Teddy Edwards - SMOOTH SAILING (on High Note)

[JSngry]

Regular airing of this new release on KNTU prompted a purchase and I have to say that this one is a monster. Along with Von Freeman's THE IMPROVISOR, easily the best "straight-ahead" jazz album I've heard in many, MANY a year, driving home the point (as if it needs driving home...) that if you don't live it, it can't come out of your horn. Teddy lived it, and it DOES come out of his horn. Gloriously so. You can name that tone in one note, and if that ain't one of objects of the game, perhaps THE object, then I don't know what is. No signs of health problems either. If anything, the man sounds like he's going for broke knowing that his time is limited, and the chops were all still fully functional. I'll go out on a limb and say that this should be in most everybody's collection sooner or later.

Carpe Diem. Teddy darn sure did.

Edited May 6, 2003 by JSngry

[John L]

I haven't heard this one yet, but I'm not surprised a bit. I heard Teddy Edwards live in a quartet last year and he was in tremendous shape, full of energy, playing for three hours without another horn to relieve him, and laying down some amazing stuff. I sat in the front row and felt that my soul was saved that night.

What a loss. RIP

By the way, Jim, have you heard

If not, rectify that problem immediately!

Edited May 7, 2003 by John L

[jazzhound]

J. S., i've been enjoying Black Hope as a result of yur recommendation.

I will move on this one. thanks.

[king ubu]

By the way, Jim, have you heard

If not, rectify that problem immediately!

Jim, I haven't heard the new one yet, but I will look for it!

And here comes another hearty recommendation for "Tango in Harlem". A wonderful record. One of my favorite straight ahead trios ever!

ubu

[Roger Hiles]

I'll sure miss Teddy Edwards. Saw him live a number of times & he was always a joy!

"Smooth sailing" is a great session and it shows he went out at the top of his game.

I'd like to also recommend "Ladies man" (also on High Note) and "The legend of Teddy Edwards" soundtrack album (on the Danish Cope Records label), both recorded in 2000.

Edited May 18, 2003 by Roger Hiles

[sidewinder]

I saw Teddy live a couple of years ago in NYC (front row again too) in a quartet backed by John Hick's trio and he was absolutely smoking. Very many NYC heads were turned in the club that night and the goods were delivered with aplomb, in particular a stellar performance of his classic 'Sunset Eyes'. The level of performance and drive was such that news of his recent death came as a particular shock for me.

I'll certainly pick up this CD when I see a copy ..

Edited May 18, 2003 by sidewinder

[Out2Lunch]

I have to agree with Mr Sangry here. As a result of positive comments on this board, I have sought out and listening to a lot of both Teddy Edwards and Von Freeman lately and loving every minute of it. Its great to sample different artists even if they don't appear on Blue Note connected labels!

[JSngry]

I'll certainly pick up this CD when I see a copy ..

Here! :rsly: :rsmile:

[sidewinder]

[Jim Alfredson]

I'm gonna go grab this.... I love Teddy's tone.

[Dave James]

The local public radio jazz station here in Portland (KMHD) has this in heavy rotation. I'm planning on picking it up.

Also, don't forget that Mr. Edwards shows up on a DVD release from the Steve Allen produced '50's TV show, Jazz Scene USA. His group plays a handful of Edward's compositions, one of which is "Sunset Eyes", a tune I consider to be a minor jazz classic. What makes this DVD doubly appealing is that he's splitting the bill with Cannonball Adderley. This is the Zawinul/Lateef version of the Adderley band and they are really on fire. The sound is very good. Well worth picking up.

There's one other Edwards DVD that's also available. It's a career retrospective called "The Legend of Teddy Edwards." I haven't seen this one so I can't comment on it, but I have read a couple of complimentry reviews.

Up over and out.

[JSngry]

I'm gonna go grab this.... I love Teddy's tone.

I'm hip - it's off-center yet totally on at the same time. And totally, TOTALLY personal. The cool thing about this disc is that, swear to God, the cat sounds STRONGER than I've ever heard him. It's almost enough to make me wish I could be facing death just to see how it would affect my playing.

Well, OK, not REALLY...

[Jim Alfredson]

I picked it up. I like... only the first spin totally through. He sounds like he's having so much fun!

[jazzbo]

though the sound bugs me a little. . . . Not a crucial thing though.

[White Lightning]

I picked this CD up last week and I've been playing it a lot ever since. This is a great CD. I'm really really enjoying it!

Thanks for the tip, Jim.

Edited June 7, 2003 by White Lightning

[RDK]

For those so inclined, I see that this (as well as many others on High Note) is now available on EMusic.com.

[JSngry]

I can't stop listening to this album.

It gets deeper with every listen. There's so much to ponder in Edwards' playing here, but for me it all comes down to one core point - the man is telling us the story of his life, and telling it masterfully. I keep hearing echos of other times, other players. But it's not some contrived "retro" approach, nor is it a conceptual POV thing like Raasahn or Shepp (and BTW, there are a LOT of things Edwards plays here that could easily be off a late 60s/early 70s Shepp record. But it's not imitative (in either direction), it's just the vocabulary of a certain time and a certain instrument, the lingua franca of a certain breed of musician). It's nothing more than Teddy Edwards playing his life.

For just one example, check out how his opening notes on "It's The Talk Of The Town" somehow conjure up Hawk & Prez simultaneously(!), but still sound like nobody else but Edwards. You can't get there just from listening to records or reading books, you have to LIVE it, and Teddy Edwards spent his life living it, spent his life not just playing jazz but BEING jazz. He might have lived that life in (semi)obscurity, but it was a life that was all about music, the music of his world, his time, his people. This kind of jazz is about to be dead, if it isn't already. Oh sure, the "style" will live on, but it will be played by people who came to/by it after the fact, after it was a part of the fiber of everyday life for a community. For me, that's a subtle yet very real difference, the difference between lovingly reading Grampa's memoirs aloud and actually hearing Grampa talk to you himself. And if the people of today spend all their time obsessing over Grandpa, what's THEIR story going to be when THEY get to be Grandpa?

The musical and social scene(s) that bred Teddy Edwards is/are all but dead, and now, so too is Teddy. That's just the way life goes - it goes... Actually, as a thriving, vital, community-based scene, it has probably been dead for quite a while now. But there's always survivors, and Teddy Edwards WAS a survivor, one of the type that remained true to who he was up until the very end, one who got to be "who he was", simply by being who he was, nothing more, nothing less, through good times and bad. How many people in any walk of life can you say that about, especially today, when it seems that "creating" yourself has somehow displaced BEING yourself as the preferred way of living?

As fine as the other work of his that I've heard has been, Edward seems to reach a rarified peak here, almost as if he was finally at the mountaintop's highest and final peak, that level of total self-awareness and flawless execution that a lot of musicians would gladly die today for if they could just get there one time. He's 100% flawless AND 100% naturally human on this date, and there is a word for those rare artisitc achievements that accomplish this. That word is "masterpiece". I'll go on record here and now and say that in my opinon, SMOOTH SAILING is just such a work, an album that over time will surely be recognized as the precious treasure it is, and one that will only grow in stature as the years pass and those who care about such things realize what a total musical and human triumph it is.

What a beautiful album this is.

[Dave James]

Got this one yesterday. Definitely worth the time it took to search it out. A couple of other posts have referred to Edwards' tone. After listening to this a couple of times, I still can't quite put my finger on that sound. I guess if anything, I'd describe it as considerably rounder than Mobley's... absolutely no rough edges. And it's not like he's perfect, there are some flaws, but I think that's part of what makes it attractive. Also, let's not forget the guys down in the engine room, Richard Wyands in particular.

I also noticed that there is an Edwards' CD that accompanies the recent DVD career retrospective, "The Legend of Teddy Edwards". Didn't get it, but if anyone is interested, it's out there.

Up over and out.

[Dan Gould]

I have to find the time to watch the DVD this weekend. I'm pretty sure that the CD issue is simply the music used in the DVD, plus alternates of just about every tune they used.