Chris Anderson

[fasstrack]

I've been so moved by Chris's rubato playing, his original voicings, the unexpected places they go, the cinematic intros, the reflective pauses-and that gentle touch that keeps the emotional control and schmaltz away. I had an idea for a solo guitar CD dedication project. I play a lot of solo guitar and am always thinking about Chris when playing ballads. I contacted Al Sutton, a great guy and Chris's friend and caretaker. Al invited me last night to play at a party. Turns out the singer is another Anderson confrere, and from way back in Chicago Billy Campbell. We hit it off, reminiscing and playing. Billy's a warm baritone in the Eckstine/Prysock tradition, but deeper, darker. Because of the bond and memories of Chris backing Billy at his gig sympathetically. I think now solo tracks spelled by ones with Billy and Bill Lee, whose name came up as the only bass other than Wilbur Ware who could follow Chrs. I hope this comes off-It'd be a family affair and a little different absent a piano.

[fasstrack]

Pt. 2: Lest you think 'hey, this guy ended with him and his cockamamie project on a Chris Anderson thread, let me append an essential Chris listening list: Solo Ballads (1&2) on Al's AlSut label. 1 has a reharmonization of Sophisticated Lady that gives chills. Polkadots and Moonbeams on 2 is haunting. Also on Alsut is The Warm Voice of Billy C. has some of those duos, plus a trio of Chris, Billy Higgins, and Victor Sproles backing Billy-also there is a Bill Lee ensemble. What's nice is hearing Chris play in tempo after all that rubato, and his accompaniment. Then there's Love Locked Out on Mapleshade. Chris sings, and charmingly, on this. And a must have: the previously discussed Frank Strozier: Long Xight. Al gave me a bundle of these last night and I'm in listening heaven!

[Larry Kart]

How can those Anderson etc. records be purchased?

[fasstrack]

How can those Anderson etc. records be purchased?

Alsut Records:110 East End Ave. NY, NY 10028. Mapleshade has an online catalog. I don't know if Long Night was issued on CD unless the master was purchased from whoever inherited the catolog from long-defunct Jazzland.

[jlhoots]

How can those Anderson etc. records be purchased?

Alsut Records:110 East End Ave. NY, NY 10028. Mapleshade has an online catalog. I don't know if Long Night was issued on CD unless the master was purchased from whoever inherited the catolog from long-defunct Jazzland.

Frank Strozier Quartets & Sextet: Long Night (Milestone 47095)

[Larry Kart]

How can those Anderson etc. records be purchased?

Alsut Records:110 East End Ave. NY, NY 10028. Mapleshade has an online catalog. I don't know if Long Night was issued on CD unless the master was purchased from whoever inherited the catolog from long-defunct Jazzland.

Frank Strozier Quartets & Sextet: Long Night (Milestone 47095)

I meant specifically the AlSut recordings. I'd prefer just to order them online somehow in what has come to be the normal manner, not engage in a correspondence with the label over prices, etc.

[J.A.W.]

Only one Anderson AlSut CD on Amazon Edited August 5, 2012 by J.A.W.

[fasstrack]

Write to Al at the above adress. I'll ask him if it's OK to post his #.

[fasstrack]

Larry: Al is an actor, a sweet elderly guy doing this out of love for Chris. I doubt he even has a website. he has plenty of inventory though. I'm expecting a call today and will ask how you guys can order.

[six string]

I'm a big fan of Chris Anderson's too and if I could insert myself into this possibility for this AlSut album too I'd be most appreciative. I have the Inverted Image album on Jazzland and some cds but not the one you're talking about here. Although I like Love Locked Out a lot, I think I prefer the one he did with Charlie Haden even more None But The Lonely Heart.

There was an album listed on Amazon a year or two ago that I was wanting to get but there either wasn't any available and it or they were prohibitively expensive. I don't know if it's this one on AlSut or not but I'd certainly be interested in acquiring one either way.

[fasstrack]

Is Inverted Image available? Was it ever issued on CD?

[Head Man]

Is Inverted Image available? Was it ever issued on CD?

It's available as a "two-fer" with "My Romance" on Fresh Sounds Records. Needle-drop, though.

Chris Anderson - Inverted Image/My Romance

Edited August 14, 2012 by Head Man

[fasstrack]

Thanks! Though I've neither turntable nor needle...

[fasstrack]

Here are the notes I wrote for the CD dedication I hope comes off. I worked hard on it and am selecting the tunes plus I want to invite a few of Chris's confreres to perform. Hope you enjoy the little essay:

WHY CHRIS ANDERSON MATTERS

I met Chris Anderson in the mid-1980s. We got together at the place where so many young musicians in New York met jazz music and some of its more gifted practitioners---through the generous good graces of pianist-teacher-dreamer Barry Harris---the storied Jazz Cultural Theater. I heard him play a few times there, falling in love with what I heard. Then one night, just for some fresh air, Chris came out to the club. We sat at a table and talked for a long while, as the poet said, 'of many things', and I was both struck and moved by his desire and willingness to open up as he did to a stranger. I found him as warm and honest as his music. As I got to know Chris better he also revealed his mischievous, pixie humor---delivered in a rising vocal inflection that ended in a delighted squeal at a punch line.

Chris the musician is important in so many ways: Primarily, hearing him is such good therapy! I love that his great imagination and feeling were buoyed by the practice of always taking his time in performance. This allowed daylight, reflection, and consideration of what might happen next in---between the notes. Wouldn't it be nice if such healthy deliberation occurred more often in music and life? In any case the loveliest dividend of Chris's 'slo-mo' method is that the listener too is given time and leisure to savor, meditate, and reflect. Chris, especially as a rubato solo balladeer, may be the best argument yet for an oft-cited but rarely observed principle of musical or verbal conversation: silence, judiciously applied, may just mean one is reflecting on what has been 'said'---and on what would best follow. Artists like Chris (the late, great Shirley Horn comes to mind as a soulmate) can mean more even than their art .They are both refuge and example for those seeking calm in a world in overdrive, where the ritual of filling time and space can be more valued than the quality of that which fills it. Why do we so fear silence and stillness? Chris was in no hurry when he played, and his admirers are the richer for it. But once drawn in by the quiet repose we quickly learn we are merely at the doorway. There is so much more to his art.

And so, once inside we listen and follow beauty's path and other rare qualities are soon encountered: Chris possessed a truly original gift for harmony, and trusted this keen insight to orchestrate a song as he went his improvisational way. And did he get results! The fresh invention his approach allowed---especially considering his work's extraordinary detail---could be stunning. His mastery and love of the American Song Book canon and its dialects, down to the tiniest nuances of songs as originally composed, is for me what gave Chris license for these harmonic peregrinations: even his wildest or lengthiest digressions were always grounded in the most basic musical language. So in harmonically rich mid-performance he might impishly re-mix the potion and suddenly we're hearing the barest of blues phrases---and it always fit! 'Harmony grits'---and Amen to that! Equally rooted are his ventures into harmonic territory freer than a chosen song's perimeters seemed to allow.These, too, succeeded because with Chris purpose always led intuition: his mind didn't wander, it canvassed---and always arrived ahead of his fingers. Arguably a 'romanticism' (others have called his approach 'impressionist') resided at the core of his emotional/musical palette. But this never ran riot nor was there need to sound the dreaded 'shmaltz alert' , since he had yet another gift: his work was tempered by a knowingly restrained touch. Above all, great sensitivity and respect for the tunes explored forbade pomposity or grandstanding.

As stated, these Andersonian attributes are heard to fullest effect in solo performance, though Chris's other guises were plenty appealing: he was a sparkling, witty, and swinging trio player, and an uniquely insightful accompanist to singers and hornmen*. Solo, though, was Chris's most beckoning playground---and, luckily, we listeners are able to eavesdrop on the recorded evidence of some rather creative games!. The attentive listener will hear and note certain hallmark 'Andersonisms': the use of top chordal pedals against a static bass; parellel chord patterns that crop up to add contrast to a song's changes; deliciously elongated cadences, 'comments' on phrases that precede those reflective pauses; paring down a melody to hushed octaves or fifths; unexpected departures to and from different places in a song's form (if not places known only to Chris);introductions that astute arrangers would do well to study and perhaps 'borrow'. The cumulative result of these varied approaches is that they combine to become something not exactly improvisation or arrangement, but, in effect, fantasies. And, the best news of all: Chris's 'fantasizing' is accessible to all listeners because, I believe, genuine beauty needs only to be presented (not 'understood') to be felt. Because of this especially I confidently predict that the Chris Anderson 'stock' will continue to rise.

For the recording I selected songs Chris either played or I could hear him playing. We both are 'standards-bearers', and so many great tunes but limited CD space means temptation must be stemmed and some left for another day. Let's face it, a guy could have worse problems! The ones I settled on do seem to belong, and I hope they recall the two Chrises I speak of, reflective balladeer and playful imp. As for my own playing, in solo pieces I did what I do normally as solo guitarist, adopting Chris's devices where they seemed to best mesh with my own ways and feelings about a song. Call it subliminal influence. I did 'cop' his intro to Polka Dots and Moonbeams---in tribute and because it was just too good to resist . Otherwise, in the best spirit of jazz, I winged it and hoped for the best. Finally, I composed one piece for the project, Waltz for a Laughing Pixie, 'musical portraiture' that I hope conjures that high-pitched laugh I never will forget. I can somehow imagine song---and laugh---being tap-danced to.

Happy listening!

* Recommended Chris Anderson Recordings:

Solo: Chris Anderson: Solo Ballads; Solo Ballads ll; Love Locked Out

Trio: Chris Anderson: The Inverted Image

Vocalist's accompanist: Billy Campbell: The Warm Voice of Billy C

Small group sideman: Frank Strozier: Long Night

Joel Fass 8/18/2012 © 2012 Exemplar

Final version, my editing today. JF