Gary Peacock

[Tom Storer]

In the November issue of the French monthly Jazz Magazine, there's an article in which three French musicians--pianist Guillaume de Chassy, bassist Stéphane Kerecki, and drummer Fabrice Monteau--talk about the Keith Jarrett "standards" trio. The angle is "one trio talks about another that is among their models."

Anyway, I was surprised to read some of the things they had to say about Gary Peacock. I'm not a musician, and sometimes we laymen are startled to learn that a musician who has a certain reputation and history also has certain flaws, according to other musicians, that the untrained might not notice. I've always been very impressed with Peacock's playing, but here's what these guys have to say (my translation):

Kerecki: As for Peacock, he's in Scott LaFaro's lineage more than Charlie Haden's. For example, on Evans' "Trio 64," it's shocking how much he sounds like LaFaro. And even today! Of course, he doesn't have LaFaro's rigor, but that doesn't seem to slow him down. I've rarely seen someone who plays with so much conviction despite his approximations. It's no mystery: on "Tales of Another," he makes mistakes, sometimes he's out of tune, etc. But on the other hand he's so powerfully expressive, he has so much authority. At the end of Vignette, he doesn't play the right note but, as a great musician, he makes his mistake sound good.

de Chassy: Since the trio was created in 1989, their dynamic is based on the improbable situation of two rhythmically infallible players with a fragile musician, a sort of poet--you never know what note he's going to play or when! It's that fragile equilibrium that makes it fresh. With a less fallible bassist, maybe it wouldn't have the same emotional impact. Whereas nowadays musicians have to be irreproachable, Peacock shows how moving one can be without necessarily being a world champion.

It's not like they're putting Peacock down--on the contrary, they're calling him great, authoritative, a poet, powerfully expressive. But they casually mention shortcomings I would never have guessed--he sounds mighty to me, but they speak as if he's clearly far from technically impressive, even if he is impressive in terms of art and feeling. Which is what counts, of course.

Musicians out there, are these guys expressing a widespread view? Is Peacock a brilliant poet but not a solid technician? Just curious.

[fkimbrough]

I heard Peacock with Bley and Motian in New York last August (at Birdland). Over 2 nights I heard 4 sets, and Peacock sounded amazing, as always. No tunes were called, no tempos stomped off - just in-the-moment improvisations, sometimes based on tunes, but just as often not. Maybe his intonation isn't always perfect, but was he ever on! At one point in an improvisation during their first set, Bley played a line, and Peacock played it right back at him, immediately - Paul was so surprised that he just looked up at Peacock in mid-improvisation and yelled "Fuck You!" - he meant it in a humorous way of course. It was a hilarious moment, though I may have been the only person to hear it - I was sitting at a table just by Paul's left hand. After the set, I asked Paul if I had heard him correctly, and he said yes, and then remarked in his inimitable way that the bass player's not supposed to play better than the pianist. Where Gary's shortcomings are concerned, it's like I tell my students - it's the irritation caused by a grain of sand that makes the pearl. One thing for sure, he's the most listening bassist I think I've ever heard.

[alocispepraluger102]

tales of another is one of the most awesome recordings ever as is december poems.

being a large part of the ayler legacy and bley's is certainly remarkable.

Edited November 3, 2007 by alocispepraluger102

[Tom Storer]

he said yes, and then remarked in his inimitable way that the bass player's not supposed to play better than the pianist. Where Gary's shortcomings are concerned, it's like I tell my students - it's the irritation caused by a grain of sand that makes the pearl. One thing for sure, he's the most listening bassist I think I've ever heard.

Thanks, Frank. I think I have the picture!

[AndrewHill]

And he can swing too, like on Don Ellis' "Essence."

[Larry Kart]

To hear/see Peacock at a youthful, brilliant (though arguably somewhat egomanical) peak, check out this 1962 Jazz Casual broadcast with Shorty Rogers:

http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Scene-USA-Shell...y/dp/B00005LDCO

[Larry Kart]

Selections from the above on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_quer...p;search=Search

[AndrewHill]

Selections from the above on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_quer...p;search=Search

Thanks for posting that The camera work was terrific as was the music.

[Rob C]

I was lucky to score used copies of two Peacock-led quartet discs yesterday, Guamba and Voice from the Past: Paradigm. Both very good, on first listens, especially Voice.

[JSngry]

Selections from the above on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_quer...p;search=Search

Howsabout that Larry Bunker, eh?

Come to think of it, that's a guy who always seemed (seems?) to bring fire and drive to wherever. He's on a buttload of sides too, but isn't a "legend" like some of his peers. So here's some love for Larry Bunker!

And now - back to Gary Peacock.

[clifford_thornton]

Interesting statements about Peacock's approach; I probably agree.

He was a perfect complement to Sunny Murray in the Ayler unit, playing vast flurries of notes and constant, disassociated melody in a field not unlike Murray's field of cracked-glass cymbal work.

[Peter Friedman]

I have listened to a lot of Gary Peacock as part of the Keith Jarrett Standards Trio recordings. To my ears Gary sounds marvelous. His playing is filled with passion, a large "woody' bass sound, and his solos are highly interesting. I don't hear all that much Scott La Faro influence in his playing in the Jarrett Trio sessions.