The Jazz Culture Feature
"Django Tiger," an Early Jazz quartet with three guitars and a bass at the Empire Hotel Rooftop Bar & Lounge
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DJANGO TIGER QUARTET by L. Hamanaka
Caught the Django Tiger Quartet, three guitars and a bass, with Roy Williams, and Darius Scheider, lead guitarists, Matt Miller, rhythm guitar, and Ian O’Hara, bass at the Empire Hotel Rooftop Bar & Lounge, 44 West 63rd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam. The Empire Hotel has started having jazz Monday nights at 6:30-8:30 p.m. The jazz program has become very popular; the space has a nice view but needs the strains of live music to keep it afloat. Perhaps the Empire is on the cusp of a wave of hotels following the Waldorf back into the waters of live music. Walked in on “Dinah” at about 140=quarter note, as the talented group played with fervor. Stumbled accidentally into a group of Django Reinhardt lovers playing some of his favorite standards. Django Reinhardt, the exhilarating romanticist. “Honeysuckle Rose,” at about 160=quarter note, was next. Darius played a pretty solo and then the quartet traded 4’s with the bassist. They followed with a couple of choruses of chording with a melodic lead line. Roy Williams played a spare but effective solo, ending with a snappy phrase he repeated three times to take the melody out. The next song was “I See You in My Dreams,” at about 148=quarter note, slightly faster than Django played it. Darius Scheider, a relocated Frenchman who freelances gypsy guitar, but promotes original fusion on his site played lead on this song and expanded the melody well, with the solid support of the rhythm section. Roy Williams started his solo high and built chordal crescendos, repeating some two note licks through the changes, and escalating to a five note response in the middle section with clipped quarter notes, throwing in some blue notes at the end. Ian O’Hara did a scalar solo. Darius then took the melody out with 2
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some interesting fills. Roy Williams then featured himself on a gypsy tune called “Fate” starting in A minor and gravitating toward a major turnaround. “Fate” had a wavelike melody in the middle section. Mr. Williams played many trills and cascading fills the group seemed to pick up the tune immediately, after Roy Williams spelled the changes, and Darius then played a good solo on it. The group had a warm full sound and the rhythmic concept of early jazz, but tended to play with too equal an emphasis on all four beats resulting in a somewhat tense feeling-or maybe they were just nervous. Darius called the next tune, “Ragged Anne,” at about 200=quarter note, an up tempo but sentimental tune, dominated by a four note motif with the accent on the upbeat of 2, with however, most accents landing squarely on the downbeat. A song suggesting that whatever is happening now has happened before. This band of 20-somethings put the same energy into Django’s tunes that they would have put into rock tunes, a tinge more jarring than the suave
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gentility and sensuality of Django Reinhardt with his triplets and three feel, but they are a different generation. “Nuages” (clouds) followed, at about 116=quarter note, a dreamy floating ballad played by Django, who voiced it with a saxophone. Mr. Williams’ arpeggiated and played floral chords related to the melody, which is full of the flavor of the 30’s. The apex of the melodic line mostly found on the high note, with a break with trills to accentuate a neighboring tone fills up and down registers. A group with technical fluency, we look forward to their developing the power of the pause and the use of silence. The two lead guitars had distinctive tones, Darius more acoustic gypsy sounding, and Mr. Williams with a tenor/baritone center to his tone that radiated outward.
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EDITORIAL
To Swing or Not To Swing Pub. Note: We would be delighted if this set off a furor of discussion. Please send emails to: info@thejazzculture.com; or blog about it.
This editorial proposes that a New Name be created for “free” jazz; to label it “modern improvised music” might be more accurate. “Free” jazz does not recognize tonality, a fixed rhythm, meter or harmony; in short, in its basic definition is opposite the fundamentals of “standard” jazz. Therefore, it should have its own name, so that well-meaning individuals (in laymen’s terminology, the “audience”) can get what they pay for. This writer has been among the tens of thousands of jazz fans who walked into venues in the past year expecting jazz, and getting something else. Also, “free” jazz represents a community devoted to the ultimate freedom, unfettered and unstructured reign of the individual. For over 60 years, the school of “free” jazz has existed, for the most part omitting “swing” from the rhythmic nature of jazz. Many proponents of this school compose pieces that resemble modern classical compositions of the early 20th century more than the standard repertoire of jazz, or, alternatively, pieces that sound like a “new” primitive folk music (with the added element of improvisation), more than the jazz that “free” jazz was created to “break away” from—from either the limitations, form, or definitions of, depending upon your point of view. Improvisation in itself is not enough to label some music performance or group “jazz.” For example, Hungarian folk musicians improvise. This writer would like to suggest that what is called “free” jazz, i.e., atonal music with no meter or meters and tempos that change, that pulses in waves instead of being an element of form, now represents a different genre of music. Take it The Jazz Culture, V.II:3
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one step further and atonality turns to any pitch you can make on your instrument, and many wind and string players have done just that. As every thinking person knows, Rhythm is King in music, the most important element, for the simple reason that without Rhythm, all notes would be piled vertically on top of each other in one great Noise. And as every listener knows, just because you play a particular genre, does not mean you play well, either expressing or interpreting a song, or technically well. Improvisation is not unique to jazz. During the middle ages and renaissance, improvised counterpoint over a cantus firmus was part of every musician’s education. During the classical and baroque periods, musicians were expected to learn improvisation. Bach, Beethoven, Handel, Mozart, Liszt, among others were famous for their improvisational skills. In India and other Asian countries, ragas form the basis for improvisation, among other skills required of musicians there. Until the early 20th century when recording arose, improvisation was part of the tools of educated musicians. Then it kind of died down for a while. Since the mid 20th century, classical composers have composed pieces that required improvisation. Jazz was born in the early 20th century, (and some people argue it was in 1895 when Buddy Bolden started his band) and improvisation had a rebirth then in the US and in countries where jazz was played. From 1949-1960, the “free jazz” and various fusion musics also had improvisation, and then “improvisational music” per se arose from that. Since the mid 20th century, classical composers have composed pieces that required improvisation. There is also improvisation in various folk musics, including but not limited to, Hungarian, Turkish, American, Armenian. Jazz has other characteristics that separate it from other musics, such as syncopation or swing, and use of the blue note, and polyrhythms. 6
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In the 1980’s in the US, there was the ascension of a neoclassical movement in jazz, a reaction against all the various forms of fusion that had taken place, and a desire to reiterate, preserve, and play closer to the original styles, i.e., early jazz, swing, bebop, hard bop, progressive and to create new compositions and styles that retained the basic musical characteristics of the music of origin. A music genre is defined as works that share specific style, language, musical techniques, arise from the same culture, spirit and other factors. Jazz is an art and folk music that has spawned several types of sub-genres: latin jazz, jazz rock, free jazz. Sometimes this was from the profit motive, and sometimes not. Both Miles Davis and John Coltrane, who are the most famous jazz musicians both in the US and abroad, drifted away, Miles with Jazz rock, and Coltrane with free jazz. Some free jazz musicians are producing work that is closer to pop music, e.g., William Parker’s cd’s dedicated to Curtis Mayfield. The proposal of this editorial is that a new name be chosen for what is now called “free jazz.” “Free jazz” more closely represents "modern classical music". Since free jazz no longer has the rhythmic characteristics of jazz, is atonal and unrecognizable by the ear to be related to its “source,” perhaps it should declare itself independent, a new entity and use the name "modern classical music." JEFF WILLIAMS QUARTET
Caught JeffWilliams Quintet, with Duane Eubanks, trumpet, John Gallagher, saxophone, JeffWilliams, drums, Phil Rodson, guitar, Renee Berrar, bass. Mr. Williams is a well known drummer who has a very good technique and he can swing if he wants to. The Jazz Culture, V. II:3
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Songs of his, “Under the Radar,” “Lament,” and a song in 6/4 had certain elements that were interesting-the themes, that is. Another song seemed to focus on dissonance in a simple, chant-like way. Despite his technical excellence, Mr. Williams he did not sound like the leader of the group, because he was not holding things together, even though he composed the songs. He sounded like his concept of drumming was primarily to color, provide background, and accompany. Of course, you could say that there are groups that are more collective in concept. Mr. Williams’ fluttered brushes and used mallets, often in wavelike arcs, and was sensitive to his fellow musicians. Mr. Williams is a highly respected musician who is also a very influential educator in England. It is really great that an evolved drummer would compose songs, and the early proponents of “free” jazz studied music not just of European derivation but the East, Latin America and Africa as well to create songs from a wider framework and have more tools at their disposal. However, the solos were “free” and did not seem to relate to the underlying song. The song “Under the Radar” has an interesting melody but it does not sound atonal. And if you think about it, a song with an interesting theme, ought to have improvisation that relates to that theme, whatever style you play. Free or not, the quality of improvisation did not tell a story, perhaps because of the heat wave. Except for Mr. Williams, who seemed to maintain the same level of performance. One of the audience members called the music “a mess.” First I thought it was kind of a nasty remark, and I said so, but it is a pretty apt description of what music without a harmonic structure, without if not a swinging, some kind of rhythmic shape; and with no emotional response evoked except alienation and hostility. It is an open question as to how much music relies upon form to connect interpretively with the audience. Music is, after all, completely abstract. One thing that every genre of music aspires to is to “tell a story.” That implies language that can be understood. Without harmony, scales and rhythms that the audience can hook up to, the most prevalent emotion becomes 8
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alienation, which perhaps “free” jazz is based on. This writer has heard only one musician that plays “free” jazz who seems really good-the bassist William Parker, and the cds Mr. Parker made about Curtis Mayfield’s contribution to music, seem more related to soul music and R&B than “free jazz.” Art has always been seen to bring order out of chaos; this form seems to do the opposite.
Phil Rodson, guitar, Renee Berrar, bass, John Gallagher, Saxophone, Duane Eubanks, trumpet, JeffWilliams, drums
Dwayne Clemons, listening in, Left, Right, Rie Yamaguchi and Clifford Barbaro at Small's The Jazz Culture Newsletter Private Jazz Tours in NYC; also pairs music teachers in certain countries with students or jazz enthusiasts. For Further Info email: info@thejazzculture.com
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