Review by Chris Slawecki Houston
Person was among the guttiest of the gutbucket saxophonists of the
soul-jazz golden age -- for proof, look no further than Legends of Acid
Jazz: Houston Person, which compiles two of the saxman's most popular
releases, Person to Person! and Houston Express (both originally
released in 1970). Express featured the "funkmaster general" of the
tenor saxophone with a tight, pocket-sized ensemble (including guitarist
Grant Green and drummer Idris Muhammad), while, on Person!, his
supporting ensemble expanded to include trumpet players Cecil
Bridgewater and Thad Jones, guitarist Billy Butler and another kindred
spirit and prince of funk on his instrument, Motown bassist Gerry
Jemmott.
Legends of Acid Jazz: Houston Person provides a
high-voltage cover version extravaganza, including "(For God's Sake)
Give More Power to the People" (the Chi-Lites), "Close to You" (the
Carpenters), "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yester-Day" (Stevie Wonder),
"Young, Gifted and Black" (Aretha Franklin), "Just My Imagination" (the
Temptations), and "Lift Every Voice and Sing," which Person describes in
his liner notes as the "black national anthem." Person and friends turn
every one of these, and others such as his own "Up at Joe's, Down at
Jim's" and his trademark "The Houston Express" into stinging, swinging,
original-sounding opuses of funk. https://www.allmusic.com/album/legends-of-acid-jazz-mw0000615833
///////
Reseña de Chris Slawecki Houston
Person fue uno de los saxofonistas más agresivos de la época dorada del
soul-jazz. Para comprobarlo, no hay más que ver Legends of Acid Jazz:
Houston Person, que recopila dos de los lanzamientos más populares del
saxofonista, Person to Person! y Houston Express (ambos publicados
originalmente en 1970). Express presentaba al "funkmaster general" del
saxofón tenor con un conjunto ajustado y de bolsillo (que incluía al
guitarrista Grant Green y al batería Idris Muhammad), mientras que, en
Person!, su conjunto de apoyo se ampliaba para incluir a los
trompetistas Cecil Bridgewater y Thad Jones, al guitarrista Billy Butler
y a otro espíritu afín y príncipe del funk en su instrumento, el
bajista de la Motown Gerry Jemmott.
Leyendas del Acid Jazz:
Houston Person ofrece una extravagancia de versiones de alto voltaje,
incluyendo "(For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People" (los
Chi-Lites), "Close to You" (los Carpenters), "Yester-Me, Yester-You,
Yester-Day" (Stevie Wonder), "Young, Gifted and Black" (Aretha
Franklin), "Just My Imagination" (los Temptations), y "Lift Every Voice
and Sing", que Person describe en sus notas como el "himno nacional
negro". "Person y sus amigos convierten cada una de estas canciones, y
otras como la suya propia "Up at Joe's, Down at Jim's" y su
característica "The Houston Express", en punzantes y originales opus de
funk. https://www.allmusic.com/album/legends-of-acid-jazz-mw0000615833
In the
history of the blues, there has never been anyone quite like the
Howlin' Wolf. Six foot three and close to 300 pounds in his salad days,
the Wolf was the primal force of the music spun out to its ultimate
conclusion. A Robert Johnson may have possessed more lyrical insight, a
Muddy Waters more dignity, and a B.B. King certainly more technical
expertise, but no one could match him for the singular ability to rock
the house down to the foundation while simultaneously scaring its
patrons out of its wits.
He was born in West Point, MS, and named
after the 21st President of the United States (Chester Arthur). His
father was a farmer and Wolf took to it as well until his 18th birthday,
when a chance meeting with Delta blues legend Charley Patton changed
his life forever. Though he never came close to learning the subtleties
of Patton's complex guitar technique, two of the major components of
Wolf's style (Patton's inimitable growl of a voice and his propensity
for entertaining) were learned first hand from the Delta blues master.
The main source of Wolf's hard-driving, rhythmic style on harmonica came
when Aleck "Rice" Miller (Sonny Boy Williamson) married his half-sister
Mary and taught him the rudiments of the instrument. He first started
playing in the early '30s as a strict Patton imitator, while others
recall him at decade's end rocking the juke joints with a neck-rack
harmonica and one of the first electric guitars anyone had ever seen.
After a four-year stretch in the Army, he settled down as a farmer and
weekend player in West Memphis, AR, and it was here that Wolf's career
in music began in earnest.
By 1948, he had established himself
within the community as a radio personality. As a means of advertising
his own local appearances, Wolf had a 15-minute radio show on KWEM in
West Memphis, interspersing his down-home blues with farm reports and
like-minded advertising that he sold himself. But a change in Wolf's
sound that would alter everything that came after was soon in coming
because when listeners tuned in for Wolf's show, the sound was
up-to-the-minute electric. Wolf had put his first band together,
featuring the explosive guitar work of Willie Johnson, whose aggressive
style not only perfectly suited Wolf's sound but aurally extended and
amplified the violence and nastiness of it as well. In any discussion of
Wolf's early success both live, over the airwaves, and on record, the
importance of Willie Johnson cannot be overestimated.
Wolf
finally started recording in 1951, when he caught the ear of Sam
Phillips, who first heard him on his morning radio show. The music Wolf
made in the Memphis Recording Service studio was full of passion and
zest and Phillips simultaneously leased the results to the Bihari
Brothers in Los Angeles and Leonard Chess in Chicago. Suddenly, Howlin'
Wolf had two hits at the same time on the R&B charts with two record
companies claiming to have him exclusively under contract. Chess
finally won him over and as Wolf would proudly relate years later, "I
had a 4,000 dollar car and 3,900 dollars in my pocket. I'm the onliest
one drove out of the South like a gentleman." It was the winter of 1953
and Chicago would be his new home.
When Wolf entered the Chess
studios the next year, the violent aggression of the Memphis sides was
being replaced with a Chicago backbeat and, with very little fanfare, a
new member in the band. Hubert Sumlin proved himself to be the Wolf's
longest-running musical associate. He first appears as a rhythm
guitarist on a 1954 session, and within a few years' time his style had
fully matured to take over the role of lead guitarist in the band by
early 1958. In what can only be described as an "angular attack," Sumlin
played almost no chords behind Wolf, sometimes soloing right through
his vocals, featuring wild skitterings up and down the fingerboard and
biting single notes. If Willie Johnson was Wolf's second voice in his
early recording career, then Hubert Sumlin would pick up the gauntlet
and run with it right to the end of the howler's life.
By 1956,
Wolf was in the R&B charts again, racking up hits with "Evil" and
"Smokestack Lightnin'." He remained a top attraction both on the Chicago
circuit and on the road. His records, while seldom showing up on the
national charts, were still selling in decent numbers down South. But by
1960, Wolf was teamed up with Chess staff writer Willie Dixon, and for
the next five years he would record almost nothing but songs written by
Dixon. The magic combination of Wolf's voice, Sumlin's guitar, and
Dixon's tunes sold a lot of records and brought the 50-year-old bluesman
roaring into the next decade with a considerable flourish. The mid-'60s
saw him touring Europe regularly with "Smokestack Lightnin'" becoming a
hit in England some eight years after its American release. Certainly
any list of Wolf's greatest sides would have to include "I Ain't
Superstitious," "The Red Rooster," "Shake for Me," "Back Door Man,"
"Spoonful," and "Wang Dang Doodle," Dixon compositions all. While almost
all of them would eventually become Chicago blues standards, their
greatest cache occurred when rock bands the world over started mining
the Chess catalog for all it was worth. One of these bands was the
Rolling Stones, whose cover of "The Red Rooster" became a number-one
record in England. At the height of the British Invasion, the Stones
came to America in 1965 for an appearance on ABC-TV's rock music show,
Shindig. Their main stipulation for appearing on the program was that
Howlin' Wolf would be their special guest. With the Stones sitting
worshipfully at his feet, the Wolf performed a storming version of "How
Many More Years," being seen on his network-TV debut by an audience of a
few million. Wolf never forgot the respect the Stones paid him, and he
spoke of them highly right up to his final days.
Dixon and Wolf
parted company by 1964 and Wolf was back in the studio doing his own
songs. One of the classics to emerge from this period was "Killing
Floor," featuring a modern backbeat and a incredibly catchy guitar riff
from Sumlin. Catchy enough for Led Zeppelin to appropriate it for one of
their early albums, cheerfully crediting it to themselves in much the
same manner as they had done with numerous other blues standards. By the
end of the decade, Wolf's material was being recorded by artists
including the Doors, the Electric Flag, the Blues Project, Cream, and
Jeff Beck. The result of all these covers brought Wolf the belated
acclaim of a young, white audience. Chess' response to this was to bring
him into the studio for a "psychedelic" album, truly the most dreadful
of his career. His last big payday came when Chess sent him over to
England in 1970 to capitalize on the then-current trend of London
Session albums, recording with Eric Clapton on lead guitar and other
British superstars. Wolf's health was not the best, but the session was
miles above the earlier, ill-advised attempt to update Wolf's sound for a
younger audience.
As the '70s moved on, the end of the trail
started coming closer. By now Wolf was a very sick man; he had survived
numerous heart attacks and was suffering kidney damage from an
automobile accident that sent him flying through the car's windshield.
His bandleader Eddie Shaw firmly rationed Wolf to a meager half-dozen
songs per set. Occasionally some of the old fire would come blazing
forth from some untapped wellspring, and his final live and studio
recordings show that he could still tear the house apart when the spirit
moved him. He entered the Veterans Administration Hospital in 1976 to
be operated on, but never survived it, finally passing away on January
10th of that year.
But his passing did not go unrecognized. A
life-size statue of him was erected shortly after in a Chicago park.
Eddie Shaw kept his memory and music alive by keeping his band, the Wolf
Gang, together for several years afterward. A child-education center in
Chicago was named in his honor and in 1980 he was elected to the Blues
Foundation Hall of Fame. In 1991, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame. A couple of years later, his face was on a United States
postage stamp. Howlin' Wolf is now a permanent part of American history.
Biografía del artista por Cub Koda
En
la historia del blues, nunca ha habido nadie como el Lobo Aullador.
Mide 1,95 metros y pesaba cerca de 300 libras en sus días de ensalada,
el Lobo era la fuerza primordial de la música que se extendió hasta su
conclusión final. Un Robert Johnson puede haber poseído más perspicacia
lírica, un Muddy Waters más dignidad, y un B.B. King ciertamente más
pericia técnica, pero nadie podría igualarlo por la singular habilidad
de mecer la casa hasta los cimientos mientras que simultáneamente asusta
a sus clientes.
Nació en West Point, MS, y recibió el nombre del
21º Presidente de los Estados Unidos (Chester Arthur). Su padre era
agricultor y Wolf se dedicó a ello hasta que cumplió 18 años, cuando un
encuentro casual con la leyenda del blues del Delta, Charley Patton,
cambió su vida para siempre. Aunque nunca estuvo cerca de aprender las
sutilezas de la compleja técnica de guitarra de Patton, dos de los
componentes principales del estilo de Wolf (el inimitable gruñido de una
voz de Patton y su propensión a entretenerse) fueron aprendidos de
primera mano por el maestro del Delta blues. La fuente principal del
estilo rítmico de Wolf en armónica vino cuando Aleck "Rice" Miller
(Sonny Boy Williamson) se casó con su media hermana Mary y le enseñó los
rudimentos del instrumento. Empezó a tocar a principios de los años 30
como un estricto imitador de Patton, mientras que otros lo recuerdan al
final de la década tocando el juke con una armónica en el neck-rack y
una de las primeras guitarras eléctricas que alguien había visto.
Después de cuatro años en el Ejército, se estableció como granjero y
jugador de fin de semana en Memphis Oeste, R.A., y fue aquí donde la
carrera musical de Wolf comenzó en serio.
En 1948, se había
establecido en la comunidad como una personalidad de la radio. Como
medio para anunciar sus propias apariciones locales, Wolf tenía un
programa de radio de 15 minutos en KWEM en West Memphis, intercalando su
blues casero con informes de granjas y publicidad de ideas afines que
él mismo vendía. Pero un cambio en el sonido de Wolf que alteraría todo
lo que venía después pronto llegó porque cuando los oyentes sintonizaron
el programa de Wolf, el sonido era eléctrico al minuto. Wolf había
formado su primera banda, con el explosivo trabajo de guitarra de Willie
Johnson, cuyo estilo agresivo no sólo se adaptaba perfectamente al
sonido de Wolf, sino que también ampliaba y amplificaba la violencia y
la maldad de la misma. En cualquier discusión sobre el éxito inicial de
Wolf, tanto en vivo, a través de las ondas de radio y televisión, como
en los registros, la importancia de Willie Johnson no puede ser
sobreestimada.
Wolf finalmente comenzó a grabar en 1951, cuando
captó la atención de Sam Phillips, quien lo escuchó por primera vez en
su programa de radio matutino. La música que Wolf hizo en el estudio de
Memphis Recording Service estaba llena de pasión y entusiasmo y Phillips
alquiló simultáneamente los resultados a los Bihari Brothers en Los
Ángeles y Leonard Chess en Chicago. De repente, Howlin' Wolf tuvo dos
éxitos al mismo tiempo en las listas de éxitos de R&B con dos
compañías discográficas que afirmaban tenerlo exclusivamente bajo
contrato. El ajedrez finalmente lo convenció y como Wolf relataría
orgullosamente años más tarde: "Tenía un coche de 4.000 dólares y 3.900
dólares en el bolsillo. Soy el único que ha salido del sur como un
caballero". Era el invierno de 1953 y Chicago sería su nuevo hogar.
Cuando
Wolf entró en los estudios de ajedrez al año siguiente, la violenta
agresión de los equipos de Memphis fue reemplazada por un ritmo de
Chicago y, con muy poca fanfarria, un nuevo miembro de la banda. Hubert
Sumlin demostró ser el músico asociado más antiguo de Wolf. Aparece por
primera vez como guitarrista rítmico en una sesión de 1954, y en pocos
años su estilo había madurado completamente para asumir el papel de
guitarrista principal en la banda a principios de 1958. En lo que sólo
puede describirse como un "ataque angular", Sumlin no tocó casi ningún
acorde detrás de Wolf, a veces en solitario a través de su voz, con
movimientos salvajes hacia arriba y hacia abajo en el diapasón y
mordiendo notas individuales. Si Willie Johnson era la segunda voz de
Wolf en su temprana carrera discográfica, entonces Hubert Sumlin tomaría
el guante y correría con él hasta el final de la vida del aullador.
En 1956, Wolf volvió a estar en las listas de éxitos de R&B,
acumulando éxitos con "Evil" y "Smokestack Lightnin'". Se mantuvo como
una de las principales atracciones tanto en el circuito de Chicago como
en la carretera. Sus récords, aunque rara vez aparecían en las listas
nacionales, seguían vendiéndose en números decentes en el sur. Pero en
1960, Wolf se asoció con el escritor de ajedrez Willie Dixon, y durante
los siguientes cinco años no grabó casi nada más que canciones escritas
por Dixon. La mágica combinación de la voz de Wolf, la guitarra de
Sumlin, y las melodías de Dixon vendieron muchos discos y llevaron al
bluesista de 50 años a la siguiente década con un florecimiento
considerable. A mediados de los años 60, viajó regularmente por Europa
con "Smokestack Lightnin'" y se convirtió en un éxito en Inglaterra ocho
años después de su estreno en Estados Unidos. Ciertamente, cualquier
lista de los mejores lados de Wolf tendría que incluir "I Ain't
Superstitious," "The Red Rooster," "Shake for Me," "Back Door Man,"
"Spoonful," y "Wang Dang Doodle," todas las composiciones de Dixon.
Mientras que casi todos ellos se convertirían eventualmente en los
estándares del blues de Chicago, su mayor caché ocurrió cuando bandas de
rock de todo el mundo empezaron a minar el catálogo de ajedrez por todo
lo que valía la pena. Una de estas bandas fue Rolling Stones, cuya
versión de "The Red Rooster" se convirtió en el disco número uno de
Inglaterra. En el apogeo de la invasión británica, los Stones llegaron a
Estados Unidos en 1965 para una aparición en el programa de música rock
de ABC-TV, Shindig. Su principal estipulación para aparecer en el
programa era que Howlin' Wolf sería su invitado especial. Con las
Piedras sentadas a sus pies, el Lobo interpretó una versión
impresionante de "Cuántos años más", que fue vista en su debut en la
cadena de televisión por unos pocos millones de espectadores. Wolf nunca
olvidó el respeto que los Stones le pagaban, y habló de ellos hasta sus
últimos días.
Dixon y Wolf se separaron en 1964 y Wolf estaba de
vuelta en el estudio haciendo sus propias canciones. Uno de los
clásicos que surgió de este período fue "Killing Floor", con un ritmo
moderno y un riff de guitarra increíblemente pegajoso de Sumlin. Lo
suficientemente pegajoso como para que Led Zeppelin se lo apropiara para
uno de sus primeros álbumes, atribuyéndoselo alegremente a ellos mismos
de la misma manera que lo habían hecho con muchos otros estándares de
blues. A finales de la década, el material de Wolf estaba siendo grabado
por artistas como The Doors, The Electric Flag, The Blues Project,
Cream y Jeff Beck. El resultado de todas estas portadas trajo a Wolf el
aplauso tardío de un público joven y blanco. La respuesta de Chess a
esto fue traerlo al estudio para un álbum "psicodélico", verdaderamente
el más espantoso de su carrera. Su último gran día de pago fue cuando
Chess lo envió a Inglaterra en 1970 para capitalizar la tendencia actual
de los álbumes de London Session, grabando con Eric Clapton en guitarra
solista y otras superestrellas británicas. La salud de Wolf no era la
mejor, pero la sesión estaba muy por encima de la anterior y desacertada
tentativa de actualizar el sonido de Wolf para un público más joven.
A
medida que los años 70 avanzaban, el final del camino comenzó a
acercarse. Por ahora Wolf era un hombre muy enfermo; había sobrevivido a
numerosos ataques cardíacos y estaba sufriendo daño renal debido a un
accidente automovilístico que lo hizo volar a través del parabrisas del
auto. Su director de orquesta Eddie Shaw racionó firmemente a Wolf con
media docena de canciones por set. Ocasionalmente, algo del viejo fuego
salía ardiendo de un manantial sin explotar, y sus grabaciones finales
en vivo y en estudio muestran que todavía podía destrozar la casa cuando
el espíritu lo movía. Entró en el Hospital de la Administración de
Veteranos en 1976 para ser operado, pero nunca sobrevivió y finalmente
falleció el 10 de enero de ese año.
Pero su muerte no pasó
desapercibida. Poco después se erigió una estatua de tamaño natural en
un parque de Chicago. Eddie Shaw mantuvo viva su memoria y su música al
mantener a su banda, la Wolf Gang, unida durante varios años después. Un
centro de educación infantil en Chicago fue nombrado en su honor y en
1980 fue elegido para el Salón de la Fama de la Blues Foundation. En
1991, fue admitido en el Salón de la Fama del Rock and Roll. Un par de
años después, su cara estaba en un sello de correos de los Estados
Unidos. Lobo Aullador es ahora parte permanente de la historia de
Estados Unidos.
Trumpeter Roy Hargrove has firmly established himself as one of this
generation's premier players in jazz and beyond. Hargrove was born in
Waco, TX on October 16, 1969. Inspired by the gospel music he heard in
church on Sundays and the R&B and funk music that played on the
radio, Roy began learning the trumpet in the fourth grade. By junior
high school, he was playing at an advanced level of proficiency. At 16,
he was studying music at Dallas's prestigious Booker T. Washington
School for the Visual and Performing Arts.
Midway through his junior year, Roy was “discovered” by Wynton Marsalis,
who was conducting a jazz clinic at the school. Impressed, Marsalis
invited Roy to sit in with his band at Ft. Worth's Caravan of Dreams
Performing Arts Center. Subsequently, Hargrove was able to return to the
venue over a period of the next three months, sitting in with Dizzy
Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard and Bobby Hutcherson. Word of
Roy’s talent reached Paul Ackett, founder and Director of The North Sea
Jazz Festival who arranged for him to perform there that summer. This
led to a month-long European Tour.
Hargrove spent one year (1988-1989) studying at Boston's Berklee School
of Music, but could more often be found in NYC jam sessions, which
resulted in his transferring to New York’s New School. His first
recording in NYC was with the saxophonist Bobby Watson followed shortly
by a session with the up-and-comers super group, Superblue featuring
Watson, Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Washington. In 1990, he released his
solo debut, Diamond In The Rough, on the Novus/RCA label, for which he
would record a total of four albums that document his incubational
growth as a “young lion” to watch. Hargrove made his Verve Records debut
in 1994 on With The Tenors Of Our Time, showcasing him with stellar sax
men Joe Henderson, Stanley Turrentine, Johnny Griffin, Joshua Redman
and Branford Marsalis.
Every album Roy has released on Verve has been different from the one
preceding it. And the same can be said of the array of talents who have
invited him to grace the stage and/or their recordings - from jazz
legends Sonny Rollins and Jackie McLean to song stylists Natalie Cole,
Diana Krall and Abbey Lincoln. From pop veterans Diana Ross, Steve
Tyrell and Kenny Rankin to younger stars John Mayer and Rhian Benson to
the crème de la crème of jazz divas: Carmen McRae and the late, great
Shirley Horn. Hargrove was also commissioned by the Lincoln Jazz Center
to compose the piece “The Love Suite: In Mahogany,” which was performed
in 1993. He is also a superstar of the international touring scene with
his quintet, RH Factor, and as a soloist.
In 2005, he was a featured guest with Slide Hampton and The Dizzy
Gillespie All Star Band in bi-coastal tributes to James Moody in honor
of the saxophonist's 80th birthday at Disney Hall in Los Angeles, the
Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and approximately 25 other concerts
around the globe. As RH Factor attests, Roy is also a product of the hip
hop generation. He can be heard on a cover of rapper Method Man’s “All I
Need” the album- opening track of producer Tony Joseph’s 2005 Verve
project Def Jazz (instrumental interpretations of rap classics from the
Def Jam label).
He has further ventured into the black pop mainstream as a collaborator
with edgy soul star D'Angelo and guest appearances on albums by neo soul
priestess Erykah Badu, thought-provoking rapper Common, and English
acid jazz DJ/producer Gilles Peterson.
Ever stretching into more challenging and colorful ways to flex his
musical chops, Hargrove has left indelible imprints in a vast array of
artful settings. During his tenure on the Verve label alone, he has
recorded an album with a hand- picked collection of the world’s greatest
tenor saxophonists (With The Tenors Of Our Time), an album of standards
with strings (Moment to Moment) and, in 2003, introduced his own hip
hop/jazz collective The RH Factor with the groundbreaking CD Hard Groove
(swiftly followed by the limited edition EP, Strength). Hargrove has
also won Grammy® Awards for two vastly different projects. In 1997,
Roy’s Cuban-based band Crisol — including piano legend Jesus “Chucho”
Valdes and wonder drummer Horatio “El Negro” Hernandez, and guitar
virtuoso Russell Malone - won the Best Latin Jazz Performance Grammy for
the album Habana. And in 2002, Hargrove, Herbie Hancock and Michael
Brecker won Best Instrumental Jazz Album, Individual or Group, for their
three-way collaboration, Directions In Music.
Hargrove brought two of his musical worlds closer together with the
simultaneous releases of Distractions and Nothing Serious — all new
recordings by both of Roy Hargrove’s touring ensembles. Distractions
features the contemporary funk/jazz sounds of The RH Factor. Nothing
Serious features straight ahead jazz by The Roy Hargrove Quintet with
special guest Slide Hampton on trombone. Verve A&R executive Dahlia
Ambach-Caplin explains, “When it came time to work on a new album, it
became clear that Roy currently has two sides to his music. Choosing one
over the other would not do him justice, so we went for both,
approaching them as two separate projects. The quintet recorded in March
of 2005 with 15-time GRAMMY award winning engineer Al Schmitt at
Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, California. The RH Factor recorded later
in May at Sausalito’s The Record Plant with engineer Russell Elevado.”
“I've been doing more touring with RH Factor than my quintet lately,”
Hargrove muses. “People are turning a deaf ear to jazz. Some of that is
the fault of jazz musicians trying too hard to appear to be cerebral.
They aren’t having fun playing the music and that's why people aren't
coming to hear it live anymore.
Hargrove goes on to say, “What do we have to offer in the world of jazz
today? It's about being innovative, which is cool. But innovation right
now will come in music that's swinging and feels good. It's meaningless
if it doesn't make you feel something.”
The bulk of the new 12-track RH Factor disc is inspired vocal
ruminations. Most telling is the knee-deep funk of “A Place,” the hook
of which poses the musical question, “If I Take You To A Place I love/If
I Change My Style/Would You Like It?” For the man who came to
prominence in the jazz realm, these lyrics reflect the on-going
challenge he has bridging the gap between the two styles of music that
dominate his direction. “My goal with RH Factor has always been to try
to erase the lines between the mainstream and the underground - straight
ahead and hip hop/R&B. You have musicians who know all the theory
and harmony. Then you have the musicians who have a direct line to the
masses and what they like to hear. If you can combine the two, it can be
something innovative as well.”
Other vocal numbers on the RH Factor disc include the feel- good track
“Crazy Race” (in which some of Hargrove’s trumpet lines recall a melody
from Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Brazilian Rhyme”) and “Can’t Stop,” both
uplifting messages about striving in the face of adversity.
Singer/songwriter Renee’ Neufville, a former member of the female soul
duo Zhane, who has been performing with RH Factor for the last two
years, wrote the laidback “On The One” (about missing an old lover), and
co-wrote three others with Hargrove: the aforementioned “A Place,” the
chill meditation “Family” and “Hold On,” which features vocals by none
other than Roy himself, Renee’ and RHF drummer Jason “JT” Thomas.
Commenting on his vocal feature on this album, Hargrove quips, “I sang
on “I’ll Stay” from the first RH Factor album, but this is the first
time I’ve sung several bars by myself.”
The man who sang with Roy on “I’ll Stay” was neo soul pioneer D’Angelo,
who returns on the new album producing, writing, singing and signifying
on the fiery “Bull****.” “I guess he brought me a track he thought would
be good for me to play over,” Roy states modestly. “He did the
automation at the Record Plant in Sausalito. The band played along to
what he programmed, he took it to L.A. to work on it some more, then
sent it back to me in New York where I worked on it at Electric Lady
Studios.” The song recalls old New Orleans as filtered through a funky
haze of modern hip hop boom-bap. “‘D’ most definitely blessed me,” Roy
concludes. The remaining RH Factor tracks are groove interludes titled
“Distractions” (1-4), plus the percolating psychedelics of the
instrumental “Kansas City.”
Recalling the humorous origin of the latter, Hargrove begins, “I was
playing a gig there with Directions in Music featuring Michael Brecker
and Herbie Hancock and I always carry my portable studio with me. I
wrote that in the hotel just after walking to get some fried chicken and
Blue Bell ice cream, which they don't sell in New York. I used to OD on
that stuff when I was living in Texas. When I got to KC and saw that
they were selling it there, I was so happy, I went back to the hotel and
wrote that song on the spot!”
Bringing all this RH Factor funk to life is a unique ensemble of Roy on
trumpet, two saxophonists (Keith Anderson and the legendary David
“Fathead” Newman), three keyboardists (Charles McCampbell, Bobby Sparks
and Neufville), one guitarist (Todd Parsnow), two drummers (Jason “JT”
Thomas and Willie Jones III), and - most amazingly - two bass players
(Lenny Stalworth and Reggie Washington). “My regular bass player,
Reggie, couldn't make the recording sessions at first,” Hargrove shares.
“So I hired Lenny, a friend from Berklee, to do the record. But when
Reggie heard about Lenny - not wanting him to creep in and take his gig -
he was like ‘Wait a minute!’ I thought, ‘two bassists-two drummers -
let's go!’”
Going with the flow in more ways than one has long been a hallmark of
Hargrove’s approach. A major influence along those lines is sax man
David “Fathead” Newman, a world class player and among the most fabled
members of the late great Ray Charles’ band. It was an honor for Roy to
have him in the band for this special RH Factor project. “Fathead was
the first musician I ever saw improvise,” Hargrove remembers. “I was
about 14 when he came to Oliver Wendell Holmes Middle School in Dallas.
My band director, Dean Hill, was friends with Fathead and invited him to
the school. Fathead did a baritone solo over our tuba and drum sections
playing (Herbie Hancock’s) “Chameleon”. He was making a whole lot of
music without reading anything and I became very fascinated with that.
It put me on the road to learning how to improvise.”
Where Roy describes the RH Factor disc Distractions as “coming more from
my personal archives,” Nothing Serious featuring his jazz quintet is a
completely different animal...and not just stylistically. “It's
important with a straight ahead group for everyone to contribute,”
Hargrove explains. “Opening things up compositionally keeps the program
well-rounded. And even when they're playing my tunes, everybody’s sound
shapes the song.” A key to this cohesiveness can be found in the title
of the quintet disc’s fourth track: “Camaraderie.” “That tune is a
vehicle for the band to play in a more avant garde way yet still keep it
‘in,’” Hargrove states. Breaking it down even further, he elaborates,
“The title suggests togetherness, and a good group has to be very
cohesive...everybody knowing where everyone else is breathing. That way
if you decide to take the music ‘out,’ whatever happens remains musical.
The song is organized chaos, all coming together within a minor blues.”
“Camaraderie” also has the distinction of being inspired by the late
trumpet great, Lester Bowie, the forward thinking co-founder of the
acclaimed Art Ensemble of Chicago. Roy recalls their meeting. “I was
playing a jam session one night in Italy and Lester was there listening.
I was playing all my bebop. He came up to me and said, ‘Man, take it
out!’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘Stop playing all that pretty
stuff. Play something ugly!’ So I started playing less
inside...screamin'...makin’ a lot of noise. Lester lit up like, ‘Yeah!’
It was a lesson for me.”
The 8-song Roy Hargrove Quintet disc Nothing Serious moves from Roy’s
breathtaking and sensual flugelhorn ballad “Trust” and the enveloping
warmth of “The Gift” to a fierce waltz time swinger “Salima’s Dance”
(from the pen of pianist Ronnie Matthews), a relentlessly winding study
in melody from bassist D’Wayne Burno evocatively titled “Devil Eyes,”
and a whirl through the magical changes of Branislau Kaper’s
“Invitation,” the set’s sole jazz standard. Rounding out the stellar
quintet are alto saxophonist Justin Robinson (who also plays some lovely
flute on “Trust”) and drummer Willie Jones III, the latter of whom has
been playing in Hargrove’s groups for eight years. As a whole, this
incarnation of the Roy Hargrove Quintet has been playing together for
four years, the tightness of which is evident throughout the disc. The
band perfected most of the material on the road before the recording.
One glowing exception is the lushly swingin’ “A Day in Vienna,”
contributed by special guest Slide Hampton, a living giant of jazz. Roy
cut his teeth with Hampton’s band in a trumpet section that included
greats Jon Faddis and Claudio Roditi (documented on the Telarc Records
CD Dedicated to Diz, a Slide Hampton & The Jazz Masters set from `93
recorded live at the Village Vanguard). “Slide has been a big part of
my education. I can't tell you know much playing charts from the
original Dizzy Big Band book with that group helped me. The way that
Slide arranges and voices, he knows how to take a small group of horns
and make it sound like an orchestra.” Listen to Roy’s own “Trust” to
hear that he learned Slide’s lessons well.
Touching back on the statement Roy made at the outset about the state of
jazz and jazz audiences today, the music world would be hard pressed to
find another ambassador capable of traversing the worlds of straight
ahead swingin’ and the funky underground better than Brother Hargrove.
The RH Factor’s Distractions and The Roy Hargrove Quintet’s Nothing
Serious stand as the actual proof.
~ 2 0 0 8 ~
Virtuoso US trumpeter Roy Hargrove returns with his latest album,
Earfood, a richly hued acoustic jazz suite that effortlessly brings
together his multi- faceted musical vision — of deep grooves, memorable
tunes and superb ensemble playing and solos. Thus Earfood presents a
richly coloured snapshot of an artist reaching his prime, a young player
once dubbed ubiquitously as the ‘Young Lion’, is now head of The Jazz
Pride. He’s nothing left to prove as his current trumpet sound reveals
in his total command of tone that’s inflected with subtle emotions and,
when needed, pure hard bop power. Yet as he reveals in his liner notes,
he now just wants to play tuneful, melodic music, that reaches out to an
audience “wherever they are coming from.”
Hargrove explains his simple inspirations behind this great new addition
to his illustrious catalogue of work: “This recording was made to bring
sonic pleasure to the listener. It is my working quintet, playing a
repertoire consisting of songs we play live while on tour, mixed in with
a few new originals. Simple melodies moving around luscious chords,
allow us to capture the attention, and give a feeling of transcendence.
The cohesive sound of the group is a result of our constant touring, and
getting to know one another, on and off of the bandstand. These are key
elements in developing a tight sound, and in less time wasted in the
studio. My goal in this project is to have a recording that is steeped
in tradition and sophistication, while maintaining a sense of melodic
simplicity.”
The following is an excerpt from C. Michael Bailey's article (AAJ 8/10/08):
Trumpeter Roy Hargrove emerged into jazz consciousness as one of the
“young lions” who beamed into the late 1980s and early 1990s. Other
notable contemporary trumpeters include Terence Blanchard, Nicholas
Payton, Kermit Ruffins, and Wallace Roney. All are associated with
different genre traditions, Hargrove's being most closely associated
with Lee Morgan.
Hargrove's association with Morgan's style nevertheless has not
prevented the young trumpeter from approaching music from a broad
perspective. Hargrove and his Latin- Cuban band, Crisol, won a Grammy
Award in 1998 for Habana (Verve, 1997). Hargrove participated in pianist
Herbie Hancock's Directions in Music (Verve, 2002), earning a second
Grammy Award.
Hargrove does not limit himself to “jazz,” however. He has also been
active in the neo-electric-funk-soul arena with his band RH-Factor,
releasing Distractions (Verve, 2006). If Roy Hargrove has been
approaching his time to shine, it is here now.
Hargrove returns to his roots with Earfood (Emarcy, 2008). [The liner
notes quote Hargrove] “My goal in this project is to have a recording
that is steeped in tradition and sophistication, while maintaining a
sense of melodic simplicity.” One would suspect that many of Hargrove's
generation desire the same projects. That said, Hargrove enjoys complete
success in achieving his goal with Earfood.
As a trumpeter, composer, and an arranger, Roy Hargrove has been a
mainstay of the contemporary music scene in a variety of formats for
nearly two decades. Nevertheless, his big band experience has been
limited mostly to his appearances with the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big
Band, with which he has most ably proved himself an heir to the late
trumpet legend's mantle. Hargrove has been steadily accumulating big
band experience in his own right since 1995, however, and Emergence is
therefore most aptly titled, for it represents Hargrove's full-fledged
emergence into the large ensemble idiom.
Source: Kandie Le Britain Webster, Editor
///////
El trompetista Roy Hargrove se ha establecido firmemente como uno de los
principales músicos de esta generación en el jazz y más allá. Hargrove
nació en Waco, TX el 16 de octubre de 1969. Inspirado por la música
gospel que escuchaba en la iglesia los domingos y la música R&B y
funk que sonaba en la radio, Roy comenzó a aprender la trompeta en el
cuarto grado. En la escuela secundaria, tocaba a un nivel avanzado de
competencia. A los 16 años, estudiaba música en la prestigiosa escuela
Booker T. Washington School for the Visual and Performing Arts de
Dallas.
A mediados de su tercer año, Roy fue "descubierto" por Wynton Marsalis,
que dirigía una clínica de jazz en la escuela. Impresionado, Marsalis
invitó a Roy a sentarse con su banda en el centro de artes escénicas
Caravan of Dreams de Ft. Worth. Posteriormente, Hargrove pudo volver al
lugar durante los tres meses siguientes, junto con Dizzy Gillespie,
Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard y Bobby Hutcherson. La noticia del
talento de Roy llegó a Paul Ackett, fundador y director del Festival de
Jazz del Mar del Norte, que hizo los arreglos para que actuara allí ese
verano. Esto llevó a una gira europea de un mes de duración.
Hargrove pasó un año (1988-1989) estudiando en la Berklee School of
Music de Boston, pero se le podía encontrar más a menudo en las jam
sessions de la ciudad de Nueva York, lo que resultó en su traslado a la
New School de Nueva York. Su primera grabación en NYC fue con el
saxofonista Bobby Watson, seguida poco después de una sesión con el
prometedor supergrupo Superblue, en el que participaban Watson, Mulgrew
Miller y Kenny Washington. En 1990, lanzó su debut en solitario, Diamond
In The Rough, en el sello Novus/RCA, para el que grabaría un total de
cuatro álbumes que documentan su crecimiento como un "joven león" a
seguir. Hargrove hizo su debut con Verve Records en 1994 en With The
Tenors Of Our Time, presentándolo con los saxofonistas estelares Joe
Henderson, Stanley Turrentine, Johnny Griffin, Joshua Redman y Branford
Marsalis.
Cada álbum que Roy ha publicado en Verve ha sido diferente del anterior.
Y lo mismo puede decirse del conjunto de talentos que le han invitado a
engalanar el escenario y/o sus grabaciones - desde las leyendas del
jazz Sonny Rollins y Jackie McLean hasta los estilistas de canciones
Natalie Cole, Diana Krall y Abbey Lincoln. Desde los veteranos del pop
Diana Ross, Steve Tyrell y Kenny Rankin hasta las jóvenes estrellas John
Mayer y Rhian Benson y la flor y nata de las divas del jazz: Carmen
McRae y la difunta y gran Shirley Horn. Hargrove también fue comisionado
por el Lincoln Jazz Center para componer la pieza "The Love Suite": En
caoba", que fue interpretada en 1993. También es una superestrella de la
escena internacional de giras con su quinteto, RH Factor, y como
solista.
En 2005, fue invitado con Slide Hampton y The Dizzy Gillespie All Star
Band en tributos bi-coitales a James Moody en honor al 80 cumpleaños del
saxofonista en el Disney Hall de Los Ángeles, el Kennedy Center de
Washington, DC, y aproximadamente otros 25 conciertos en todo el mundo.
Como el Factor RH atestigua, Roy es también un producto de la generación
del hip hop. Se le puede escuchar en la portada de "All I Need" del
rapero Method Man, el tema de apertura del proyecto Verve 2005 del
productor Tony Joseph, Def Jazz (interpretaciones instrumentales de
clásicos del rap del sello Def Jam).
También se ha aventurado en la corriente principal del pop negro como
colaborador de la estrella del soul D'Angelo y como invitado en los
álbumes de la sacerdotisa del neo soul Erykah Badu, del rapero Common,
que invita a la reflexión, y del DJ/productor de acid jazz inglés Gilles
Peterson.
Cada vez más desafiante y colorido para flexionar sus chuletas
musicales, Hargrove ha dejado huellas indelebles en una amplia gama de
escenarios artísticos. Durante su permanencia en el sello Verve, ha
grabado un álbum con una colección escogida a mano de los saxofonistas
tenores más grandes del mundo (With The Tenors Of Our Time), un álbum de
estándares con cuerdas (Moment to Moment) y, en 2003, introdujo su
propio colectivo de hip hop/jazz The RH Factor con el innovador CD Hard
Groove (rápidamente seguido por la edición limitada EP, Strength).
Hargrove también ha ganado premios Grammy® por dos proyectos muy
diferentes. En 1997, la banda Crisol de Roy, con sede en Cuba
-incluyendo a la leyenda del piano Jesús "Chucho" Valdés y al
maravilloso baterista Horatio "El Negro" Hernández, y al virtuoso de la
guitarra Russell Malone- ganó el Grammy a la mejor interpretación de
jazz latino por el álbum Habana. Y en 2002, Hargrove, Herbie Hancock y
Michael Brecker ganaron el premio al Mejor Álbum de Jazz Instrumental,
Individual o Grupal, por su colaboración a tres bandas, Directions In
Music.
Hargrove acercó dos de sus mundos musicales con los lanzamientos
simultáneos de Distracciones y Nada Serio - todas nuevas grabaciones de
los dos grupos de gira de Roy Hargrove. Distracciones presenta los
sonidos contemporáneos de funk/jazz de The RH Factor. Nothing Serious
presenta el jazz directo de The Roy Hargrove Quintet con el invitado
especial Slide Hampton en el trombón. La ejecutiva de Verve A&R,
Dahlia Ambach-Caplin, explica: "Cuando llegó el momento de trabajar en
un nuevo álbum, quedó claro que Roy tiene actualmente dos caras en su
música. Elegir una sobre la otra no le haría justicia, así que nos
decantamos por ambas, enfocándolas como dos proyectos separados. El
quinteto grabó en marzo de 2005 con el ingeniero Al Schmitt, ganador de
15 premios GRAMMY, en los Capitol Studios de Los Ángeles, California.
The RH Factor grabó más tarde en mayo en Sausalito's The Record Plant
con el ingeniero Russell Elevado."
"He estado haciendo más giras con RH Factor que mi quinteto
últimamente", musita Hargrove. "La gente está haciendo oídos sordos al
jazz. Parte de eso es culpa de los músicos de jazz que se esfuerzan por
parecer cerebrales. No se divierten tocando la música y por eso la gente
ya no viene a escucharla en vivo.
Hargrove continúa diciendo, "¿Qué tenemos que ofrecer en el mundo del
jazz hoy en día? Se trata de ser innovadores, lo cual es genial. Pero la
innovación ahora mismo vendrá en la música que es swing y se siente
bien. No tiene sentido si no te hace sentir algo".
La mayor parte del nuevo disco de 12 pistas de RH Factor está inspirado
en rumores vocales. Lo más revelador es el funk hasta la rodilla de "A
Place", cuyo gancho plantea la pregunta musical, "Si te llevo a un lugar
que me encanta/si cambio de estilo/te gustaría?" Para el hombre que
llegó a la prominencia en el reino del jazz, estas letras reflejan el
desafío continuo que tiene para cerrar la brecha entre los dos estilos
de música que dominan su dirección. "Mi objetivo con RH Factor siempre
ha sido tratar de borrar las líneas entre la corriente principal y el
underground - recto y hip hop/R&B. Tienes músicos que conocen toda
la teoría y la armonía. Luego tienes a los músicos que tienen una línea
directa con las masas y lo que les gusta oír. Si puedes combinar ambos,
puede ser algo innovador también."
Otros números vocales del disco RH Factor incluyen la canción "Crazy
Race" (en la que algunas de las líneas de trompeta de Hargrove recuerdan
una melodía de Earth, Wind & Fire's "Brazilian Rhyme") y "Can't
Stop", ambos mensajes edificantes sobre el esfuerzo ante la adversidad.
La cantante y compositora Renee' Neufville, ex miembro del dúo de soul
femenino Zhane, que ha actuado con RH Factor durante los dos últimos
años, escribió el relajado "On The One" (sobre la pérdida de un viejo
amante), y co-escribió otros tres con Hargrove: el ya mencionado "A
Place", la meditación chill "Family" y "Hold On", que cuenta con las
voces de nada menos que el propio Roy, Renee' y el baterista de RHF
Jason "JT" Thomas. Comentando sobre su característica vocal en este
álbum, Hargrove dice: "Canté en "I'll Stay" del primer álbum de RH
Factor, pero esta es la primera vez que he cantado varios compases yo
solo".
El hombre que cantó con Roy en "I'll Stay" fue el pionero del neo-soul
D'Angelo, que regresa en el nuevo álbum produciendo, escribiendo,
cantando y significando en el ardiente "Bull****". "Supongo que me trajo
una pista que pensó que sería buena para que yo la tocara", afirma Roy
modestamente. "Hizo la automatización en la planta de discos de
Sausalito. La banda tocó lo que él programó, se lo llevó a Los Ángeles
para trabajar en él un poco más, y luego me lo envió a Nueva York donde
trabajé en los estudios Electric Lady." La canción recuerda a la vieja
Nueva Orleans filtrada a través de una neblina funky del moderno
boom-bap del hip hop. "D' definitivamente me bendijo", concluye Roy. El
resto de los temas de RH Factor son interludios de groove titulados
"Distracciones" (1-4), además de los psicodélicos penetrantes del
instrumental "Kansas City".
Recordando el origen humorístico de este último, Hargrove comienza:
"Estaba tocando un concierto allí con Directions in Music con Michael
Brecker y Herbie Hancock y siempre llevo mi estudio portátil conmigo. Lo
escribí en el hotel justo después de caminar para comprar pollo frito y
helado Blue Bell, que no venden en Nueva York. Solía tener una
sobredosis de esas cosas cuando vivía en Texas. Cuando llegué a KC y vi
que lo vendían allí, me alegré tanto que volví al hotel y escribí esa
canción en el acto".
Para dar vida a todo este funk de RH Factor hay un conjunto único de Roy
a la trompeta, dos saxofonistas (Keith Anderson y el legendario David
"Fathead" Newman), tres teclistas (Charles McCampbell, Bobby Sparks y
Neufville), un guitarrista (Todd Parsnow), dos bateristas (Jason "JT"
Thomas y Willie Jones III) y, lo que es más sorprendente, dos bajistas
(Lenny Stalworth y Reggie Washington). "Mi bajista habitual, Reggie, no
pudo hacer las sesiones de grabación al principio", comparte Hargrove.
"Así que contraté a Lenny, un amigo de Berklee, para hacer el disco.
Pero cuando Reggie se enteró de lo de Lenny, no queriendo que se colara
en su concierto, dijo: "¡Espera un momento!". Pensé: "dos bajistas, dos
bateristas, ¡vamos!"
Seguir la corriente en más de un sentido ha sido durante mucho tiempo un
sello distintivo del enfoque de Hargrove. Una gran influencia en este
sentido es el saxofonista David "Fathead" Newman, un jugador de clase
mundial y uno de los miembros más legendarios de la última gran banda de
Ray Charles. Fue un honor para Roy tenerlo en la banda para este
proyecto especial de RH Factor. "Fathead fue el primer músico que vi
improvisar", recuerda Hargrove. "Tenía unos 14 años cuando llegó a la
escuela media Oliver Wendell Holmes en Dallas. El director de mi banda,
Dean Hill, era amigo de Fathead y lo invitó a la escuela. Fathead hizo
un solo de barítono sobre nuestras secciones de tuba y batería tocando
(Herbie Hancock) "Chameleon". Hacía mucha música sin leer nada y eso me
fascinó mucho. Me puso en el camino de aprender a improvisar."
Donde Roy describe el disco RH Factor Distracciones como "que viene más
de mis archivos personales", Nada Serio con su quinteto de jazz es un
animal completamente diferente... y no sólo estilísticamente. "Es
importante que con un grupo de directo todos contribuyan", explica
Hargrove. "Abrir las cosas desde el punto de vista compositivo mantiene
el programa bien equilibrado. E incluso cuando tocan mis canciones, el
sonido de todos da forma a la canción." La clave de esta cohesión se
encuentra en el título de la cuarta pista del disco del quinteto:
"Camaradería". "Esa melodía es un vehículo para que la banda toque de
una manera más vanguardista y aún así mantenerla 'dentro'", afirma
Hargrove. Desglosándolo aún más, explica: "El título sugiere unión, y un
buen grupo tiene que ser muy cohesivo... todo el mundo sabe dónde están
respirando los demás. De esa manera, si decides sacar la música, lo que
ocurra sigue siendo musical. La canción es un caos organizado, todo se
une dentro de un blues menor". "Camaradería" también tiene la distinción
de estar inspirado por el gran trompetista fallecido, Lester Bowie, el
cofundador progresista del aclamado Art Ensemble de Chicago. Roy
recuerda su encuentro. "Estaba tocando en una jam session una noche en
Italia y Lester estaba allí escuchando. Estaba tocando todo mi bebop. Se
acercó a mí y me dijo: "Hombre, ¡sácalo! Le dije: "¿Qué quieres decir?"
Él dijo: "Deja de jugar con todas esas cosas bonitas". Toca algo feo!'
Así que empecé a tocar menos por dentro... gritando... haciendo mucho
ruido. Lester se iluminó como, "¡Sí! Fue una lección para mí".
El disco de 8 canciones de Roy Hargrove Quintet Nothing Serious pasa de
la impresionante y sensual balada de fliscorno de Roy "Trust" y la
envolvente calidez de "The Gift" a un feroz vals de intercambio de
tiempo "Salima's Dance" (de la pluma del pianista Ronnie Matthews), un
estudio implacablemente sinuoso en la melodía del bajista D'Wayne Burno
titulado evocativamente "Ojos de Diablo", y un giro a través de los
mágicos cambios de la "Invitación" de Branislau Kaper, el único estándar
de jazz del conjunto. Completan el quinteto estelar el saxofonista alto
Justin Robinson (que también toca una encantadora flauta en "Trust") y
el baterista Willie Jones III, este último ha estado tocando en los
grupos de Hargrove durante ocho años. En conjunto, esta encarnación del
quinteto de Roy Hargrove ha estado tocando juntos durante cuatro años,
cuya firmeza es evidente en todo el disco. La banda perfeccionó la mayor
parte del material en la carretera antes de la grabación.
Una excepción brillante es el exuberante swing "A Day in Vienna",
aportado por el invitado especial Slide Hampton, un gigante viviente del
jazz. Roy se formó con la banda de Hampton en una sección de trompetas
que incluía a los grandes Jon Faddis y Claudio Roditi (documentado en el
CD de Telarc Records Dedicated to Diz, un set de Slide Hampton &
The Jazz Masters de `93 grabado en vivo en el Village Vanguard). "Slide"
ha sido una gran parte de mi educación. No puedo decir que me ayudó
mucho tocar en las listas de éxitos del libro original de la Dizzy Big
Band con ese grupo. Por la forma en que Slide arregla y hace las voces,
sabe cómo tomar un pequeño grupo de trompetas y hacer que suene como una
orquesta." Escuchen el "Trust" de Roy para saber que aprendió bien las
lecciones de Slide.
Remitiéndonos a la declaración que Roy hizo al principio sobre el estado
del jazz y las audiencias de jazz hoy en día, el mundo de la música
estaría muy presionado para encontrar otro embajador capaz de atravesar
los mundos del swingin' straight ahead y el funky underground mejor que
el hermano Hargrove. Las distracciones del Factor RH y el Quinteto Nada
Serio de Roy Hargrove son la prueba.
~ 2 0 0 8 ~
El virtuoso trompetista estadounidense Roy Hargrove regresa con su
último álbum, Earfood, una suite de jazz acústico de ricos colores que
reúne sin esfuerzo su visión musical multifacética - de ritmos
profundos, melodías memorables y excelentes interpretaciones en conjunto
y solos. Earfood presenta así una instantánea muy colorida de un
artista que está alcanzando su mejor momento, un joven intérprete que
antes era conocido como el "Joven León", y que ahora es el director de
The Jazz Pride. No le queda nada que demostrar, ya que su actual sonido
de trompeta se revela en su total dominio del tono, que se inflexiona
con sutiles emociones y, cuando es necesario, puro poder del hard bop.
Sin embargo, como revela en sus notas de línea, ahora sólo quiere tocar
música melódica y afinada, que llegue a una audiencia "de donde sea que
vengan".
Hargrove explica sus simples inspiraciones detrás de esta gran nueva
adición a su ilustre catálogo de trabajo: "Esta grabación fue hecha para
traer placer sónico al oyente. Es mi quinteto de trabajo, tocando un
repertorio que consiste en canciones que tocamos en vivo mientras
estamos de gira, mezcladas con algunos nuevos originales. Melodías
simples que se mueven alrededor de acordes exquisitos, nos permiten
captar la atención y dar una sensación de trascendencia. El sonido
cohesivo del grupo es el resultado de nuestras constantes giras, y de
conocernos unos a otros, dentro y fuera del quiosco. Estos son elementos
clave para desarrollar un sonido ajustado, y en menos tiempo perdido en
el estudio. Mi objetivo en este proyecto es tener una grabación que
esté impregnada de tradición y sofisticación, manteniendo un sentido de
simplicidad melódica".
El siguiente es un extracto del artículo de C. Michael Bailey (AAJ 8/10/08):
El trompetista Roy Hargrove emergió a la conciencia del jazz como uno de
los "jóvenes leones" que resplandecieron a finales de los 80 y
principios de los 90. Otros notables trompetistas contemporáneos
incluyen a Terence Blanchard, Nicholas Payton, Kermit Ruffins y Wallace
Roney. Todos están asociados con diferentes tradiciones de género,
siendo Hargrove el más asociado con Lee Morgan.
Sin embargo, la asociación de Hargrove con el estilo de Morgan no ha
impedido que el joven trompetista se acerque a la música desde una
perspectiva amplia. Hargrove y su banda latino-cubana, Crisol, ganaron
un premio Grammy en 1998 por La Habana (Verve, 1997). Hargrove participó
en Directions in Music del pianista Herbie Hancock (Verve, 2002), con
el que obtuvo un segundo premio Grammy.
Sin embargo, Hargrove no se limita al "jazz". También ha estado activo
en el ámbito del neo-electric-funk-soul con su banda RH-Factor, lanzando
Distractions (Verve, 2006). Si Roy Hargrove se ha acercado a su momento
de brillar, ya está aquí.
Hargrove vuelve a sus raíces con Earfood (Emarcy, 2008). [Las notas del
liner citan a Hargrove] "Mi objetivo en este proyecto es tener una
grabación que esté impregnada de tradición y sofisticación, mientras
mantengo un sentido de simplicidad melódica". Uno podría sospechar que
muchos de la generación de Hargrove desean los mismos proyectos. Dicho
esto, Hargrove disfruta de un éxito total en el logro de su objetivo con
Earfood.
Como trompetista, compositor y arreglista, Roy Hargrove ha sido un pilar
de la escena musical contemporánea en una variedad de formatos durante
casi dos décadas. Sin embargo, su experiencia en la big band se ha
limitado principalmente a sus apariciones con la Dizzy Gillespie
All-Star Big Band, con la que ha demostrado ser el heredero del último
manto de la leyenda de la trompeta. Sin embargo, Hargrove ha ido
acumulando experiencia en la big band por derecho propio desde 1995, y
"Emergencia" es por lo tanto el título más adecuado, ya que representa
el pleno surgimiento de Hargrove en el idioma de los grandes conjuntos.
Fuente: Kandie Le Britain Webster, Editora
Traducción realizada con la versión gratuita del traductor www.DeepL.com/Translator
Lonnie Gasperini a soulful jazz organist from the state of Rhode Island has recently moved to New York City where he continues to take his passion for organ jazz to another level.
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Lonnie Gasperini, un conmovedor organista de jazz del estado de Rhode Island, se ha trasladado recientemente a la ciudad de Nueva York, donde sigue llevando su pasión por el jazz de órgano a otro nivel.
F. Scott Fitzgerald named it, Louis Armstrong launched it, Paul Whiteman
and Fletcher Henderson orchestrated it, and now Arnold Shaw chronicles
this fabulous era in his marvelously engrossing book, appropriately
called The Jazz Age. Enriching his account with lively
anecdotes and inside stories, he describes the astonishing outpouring of
significant musical innovations that emerged during the "Roaring
Twenties"--including blues, jazz, band music, torch ballads, operettas,
and musicals--and sets them against the background of the Prohibition
world of the Flapper and the Gangster.
The Jazz Age offers
an insider's view into the significant developments and personalities of
the jazz age, including the maturation and Americanization of the
Broadway musical theater, the explosion of the arts celebrated in the
Harlem Renaissance, the rise of the Classic Blues Singers, and the
evolution of ragtime into stride piano. It also contains a bibliography,
detailed discography, and listings of the songs of the twenties in Variety's "Golden 100" and of films featuring singers and songwriters of the era.
Famously reticent and perennially controversial, Prince was one of
the few music superstars who remained, largely, an enigma—even up to
his premature death on April 21, 2016. A fixture of the pop canon,
Prince is widely held to be the greatest musician of his generation and
will undoubtedly remain an inspiring and singular talent.
This
meticulously researched biography is the most comprehensive work on
Prince yet published. Unlike other Prince books, this one eschews
speculation into the artist's highly guarded private life and instead
focuses deep and sustained attention exactly where it should be: on his
work. Acclaimed British novelist and critic Matt Thorne draws on years
of research and dozens of interviews with Prince's intimate associates
(many of whom have never spoken on record before) to examine every phase
of the musician's 35-year career, including nearly every song—released
and unreleased—that Prince has recorded. Originally released in the UK
in 2012, this first US publication of Prince includes updated content detailing the artist's two 2014 albums, tour, 2015 Tidal release, and other career events.
This astonishingly rich, almost encyclopedic biography is a must-have for any serious fan of Prince.
Detailing the intertwined lives of members of core grunge bands,
this thoroughly researched account reveals the origins and inspirations
of the grunge music movement. Illustrating the dramatic and emotional
tensions that arose between the various players, it describes the
collisions between personalities and egos, artists and corporations,
suburbs and cities, obscurity and fame. It is also a unique guide to the
key locations in the grunge story, exploring the cafes, apartments, and
studios where members of bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden,
Mudhoney, and Alice in Chains practiced and played.
Wassily Kandinsky
(1866-1944) was a Russian painter credited as being among the first to
truly venture into abstract art. He persisted in expressing his internal
world of abstraction despite negative criticism from his peers. He
veered away from painting that could be viewed as representational in
order to express his emotions, leading to his unique use of colour and
form. Although his works received heavy censure at the time, in later
years they would become greatly influential.
From the Green Hill is Tomasz Stanko's ECM follow-up to the deservedly acclaimed Litania - The Music of Kryzsztof Komeda. The Polish composer and trumpeter (and former Komeda sideman) teams up with countrywoman Michelle Makarski, ECM stalwarts saxophonist John Surman, bandoneon king Dino Saluzzi, drum god Jon Christensen, and bassist Anders Jormin. The set is comprised mainly of Stanko originals, but there are also compositions by Surman, and two by Komeda, including "Litania." This chamber jazz sextet draws heavily on European jazz influences naturally, but also from Eastern Europe's folk traditions. In this way, Komeda's influence is clearly felt throughout the recording, even on Surman's "Domino." But it is also fair to say that Stanko was there with Komeda at the beginning, and his devotion to the folk traditions of his region had an equally big impact on the late composer though both men were firmly committed to the jazz idiom as the only means of expression for their kind of music. Both men sought to identify the music their group played with their homeland and Eastern Europe. Interestingly, this notion brings out the international aspirations of each musician on the date. On "Litania," Saluzzi moves the interval enough to shift the melody to make it an Italian funeral song. With "Stone Ridge," that follows, Makarski opens Surman's piece with a wistful Hungarian lilt in her violin line, before Stanko's muted trumpet and Surman's bass clarinet wind around each other in a slower than slow counterpoint that brings in Saluzzi's bandoneon with the melody. It's an old modal-sounding piece, which is narrow in its dynamic range but rich in texture and nuance before it turns itself into a gypsy polka. Surman tries his hand at some Dave Tarras klezmer lines on the big clarinet, and the piece evolves again into a post-Miles jazz vamp. Christensen is without doubt the greatest drummer in ECM's regular stable -- yes, that includes Paul Motian. His style is one of the unobtrusive percussionists. He plays like crazy, elegantly weaving and sweeping through the band's changes and never once stutters or, as so many drummers are wont to do, draws any attention himself. His humility is truly remarkable for a percussionist of his caliber. On Stanko's "Love Theme From Farewell to Marie," a blues tune in A minor, Stanko plays with the rhythm section for a bit before Makarski weaves her way in a knot at a time, and Jormin creates a harmonic bond with her. When Saluzzi starts to fill out the changes, he shifts the architecture of the tune so that when Surman slips in, the tone and mode -- let alone the rhythm of these blues -- has become darker, deeper, and mellifluous in its timbral richness and harmonic elegance. Over 14 tunes, Tomasz Stanko reveals once again why he is a bandleader of great authority and integrity. This is an ensemble of powerful individuals and no less than three composers among them. Stanko's arrangements are carried out with equanimity and grace as well as precision and musicality. The result is an album that, while not as attention grabbing as Litania, is as musically inventive and challenging as its predecessor, and wholly more satisfying than most of what comes from Eastern Europe in the name of jazz at the end of the 20th century.
Everything you always wanted to know about Warner Bros. cartoons
but were afraid to ask, this complete and indispensable reference will
delight adults, children, and audiences all over the world.
Review by Ken Dryden John Hicks' fourth CD in a series honoring pianists and composers who were from the greater Pittsburgh area salutes Sonny Clark, whose contributions have been somewhat overlooked since his premature death in 1963. Joined by bassist Dwayne Burno and drummer Cecil Brooks III, Hicks adds several originals -- which complement but don't attempt to mimic Clark's style -- in addition to his interpretations of Clark's compositions. He adds a lovely introductory original solo piano prelude to precede the easygoing waltz treatment of Clark's "My Conception," while his take of "Cable Car" gives it a Latin flavor. Hicks slows the tempo of Clark's "Minor Meeting" considerably and also winds the piece much tighter, giving it a much darker, bluesy sound than the composer's recordings for Time and Blue Note. Hicks' solo version of "Sonny's Mood" is lush and reflective, while the hard swinging "Sonny's Crib" reveals its roots in gospel music. Hicks, who hung out with Clark, dedicates "Angel With a Briefcase" to the late pianist because of his habit of always carrying one stuffed with manuscripts in progress; this warm solo portrait is followed by Hicks' whimsically titled "Clark Bar Blues," which hard bop fans will no doubt discover to be very tasty. Overall, the desired effect of such a brilliant release is to make one want to obtain earlier CDs by John Hicks and also to look for the original versions by Sonny Clark, if they aren't already in the listener's possession. https://www.allmusic.com/album/music-in-the-key-of-clark-mw0000211526
Biography by Jason Ankeny A longtime fixture of the New York City jazz landscape, pianist John Hicks was an artist of uncommon versatility, moving effortlessly from pop standards to the avant-garde while retaining the dense physicality and intense energy that were the hallmarks of his approach. Born December 12, 1941, in Atlanta, Hicks was still an infant when his preacher father relocated the family to Los Angeles. He spent the better part of his teen years in St. Louis, and counted among his classmates there the young Lester Bowie. Hicks' mother was his first piano teacher, and after a stint at Lincoln University in Missouri he attended the Berklee School of Music and the Juilliard School; he later cited influences spanning from Fats Waller to Thelonious Monk to Methodist church hymns, and his catholic listening tastes were instrumental in shaping his far-ranging skills as a player. After touring in support of bluesman Albert King and hard bop tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, Hicks backed singer Della Reese during a 1963 New York club residency, and the city remained his home for the rest of his life. In the wake of stints with Kenny Dorham and Joe Henderson, Hicks joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1964, collaborating alongside the likes of trumpeters Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard. Two years later, he signed on with singer Betty Carter, like Blakey a keen judge of emerging talent. Upon exiting Carter's band in 1968, Hicks spent the remainder of the decade with Woody Herman and entered the decade to follow as a first-call sideman. He also moonlighted as an educator, and during the early '70s taught jazz and improvisation at Southern Illinois University.
After the Morning [1992] After backing Carter on her 1976 date Now It's My Turn, Hicks returned to her backing group full-time. The exposure vaulted him to new renown, and in 1979 he finally led his own studio effort, After the Morning. With 1981's Some Other Time, cut with bassist Walter Booker and drummer Idris Muhammad, Hicks also emerged as a gifted composer, writing his best-known effort, "Naima's Love Song," in honor of his young daughter. He recorded prolifically in the years to follow, concentrating on solo and small ensemble work including stints as member of the Power Trio and the Keystone Trio. He also served as the regular pianist with the Mingus Dynasty Band and for a time led his own big band. Hicks enjoyed his greatest commercial success with a series of tribute LPs celebrating the music of his mentors and influences, highlighted by 1998's Something to Live For (a collection of Billy Strayhorn compositions), 2000's Impressions of Mary Lou (Williams, of course), and 2003's Fatha's Day (honoring Earl Hines). Hicks' longest and most rewarding collaboration was his partnership with flutist Elise Wood, which launched in 1983 and after several studio sessions and tours culminated in marriage in 2001, around the time of the release of their duo recording Beautiful Friendship. Hicks died suddenly on May 10, 2006. Just three days earlier, he delivered his final performance at Harlem's St. Mark's United Methodist Church, where his father served as a minister prior to his own death. Hicks was 64 years old.https://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-hicks-mn0000224920/biography
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Reseña por Ken Dryden El cuarto CD de John Hicks en una serie que honra a los pianistas y compositores de la zona de Pittsburgh rinde homenaje a Sonny Clark, cuyas contribuciones han sido un tanto pasadas por alto desde su prematura muerte en 1963. Acompañado por el bajista Dwayne Burno y el batería Cecil Brooks III, Hicks añade varios originales - que complementan pero no intentan imitar el estilo de Clark - además de sus interpretaciones de las composiciones de Clark. Añade un encantador preludio introductorio original de piano solo para preceder el tratamiento de vals relajado de "My Conception" de Clark, mientras que su versión de "Cable Car" le da un sabor latino. Hicks ralentiza considerablemente el tempo de "Minor Meeting" de Clark y también da a la pieza un viento mucho más apretado, dándole un sonido mucho más oscuro y bluesy que las grabaciones del compositor para Time y Blue Note. La versión en solitario de Hicks de "Sonny's Mood" es exuberante y reflexiva, mientras que el swing duro de "Sonny's Crib" revela sus raíces en la música gospel. Hicks, que salía con Clark, dedica "Angel With a Briefcase" al fallecido pianista por su costumbre de llevar siempre uno lleno de manuscritos en curso; a este cálido retrato en solitario le sigue el caprichosamente titulado por Hicks "Clark Bar Blues", que los aficionados al hard bop descubrirán sin duda muy sabroso. En general, el efecto deseado de un lanzamiento tan brillante es hacer que uno quiera obtener CDs anteriores de John Hicks y también buscar las versiones originales de Sonny Clark, si no están ya en posesión del oyente. https://www.allmusic.com/album/music-in-the-key-of-clark-mw0000211526
Biografía por Jason Ankeny El pianista John Hicks fue durante mucho tiempo un fijo del panorama jazzístico neoyorquino, un artista de una versatilidad poco común, que pasaba sin esfuerzo de los estándares pop a la vanguardia, conservando al mismo tiempo la densa fisicidad y la intensa energía que caracterizaban su enfoque. Nacido el 12 de diciembre de 1941 en Atlanta, Hicks era aún un bebé cuando su padre, predicador, trasladó a la familia a Los Ángeles. Pasó la mayor parte de su adolescencia en San Luis, donde tuvo como compañero al joven Lester Bowie. La madre de Hicks fue su primera profesora de piano, y tras una temporada en la Lincoln University de Missouri, asistió a la Berklee School of Music y a la Juilliard School; más tarde citó influencias que iban desde Fats Waller a Thelonious Monk, pasando por los himnos de la iglesia metodista, y sus gustos católicos a la hora de escuchar fueron decisivos para dar forma a sus variadas habilidades como intérprete. Tras una gira como telonero del bluesman Albert King y del saxofonista tenor de hard bop Johnny Griffin, Hicks fue telonero de la cantante Della Reese durante una residencia en un club de Nueva York en 1963, y la ciudad siguió siendo su hogar el resto de su vida. Después de trabajar con Kenny Dorham y Joe Henderson, Hicks se unió a los Jazz Messengers de Art Blakey en 1964 y colaboró con trompetistas de la talla de Lee Morgan y Freddie Hubbard. Dos años más tarde, fichó por la cantante Betty Carter, que, al igual que Blakey, era un buen juez de talentos emergentes. Tras abandonar la banda de Carter en 1968, Hicks pasó el resto de la década con Woody Herman y entró en la década siguiente como acompañante de primera fila. También ejerció como educador y, a principios de los 70, enseñó jazz e improvisación en la Southern Illinois University.
After the Morning [1992] Tras acompañar a Carter en su concierto de 1976, Now It's My Turn, Hicks volvió a formar parte de su grupo a tiempo completo. En 1979 dirigió su propio álbum de estudio, After the Morning. Con Some Other Time, de 1981, grabado con el bajista Walter Booker y el batería Idris Muhammad, Hicks se reveló también como un compositor dotado, escribiendo su obra más conocida, "Naima's Love Song", en honor de su hija pequeña. En los años siguientes realizó numerosas grabaciones, concentrándose en trabajos en solitario y en pequeños conjuntos, incluyendo estancias como miembro del Power Trio y del Keystone Trio. También fue pianista habitual de la Mingus Dynasty Band y durante un tiempo dirigió su propia big band. Hicks cosechó su mayor éxito comercial con una serie de LPs de homenaje a la música de sus mentores e influencias, entre los que destacan Something to Live For, de 1998 (una colección de composiciones de Billy Strayhorn), Impressions of Mary Lou, de 2000 (Williams, por supuesto), y Fatha's Day, de 2003 (en honor a Earl Hines). La colaboración más larga y gratificante de Hicks fue su asociación con la flautista Elise Wood, que comenzó en 1983 y, tras varias sesiones de estudio y giras, culminó en matrimonio en 2001, en la época en que publicaron su grabación a dúo Beautiful Friendship. Hicks murió repentinamente el 10 de mayo de 2006. Sólo tres días antes había ofrecido su última actuación en la iglesia metodista St. Mark's United Methodist Church de Harlem, donde su padre ejercía como ministro antes de su propia muerte. Hicks tenía 64 años.https://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-hicks-mn0000224920/biography
