012 First Take | BY BOBBY REED Learning from Elders ownBeat was founded in 1934, and nowadays it’s rare that we see top-notch performances by artists who are older than the magazine itself. However, there are still plenty of fantastic play- Ders out there who are octogenarians. “Respect your elders.” It’s an expression that many of us heard while growing up, and it’s a Phil Woods mantra that has always been embraced by jazz and blues musicians. In a recent span of five days, I had the honor of witness- ing sizzling performanc- es by jazz legends Benny Golson, Jim Hall, Roy Haynes and Jimmy Heath. All four gentlemen are over 80 and still perform- ing at an exemplary level. Onstage at Chicago’s Symphony Center, the ever- youthful Haynes good- naturedly forced each musician on the bandstand MARK SHELDON to grab the microphone and address the crowd. By generating a round of stage banter, Haynes was clearly having fun, but he also seemed to be teaching his much-younger bandmates an important lesson in showmanship. He handed the mic to the terrific trumpeter Roy Hargrove, who quietly said, “A couple of days ago, I was spending some time with Sonny Rollins, and now I’m here with the great Roy Haynes…I’m learning so much.” Hargrove played at the Kennedy Center Honors gala (on Dec. 4 in Washington, D.C.), where Sonny Rollins, 81, was honored. A few days after that gig at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Hargrove was tearing it up onstage with Haynes. Hargrove is an estab- lished, mesmerizing musician, but he realizes that he can learn new things by interacting with his elders. I’ve been thinking about octogenarians quite a bit lately because with this issue, DownBeat celebrates the 80th birthday of one of the world’s most important alto saxophone players, Phil Woods. In an exclu- sive excerpt that Woods wrote with help from journalist Ted Panken, the saxophonist describes his early years in New York City, where he arrived in 1949 (see page 26). Woods has influenced multiple generations of musicians, including Grace Kelly, who is literally young enough to be his great-granddaugh- ter. In a sidebar that Michael Jackson wrote (see page 30), Kelly discuss- es all the things she has learned by observing and collaborating with Woods. The young alto saxophonist wisely refers to each performance with Woods as “a lesson.” In a cruel twist of fate, this is also the issue in which we pay tribute to one of the world’s greatest drummers, Paul Motian, who died on Nov. 22 at age 80. Motian—who in 2011 won his first DownBeat Critics Poll award for best drummer—was a mentor to dozens of musicians (see page 50). In Ken Micallef’s tribute, numerous virtuosos share stories about working with Motian, including Joe Lovano and Bill Frisell, who wrote via email, “He taught me, brought me up.” Perhaps the most significant way that we can thank our elders for their mentorship is by aspiring to be the best human beings that we can possibly be. Let’s try. DB Chords Discords Respect for Taylor Cecil Taylor Eric Reed’s remarks for the Blindfold Test in the January issue were not only rude but also disrespectful. It seems to me that Reed is a pianist who thinks he is all-knowing, but he comes off like someone with an enormous ego and full of himself. His comments about what jazz is (and what it is not) show his ignorance, not his knowledge. His remarks about Cecil Taylor were not called for. Cecil, who is one of the most respected pianists of this century and the last, was playing what Mr. Reed calls jazz over 60 years ago. What Cecil has forgotten Mr. Reed has yet to learn—including humility. DICK MACE [email protected] Support from a Veteran I am 90 years old, which is the reason for my CAROL FRIEDMAN one-year subscription renewal. I’ve been a subscriber to DownBeat for approximately 70 Blindfold Observations years, including the time I was in the South Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Blindfold Test in the Pacific for 35-plus months. I’m quite certain December issue was impressive in many ways. that one or two copies of your great maga- But I was surprised that he missed Phil zine caught up with me on Guadalcanal. Woods and could only say it was someone RALPH LEWIS who listened to a lot of Bird. On the Charlie CHARTER MEMBER, THE NATIONAL WWII MUSEUM Parker track (which he successfully identified), Mahanthappa said that on some records Bird Editor’s note: We salute you.