Billy Drewes

[melvsax]

Hi

I've heard a little bit of Billy Drewes playing with the Vanguard Orchestra and I'd like to hear some more.......

Preferably with a smallish combo that he has more solo space and on alto sax.

Any recommendations?

Thanks

Adam

[Guest donald petersen]

g_d if your passion to hear billy drewes runs so deep i think you take everything you can get!

[Larry Kart]

Drewes fascinates me -- rhythmically, harmonically, you name it. Lots of things with bassist Steve LaSpina as leader, mostly on Steeplechase, all worthwhile; that's probably the representative core of what's available of Drewes, plus I beleive he's on at least one Dave Ballou date on Steeplechase. To be tracked down at at all costs if possible, though it's surely OOP, is an early '90s quartet album on I think Triloka titled IIRC "Double Standard," under Andy LaVerne's name -- versions of standards plus LaVerne contrafacts on the same tunes. As you might imagine, this semi-crazed premise suits Drewes to perfection. One of the odd interesting things about Drewes is that he sounds so much the same on tenor, alto, and soprano that at times it's not easy to tell which horn he's playing. Met him once when the Vanguard Orchestra was in town for a concert. Nice guy. FWIW, Harvey Pekar is a big Drewes fan and has written about him.

[Guy Berger]

He was in Paul Motian's quintet with Joe Lovano, Bill Frisell and Ed Schuller, appearing on one album (Psalm, ECM) and a few live recordings.

Guy

[CJ Shearn]

Lyle Mays' self titled album

[xybert]

Have been revisiting Bill Frisell's albums as a leader in chronological order (thought i'd run out of steam quite quickly but have actually quite enjoyed listening to one album every other night or so). Currently listening to This Land and had to look up who was on saxophone. Surprised to see a name that i wasn't familiar with, although reading this thread he's been on other stuff i've heard (including This Land). Dude can play!

[Larry Kart]

9 hours ago, xybert said:

Have been revisiting Bill Frisell's albums as a leader in chronological order (thought i'd run out of steam quite quickly but have actually quite enjoyed listening to one album every other night or so). Currently listening to This Land and had to look up who was on saxophone. Surprised to see a name that i wasn't familiar with, although reading this thread he's been on other stuff i've heard (including This Land). Dude can play!

Drewes is a longtime favorite of mine -- a highly individual offshoot of Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz, or so I think. He's on a lot of Steve LaSpina's albums for Steeplechase, always in fine form. He also inadvertently gave me the worst case of the respiratory flu I ever had. He was at the Elmhurst Jazz Festival about ten years ago in a big band led by Jim McNeely (might have been the Vanguard Orchestra -- Drewes is or was member), and afterwards Billy and I talked for a good while, even though he was sneezing and coughing something fierce. A few days later so was I --  sick as hell for almost two weeks.

[medjuck]

9 hours ago, xybert said:

Have been revisiting Bill Frisell's albums as a leader in chronological order (thought i'd run out of steam quite quickly but have actually quite enjoyed listening to one album every other night or so). Currently listening to This Land and had to look up who was on saxophone. Surprised to see a name that i wasn't familiar with, although reading this thread he's been on other stuff i've heard (including This Land). Dude can play!

Wow. I'll be curious to hear what you think by the end.  I'm a big fan and admire that he's eclectic enough to have done a few albums I really dislike. 

[Milestones]

I' m a big Frisell fan, but the recent albums have not done a whole lot for me--good stuff on all of them, but none of them comes across as an impressive whole.  Sometimes I long to hear him work in more overt jazz situations--such as playing with Joey Baron, or the late Paul Motian, or Lee Konitz.  

[Steve Reynolds]

Can't be there but Drewes is playing tomorrow night @ Cornelia Street Cafe in a quartet 

Vela Vazquez: piano

Scott Lee: bass

Jeff Hirshfield: drums 

called Streams trio and Drewes joins them listed on saxophone so who knows which horns he brings:)

2 sets 8:00 & 9:30

Edited March 27, 2017 by Steve Reynolds

[xybert]

 

On 3/25/2017 at 6:48 AM, medjuck said:

Wow. I'll be curious to hear what you think by the end.  I'm a big fan and admire that he's eclectic enough to have done a few albums I really dislike. 

Cheers, will let you know. Should clarify i'm just going through the leader albums of his that i have in my collection, which is about 15 starting with Rambler (1984) and ending with Beautiful Dreamers (2010). There's some gaps there but it's a pretty good overview. I'm a fan but for me he's a bit like Brubeck, in that he's not in my regular rotation but every now and again i get the bug and binge on him for a couple of weeks.

On 3/27/2017 at 2:22 AM, Milestones said:

I' m a big Frisell fan, but the recent albums have not done a whole lot for me--good stuff on all of them, but none of them comes across as an impressive whole.  Sometimes I long to hear him work in more overt jazz situations--such as playing with Joey Baron, or the late Paul Motian, or Lee Konitz.  

I think some of the frustration with Frisell is that his early work as a leader and sideman was so creative and varied and seemed to be progressing... and then he kind of perfected his style sometime around the mid-late nineties and that's what we've been hearing ever since. This is over generalising as there are some curveballs here and there... the overall 'quality' has not dropped, it's just not as... essential/exciting/interesting(?).

Random constructive criticism: I'm not sure if it is/was a Nonesuch thing but often i think his albums would benefit from being 40 minutes rather than 60-70.

Anyway, don't want to turn this in to a Frisell thread. 

EDIT: Just to give closure, i did end up running out of steam, at around Music For The Films Of Buster Keaton: The High Sign/One Week. No reflection on Frisell, i think he's excellent, i had just really had my fill for the time being. No point in force-feeding yourself Frisell just for the sake of it. 

Edited April 15, 2017 by xybert