Michael Weiss

Is Zawinul a Barry-ofile or what.

Playing... alto

Our Beaujolais of choice. He also makes a very nice and reasonably Chardonnay. Tonight with duck confit it's a Pomerol - Chateau Bourgneuf 2001.

WTF!

Santa Duc's vieilles vignes Cotes du Rhone 2001

Sure enough...In any Wayne interview there's a gem of a quote: "Art comes first—the Baby, save the Baby!"

If I'm free I'll try to catch you in the neighborhood at Bar 4.

Since forming his present quartet in 2000 (2001?), obscuring the role of the soloist seems to be precisely Wayne's intent. Wayne and Herbie's duets are great examples of this as are the earliest versions of Weather Report. There seems to be more give and take in the dominant/subdominant roles (soloist/accompanist?). But don't be fooled - there's more structure than meets the ear! – at least the first few listenings. (Scores do help.) This reminds me of a tangentially related story: I went to the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, NY in December 1977 for a ten-day "intensive" with the Art ensemble of Chicago. Needless to say, I was a little conflicted, between my interest in "Free Jazz", Cecil Taylor, AEC, Paul Bley, Sun Ra, etc. and Bird, Bud and Trane. You can imagine what a "jam-session" was like there. Although I had a nice time playing Cherokee with Lester Bowie. Anyway, the most interesting experiment, and the one thing I remember most about that week, was a piece that Roscoe Mitchell had us, a group of at least thirty musicians, play. He passed out different colored cards to each of us. Each color represented a role: dominant, subdominant, supportive, nonsupportive, and the like. This opened my eyes to different possibilities of structuring free improvisation without having to write a note. Despite the cards we were dealt, my recollection of the event was that the dominant roles were claimed by dominant people. It was, nevertheless a worthwhile experiment and the kind of thing a fixed group of musicians could accumulate years of hard work before really pulling it off (AEC!) Reading and listening to what Wayne has to say is almost as much fun as listening to him play. I'd love to see that DB interview.

Huh?

Dottie Dodgion Don Drummond (Skatalites)

I'm forever grateful to Mr. Albertson for giving my debut recording Stereo Review's jazz pick of the month without any influence peddling from the label or anyone else. In fact CrissCross was so cheap I had to buy all the promo copies from the label and send them myself.

I've been reviewed in all of the magazines mentioned, including Fanfare, without being asked to buy an ad in advance. But does the practice take place in jazz magazines? Unquestionably.

When I was at Skyline High School in Dallas in the early-mid 70s we would compete in stage band festivals in Brownwood, TX. Kashmere always came in first, and deservedly so.

Obouhov - Preludes (Prières) Messaien - Preludes Ligeti - Etudes #2, #4, #5 Szymanowski - Masques, Metopes, Etudes Op. 33, Sonata #3

Our week at the Vanguard, July 18-23 with Joe Wilder was similarly "quiet." Yes it is July and many people go away, but many people visit too. Vanguard attendence has been at least 80% (my wild guess) foreign and American tourists for a long time now. However, the following Monday (when Soul Stream was there), the club was packed both sets. I mean FULL. I guess it's understandable that more people would rather hear a middle aged bigband than an 84 year old trumpet player. I've been in the Vanguard a number of times over the summer and, except for Mondays, it's been quiet overall. Don't know if this is just summer blahs or a trend. I remember the days in the eighties when the Vanguard was packed every night. Back then bands played three sets - 10:00, 11:30 and 1:00. Now even the third set on weekends has been phased out. That said, I'm counting on every one of you to help pack the club the week of October 24-29 when I bring in my group, World Series or no. If the Yankees or Mets make it in, I'm fuked! I'm in again tomorrow night with the bigband - will compare the attendence to last week.

That was "The Second Race." Yes. "Take My Hand" was the original on Who's Who of Jazz. I don't know if the next issue was licensed or bootlegged. "Stella By Starlight" from that CD is in B too. Not for the sake of being tricky, but playing in different keys makes you play different stuff.

Thanks for the compliment Soul Stream. You should have said hello! And BTW, where were you the six nights before during Joe Wilder's week? Incidentally, Ralph was on my first date on Criss Cross 20 years ago. Larry, thanks for picking up Milestones. But if you want to hear something that's closer to my musical activities of the past several years, pick up Soul Journey. Even though it too is a few years old, it's my last CD as a leader.

When I played the Chicago Jazz Festival with Johnny Griffin in 1988 (?), we finished our set with a Chicago all-star tenor blowout with Eddie Harris, Von Freeman, Clifford Jordan and E. Parker McDougal. Gilmore was supposed to join us but Sun Ra put the nix on it. Gilmore seemed a little bugged but he wasn't going to challenge it. Missed an opportunity to play with one of my all-time favorite tenor players. At least we played a game of chess - he kicked my ass in just a few minutes. I performed "Saturn," "Images," and "Horizon" at Gilmore's memorial service with a quartet.

If you're in NYC July 18-23...... same group: Joe Wilder Michael Weiss John Webber Lewis Nash New York Times Stepping Gently Out of the Sideman Shadows By BEN RATLIFF Published: February 3, 2006 Joe Wilder doesn't seem used to making announcements. Taking the stage for his first set at the Village Vanguard on Tuesday, he looked ill at ease, like a guest waiting to be placed at the dinner table. But when he sat down, confident logic poured out of his trumpet. Mr. Wilder is 83 and has been known for 60 years as a high-level sideman. Chatting before he got started — he was in the corridor, scrutinizing the pictures on the walls, rather than waiting in the back room for his dramatic entrance — he said he had never before led a band in a New York jazz club; he consented, he said, when asked by the Vanguard's owner, Lorraine Gordon, and encouraged by the pianist Michael Weiss. He has played with big bands, among them Lionel Hampton's and Jimmie Lunceford's; he briefly joined a powerful version of the Count Basie band in 1953 and did some recording under his own name for Savoy soon after. But he spent a great deal of his career in the straight world. For 17 years he worked as a staff musician at ABC, and he still has a professional, responsible air. Like the pianist Hank Jones — who is a few years older and worked in the studios for a similar length of time — he is almost never seen without a coat and tie. With a quartet including Mr. Weiss, the bassist John Webber and the drummer Lewis Nash, Mr. Wilder played a handful of his favorite standards, blues and ballads. The band cohered beautifully around him. The quartet had barely rehearsed; for sure, its interaction with Mr. Wilder — and Mr. Wilder's chops — will improve through the week. But things already sounded good by the first tune. Mr. Wilder is an old-fashioned, disciplined melodic improviser. His clean, light, elegant sound and upbeat imagination don't lead him toward slurring or shouting or imprecision; instead, at climaxes, he filed down his upper-middle-register notes to make them dartlike. In his first improvised chorus, on "Secret Love," he whizzed through a whole-tone scale; for the rest of the set, he unloaded one bright idea after another. In "Cherokee," he followed perfectly melodic improvised phrases abstracted from the melody, then changed to flügelhorn midsong. He used a mute on "All the Things You Are," played four-bar tradeoffs with Mr. Nash, the drummer, and used circular breathing to hold a continuous note for the song's eight final bars. The only nonstandards in the set were Mr. Weiss's Latin tune "La Ventana" and Mr. Wilder's own "Joe's Blues." It was the most optimistic-sounding blues you could imagine.

I know I'm a bad sport and willfully bipassing established BFT etiquette, but I'd rather just ID tracks rather than give comments. I know this removes about 90% of the intent but as a musician I'd rather keep my opinions to myself and not insult anybody. Does this disqualify me from contributing? If not, how soon can we post track IDs? Anyway, there's a lot of nice stuff on these discs.

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I'll be bringing in a quartet to the Kitano New York, July 14 and 15. Sets are 8:00pm and 9:45pm. With me this time is Steve Wilson on soprano and alto saxophones, bassist Ugonna Okegwo and Kendrick Scott on drums. We'll be premiering some new tunes and trying out new ways to play the older ones. This engagement will be an early warm-up to our debut week at the Village Vanguard, October 24-29, where the group will be augmented by master percussionist Daniel Sadownick. I hope you can come by and hear what we're up to. The Kitano Hotel is located at 66 Park Avenue at the corner of 38th street.

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Mogie What tune is this and where is it from?