INTERVALS:July/August 2009

INTERVALS-JULY/AUGUST 2009

RECENT EVENTS

THE ROAD CALLS: My schedule for May through the beginning of August has been so intense that with only a few days at home, this will be an abridged newsletter.

FRANKFURT BIG BAND WITH RICHIE BEIRACH AND JIM MCNEELY: The radio big band tradition is something that only exists in Europe and for the most part was begun after World War II when state run media was the norm. Though many of the bands usually situated in larger cities have disbanded, in Germany there are a few still active-Cologne, Hamburg and Frankfurt are the most known. (There is also a parallel symphony orchestra tradition in these places.) The German tradition of art for art’s sake is historical and no less true for jazz. They have a very high respect for the music which is shown in the way productions proceed. The equipment, personal treatment and general care musicians receive is legendary. Most of all, there is good pay and an inordinate amount of time spent rehearsing and recording. Basically, the goal is to have either a live radio performance or studio version for future presentations. Usually the music will be heard several times over the next years and on occasion finds its way to public release. The radio band tradition has enabled hundreds of musicians to make a living (band members are paid very well for a steady job with benefits and legal rights) and have a forum for their writing and performing careers. The archives of these long standing bands is full of music made by everyone of note who has played jazz and is always regarded as a great opportunity when one is hired.

Over the years I have done several projects with various arrangers, but most of all with Jim McNeely. He has written a lot of music for me, most notably his arrangement of “Sing, Sing,Sing” for which my big band’s performance gathered a Grammy nomination a few years ago. Coming out of the Thad Jones-Bob Brookmeyer Vanguard Orchestra tradition, Jim is one of the best in the business and has been able over the years to be regularly hired by the major radio bands in Europe. In this case with the Frankfurt HR Band the project was to include my oldest compatriot, Richie Beirach, on piano featuring original music by both of us and one by Jim. Just as legend goes in the case of Duke Ellington, writing with a particular musician mind is something highly valued by arrangers. In this case, Jim has recorded with me on several CDs and as a young musician coming to the “Apple” in the ‘70s from Chicago, got to hear the first group I had with Richie, “Lookout Farm” as well as with Bob Moses in the “Open Sky Trio.” With all of this history, Jim is the perfect writer to be able to take the rather singular approach to harmony that Richie and myself have explored. The arrangements he did were completely on the money and as a whole program truly portrayed a vision and unique sound, especially in the well worn and traditional big band format. I encourage the use of a lot of doubles for the saxophones (all kinds of flutes and clarinets) and Jim really challenged this amazing band in Frankfurt which they accomplished at the highest level. We are hoping for a release in the future. Overall this was one of the best musical experiences I have had. To hear one’s tunes orchestrated at such a high level is a real experience.

Richie and Jim

MILES OF MILES: During the latter part of May, around the time of Miles Davis’ birthday I did two separate gigs celebrating the Prince of Darkness. At Merkin Hall with several musicians I was not familiar with alongside Karl Berger on piano, Badal Roy on tablas and Kenny Wessel on guitar, we did several pieces from “On The Corner.” Incredibly we played the first tune on the record just called “On The Corner” which brings up a story I have told often concerning being called to the studio and walking in towards the end of the session, seeing all these musicians of note (McLaughlin, Corea, Hancock, DeJonette, etc.) standing around silently while Miles Davis was mumbling something. He pointed to the microphone for me to play and without headphones I could not make out the key of the vamp because everyone was plugged in. In any case the solo that opens the original recording is recorded forever, so this was a nice memory. Later in the week at the Iridium club along with bassist Victor Bailey, drummer Leon “Endugo” Chancellor, trumpeter Tim Hagans, altoist Rudresh Mahanthappa, keyboardist John Beasley, Miles’ nephew on drums, Vince Wilburn and several Indian musicians including Badal Roy, we performed music from the release “Miles In India” which a few years ago received a lot of attention. Putting some of Miles’ tunes in this “exotic” context is interesting and hearing Tim Hagans is always a pleasure. He goes right for the chromatic notes from the first beat. Whenever you play any of Miles’ music, it’s amazing because you see the absolute breadth of what he did across four decades.

MISCELLANEOUS GIGS: Playing with French (actually Portuguese-Algerian born) pianist Jean Marie Machado for several gigs is always nice because he is such a fine composer and serious artist. Quartet with guitarist Phil Robson and Jeff Williams on drums (original drummer with my first band with Richie Beirach ”Lookout Farm”) at the Cheltenham Festival in England was burning as was one trio performance with my Dutch mates Eric Ineke on drums and Marius Beets on bass for the Wings Festival in Groningen, Netherlands. We have a recording coming out playing the music of Kurt Weill, following up on our “Lieb Plays Alec Wilder” of a few years ago (Daybreak Records).
RECOMMENDED

CLARK TERRY:One of the hippest musicians who ever played, Clark Terry, who will be 89 in December just beat a problem with one of his fingers and in this video is playing for the doctors and staff: http://tv.jazzcorner.com/view_video.php?viewkey=10e55a13bb9d78e7fddd

REMEMBERING ERIC DOLPHY: Often overlooked, probably the greatest “doublers” adn improvisers who ever played the reed instruments is remembered by his parents: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5Tk5D6qWCY

THE FROG-Someone to Watch Over Me: The Life and Music of Ben Webster by Frank Buchmann-Moller: I must admit that I haven’t listened that much to Ben, but when I have of course I, like everybody falls in love with him. His graceful and elegant approach to ballads, the forceful blues playing and most of his complete control of tone and nuance. The book is way over the top with comments about every track he recorded and every gig, but it does give insight into what the early jazz guys lived like on a daily level, both musically and personally. One thing is for sure—they played all the time!

PHILLIP ROTH-PATRIMONY: Once again Roth gets it absolutely right. This chronicle of the slow death of his father is riveting and I would say a must for all of us losing our parents.

PASSINGS

JARMO SAVOLINEN: A warm person and great pianist from Finland, Jarmo’s passing is particularly sad for the long term members of the International Association of Schools of Jazz where his presence graced many of our meeting throughout the years. Our condolences from the IASJ go out to his family. We will observe a moment of silence at the 19th Meeting in Lucerne at the end of June.


CHARLIE MARIANO: The real deal, a guy who could play anything and was a beautiful sprit as well. He lived long and well and will be remembered by fans and musicians alike.

ITINERAY

JULY:19th Annual Jazz Meeting of the IASJ in Lucerne, Switzerland; tour with “We Three” (Adam Nussbaum and Steve Swallow) in Europe-Fribourg, Switzerland, Merano, Italy, Copenhagen, Porquerolles(Marseilles), France; performance with saxophonist Romano Pratesi in Rome (with Adam Nussbaum) and Florence (Daniel Humair).

AUGUST: Chromatic Harmony Master Class, East Stoudsburg, University, Pennsylvania; clinic and performance at workshop with pianist Armen Donelian and saxophonist Marc Mommaas in Hudson, NY.


On a sailboat in the Rhine River

INTERVALS_DAVID IEBMAN NEWSLETTER-MAY/JUNE 2009

RECENT:

To my friends:

Those of you who know me have probably heard one of my rants about awards in music like the Monk contest, Grammys, etc. even collegiate festivals-events that I will not take part in as a judge because of the wrong message I think it sends that music is competition, etc.

But of course, I am human and like anyone else appreciate being acknowledged by prestigious institutions. Maybe it is hypocritical tow hat I say above, but so be it. In any case as some of you know I have been awarded a nice honor by the French government, the Order of Arts and Letters-second level-Officer. A lot of heavies in all fields have gotten the order but in jazz only a few. No money-I think some kind of pin, but it's nice and the truth I have spent the most time in France playing and in collaborations with their own musicians. I have always maintained that as far as culture goes, the French can't be beat.

Also I have been appointed Artist in Residence at Manhattan School of Music, where I have been teaching the graduate level for ten years. It means more money and more contact with undergraduate students. It is the best program around with the highest level of serious jazz students.

To all my friends who have supported me, those in the business past and present who have helped me and to the musicians whom I have played with, much thanks--most of all to my family, Natalie and Harold Visentin, Caris and Lydia who bear the brunt of my ceaseless activities and time away from home.

Peace
Lieb

here's a link about the Order of Arts and Letters:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordre_des_Arts_et_des_Lettres





RECENT EVENTS

ENSEMBLE INTERCONTEMPORAIN: The several concerts I did with this incredible ensemble (founded and still lead by Pierre Boulez) in Paris at Le Cite de Musique will stand as one of the highlights of recent years. It is the first time they invited an improviser from the jazz world. The conductor for this event, a great musician from Finland who is doing a lot of guest conducting all over the world, Susanna Malkki, came up with the idea of highlighting several tracks from my recording done live at the Willisau Festival in Switzerland a few years ago where I played my first ever full solo set. The tracks she chose were from initially recorded on “The Tree” (solo soprano on Soul Note from the early 90s) and “Colors” (solo tenor on Hat Hut from the mid 90s). Between her and myself we chose three composers-Italian bassist (and head of the jazz department at the Paris Conservatory) Riccardo Del Fra with whom I have worked and recorded with over many years; French arranger Christophe Dal Sasso who wrote charts on some of my tunes which we recorded together and Finnish composer, Timo Hietala. Though the material they were asked to arrange was the same for all of them, somehow the variety of music they wrote worked out ranging from chord changes to intervallic motifs, pure coloristic and ambient sound and so on. I was pretty free to play what I want and must admit it was one of the most challenging gigs I have had, to come up with so much improvised material over one hour and fifteen minutes.

Of course this ensemble is famous for their reading and playing skills which are unbelievable. Each musician is a soloist on their own and to hear the tone they produced from their instruments was exhilarating. Three percussionist filled the whole stage with drums, gongs, celestas, etc., all of which were incorporated. (It could be said that the 20th century style has done the most for liberating percussionists from their former rather sedate role in previous eras of classical music.) After two concerts we then gave an abridged Saturday morning performance to nearly 1000 children, explaining what improvisation is, the various instruments in the orchestra and so on. The music we played confirms my feelings about how inclusive jazz is, borrowing from all styles diverse elements to be transformed by a performers and composers. There is no music in the world that allows, in fact demands this “borrowing” system. I think the musicians of the ensemble were very impressed with the improvisation they witnessed, since we, as jazz musicians, never repeat anything the same way, even in rehearsal. We are hoping to do more next year in some other European capitals.


With the composers and conductor


DEXTER RIDES AGAIN: Two nights playing the music of Long Tall Dexter at the Iridium in New York with George Cables, Eric Alexander, Lonnie Plaxico and Billy Drummond were a real change of pace for me. These guys really know that music…in fact Lonnie and George of course played with Gordon. It’s great when guys really know the inside stuff beyond the written page. (We used Aebersold’s Volume 82 for lead sheets-thanks Jamey!!) Playing all Dexter tunes it struck me that so much of pure be bop is uplifting and joyous music, often played by people who were prejudiced against, often had drug problems and never really made much money, whereas guys like me who come from pretty secure bourgeois backgrounds play so much dissonant, melancholy and “down” music. It’s interesting what the human spirit is capable of doing.


Band at the Cape of Good Hope



CAPETOWN, SOUTH AFRICA FESTIVAL: With my group (Juris, Marino, Marcinko) we flew all the way down to South Africa for what is basically a pop festival featuring mostly African groups. But being one of two jazz groups (along with drummer Al Foster’s quartet) gave us a golden opportunity to stand out and really play a nice set. Also I got a chance to teach a little with an old student who is running a great program at the University of Capetown, Mike Rossi, as well as play with my old buddy from Israel, Micu Narunsky, who is becoming quite a wine maker in his own right. Of course mention must be made of the amazing natural beauty of the country. We went to where the whales from Antartica gather to mater every year, where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic, the Cape of Good Hope with its many ship wrecks, etc. What a beautiful place and what changes from the apartheid period.


The Indian meets the Atlantic









DUO WITH WOLFGANG REISINGER/ QUARTET WITH PHIL ROBSON: I always enjoy playing duo with Wolfgang. He is a drummer par excellent who uses electronics with great taste and sophistication. As well, guitarist Phil Robson’s trio with Jeff Williams (my first drummer in Lookout Farm in the 70s) and Dave Whitfield on bass is a lot of fun to play with. Phil is a great guitarist out of the Martino-Wes bag with good compositional instincts.

DIMI AND THE BLUE MEN: On my web site under Special Features you can read about my trip a few years ago to the country of Mauritania in the Western Sahara desert and how we heard the music of singer Dimi Mint Abba everywhere went. I wrote a tune dedicated to her that I have recorded with Ellery Eskelin (“Renewal”on Hatology) and play with my own group called “Dimi and the Blue Men.” The Blue Men refer to the tall and thin gentlemen of Mauritania who wear blue robes and gracefully dance like birds. Through a long story, I was able to arrange a series of concerts in Paris with Dimi and her group, my two friends who went with me to Mauritania (saxophonists Ric Margitza and Jean Jacques Quesada) along with Jack DeJonette. Unfortunately because of my commitment to the Ensemble Intercontemporain I wasn’ t able to actually perform in the concerts, BUT I did have a chance to hang with Dimi for an afternoon and play with her band. Happening the same day as the children’s concert mentioned above by the Ensemble, it was quite a change to go to Dimi’s hotel room in Paris and play her music (all in the key of G). She is fantastic, soulful and very hip, accompanied by guitar (kind of country and western twangyish), electric bass and one big drum. I had a great time that afternoon and hopefully there will be some more concerts coming.




SIGN OF THE TIMES: More “wonderful “news from the real world. Manny’s and Patelson’s music stores, one where everybody bought something in midtown Manhattan, the other one a major repository of classical sheet music are both closing. These were fixtures of the music world in the Apple and unfortunately just like what is happening to newspapers, it is sad to see the demise of such institutions. I guess there will be nothing left of the “old” world when they get finished with us!


RECOMMENDED
STEVE LACY CONVERSATIONS edited by Jason Weiss: The king of the soprano saxophone, this collection of interviews by Steve over his career is a fantastic read of a man who was witty, very observant, honest and artistic to the core. When someone like Lacy talks about “his” music, it really is about all music and very illuminating. A sample: “A jazz musician is a combination orator, dialectician, mathematician, athlete, entertainer, poet, singer, diplomat, educator, student, comedian, artist, seducer, public masturbator and general all around good fellow. As the diversity indicates, no matter what you do, some people are going to like it and other people not. Therefore, all you can do is to try and satisfy yourself by trusting the man inside.”

U TUBE-JAZZ HISTORY UNLEASHED: The thing about U Tube from the musician’s perspective is that anyone can see masters of another period performing. Where do all these clips come from? Here’s an address which lists all the cats alphabetically on U Tube.
http://ahsjazz.googlepages.com/youtubevideolinks

TRANE PRACTICING FOUR: Fantastic to hear John playing through this epic tune with someone (maybe Philly Joe) playing brushes on what I assume is a phone book. Trane-practicing anyway he could.
http://www.larrysimprovpage.com/?q=audio/by/title/trane_practicing_four

TRANE AGAIN-GIANT STEPS: This tune and solo has got to be the most copied of all time in the sense of such a variety of people playing and using it in so many different ways. There was a version of the solo going around with computer graphics that matched the notes and another guy playing it on an unusual instrument, etc. Here’s yet another phenom with a guy playing the bass line in one hand and keyboard in the other. It is the absolute perfect complexity about “Giant Steps” that just seems to appeal to so many people from all parts of the musical spectrum.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeJt1cB7AA0

GENIUS: THE MODERN VIEW: A very interesting article recommended by my boss at the Manhattan School of Music, Justin DiCioccio concerning so-called “genius” and what it takes to be great. Written by David Brooks in the Times Op-Ed column, stating the obvious but always good to hear observation that it isn’t genetics that makes greatness, it’s hard work. Even Mozart, whom my students know I always place as an example of someone who seemed to be born with his melodic umbilical cord connected to the “force” (or whatever you call the divinity) had to get it together and take care of business:
“What Mozart had, we now believe, was the same thing Tiger Woods had — the ability to focus for long periods of time and a father intent on improving his skills. Mozart played a lot of piano at a very young age, so he got his 10,000 hours of practice in early and then he built from there. The latest research suggests a more prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world. The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not a divine spark. It’s not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success, even in realms like chess. Instead, it’s deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) rigorously practicing their craft.”

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN by Lionel Shriver: I got to this book because Lionel is married to Jeff Williams who was the drummer in my first band as leader, “Lookout Farm” after I left Miles in the 70s. (We have renewed our partnership in the past years playing with guitarist Phil Robson in England.) Lionel is quite known in the fiction field. This book is absolutely devastating in its intensity and very well written with tremendous use of vocabulary. It is a portrait of a Columbine type kid who offs a lot of people one day at his high school. Written from the stand point of the mother as letters to her departed husband, it gets very deep concerning the human condition. Lionel, like Phillip Roth whose books I have recommended in the past really notices everything, their implications and nuances. You can’t put this down.

ITNERARY
MAY:DL Group at the Belarussian Chruch, Brooklyn, NY; duo tour of France with Jean Marie Machado including Marseilles, Coutances, Le Havre(workshop also) , Valence(with workshop), Arles, Avignon; Iridium in New York playing Miles In India.

JUNE: Sketches of Spain at Bourg en Bresse, France; trio with Erik Ineke and Marius Beets at the Wings Festival Gronigen, Netherlands; HR Big Band with Richie Beirach and charts by conductor Jim McNeely, Frankfurt, Germany; IASJ 19th Annual Jazz Meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland.



Incredible-getting younger and younger-with Steve (drums) and Darryl Johns (bass-TWELVE YEARS OLD!)playing "Footprints" at recent gig

Wednesday, December 31, 2008 INTERVALS-DAVID LIEBMAN NEWSLETTER-MARCH-APRIL 2009

RECENT HAPPENINGS

PANEL DISCUSSION:JEWS, BLACKS AND JAZZ
Along with Don Byron, author Jeff Melnick, Stanley Crouch and myself we “engaged’ in a public discussion on this subject at Jazz at Lincoln Center. It appears they have been doing panels on controversial subjects in recent years, moderated by the excellent Lewis Porter. Crouch’s reputation precedes him as is well known in the jazz community. He has a propensity for antagonizing folks, obviously enjoys being a provocateur (in this case on Don Byron a bit), and of course was Wynton Marsalis’ media mouthpiece for his rise to fame. But he is super educated, conversant in jazz history and actually interesting to listen to. The same could be said about Don Byron. Melnick wrote a book concerning the overall relationship between Jews and Blacks both politically and in the music world during the 20th century. To be honest I can’t really tell you what points were made, but one thing is for sure-we have a black President but never had a Jewish one!! In fact the whole discussion to my mind is besides the point. All cultures have been prejudiced by someone, somewhere; all cultures have music as part of their history; and all people play the “blues,” in one way or the other. If there has ever been a more INCLUSIVE music than jazz, I don’t know it. I think Martin Luther King says it perfectly:

On the Importance of Jazz
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Opening Address to the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival
“God has wrought many things out of oppression. He has endowed his creatures with the capacity to create—and from this capacity has flowed the sweet songs of sorrow and joy that have allowed man to cope with his environment and many different situations. Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life's difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph. This is triumphant music. Modern jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument.
It is no wonder that so much of the search for identity among American Negroes was championed by Jazz musicians. Long before the modern essayists and scholars wrote of racial identity as a problem for a multiracial world, musicians were returning to their roots to affirm that which was stirring within their souls.Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down.
And now, Jazz is exported to the world. For in the particular struggle of the Negro in America there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith. In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone.”



BIRDLAND WITH RANDY BRECKER, BILLY HART, MARC COPLAND AND DREW GRESS
What fun to be with Randy, my friend for forty five years at Birdland with a stellar rhythm section. He plays so effortlessly that it boggles the mind. It “appears” that he makes no physical effort at all to play the trumpet. I have always considered him the best of all—yes, the best!! And we play great together, never having to think about it, especially with a rhythm section like this. Randy also joined my regular group for a gig at the Baltimore Art Museum playing the music of Trane and Miles-now that was really fun!

Review from the New York Times-Jan 29 2009 by Nate Chinen:

“During an expectant lull in his first set at Birdland on Wednesday night Dave Liebman broke the silence with a question. It came as a rising chirp on soprano saxophone, and immediately there was a sharp answer, from the trumpeter Randy Brecker. Both musicians paused and then plunged ahead, parrying and feinting, interrupting and restating, worrying their notes into a tangle. The exchange felt contentious but cordial, as if these two partners were rekindling a long-running debate.
At least that’s one way to characterize the dynamic between Mr. Liebman and Mr. Brecker, whose relationship spans more than four decades. A sympathetic pair of improvisers, they have worked together only sporadically: their available body of work grew significantly last year with the release of “Pen dulum,” a three-CD set of material from a 1978 Village Vanguard engagement. (It’s available through Mosaic: mosaicrecords.com.)
As on “Pendulum,” Mr. Liebman and Mr. Brecker are working this week with a coloristic but aggressive rhythm section and tackling a mix of standards and originals. Their tandem improvisation was a prelude to “All for Bird,” a tune by Mr. Liebman. Later they closed with something from Mr. Brecker’s book, a hard-bop shuffle called “Dirty Dogs.”
The contrast between these two players was striking, especially on what seemed like an unfamiliar theme: “Like It Never Was,” a dark-hued waltz by the group’s bassist, Drew Gress. Taking the first turn through the form, Mr. Brecker proceeded with caution, clearing a space for each phrase, pushing forward a steely tone. Mr. Liebman, on tenor, was more casual, beginning with a blurry parabola of notes. Then he stopped, scowled, shifted his weight, scratched his head and resumed with a more rhythmic conceit.
Mr. Liebman has long been pegged as a post-Coltrane improviser — he does his part to encourage that reputation — but here he also drew deeply from the prewar tenor palette, evoking a figure like Chu Berry. On an oddly harmonized version of the Lee Morgan classic “The Sidewinder,” he told his story almost vocally, smearing some lines and barking others, playing up the husk and grain of his tone.“The Sidewinder” doubled as a showpiece for Mr. Brecker, whose exceptional control over the horn hasn’t slackened since the “Pendulum” era. Summoning a clipped, Lee Morgan-like articulation, he managed a series of jagged, leaping intervals before concluding with a whinnying sigh.
Along with Mr. Gress, the band’s rhythmic engine was the drummer Billy Hart, who worked hard, lashing the beat to a supple pulse. In the piano chair was Marc Copland, digging furrows and softly tolling half-dissonant chords. On the whole the band sounded better as the set wore on, but its front-line rapport was strong throughout.”

FRANCE WITH BOBO STENSON, DANIEL HUMAIR, JEAN PAUL CELEA
Playing with some of the best European cats is always fun and places me in a different gear because their rhythmic approach is so loose and varied, incorporating a lot of rubato melodies. Pianist Bobo Stenson is truly a unique player with burning energy and a great harmonic sense, with influences ranging from Paul Bley to McCoy Tyner. Daniel Humair who played with Bud Powell, Dexter Gordon and everyone is a walking history of European jazz , while Jean Paul Celea has a tone on the bass that is about the biggest I have ever played with. Always fun to be with these guys and people truly enjoy the interesting mixture of influences.



INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTIAN McBRIDE AT THE HARLEM JAZZ MUSEUM
The Jazz Museum is a space in Harlem housing memorabilia, books and features a variety of activities. Administered by saxophonist Loren Schoenberg and Christian McBride, the Artistic Director, there is really a nice feeling in the room. Christian and I had a ball talking together-it is a lot of fun to be “interviewed” by a musician in the know who has particular questions that especially interest him.



COMMENT: Puzzle: Why did the family (I assume) put the first seven notes of “Solar” (a tune that Miles supposedly “borrowed” from guitarist Chuck Wayne) on Miles' tombstone at Pinelawn Cemetary in the Bronx? I mean of all the tunes to choose! www.death2ur.com/milesdavisgravesite

RECOMMENDED: MONK PLAYING ROUND MIDNIGHT
This U tube segment features an incredibly focused version of the classic by Monk in trio. The touch, clarity and simplicity is as clear as can be. Thelonius was such a unique voice with a rhythmic feel unparalleled in jazz. http://www.jazzonthetube.com/page/7.html

UPCOMING EVENTS
I will be doing something quite unique in Paris during the second week of March at le Cite De Musique. The Ensemble Intercontemporain, considered the foremost group playing contemporary music in the world was founded by Pierre Boulez in the 70’s. This is the first time they are inviting an improviser from the jazz world. It is well know that Boulez himself doesn’t like jazz much, but through one of the musicians I was invited by the conductor, Susana Malkki. Three composers have been chosen: Italian bassist Riccardo Del Fra (who is also in charge of the jazz program at the Paris Conservatory), French composer Christophe Del Sasso (with whom I have recorded) and straight from the contemporary classical world Finnish composer Timo Hietala. They were given several of my solo soprano and tenor improvisations from two of my recordings, “The Tree” and “Colors” both recorded in the 1990’s. Using my solos as source material the three gentlemen have arranged them with all kinds of orchestral colors and new material featuring this incredible ensemble of thirty one musicians. I did something similar year ago with a similar ensemble, the Vienna based Klangforum playing music written by guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiehl. Recent decades have thankfully seen the line between the jazz and classical fields blur. The two worlds have more in common that previously imagined. This is indeed a great honor for me. The site is: www.ensembleinter.com



MARCH: The Iridium in New York playing the music of Dexter Gordon in a quintet with Eric Alexander and George Cables; Ensemble Intercontemporain(above); master classes at the Paris Conservatory with the classical saxophone students of Claude DeLangle and the jazz program; the Dave Liebman Group at the 55 Bar, NYC and the Deer Head Inn, Delaware Water Gap, PA; the Dave Liebman Group at the Capetown Jazz Festival, South Africa.

APRIL: Central Florida University, Orlando; St. Mary’s University, Winona, Minnesota; duo with Wolfgang Reisinger at Porgy and Bess, Vienna, Austria; with the BBC Big Band at the Cheltenham Festival, England; residency at Trinity Conservatory, London, England; premiere of original piece “Passings” commissioned by the Commission Project for soprano sax, oboe, viola and cello at the Manhattan School of Music.

FEATURE ARTICLE
In the 80’s when I was writing “Self Portrait Of A Jazz Artist” I did a lot of thinking about the artistic process. There is a magazine published in my area of Pennsylvania as part of the Al Cohn Collection, which is a resource of information, books, recordings, etc., that began with saxophonist Al Cohn’s music and has grown to become a repository of materials springing from the very positive jazz scene we have out here in the Pocono Mountains. As part of The Note, here is a new version of my thoughts on the artistic process:
Reflections on the Artistic Process
Vincent Van Gogh, in a letter to his brother Theo, wrote: “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. And great things are not something accidental, but are willed. What is drawing? How does one learn it? It is working through an invisible iron wall that seems to stand between what one feels and what one can do.”
An artist is a person who attempts to be in touch with his/her inner self in order to communicate this information to others through their expertise in an abstract endeavor (i.e. an art). An artist’s body of work is autobiographical and, at the same time, a means by which the artist communicates both individual and universal experiences that all people share.
There are technicians (craftsmen) and there are artists. The former are technically trained and have the expertise necessary to produce works in their particular field. For some, these works may be convincing as art. But artists offer something more than just craftsmanship. They are aware of their role and need to express something of relevance about life through their art. From one perspective, the difference between art and craft can be compared to the difference between art and entertainment. Though great art can entertain, in the final result, entertainment is transitory while art is eternal. As well, meaningful art not only educates and raises consciousness but also challenges the recipient to be emotionally open to what is being offered. Art reveals one’s inner self to both the artist and the receiver.
The artist should strive to be cultured and aware of mankind’s eternal quest for freedom, beauty, and truth though the ages in all its manifestations, including artistic endeavors, but also through observation of all aspects of the human condition. Understanding matters of philosophy, history, the spiritual world, psychology, the humanities, etc., while at the same time empathizing with humanity’s successes and failures, all add to the reservoir of emotion and feeling that the artist calls upon when creating.
A central tenet of artistic creation is the dichotomy between the desire to be universal yet, at the same time, individual and unique (something that an artist is constantly working on). It is a polarity which as well mirrors the human condition. The artist is constantly striving towards expressing and integrating these two aspects to achieve a workable and intriguing balance. As Albert Einstein wrote: “Universality is a part of real greatness.”
All human beings are linked together through the timeless, universal chain of history and events. The artist is an example to others of man’s innate desire for freedom of expression through the ages. Once the artist has grasped the significance of this role, the next thought inevitably follows: that art should inspire people to better themselves and the world while serving as a means of perceiving the continuum of past, present and future.
Music is the most abstract and least concrete of the arts. Sound is intangible, offering the listener unending interpretative options. Bearing some commonalities with the field of mathematics, music finds expression in numbers and a symbolic language. One common element that music shares with certain other art forms is in the performance realm. Drama, ballet, even poetry at times, all have to be communicated in real time for the art to be realized. This concept of present time, trying not to be in the past or the future (which some refer to as “being there”), is an extraordinary aspect of performance and comes into play even more so for an improvising artist.
Art is a reflection of the varieties of people and cultures throughout the world. In music, there are differences in style, instruments, and content. When one considers, for example, geography (Greek odd-metered rhythms, Brazilian sambas, German polkas) or ethnicity (Jewish cantorial prayers, Gregorian chants, Hindu ragas), the possibilities are limitless. Hopefully, these contextual differences which one’s art naturally reflects do not obscure the universal qualities that all humans feel beyond culture, religion, and politics. The variety of styles and idioms available at any given moment of history serves to function as a transitory vehicle through which the artist expresses him or herself.
Much of the power of expression in a work of art is derived from its rhythm, which is omnipresent as a direct manifestation of the ebb and flow of life. Paintings, sculpture and poetry all have rhythmic characteristics as do the more obvious fields of music, drama, and dance. In the final analysis, rhythm is what moves people emotionally since it is basic to the human condition. Capturing a meaningful rhythm at just the right moment is a serious artistic challenge, especially in the performing arts. Rhythm exerts a major influence on the principle of tension and release, which will be discussed in a future column.
Mastering an art form is only the beginning of the artistic process. Communicating one’s art to the world-at-large completes the work. This “real world” process requires desire, courage, and discipline on the artist’s part in order to bring one’s artistic creations to the outside world. There exists a view that the value of an artistic creation depends upon its ability to communicate. This notion implies that the bigger the audience in attendance, or the more enthusiastic the approval it receives, etc., the higher the value of the art. Though this is arguable and dependent upon many outside factors, it does raise the point that art should somehow communicate to the lay audience. The essential consideration here is that the “ivory tower” image of artists creating masterpieces merely for themselves or for some esoteric circle is not a positive one. Communication completes the artistic process and involves an intense effort towards that goal.
The primary challenge for the artist is to decide to whom (s)he wants to communicate and to what extent. Simply put, at what level of sophistication does the artist manifest their work? Can we compare the kind of pop art that surrounds us daily to the level of emotional depth addressed, for example, in Picasso’s Spanish Civil War masterpiece “Guernica?” An artist should be aware of whom they are creating for. It could be said that one’s art implies a pre-destined audience and milieu upon its very creation. The artist has already made a choice by the nature of the work itself.
Tension and release
A successful artistic statement should include emotional as well as technical content to be fully balanced. The full range of human emotions (love, sadness, joy, anger, etc.) provide the source material from which an artist draws to create, while the intensity of one’s passion fuels the process. How an artist balances emotion and technique in relation to one of the primary aesthetic principles of artistic creation, tension and release, is a major factor contributing towards the success of a work of art.
From the technical standpoint, achieving a convincing balance between tension and release is concerned with how the artist uses available options of a particular artistic parameter. If a painter has to decide upon the right tool for portraying a specific figure, the appropriate selection may depend on the story line and what aspect of the picture needs to be emphasized or minimized, thereby influencing his choice of a thick or thin bristled brush. In music there is the juggling of dynamic levels which dramatically influences the denouement of tension and release in a performance or composition. This ever present ebb and flow of tension and release is determined by subtle and intricate technical matters to be chosen by each artist accordingly. Balance and contrast within the constraints of tension and release are omnipresent in artistic creation. An artist’s work should be flexible enough to absorb the extremes as well as the subtle shadings inherent within the tension and release principle.
Appreciating Art
A deep appreciation and understanding of an art form results from a combination of spontaneous emotional responses and familiarity with the work itself. The former is inexplicable and largely intuitive while the latter is developed through education aimed towards understanding the processes taking place. People have an inherent fascination and curiosity in knowing how things work. When one appreciates the thought and discipline involved in producing a work of art as well as emotionally enjoying it, admiration and respect follow. The bottom line to appreciation is education and repeated high level exposure to the art at hand. For the artist him or herself, it is important to be able to judge and enjoy work in one’s field in an objective manner, taking into account personal taste and the potential of a natural competitive element, especially if the work is in the same area of expertise.
Grafting
A commonality to most serious artists is the quest for fresh information in one’s field as well as the ability to learn new material. Knowing how to learn assumes recognition of useful information, followed by comprehension of the concepts involved, concluded by incorporating the material into the artist’s already familiar milieu. The concept of “grafting” can be helpful when confronted with incorporating new material. This is the transference of concepts or techniques from one area to another, possibly quite removed in context from the source itself. It may also mean translating ideas from one medium to another. For example, many of the harmonic concepts of the outstanding 20th century classical composers have been “grafted” to the jazz language throughout its relatively short history. Instrumentalists might graft techniques which are natural to a specific instrument to their own, thereby creating a new context for the concept. Over the years, I have had several guitarists comment to me that they were trying to emulate a saxophonist’s concept of line construction, purposely avoiding the habitual finger patterns that are natural to their instrument. Visa versa, on the horn I have often tried to imitate the way a guitarist or Indian flautist bends notes. Grafting is a major tool for discovering new combinations.
Artistic Stages
The first stage of the artistic process involves absorption of principles and techniques that have already been accepted as standard in the field and the ability to duplicate these concepts up to minimum criterion. For a time, this may mean that the long term and overall goal of formulating an individual style is temporarily put on hold. After this imitative stage, the artist personalizes past and contemporary styles, meaning active participation in real world activity happening in the field. As this participatory process evolves, some artists will progress to the third stage of innovation. That is contributing something unique, potentially of major importance in the field but it could also be subtle as a different way to play something on one’s instrument or possibly a new fingering, etc. From the personalization (second) period onward, further study of technique and past achievements in the field broadens the expressive power of the artist’s work enabling a wider range of emotions and ideas to be conveyed. Study of the past need not be an obstacle to creativity, but rather a source for conceptualizing the present and future. Bela Bartok wrote “that only from the entirely old can the entirely new be born.” In jazz, study of older styles and artists can result in fresh insights when “grafted” onto a modern concept.
Stages of artistic growth reveal themselves in more obvious ways during the beginning years. For example, being able to recognize significant improvements in technique and conception at an early point of musical development can be easily noticed by simply hearing two recordings of oneself from several months apart. After the beginning stages improvement appears to be measurably slower since progress is more subtly revealed. An artist must maintain a sense of positive reinforcement at this stage. This is psychologically crucial, especially during times of frustration and self doubt which many artists go through at this stage or at one time or another. When I was working with drummer Elvin Jones, I asked him how he heard himself after so many years. He said that the ability to execute something with more ease than previously was indicative of musical growth for him. The mature and long practicing artist recognizes this activity as the refining and editing process. What is more important as the years roll by is that the artist vigilantly places oneself at the center of the creative storm dealing with any new challenges that arise in the field. Process becomes more important than results at this later stage of development.
When one looks to the past in the study of an art form, (s)he should aim at finding the original source of a style. Obviously, current exponents of a particular style may initially serve as source material and inspiration. But for true and honest artistic growth, second (or later) generation artists are not the most effective tool for learning what came before. For example in jazz, a student interested in the Coltrane style should be studying the music of the master himself, not me or some of my contemporaries. Our value to the learning artist is useful, concerned with how we each took one aspect of Coltrane’s music and developed an individual approach. (Of course, in the years to come, who can predict from where the new source will come?)
Being Objective
At the outset of the artistic process a student practices and learns on a mechanical level with little reflection about any deeper implications. This is advantageous for beginning learning of the craft which is after all to a large extent, rote memorization. As one matures past the early stages, a certain degree of self consciousness may occur which can complicate the learning process for a time; the danger being that one’s mind gets in the way of the laborious (and daily) discipline necessary to hone the craft. Clear objectivity is important at this point, meaning one must address the technical issues at hand and let the psyche slowly collect impressions, feelings, etc., which will eventually find their way into the personalization stage. The challenge is maintaining awareness of one’s weak points and organizing an approach towards improvement. As the craft is fine-tuned, achieving a balance between negative and constructive criticism improves over time.

On the subject of craft, it should be noted that in many cases artistic breakthroughs have been accompanied by technical innovation. Examples are numerous such as Picasso’s cubist renderings of the human anatomy or James Joyce’s stream of consciousness. In jazz, the instrumental technique has been extended or enlarged with every major breakthrough. Louis Armstrong extended the playing range of the trumpet; Charlie Parker seemingly doubled the fluidity of the saxophone; John Coltrane extended the range of the tenor sax; John McLaughlin, Cecil Taylor and Art Tatum pushed the technique forward on their respective instruments and contributed to the evolution of the entire music as an art form. For a beginning artist, technique can lead to more knowledge and advances, but craft should never supersede content. Self awareness and objective evaluation on the part of the artist is crucial at all stages of development.
Gaining Artistic Control
If there is one universal axiom which applies to the arts, it is that the process is arduous and lengthy. The results of study and practice must be seen in a long-term context. Certain technical and conceptual skills are learned quickly, but the more subtle aspects take time and perseverance. For the jazz improviser, one must find an acceptable balance between habit and spontaneity. Musically, habitual response means that a musical idea can be executed in real time without conscious thought, while spontaneous expression breathes life and immediacy into the gesture. Under the category of habitual responses in jazz are skills such as acquiring a convincing rhythmic feel, control of the idiomatic nuances of phrasing, instrumental mastery and tone, all encased in a viable soloistic concept. Longer term areas include composition and arranging skills, band leader experience and a deep grasp of personal expressive devices which immediately identify one instrumentalist from another. Real hours spent in a consistent study/practice routine are mandatory, no matter how naturally gifted one may be, while patience with a view towards long range results is necessary. Though one may feel pressured by the outside world at large to mature rapidly, this music demands a minimum amount of time, measured in years to yield positive results and a feeling of accomplishment. The pianist Bill Evans wrote: “An individual style develops out of a person’s musicianship and artistic need. It comes from being committed over a long period of time to a comprehensive musical development.”
On a more subtle level concerning artistic control, sensitivity can be developed but intuition is inborn. It is that inexplicable element which to some degree all people have about something(s). When intuition is involved the results appear to have come about due to no specific cause. (Maybe intuition is the result of knowledge gained from past lives?) An artist should trust their intuition as it is an important element of the creative process and continues to develop as one matures. Sometimes it is just a “feeling” that a choice one way or the other should be made. For improvising musicians, intuition is very important because there is so little real time to make musical decisions in the moment
Inspiration
In the beginning stages of the artistic process, inspiration comes from one’s idols, mentors and hopefully peers. The desire to emulate someone more advanced spurs the young musician on. Once the budding artist has their basic craft together as described above (which also assumes an understanding of the history and traditions of the art form), inspiration comes about as a by-product of being human. Life’s everyday interactions and the universal emotions that all humankind experience-love, birth, death etc., if observed as such provide ample opportunity to inspire one’s work. On a more subtle and personal level are experiences gleaned from the inner psychological states or “passages” of life as one matures. Self awareness of these cycles should, can and in the final result must inspire artistic creation. In actuality one’s art is a running autobiographical account of a life, available for all to witness, enjoy and for better or worse, judge. Being a true artist from this point of view is a challenging job, especially on the psychological level.
As a case in point as I traveled through my own passages, the titles of original compositions reflected an ever changing focus as I grew. The way I write, titles often precede the actual composition suggesting a musical idea to pursue. At first, inspiration for the titles came about as my subjective reflections of the world in relation to a personal and obviously self centered world view. Inspiration came from people, places and experiences that directly affected my life. In the next stage motivation derived from thoughts concerning society, the past and the world at large. Presumably, the later years reflect the individual in relation to the cosmos, spiritual matters and the passing on of eternal verities to future generations; in total the accumulated wisdom of a life. Of course, each stage coexists with and reflects knowledge gained from remembrances of past feelings, thoughts and events. This is what keeps the process fresh and ongoing-the mixture of old and new experiences-past with the present. Any artist who is aware of his or her surroundings and their relationship to the world theoretically could never run out of material for inspiration.
Matters of Personal and Artistic Balance
“Paying dues” is an expression which describes life for all people, not only artists. Resistance is necessary at times in life for forward motion to occur. When life and work are flowing satisfactorily positive energy is being stored up for the next cycle of trials and tribulations. What goes up must come down! Observing life’s cycles, it does appear that in periods of stress humankind calls upon both the best and worst in behavior. For an artist, heartfelt inspiration and real inner strength are often revealed at such periods and may result in personal creative pinnacles. Unfortunately it appears that artists, possibly because of their heightened sensitivities, are more prone than their fellow man to succumb to frustration, depression and self-pity which can lead to self-destructive tendencies and life styles. One of the challenges of an artistic life is how to experience and gain insight through life’s experiences while achieving a living and working balance within oneself and with the world at large. It certainly appears that sooner or later most people strive for some sort of balance in their life. There are times (especially in youth) when “being out of rhythm” may actually be helpful towards attaining self-knowledge. But ultimately, a realistic sense of balance is essential for a long, healthy and for an artist, productive life.
In the art itself, the matter of balance is concerned with the seemingly contradictory tendencies of control and freedom. The challenge is to use both aspects at the most constructive moments. Specifically in the area of improvising an ideal aesthetic balance might be described as total control of the language and tools of music, instrumental virtuosity, mental and intellectual depth along with a personal flow which allows these and other factors to mix together spontaneously producing lasting artistic results. The musician who sports a flashy technique to the detriment of musicality is an example of a poor balance. Another example of imbalance is the overly intellectual player who evidences little true passion. As in life, so goes art-a constant search for balance between opposite tendencies; the ultimate yin-yang paradigm.
Consistency and Growth
One criterion of what constitutes a professional in a particular field and especially in the performing arts is consistency. The ability to maintain a minimum standard with occasional leaps into greatness is expected. If one considers creativity as an ongoing process of problem solving (for example, the improviser hones in on one specific musical challenge posed by the composition be it harmony or rhythm, etc.), the professional is an individual who knows how to confront a new or intriguing “problem” in a disciplined and seamless manner with the audience none the wiser. Stravinsky writes in his Poetics of Music to the effect that “the more art is controlled, limited, worked over, the more it is free.”
By the time an artist has reached their second to third decade of the process, they are particularly ripe for creative breakthroughs. One still retains the energy and enthusiasm of youth, yet is mature enough to solidify personal goals not driven by the expectations of others. Furthermore, if an artist has any worldly success (in material terms the ability to economically survive as an artist), this individual will have garnered some personal, if not public rewards. A sense of pride and accomplishment will be present yet at the same time there is ambition enough to attain further goals. The competitive element is still smoldering in one’s thirties driven to some degree by a combination of ego and peer pressure. As well there is the understanding that financial security can insure one’s artistic development and freedom to create will continue unabated. These “real world” forces may help stimulate an artist in a positive fashion as long as they are viewed in a proper perspective and do not control one’s life. In general it appears that by the time the next stage is reached the artist’s creative life is running along, one way or the other. Outside of any physical issues that accompany aging, the positive side for an artist is that one has had years of experience. Artistically, this equates to technical and emotional control and a level of inner freedom which allows the artist to dig deeper towards finding their own uniqueness.
Personal Issues
Artists face the same problems and challenges as anyone else in their personal relationships. Because of their unique lifestyle and heightened sensitivities there are potentially more complications than the norm. Especially in the performing arts, there is the ever-present danger of playing the same role in real life as one does in performance. An “attitude” and a public persona are necessary for the performer who faces a live audience (what actors refer to as the “fourth wall”). This reality vs. performer aspect can be tricky and balance is necessary between these two often contradictory forces at work, sometimes on a daily level. For some artists constant travel also places extra strain on relationships but there are untold creative rewards in seeing and experiencing the world. One does eventually recognize that what they do, though it does separate them from others in some respects, is after all a job like any other. After the flush of youthful adventurism, life usually calms down into a routine not so different from what takes place in the “real” world.
Western society from the Renaissance on has given special status to the artist, resulting in great works as well as heightened neurosis. It’s true that an artist who achieves fame in modern culture becomes a celebrity possibly enabling them to create without everyday mundane concerns. However, there is the danger and temptation of commercialization and its deadening influence on creativity. In this cultural milieu an artist is a prime candidate for anxiety and other mental (as well as physical) pressures. In more traditional societies the artist was a member of the community like any other person, fulfilling a specialized function necessary for the well-being of the populace, no different than the farmer or whomever. This framework was and in some parts of the world still is conducive to creativity in different ways than the orthodox Western framework. No matter the context or period of history, every artist within a given culture has to deal with the world they live in, finding a way to accommodate their creative impulses while at the same time forging ahead for the sake of their own sanity as well as the art and its tradition.

Communication
Concerning communicating art to the world at large, if at times it is difficult for the artist themselves to understand other works in the field, it may be easier to empathize with how the inexperienced public can have problems in comprehension. It’s important that the artist realize what impression a work has on an audience and without sacrificing quality attempt to present the work with as much clarity as possible. The desire to communicate with large numbers of people is a specific goal unto itself and for some the primary one. If an artist can somehow keep a distinction between the artistic merits of a work and its success as measured by popularity and acceptance, (s)he will remain on healthy artistic ground. One factor should not be a barometer of the value of the other. A successful commercial piece can be highly artistic and memorable, using Picasso’s Guernica or Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony as two prime examples, but these exceptions and others like them are not the norm. An artist must keep these matters in perspective.
In the final result an artist’s sense of humanity is what we see, hear and feel. How the artist sees themselves in relation to the outside world is reflected in their work. Everyone is responsible for their own actions and beliefs, even to some degree in societies where freedom of expression is curtailed. In any given situation there is a point where outside factors, though influencing the results, cannot be used to justify one’s actions or beliefs. This is when a person’s sense of humanity, compassion, respect for others, moral and ethical codes, etc., intersect a creative act. In the final result, an artist’s body of work is a clear indication of where they stand in relation to the world as potential seer, critic, observer, destroyer or creator of beauty and truth.
Everything one does has an effect somewhere, somehow and at some point in time, though it may not be contemporaneous. One never fully recognizes the real world influence a work of art can have. To my mind, if an individual perseveres in their chosen field and discovers through the artistic process the positive and life affirming values of creation, much has been accomplished, at least on a personal level, if nothing more. Like a ripple in the water, the effect will eventually be felt downstream. Being involved in the creative process and all it signifies, a person has taken upon themselves the responsibility of looking inward to communicate something of value to the world using their chosen art form as the vehicle to accomplish this. That is at the minimum, personal bravery of the highest order with the potential to change the world!

This is the medallion I wear every day on a chain around my neck communicating my belief in a "universal' religion.:


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PASSINGS:GERRY NIEWOOD
This is so sad…much like what happened to Bob Berg some years ago; a great musician, a family man and beautiful cat who has paid his dues is lost out of nowhere just going to a gig. There are no words that can express the sadness that his family must feel for his loss, as well as for guitarist Coleman Mellett. We travel a lot and the percentages, though small compared to other forms of travel increase for us because of the frequency. All of this is so easy to explain in words on paper but so hard to accept. My condolences to son Adam and the Niewood family for their loss.

“FATHEAD” DAVID NEWMAN: Living a long and productive life, Fathead, like Stanley Turrentine, Hank Crawford and Grover Washington came at jazz from the blues side-the root with embellishments; therefore always swinging with a straightforward message to communicate.

INTERVALS-DAVID LIEBMAN NEWSLETTER-JANUARY/FEBURUARY 2009

THE ART OF FILM SCORING
Next to cartoons which demands new music (usually very fast tempos) every ten seconds or so, writing film scores is truly a high art. I recently watched a movie from the 50’s called “I’ll Cry Tomorrow” which incidentally is the story of a singer who I had no knowledge of, Lillian Roth, her rise and fall from alcoholism, etc. But it was the score by one of the best known film writers Alex North that was incredible. Musicians like North, Bernard Herrmann, Elmer Bernstein, etc., were obviously well educated in both 20th century music and jazz, clearly evidenced in their harmonic choices. Of course the use of real orchestras makes a difference and as we all know that is a thing of the past for the most part. In the North score I heard a flute choir, acoustic guitar and flute duo, French horns with muted trombone and so on--rich, varied and truly high crafted orchestrations. It was real art-to match the visual with the aural and enhance the story line; what a great challenge that does still exist to some degree thankfully in our time with Zimmer, Morricone, Isham and others.
In a similar vein talking to one of my students about the “old days” of recording just ten years ago before the computer where although we did cut and splice tape, musicians had to self correct mistakes of timing, intonation and assorted other tasks mostly on their own. I have to think that without the reliance on machines, one’s musicianship was well tested, consequently leading to general and continual self improvement. Of course the young musicians these days are better trained and maybe they wouldn’t have to correct as much, but there is something scary about the need to develop and improve musical skills when with the click of a button, matters of intonation, placement of beat and more can be corrected and made PERFECT. So…the way of the world….

LANG LANG ON CHOPIN
Watching a great interview with the young, popular and controversial Chinese classical pianist Lang Lang on I was stuck by his analysis of Chopin’s music which he summarized (and demonstrated on U Tube) with three points: color, lyricism and poetry. I would say these are universal axioms which in jazz equates perfectly. Color is the sound that emanates from one’s instrument which is the first thing heard by the listener even before a musical shape is formed; lyricism refers to all the elements of phrasing, specifically the ability to “sing” a melody convincingly; poetry is rhythm, particularly the flow of music which includes the space between notes and phrases. Beautifully described by an elegant pianist.

SUMMER MASTER CLASS IN CHROMATICISM
My master class this summer will be on “A Chromatic Approach to Jazz Melody and Harmony” which is the title of my book on the subject and constitutes the course I teach in the graduate division of the Manhattan School of Music in New York. It is open to all instrumentalists and emphasizes composition as well as the use of chromatic devices while improvising in any idiom. The dates are July 28 through Aug 2, 2009 held at East Stroudsburg University, East Stroudsburg, PA which is about one and a half hours from New York. Please go to my web site and on the main page click Saxophone/ Chromatic Master Class for information.

NEW PRODUCTS
DAVE LIEBMAN GROUP LIVE:FURTHER CONVERSATIONS-True Azul: This is a great set recorded live in 2007 at the Mayfair Arts Festival in Allentown, PA which shows the group in high energy performance mode covering an entire gamut of styles from a reharmonized standard, “Green Dolphin Street” to the world music strains of “Anubis” and burning jazz “Victim.” Vic Juris who has been with me since 1991 really shines on this recording showing what a real guitarist can do besides the obvious which is to provide color and ambiance, comping and composing. AVAILABLE ONLY THROUGH DOWNLOAD: I tunes, Amazon, etc.


DAVID LIEBMAN TRANSCRIPTIONS: This is a collection of very detailed transcriptions of myself playing on standard material such as “Milestones” “Mr. PC ” “Green Dolphin Street” “Autumn in NY” and more. With analysis, extraction of phrases, a summary of how to use the material and a CD itself with the actual recorded solos (not normally part of transcription books), this is a very specific look into my style when I play on more or less standard chord changes. Available through Jamey Aebersold: www.jazzbooks.com or direct link:
http://aebersold.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=LT&Category_Code=


FROM STUDENT TO JAZZ ARTIST: TALKS WITH DAVID LIEBMAN: In a three hour MP3 format, I talk with altoist Matt Vashlishan (who has collaborated with me on several publications) and bassist Evan Gregor (my web master), both long time students and friends, answering a range of questions basically centering upon the concerns that arise in that period of time when a student is finishing their education and about to “officially” embark on a professional career. This is advice gleaned from over 30 years of observation and my own interaction with students. Some of the topics covered are: leading a band, business matters, traveling, social relationships and more. Available through www.advancemusic.com


HILARIOUS: My good friend and compatriot from Ireland, bassist/composer Ronan Guilfoyle was in Vietnam and found the following in a store. This is the height of bootlegging-it's hard for you to see here but the writing lists the members of the MJQ; the cover and inside folder also lists the MJQ and the tunes they play BUT with pictures of my group taken from my web site! The DVD itself is the MJQ playing in germany in 1987.This is the height of ridiculousness. I have to make a poster out of it. I mean, do I look like Milt Jackson?

RECENT EVENTS: DL GROUP AND DUO WITH MARC COPLAND
In a period from mid October through right before Xmas I did two back to back European tours and two Midwest swings. I counted probably around 40 hotel rooms, 50 train stations, a couple of thousand miles driving and I can’t count how many planes. I am not complaining but it is daunting when I look at these figures because the tours I am talking about are one nighters and hard travel. We don’t have limos or private planes or much help until we get to the gig. My gratitude to the guys in my band and Marc for all their help in lugging valises and instruments. But of course in the end, the music and the audience’s response is worth it. I see more and older listeners are “getting it” (which for better or worse seems to be the majority of the audience that I see outside of colleges of course). As discussed in my last newsletter, with the DL Group we are recording in January and have been performing a chosen repertoire of Ornette Coleman, all original arrangements. With Marc Copland who is an harmonic master, the music ranges from spontaneous classic standards (“My Funny Valentine” “Impressions” “Round Midnight” to original compositions. I want to mention one new, very chromatic piece I wrote for Barack Obama called “Enfin” which in French means FINALLY-an ode to the long process and path that got an African American elected and the importance of this event in the long struggle against racism. We also do another very challenging piece called “Vendetta”. It’s great to be able to play with a musician with such a high level understanding of harmony. I am fortunate in this respect because after all, a horn player does not normally concern himself with such intricate questions of voice leading, dense chord voicings and inner voice movement, all the subtle musical elements that a pianist deals with everyday. This observation of course leads to the opinion that being a REAL pianist is by far, THE most challenging instrument-PERIOD! With the greatest respect to you guys…….

RECOMMENDED:
Stand By Me-a great song being sung across the world simultaneously; truly the universal power of music at work:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM
Sax Summit performance at Baltica Jazz-July 08:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWjyz1X2m_I
PHILLIP ROTH: EXIT GHOST: I am a complete fan of Roth. I think his writing is fantastic and very psychologically accurate about people and what is happening in the moment. I felt that way reading Dostoevsky also-nothing escapes the eyes of this type of writer. The latest book “Exit Ghost” is probably depressing to some concerning the end of life, but for me, I found it fascinating and of great interest as to how one handle this inevitable passage. Highly recommended but not for the faint hearted.
PASSINGS: HUB TONES
We all know that in the past decade or so Freddie Hubbard was not really playing much, but the truth is that if had stopped playing after the late 60s, I would still say the same thing about him, which is that he was the best of all time for me. His sound and ideas, his fire, his tunes and most of all his time were all incredible. He had the widest beat of anyone and made you really feel the pulse. He did it all-in and out harmonies-soft and loud-abstract with the blues, etc. He influenced everyone who is serious about jazz.
LESSONS FROM HUB TONES
I received two lessons inadvertently from Hub for which he would be surprised. On a recording session under Jimmy Cobb's leadership in the early 80's, I arranged one of my tunes for three horns: Freddie on flugel, Pee Wee Ellis on tenor and myself on soprano wiht a great rhtyhm section icluding Larry Willis and Walter Booker. Of course I was quite nervous about the tune, the arrangement, Freddie Hubbard, my shadow, etc-you get the point!! We did a take and of course there is that silence which occurs after the ringing of the cymbals subsides-who will talk first? The arranger, the leader or the "heavy" (Hub) in the room because turthfully everyone was in awe of Hub in and out of the band that day. Finally, in what seemed a lifetimge Hub says let's listen and of course I get the middle seat in the booth since it is my tune. Now, not that the tune was very hard, but there were some tricky things you had to stay alert about in the bridge (tune is "Picadilly Lilly"). Hub fluffed a note or two and of course though I was aware of it during the take, I was not about to say anything. To my mind at that point in my development as a jazz musician, guys like Freddie Hubbard ALWAYS got it perfect. After a few seconds, Hub yells from the back: "Liebman-that wasn't right-was it?" I answer the obvious and he says something like "I guess we have to do it again." Of course, by the third take he owned the tune!! Though it was never released, I learned an important and what might appear simplistic truth thanks to Hubtones which is that the best are that way BECAUSE they want to get it right. To what extent it is a matter of ego and/or artistic determination, the point is don't let anything go by that can be improved, no matter who you are.
About ten years later in the early 90's, Hub was a guest with the local college band where I live in Stroudsburg, PA. The school is East Stroudsburg University and the great director who invited heavies like Hub in to play with a basically non-professional student band (no jazz major, etc) was my good friend Pat Dorian. As part of the gig, Freddie was asked to give a q and a in the afternoon for the general public. Knowing about Freddie and his legendary temperament, I was really wondering how his attitude would be for the afternoon session. Well, he was gracious, informative, modest and great all around. I went back stage to see him and commented on his "performance." He said that he had never done anything like that and he was actually nervous. I assured Hub that he was stellar. This was the very beginning of a period we are still in where no matter who you are, you will probably be ginving a clinic somewhere, sometime. I mean if Miles or Duke were around, they would be required to do it. In the early 90s's this was not common and it made me realize that a change has come when someone like Freddie Hubbard has to talk about his art to the public and like a playing gig, they will be judged on that "performance" as well.

Thanks for the lessons Hubtones!

TRANE AGAIN:Killing,capsulized version of "I Want To Talk About You" with textbook example of the way John took the ii-V progression to another level in the bridge particulary on last chorus before head; Elvin and McCoy at their best:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR9ixWP-P9I


ITINERARY(please go to venue for exact dates and times):
JANUARY-With pianist Bobby Avey Quartet at Deer Head Inn, Delaware Water Gap, PA; TV show with DL Group playing Ornette Coleman music at WVIA (PBS), Pittston, PA; public interview with Loren Schoenberg at the Jazz Museum, Harlem, NY; talk with Lewis Porter, Stanley Crouch at Jazz at Lincoln Center on “Jews, Blacks and Jazz”; four nights at Birdland, NYC with Marc Copland, Randy Brecker, Billy Hart, Drew Gress
FEBRUARY-France tour with Bobo Stenson, Daniel Humair, Jean Paul Celea; clinic at the Woodwind and Brass Shop, Paris, France; master classes at the Paris Conservatory; performance with the Jazz Studio Orchestra Bari, Italy; performance with Tony Arco and Enrico Intra at Scimmies, Milan, Italy; workshop at the Civica Scuola di Jazz, Milan; DL Group at the Baltimore Art Museum; DL Group at the Philadelphia Art Museum; with the Ed Saindon Group at University of New Hampshire; clinic and concert at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff

INTERVALS-LIEB NEWSLETTER-NOV/DEC 2008

BARACK:Writing a tune for this historic event called "Enfin" which in French means FINALLY; vindication of the jazz fathers who put their lives on the line playing this music called jazz as way to express the outrage and humiliation felt by all African-Americans for the way they were treated by the white race in America. People do learn-things do change-"Alabama" was only forty five years ago!!

ITINERARY (please go to venue for exact dates and times)
NOVEMBER: Dave Liebman Group at the Falcon Arts Center-Marlboro, New York; 55 Bar-New York City; Deer Head Inn-Delaware Water Gap, PA; Blue Wisp-Cincinnati, OH;University of Indiana-Bloomington, IN; Washington University-St Louis, MO; Green Mill-Chicago, IL; Bloom School of Music-Chicago, IL; Firefly-Ann Arbor, MI; Manchester Crafts Guild-Pittsburgh, PA; East Erie Turners-Erie, PA; Albright-Knox Art Gallery-Buffalo, NY

DECEMBER: Performance of Sketches of Spain-Cite De Musique-Paris, France; Duo tour with pianist Marc Copland-Trier (GERMANY);Oslo (NORWAY);Firenze (ITALY);Bruneck (ITALY);Paris (FRANCE);Caen (FRANCE) ;Dudelange (LUXEMBURG); Frankfurt (GERMANY); Lausanne (SWITZERLAND);clinic in Uster (SWITZERLAND); NEAR ZÜRICH)
St. Gallen (SWITZERLAND)

LIEB GROUP IN EUROPE
It has been awhile since I took my group to Europe and it was a record breaker in some ways. Fourteen straight one nighters which includes a solo concert on my night of arrival in Germany (most consecutive gigs ever for me without a break); most trains in one day (four); earliest clinic (Trondheim, Norway at 8AM) followed by another clinic a few thousand miles away in the afternoon and gig at night (Tromso); finally, the latest concert I have ever played beginning at nearly 1AM in Cork, Ireland followed by a departure at 4AM for New York. As it is said in a song: “(S)he works hard for a living!!” But of course playing every night is such a rarity and so good for you that it is worth it in the end. We are working on an Ornette Coleman recording and the music had a chance to come together over these two weeks.

Talking about Ornette, I chose nine tunes out of nearly one hundred I had to pick from. I have no idea how many tunes Ornette has written but it must be in the several hundreds. His tunes have a kind of uniformity that you see in Monk for example-every tune is a version of the same thing but with countless variations. And of course, lyricism is the most outstanding element. My choices seem to come down to a lot of the earlier works, even a few with chord changes like “The Blessing.” As usual I have added harmony in some cases and abstracted some of the heads. The other guys in the band each contributed an arrangement as well (Juris, Marino and Marcinko). We will record in January for a label as yet unknown, but most improtant the effect on my playing is already evident. Ornette is Mr. Triad and thinking in thirds, both major and minor is a very particular way to play. I am enjoying the project very much. Besides the European tour, as you see in the itinerary below we have ample opportunity to work the music out even further.


Photo by Umberto Germinale

HOMAGE-AMADEUS AND TRANE
By coincidence in the past few weeks I visited the homes of both John Coltrane (Long Island, New York) and Mozart (Salzburg, Austria). The Coltrane grave with both John and Alice is situated in a beautiful cemetery right in the middle of Long Island, a peaceful and serene site with at this point just a grave stone. The house where Trane lived his past few years is in pretty bad physical shape and needs a lot of work but here is a committee of well meaning folks trying to get it together. It was dramatic I must say to see the room where he wrote the music for “Love Supreme.” As well it was gratifying to know that his last years were spent in a beautiful setting with his kids able to run around and enjoy life. That day, Ravi Coltrane and I did a lecture at the local library for the public to raise their awareness of who lived in their midst.



Mozart’s home is a bit of a tourist trap but one thing that stuck me was the map of all his travels and the fact that one third of his short life was spent on the road. Think about travelling in the 18th century-horse drawn carriages trespassing around in the mud; no heat or light or toilets; freezing weather, incredible conditions to live under and yet write the most incredible music up to that time. Like Bach, he didn’t get along to well with the folks from his city of residence. Can you imagine what it was like to be a musical genius in a society like 18th century Austria?



RESPECT-THE SENIOR ASPECT
I like to describe to students about the unspoken hierarchy at work in the jazz world. When someone is “senior,” meaning he is ahead in years and experience you give it up to him. Recently surfaced is a letter that Sonny Rollins wrote to his idol, Coleman Hawkins. It is the epitome of what the word respect means-it is humble-it is poetic-above all it is heartfelt. This is what I wrote to Sonny:

Newk-Your letter to Hawk not only reflects upon your humility and respect for your "father" but as you make clear, it places the qualities of what it is to be human front and center, even above the music. I have always felt that we are chosen (and privileged beyond our wildest dreams) to be messengers of humanity, mostly through the art, but more important as "human" examples of the search for truth, beauty, spiritual meaning, etc. Being clear about these matters is something I have always noticed in your demeanor through interviews and even today, reading your heartfelt responses to the guestbook entries on your site. We all love you Newk and wish you continued health. I hope to see you soon again in person (Carnegie Hall was too crowded) and maybe get a chance to play with you.
Love
Lieb
Here is the link to Sonny’s letter to Hawk: http://sonnyrollins.com/rollinslettertohawkins.pdf

NY NOSTALGIA
You have to have grown up in New York to relate to the recent demise of Yankee Stadium. Sports unites people, especially in a city environment. The Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers and NY Giants were three teams in my childhood who all played baseball in New York. When the Giants and Dodgers left for the West Coast it was a gigantic blow to the city with the Yanks staying on. “The House That Ruth Built” is now a thing of the past like the roller coaster, Nathan’s hot dog and more. Time marches on and we get older, but what a great memory. Mickey Mantle was my first idol at eight years old, right before Elvis!

LONG DISTANCE MASTER CLASS
At the Manhattan School of Music where I teach they have a long distance learning center linked up with a facility in Ottawa, Canada. This is the second time I did a session where I listen to a combo play and make comments. It’s really a special situation that of course is not the same as being there in person, but suffices as a way to have contact with folks you might not otherwise meet. Wave of the future? The link is: (put into your browser)
http://distancelearning.msmnyc.edu/archive/MOTR-Liebman-16September2008.htm

LIEB IN CHINESE
Well, I guess I have arrived. My “Developing A Personal Saxophone Sound” is now translated into Chinese. It is already in German, Japanese, Czech and unauthorized in Italian and French. I am officially an American export!!

SPECIAL GUYS:TONY MARINO
Bassist Tony Marino has been with me since 1991 in my group and accompanying me on more records than anyone else (save Richie Beirach). Tony is a phenomenon to all that know him. Self taught, coming from an area of Pennsylvania where jazz is non existent, a family man with three kids, Tony fits the description they used to describe James Brown: “The hardest working man in show business.” Anyone who hears Tony shakes their head and says to me: “ Where has he been-where does he come from, etc?” Given another set of circumstances Tony would’ve been a jazz superstar. Meanwhile those of us in the Pocono Mountains have the privilege of playing and knowing this selfless, gracious man and killing musician. I have never heard Tony raise his voice or get angry.

We have a festival founded by Phil Woods that has been going on for over thirty years in my area, the COTA Festival in Delaware Water Gap on the weekend after Labor Day. I usually play there with the group; my daughter takes part in a Jazz Mass; Bob Dorough, Urbie Green, Phil Woods and others are regular participants-it’s a real local hang. Tony’s two days this last September may be a bit less than typical, but not by much. It isn’t just the logistics of what he does, it is the stylistic changes that he endures in the course of a day. At COTA he played with the JARO Big band (repertoire), the Dave Liebman Group, the Jazz Mass ( been doing that since the beginning of the festival), a group lead by drummer Tom Whaley and as well played with me at the Jazz Gallery in New York with Ellery Eskelin and Jim Black (“Different But The Same”) on both nights. To top it off he had a club date on the Sunday at the new casino in our area, Mt. Airy Lodge. This guy goes beyond the call of duty and always does the job-a phenomenon.



JIM BLACK
While I am pointing out special individuals I hope that you are familiar with drummer Jim Black who is an absolute one of a kind artist and musician. I have never seen such intense creativity on a night to night basis. He is always a pleasure to play with and represents to me the prototype “new” drummer coming out of rock, world and jazz, all integrated with a unique sound and touch on his instrument.

RECENT EVENTS
Miles in India: Producer emeritus Bob Belden put together a record last year with a long list of ex Miles alumni combining with a slew of Indian musicians transforming tunes like “Silent Way” and “All Blues” into Indian flavored pieces. We did a big concert at Davies Hall in San Francisco with Ndugu Leon Chancellor, Robert Irving, Vince Wilburn, Badal Roy, Pete Cosey, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Steve Thornton and a bunch of Indian musicians with of course Wallace Roney doing the Miles thing. I must say it was pretty nice-loose and colorful and very audience friendly. There wasn’t much for me to do but I enjoyed hearing the Indian cats go at it.



Badal Roy and Michael Henderson-It must be Miles Davis season because the next week I did a gig with my old friend tablaist Badal Roy from John McLaughlin days("My Goals Beyond"), Miles' group ("On The Corner") and my first group "Lookout Farm," along with the bassist who was in the band with me when I was with Miles, Michael Henderson. With Kenny Wessel on guitar and Steve Gorn on bansuri flute we had a nice gig at the Hartford Jazz Festival. As I write there are at least three movies in the works about Miles. They can’t let him go-nor should they!




Canadian Group-One of my oldest and best students is saxophonist Mike Murley who lives in Toronto.We have kept our relationship going over twenty five years since teaching at the Banff Institute in western Canada in the ‘80s. Along with drummer Ian Froman who is a great Elvin-inspired player and bassist Pat Collins (subbing for Jim Vivian) we have done some gigs over the years and released a live record (“Day and Nite”). We had a nice weekend in Toronto doing some concerts and workshops playing some burning straight ahead jazz.

Duo with Mateusz Kolakowski-A few years ago a young Polish pianist began communicating with me and sending recordings. I finally got a chance to play in duo with him at the Jazz Standard. He is definitely one of those phenoms you hear about from Eastern Europe-full of technique and ideas, but what was most gratifying to me was that he was quite aware of my harmonic language as if we had been playing together for awhile. I look forward to making more music with Matueusz, who is now about 21 years old.

Peace
Lieb

INTERVALS:DAVID LIEBMAN NEWSLETTER:SEPT/OCT 08

SPECIAL FOR OCTOBER ON SATELLITE RADIO(SIRIUS)
I will be hosting "Trane Tracks" which is dedicated to John Coltrane's music. It will be on Sirius Radio, the Pure Jazz Channel #72 (www.sirius.com/purejazz) airing every Saturday in October at 8PM Eastern time with a replay on Wednesdays at 12 noon ET. Great music and my commentary.

BLAST FROM THE PAST
FORTY YEARS AGO:THE PUBLIC BEGINNING OF MY JAZZ VOYAGE
In September, 1968 my group which included Mike Garson on piano,Lonnie Ruthstein on drums, Kameron Brown on bass and Randy Brecker on trumpet was selected by Jazz Interactions to play opposite the groups of Elvin Jones and Roland Kirk at New York;s Town Hall-talk about being nervous!!



THE ELDERS:I don’t often take part in the large European summer tour schedule, which is usually reserved for banner name groups and as a sign of the times, more and more pop music under the guise of jazz. There is a real kind of “battalion” mentality when you do these festivals, meeting your compatriots in a city, playing before or after them, to be followed by a meeting again across the continent a few days later; maybe breakfast and then adios. I remember doing my first tours with Elvin Jones as part of the then George Wein produced Newport Festival on the road, where six or seven groups would barnstorm across Europe and meet on occasion at a big, day long festival. On this recent jaunt with Saxophone Summit, we were able to hear Wayne Shorter two times, once with the group he has had for years along with the Imani Woodwind Quintet which was absolutely special. Then there was Ornette Coleman with two basses and drums. I am so glad to see Wayne and Ornette hold the same group together over years, which to my mind is essential to musical growth. Others change by the season, to their detriment in my opinion. One night in Copenhagen stands out, having seen Wayne and Ornette play, talking at night with Lee Konitz and meeting Phil Woods (my Pennsylvania neighbor) in the lobby that day-all into their late 70 ‘s and more, still hitting, still involved. It never ceases to amaze me.



Meanwhile our Saxophone Summit tour was fantastic with everyone playing better than ever. It is true that even at our stage of playing for decades, improvement is still apparent. One gig on our tour stands out because it was in Pamplona, Spain where they have the running of the bulls, which has been going on for centuries. Though we didn’t see the actual running (takes a few minutes at 8AM for a week or so), the crowds of people were amazing, all dressed in white with red scarfs. We played at 12:30 AM and had to leave the open air venue we played navigating the most people I have ever seen congregated, peacefully and happily. What a vibe!!

RECOMMENDED
Pablo Picassos amazing Guernica painting in 3D; really makes you think about what he saw in his mind’s eye.
http://www.lena-gieseke.com/guernica/movie.html

PASSINGS
JOHNNY GRIFFIN:Definitely one of the fathers, the Little Giant played with such conviction, grace and strength, not to mention speed. He was one of the great contributors to the legacy.

JOE BECK AND HIRAM BULLOCK:Two very different guitarists, each forging his own individual voice.

MUSICANS TAKE NOTE: I have just found out about an organization which appears to function like the old Record Manufacturers Fund to which record companies contributed a certain amount of money that was allotted to artists in relation to the recordings they did in any one year. This organization seems to do the same for all the most recent forms of recordings released-internet, etc; the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies. Just go on line to join and get the info.
www.aacroyalties.com

TO WATCH:Nice clips from Sax Summit’s concert at Symphony Space last year commemorating Coltrane’s birthday, one playing “Expression” with Randy Brecker sitting in; the other doing my arrangement of “Cosmos.” (Paste into your browser)
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=r-wl-QXqRPU&feature=related

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk9qJ418vRI&NR=1---cosmos

RECENT EVENTS
GEORGE GRUNTZ AND ORCHESTRA:The legendary Swiss pianist and arranger George Gruntz invited me to play with a full orchestra in Germany for a few days joined by James Morrison, the serious Australian multi instrumentalist (saxes, trumpet, trombone, etc). It is indeed something special when you get in front of a large group like that which is really enjoying being part of a musical experience so different from what they normally do.

SAX MASTER CLASS::For my 21st year of the master class, I had the most participants ever ranging from ages16 to 60, coming from Argentina, Chile, Europe, Canada and all over the states. My guest was Steve Wilson who is a real gentleman and fine musician. He told a great story about his “initiation” into the NY jazz scene. He was asked by alotoist Dick Oatts to sub with the Mel Lewis Orchestra at the Vanguard on a Monday night in the mid 1980s for the second set. When he looked over the music during the break, he was thrown by all the mess, the double codas and penciled in stuff, the shaky music stands and the like. He described the second thoughts in his mind as to whether he would survive the night which he obviously did in great fashion. One observation stands out-how everyone who soloed played their butts off and he had never heard their names before-just the high standard of NY cats. The point is well made that NY is known for the high density per square bandstand inch of great players. Next year, my class will be on the “Chromatic Approach to Jazz Melody and Harmony.”


BARGA,ITALY:An unusual idea for a festival occurs in this beautiful old town near Florence, Italy which has been going on for over 20 years. They feature original compositions of an artist for arrangers to write big band charts. There is a competitive element with a jury to decide on the “best” chart (something I don’t agree with in principle), but some of the arrangements of a few of my older tunes from the 70’s were really great. The band, made up of musicians from the Toscana area was conducted by one of Italy’s most well known musicians Bruno Tommaso. This area of Italy is amazing with a feeling of community and a positive balance of living and working which appears very comfortable. The food-well, forget it!!

IN DELAWARE WATER GAP,PA-With Phil Woods, Bobby Avey (piano), Evan Gregor (bass), Bill Goodwin (drums) at the Deer Head Inn for a clinic.


ITINERARY
SEPTEMBER:Jazz Gallery in New York with “Different But The Same” Group (Ellery Eskelin, Jim Black and Tony Marino); Dave Liebman Group at the COTA Festival, Delaware Water Gap, PA; duo performance with Polish pianist Mateusz Kolakowski at the Jazz Standard, New York; Deer Head Inn with pianist Dave Lantz, Delaware Water Gap, PA; solo performance at art show opening of Kathy Kyvinskas at the Dutot Museum, Delaware Water Gap, PA; performance with drummer Phil Haynes and organist Steve Adams at the Elk Creek Café, Milhiem, PA; Saxophone Summit at the Regatta Bar, Boston, MA; lecture with Joe Lovano and Ravi Coltrane for the Coltrane House Fund at the Huntington Library, Huntington, NY

OCTOBER:Miles in India Project at Davies Hall, San Francisco, CA; with Badal Roy and Michael Henderson at the Hartford Jazz Festival, Connecticut; solo performance at the Jazz Kongress, Freiburg, Germany; European tour with the Dave Liebman Group: Trondheim/Tromsø/ Molde/ Lillehammer-Norway; Nancy/Quimper, France: Köln, Germany; Vienna/Salzburg/Völkermarkt-Austria; Genoa, Italy; Cork, Ireland; performances and workshops with Mike Murley and Ian Froman in Toronto, Canada

Coltrane’s funeral in 1967-Albert Ayler on tenor; Richard Davis on bass

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN-September 23!!

INTERVALS:DAVID LIEBMAN NEWSLETTER-JULY/AUGUST 2008

Blast from the past with Chick Corea 1978

SAXOPHONE SUMMIT: With the release of our second Telarc recording “Seraphic Light” I feel a combination of both sadness and joy. The passing of Mike Brecker who with Joe and myself formed the group ten years ago is still something that I find hard to accept. As I wrote when he passed, more than his incredible musicianship and the thrill of hearing him on a nightly basis with Sax Summit, there are the great memories of our thirty five plus year friendship beginning in my New York loft on West 19th Street, which Mike subsequently lived in for years after I moved on. On the other hand, having Ravi Coltrane (whose mother Alice passed the same day as Michael) in the group lifts my spirit for several reasons. Ravi is a wonderful musician, advancing in leaps and bounds with a very different and contrasting style from Joe and myself. His legacy represents the underlying premise of Saxophone Summit, which is heavily influenced by the music of the late Coltrane period. Most important, Ravi’s very humble, easygoing and sincere personality fits the group like a glove.

Those of you who know me realize that keeping the same rhythm section together is an important part of my philosophy. The likes of Phil Markowitz, Cecil McBee and Billy Hart confirm a true sense of continuity and flow. With Ravi who is in his early forties, we now have a group that spans thirty years and a big part of jazz history. As I talk about in the liner notes, this new recording is really two in one. Each member of the group contributed an original composition, all of which are different, comparatively accessible and not too extended. This is balanced by my arrangements of the late Trane pieces: “Expression” “Cosmos” and “Seraphic Light.” We invited brother Randy Brecker to join us and contributed a lively tribute “Message to Mike” based on a line his brother often played. I am very proud of this recording and hope a lot of folks will listen to it. Video wizard Bret Primack was with us in the studio and did a short piece on each of the members of the group:
http://planetbret.com/saxophonesummitpodcasts.htm (paste in browser as with all links provided here)

BRET: I have been working with Bret for fifteen years, first with my mailed “Intervals” newsletter, while in recent times he has been very active filming and interviewing Saxophone Summit. In his field, there is no one better for videography, interviews, etc; basically anything to do with new forms of media. Artists who would like to get something new and different happening should go to this site for Bret’s proposals for promotion: http://www.jazzepk.com/
Here’s Bret’s description: “A Jazz EPK is a 3-5 minute video used to promote a recording featuring audio excerpts, photos, and info about the artist, music and personnel, which is posted on the web to market the music and reach the largest possible audience. Jazz EPK was created by Bret Primack, aka, the Jazz Video Guy, to help artists utilize new media to promote their music. "YouTube is now 60% of all Internet traffic," Bret explains. "There are one hundred million people every day looking for compelling content on YouTube alone so online video has quickly become one of the best venues to engage an audience. This new medium allows an artist to communicate a message on multiple levels - via visual imagery, the spoken word, music and visual text. With online video artists and labels can reach a huge potential audience for a minimal investment."


COMMENT

THE RISE OF THE REST: I read a very interesting article in the May 12 issue of Newsweek by Fareed Zakaria. As someone interested in history and familiar with the ebb and flow of historic cycles, it is pretty clear that the 20th century was the American one, as the British had it before, and the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, etc., all had their day in the sun. The import of this article is that the 21st century is poised to be the Asian century with China and India leading the way. This article, besides pointing outlining how America is being bested in some areas, the truth is that it doesn’t have to be this way if only America would wake up and be truly a world power, meaning opening lines of communication and reaching out in this completely interconnected world we inhabit. Let’s hope that things will change here in the States from such a parochial vision to a larger, more open world view.

RHYTHM IS THE THING: I went to a recital of vocalists which my daughter Lydia took part in our area. The material was classical or semi classical, all with piano accompaniment. Listening to these sometimes lovely voices, the main observation was that on the whole, the weakest point is rhythm-the ability for these teenagers to keep the beat and especially not rush. Also there is the question of concentration; in this case meaning keeping the intensity up after the first minute or so. In general, it could be easily generalized that teenagers for the most part may indeed have concentration problems, but this is different because it is music and not academic material per se. It is really a matter of experience and training. I am convinced that early musical education should emphasize rhythm practice for all students. Keeping a steady beat is evidently not necessarily part of the genetic code.

THE GREYING AUDIENCE: There is a disturbing trend in jazz audiences that appears to me to be increasing, which is the average age of the audience. This is true both in Europe and the States and of course does not take into account playing at colleges, etc., where the younger demographic is a given. It is mainly at festivals that I increasing see an older audience. When you look at the films of concerts in the 60’s for example, at least European, you definitely see younger people. As in most things, education is the key.

RECOMMENDED

LENNIE TRISTANO: I studied with Lennie in the 60’s for about a year, something I was definitely not ready for at the time. But there were no other “jazz” teachers and it was good luck that I got with him, because it made me see that this music was something which could be studied to some extent. Tristano’s place in jazz is very important and controversial. The recording “Intuition” from 1949 is truly revolutionary and his two main “students,” Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh says a lot about Tristano’s teaching and influence. For me the main point is that all three of these guys had something DIFFERENT to say in spite of the gigantic shadow cast by Bird, Dizzy and Bud at that point in history. “Bad Plus” pianist Ethan Iverson writes some interesting things about Lennie’s perceived attitude towards the rhythm section and its wider implications. Also there are some notable sound clips as part of this article: http://thebadplus.typepad.com/dothemath/2008/05/lennie-tristano.html

YOU TUBE: Juggler-unbelievable:http://youtube.com/watch?v=H8f8drk5Urw

MOVIE: “The Bucket List”-Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play two guys with terminal illness who set out to do things they always wanted to do, hence the title (“when you kick the bucket, etc….”). They visit the Taj Mahal, Mt, Everest etc. Yes-a sentimental movie and maybe only for those 60 and up, but I found it very compelling and emotional. In one way, isn’t life just a big preparation for death?

MASTERS AT THE BEGINNING: Recently I have heard Bird in 1940 with Jay McShann, Trane on alto (sounding a lot like Bird) in 1946 (“First Giant Steps”) and Lester Young from the new Mosaic box set with Count Basie. It is so interesting to hear these guys at their formative stages, when whatever they heard just flowed without thought or design. Of course, the polish of the future is not present but the freshness and the timeliness (considering what else was happening musically at these periods) is astounding. Singularity and conviction are traits that are present from the beginning, whether or not the craft is polished.

RECENT HAPPENINGS

IASJ MEETING IN RIGA, LATVIA: Because of my commitments to Saxophone Summit I could not attend the 18th Jazz Meeting of the organization I founded, the International Association of Schools of Jazz. This is the second of our meetings to take place in what may be considered the new West. The meeting was opened by the President of Latvia. In many of the Eastern European countries, jazz is truly considered something special. Next year we will be meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland. Here is the most recent list of countries represented in the IASJ, noting that in some cases there may be several schools represented: Austria, France, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Israel, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, USA, Portugal, Spain, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Estonia, Great Britain, Greece, Latvia, Norway, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Australia, Canada.


GIGS: In May I had a great gig with John Abercrombie joining the World View Trio (Wolfgang Reisinger on drums and Jean Paul Celea on bass) at the Le Mans Festival in France. John is amazing-he can play anything and make it great. In Rome and Milan I played with one of the venerable masters of Italian jazz, pianist/arranger Enrico Intra. We immediately hit it off playing some very lyrical free music. Trumpeter Tim Hagans is not only a master improviser (sitting in with Quest and Sax Summit at Birdland this year) but a killing arranger and leader of a big band in the north of Sweden for the past 12 years, Norbotten Big Band. He and a few of the members took some of my originals and did a beautiful job on them along with several performances. At the Friends of Central Pennsylvania Jazz Festival, I did a set with singer Kevin Mahogany playing some of the Coltrane/ Hartmann material along with Phil Markowitz on piano, Charles Fambrough on bass and Yuron Israel on drums. Kevin is a real baritone, actually reminiscent of Hartmann and Billy Eckstine with impeccable pitch, swinging time and no theatrics. He is a joy to work with. The Dave Liebman Group (Marino, Juris and Marcinko) had some nice festival work in Telluride, Colorado (talk about lack of air at 8000 plus feet!-opposite Dr. John and the Neville Brothers-strange programming to say the least); the Rochester and Edmonton, Canada festivals.

With Enrico Intra

GIGS TO COME

JULY: Sax Summit European tour; performance with George Gruntz in Villengen, Switzerland; workshop at the Litchfield Jazz Festival, Conneticut; Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap, PA with Gene Perla, Vic Juris and Mike Stephans.

AUGUST: Twenty first Saxophone Master Class at East Stroudsburg University, Pennsylvania (22 participants from ten countries attending) with guest Steve Wilson; with Ric Margitza, Jean Jacques Quesada, Pierre Bethmann, Peter Giron in Bordeaux, France; concerts in Poland with Jacek Kochan; Barga Festival in Italy doing Liebman compositions in Big Band setting.

Sign of the times-demolishing Sony Studios-NYC



Discarding orignal trunks holding equipment for first "Lookout Farm" European tour-1974

INTERVALS - MAY/JUNE 2008

IAJE DEMISE: Everyone is talking about the end of the IAJE with a lot of finger pointing, recriminations, etc. My first meeting was in 1977 in Philadelphia, dedicated to Trane. I played with Hilton Ruiz in the lobby of a hotel for 200 people and that was it-no booths, no lectures, etc. I have been to almost every meeting since and performed or lectured at many. The one immediate problem of the bankruptcy is of course the payment of dues for members like my wife (Caris Music Services) resulting in being left out to dry. It “appears” that there was prior knowledge about the financial problems. Soliciting contributions to offset financial problems is one things but taking dues under the premise of benefits with knowledge that the chances of getting those advantages is small does seem a bit fraudulent. Everyone loses because no matter what people may say about the way it was run, the people who ran it, and the “bigger is better” philosophy that drove the conventions, the truth is that it is a great loss. I will miss the hang and the chance to see everyone in one place and for young students or older music lovers, it was like Mecca to see all those names in one place. No matter how one feels, this is a bad happening for the jazz community. My organization, the IASJ, still going in its 20th year remains healthy because it is based on select student to student interaction and no outside commercial dealings.

LIEB GROUP IN ARGENTINA: We had a wonderful few days in Uruguay and Argentina with the group. (Best meat I ever had by the way!!) By chance I got to meet the tango-bandoneon master, Dino Saluzzi and actually played with him and his band (all immediate family). A very compelling and lyrical music that goes a beyond the ordinary featuring 11-V harmony but with a twist and most of all a fantastic feel.

With Dino Saluzzi

OF INTEREST!!- (I always thought jazz folks have something wired differently!!)
Scanning the brains of jazz musicians
Posted by David Pescovitz, March 7, 2008
According to new research, jazz musicians unconsciously switch off regions of the brain involved in self-censorship and firing up the area linked to self-expression. The scientists from Johns Hopkins University and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders used fMRI to scan the brains of jazz musicians as they played a specially-designed piano keyboard. From a press release:
The scientists found that a region of the brain known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a broad portion of the front of the brain that extends to the sides, showed a slowdown in activity during improvisation. This area has been linked to planned actions and self-censoring, such as carefully deciding what words you might say at a job interview. Shutting down this area could lead to lowered inhibitions, Limb suggests. The researchers also saw increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, which sits in the center of the brain’s frontal lobe. This area has been linked with self-expression and activities that convey individuality, such as telling a story about yourself. “Jazz is often described as being an extremely individualistic art form. You can figure out which jazz musician is playing because one person’s improvisation sounds only like him or her,” says (professor Charles) Limb. “What we think is happening is when you’re telling your own musical story, you’re shutting down impulses that might impede the flow of novel ideas.”

ON ELVIN: A friend is putting together a book of remembrances based on a chosen photo of a great musician. This is mine on Elvin:
Like most people and certainly performing artists, Elvin had several sides to his personality. There was of course the Elvin on the well photographed Elvin playing the drums, a study in relaxed intensity conveying looseness beyond description- cigarette dangling, an almost scowlish expression and sweat rolling down his entire being. Then there is the Elvin we see here-face as dark as the night with teeth like the sun in contrast, eyes bright and alive and most of all, that smile. This is the Elvin that was my second father who inspired me to not only excel in music but to do whatever is necessary to contribute to the world this special energy that we are privileged to know about through jazz music. Elvin had been around the block so to say, had seen everything more than once and done it all. He brought that experience to everyone together with an incredible understanding of the human condition and what it meant to be alive. His generosity of spirit is renown to those who were around him, be it a fellow performer or a listener in the audience. Elvin used to say that Coltrane was a living "saint." Well, Elvin was right there with him.

YOU TUBE POSTINGS OF INTEREST:
IN TORONTO: This is a burning version of “Footprints” with the Canadian guys I play with on occasion-saxophonist Mike Murley, bassist Jim Vivian and a great drummer, Ian Froman. This is at a club called the Rex during the last IAJE Convention in Toronto.
http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/thrivingonariff/archive/2008/04/23/the-liebman-murley-connection.aspx

THE BEATLES REHEARSING: This is great watching the four lads put together one of their classics (Get Back)-very natural, very slow and charming-talk about step by step!!
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=k-61AgGvWSA&feature=email

BEN WEBSTER:This is a very special performance of “Old Folks,” first of all seeing Ben with Teddy Wilson-what an incredible history. It seems that Ben had just learned of the passing of his Ellington comrade, Johnny Hodges. When Ben begins his solo, there is a moment when tears roll down the face of one of the legendary toughest characters in jazz. The camaraderie in this music is for me one of its most meaningful characteristics. The warmth and respect between musicians is for real.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rQVVLAO-9LU

RECOMMENDED
RHYTHM MAESTRO:Conor Guilfoyle is a drummer whom I have played with on many occasions in Ireland and around Europe as well as Australia in a group with his brother, bassist Ronan Guilfoyle. Along with guitarist Mike Nielsen, these gentlemen have done an incredible amount of research into rhythm –metric modulation, odd meters, etc. Ronan’s book on the subject is a classic. Conor has delved into odd meter playing in Latin based music and also written an exhaustive book on the subject. Check out the site and the mini lessons there:
http://www.conorguilfoyle.com/press.html

BOOK-THE HUMAN RACE-Robert Antelm:There have been countless books written on the Holocaust, but this one translated from the French is a blow by blow description of what was happening on the absolute human level. It is a heavy read, but the feeling I got was positive because it shows the will to survive is stronger than the depravity man is capable of.
Page 175-“We are no longer hounded by the cold. We no longer tremble, we are able to talk outside without out teeth chattering, we are able to form our words, even take the time to pause between sentences, our speech is no longer hurried, we can bear to be outside and just stay there. We can straighten up, square our shoulders, take deep breaths, we cease to huddle in our arms, and we look at the sky and relax when we walk, We no longer have to hold it for a day or two before going outside to the latrine, We can go out, pull down our pants without shaking and linger in the warm breeze that wafts over our skin.”

BOOK-THE REST IS NOISE by Alex Ross:I am only half way through this highly recommended book about the 20th century classical scene-something very related to what we do. Ross describes blow by blow the absolute revolution that Schoenberg and others created. After all, they were turning the tide on centuries of understandings. Brave is an understatement!!
Here is a wonderful story from the book:
“Jazz musicians sat up in their seat when Stravinsky’s music started playing: he was speaking something close to their language. When Bird came to Paris in 1949 he marked the occasion by incorporating the first notes of Rite of Spring into his solo on “Salt Peanuts.” Two years later, playing Birdland in New York, the bebop master spotted Stravinsky at one of the tables and immediately quoted a motif from “Firebird” into “Koko” causing the composer to spill his scotch in ecstasy.”(pg 92)

PASSINGS
DENNIS IRWIN: A brother beyond brother, Dennis was the consummate side man for several generations of NY musicians. A great player who understood his role in the band, an incredible all around musicians and one of the most soulful cats you could know. Thankfully, he went down relatively quickly and did not suffer for long. He will be sorely missed by the community.

JIMMY GIUFFRE: What a great musician, a true innovator and artist who contributed so much to jazz. He made me actually like the clarinet in this music!!

COMING EVENTS
MAY:Concerts in Rome and Milan with pianist Enrico Intra ; Bologna concert with drummerTony Arco, pianist Roberto Tarenzi and bassist Paolo Benedettini; duo concerts with Jean Marie Machado in Diersbach and Berlin, Germany ; Duc du Lombard in Paris and Vierson-France; LeMans Festival with World View Trio of Wolfgang Reisinger on drums andJean Paul Celea on bass with special guest John Abercrombie; Concerts with Nordbatten Big Band conducted by Tim Hagans in Lulea, Haparanda and Stockholm-Sweden; with Kevin Mahogany and Markowitz(piano) doing a Tribute to Coltrane and Hartmann at the Central Friends of Jazz Festival-Harrisburg, PA.

JUNE:Dave Liebman Group at the Telluride Festival, Colorado; Rochester Festival, NY ; Edmonton Festival, Canada; Saxophone Summit (Ravi Coltrane, Joe Lovano, Phil Markowitz, Cecil McBee, Billy Hart) performances at Birdland-New York City; Regatta Bar-Boston; Montreal and Saratoga Festivals.

RECENT APPEARANCES:

With the Zagreb(Croatia) Big Band

With the Dave Liebman Group in Ottawa, Canada-Cafe Paridiso
With Dominique Muzeau and band in Paris (notice the head "count")

INTERVALS - MARCH/APRIL 2008

FEATURE

WEILL AND KERN-AMERCAN SONG BOOK: It happens to be I am doing two projects in the next few months that are closely allied: the music of Kurt Weill and Jerome Kern. In doing my research for the tunes and re-arrangements (altering harmony, meter, etc.) it brings me back to the standard Tin Pan Alley song form as an entity of its own. In reading Weill’s biography, he was a product of the German school, influenced by Schoenberg and others of that ilk from the early part of the 20th century. His work with Brecht brought him great fame (Three Penny Opera) but he, like so many from his generation (Bartok, Stravinsky, Schoenberg) escaped from the Nazis to America. Weill was content with doing Broadway and Hollywood and had a very successful career. His writing does generally reflect more sophistication than the norm of the day possibly because of the European classical aesthetic. The tune “Liebeslied” from “Three Penny” is a gem as is “This Is New” and of course "Speak Low."

Jazz guys all know Kern because of “All the Things You Are” (all twelve key centers covered by the way) and so many others. Note that Kern used the first two bars of the Giant Steps progression, in the same key no less during the verse of a really simple tune “As The Clouds Go By” in 1917, further reinforcing the dictum that nothing is new under the sun (courtesy of writer Carl Woideck). But Kern also wrote a lot of insipid tunes. That was to be expected when writers had to come up with dozens of songs for shows and film. In any case, it’s gratifying to be centered on this material which has provided so much of the repertoire for jazz musicians over the years. There really was a kind of symbiosis between writers and musicians/vocalists especially that basically ceased to exist after the 50’s when the power of the record companies grew along with the decline of radio’s influence.

RECENT HAPPENINGS

TORONTO HIT WITH OLD STUDENTS: Some of my best times were in the 80’s at the Banff Institute in western Canada teaching really first class guys. Since then I have kept up my relationship with bassist Jim Vivian and saxophonist Mike Murley, who along with the great drummer Ian Froman joined me for a hit during the IAJE Convention in Toronto at the Rex. Loose two horn, bass and drum format-nothing like that.

UNITED KINGDOM TOUR: I don’t go often to England but every time I do, it is really interesting. There are a lot of great musicians there and jazz schools are happening. The country is full of paradoxes both past and present. Some things there are great, some (like the trains) not happening. But for sure, the people are unfailingly polite as they are reputed to be and I love to hear that accent.

I was invited to play with guitarist Phil Robson, a young bassist, Aidan O'Donnell and my old compatriot, drummer Jeff Williams who spends a lot of his time in London. It was great to be back with Jeff who was in my first group as a leader “Lookout Farm.” He always had a loose thing about his playing and very strong. Phil is a wonderful guitarist and composer, definitely a unique player. We had a ball and hopefully I will be able to play with Phil again.

Besides several workshops at universities, I did one for teenagers at the venerable Royal Academy of Music as part of the Saturday “Day School” program which is a great English longstanding tradition. Music schools all over the country open their doors to students for all the arts and of course professional musicians, dancers, etc., are able to earn some extra money while spreading the word. This is a very positive aspect of English cultural life which shows their respect for culture while insuring that young people are exposed at a reasonable cost.

MEETING WITH THE FREE MASTER:EVAN PARKER:As part of my week in London I had a one night performance at the main local club, the Vortex with free jazz maestro Evan Parker and an old friend, living in London for years, drummer Tony Bianco. This was a much anticipated event since Evan is probably one of the most well known exponents of free jazz on tenor and soprano and from the same generation as me. He is also a Coltrane expert which gives us even more in common. We played two completely spontaneous sets, comprised of mostly burning music. Tony plays a constant stream of toms and drums with selective use of cymbals. Once I warmed to the subject at hand, it brought back incredible flashes from the free jazz loft era where along with Bob Moses, Randy and Mike Brecker, Steve Grossman and others, we cut our teeth in the late 60s and early 70s. I realized that free jazz (at least the energy type-post Coltrane/Ascension style) has unspoken “rules”-in some ways even stricter than straight ahead jazz. For example, some of the no-no’s are major melodies, a harmonic progression that is outlined, 4/4 time and not much space. For the sake of argument I am obviously generalizing and not judging the style because I’m sure with time and practice, all these aspects would eventually appear in one form or another to achieve the required balance. But given a one shot, immediate type of performance, there are assumptions just like if we were playing “All the Things You Are.” Evan is great-he has circular breathing down (which I cannot do at all) ; he is a gentleman and knows how to work with another horn evidencing his vast experience in this setting. The audience had a rare treat.

UNIVERSITY MUSICAL LIFE: I did a few days each at the University of Virginia (with old friend from the loft days, trumpeter John Dearth) and the University of Miami, where I actually did my first college clinics in 1978. The students in Virginia are not jazz majors as compared to Miami which has one of the longest standing and most famous jazz departments around. But the Virginia kids made up for some lack of expertise with enthusiasm taking on some of my harder charts to play, while of course Miami was fantastic. My working group drummer Marko Marcinko is an alumni of Miami and we had a great gig at a club called Alligator Alley with another old student/ friend who is the sax teacher there, Gary Keller. Somehow the show continues on in higher education!!

LESSONS FROM MILES-PORGY AND BESS: As part of Manhattan School of Music’s 90th anniversary I was featured with the orchestra doing the Miles-Gil Evans collaborations “Miles Ahead” and “Porgy and Bess” at Zankel Hall in New York, which is the smaller Carnegie Hall attached performance place. A few days later, we recorded Porgy and once again the Miles Davis lessons go on. So much of Porgy is slow tempos and blues-tinged that I found myself being very specific as to what nuance I should use, be it a slide, lip slur, vibrato (especially monitoring this common saxophone expressive device). And most important of all, to lay behind the time and relax. Such beautiful music which I absolutely love to perform.

PLAYING FOR A SILENT MOVIE: It’s not usual that I do something I have never done before. I was invited by bassist extraordinaire from Torino, Italy, Furio DiCastri as part of a quartet along with Stefano Maccagno on piano and Fabrizio Sferra on drums to play the music for a Cecil B. DeMille silent film,” The Whispering Chorus” from 1918. It appears that the movie has some distinctive aspects for the period, being one of the first to use effects(ghost appearing) and also as a drama of sorts. Of course, the acting and story line are very stylized but using some standard tunes (a Disney song and “In the Wee Small Hours”) along with original tunes by the pianist and Furio, we had a nice program. I must say it was fun to watch and improvise along with the film. It appears that this theater does these things often with bands of all sorts of styles and the people were really into it. In fact the pianist does this type of thing all over the world.

HERBIE’S GRAMMY: Since “Watermelon Man” in the early 60s, “Chameleon” in the 70s and the “Rocket” video in the 80s, Herbie has been going for this. In that respect, it was well deserved of course and even more so celebrating the music of Joni Mitchell. A funny comment I read from country music nominee Vince Gill when someone said the Grammy’s are out of synch with the public evidenced by giving the award to Herbie over rap man Kanye West. Gill pointed out the obvious-that Herbie was a better musician than everyone put together backstage after the show!! True for sure-it only took fifty years for them to give it up.

PASSINGS

TEO MACERO:Teo was the real deal-a saxophonist, an arranger and composer with a sense of adventure, a producer and most of all a man totally into the music. He was obsessed with music (in a positive way) and in my opinion, Miles Davis would not have the reputation he has if it wasn't for what Teo did for his recordings. He was a totally honest man, a rarity in the business.

RECOMMENDED

LIEB MASTER CLASS: Conducted at Roberto’s Woodwinds in New York last year and featuring one tune with my quartet, this was a nice couple of hours answering questions from a very public audience. Available at: http://www.robertoswinds.com/store/p.asp?c=259

MILES IN MONTREUX: This clip which I only saw parts of before is a complete version of “Ife” (which I recorded on “Back on the Corner”) and really shows Miles in process. The best part is how long he draws out his very lyrical beginning solo on Part 1-that was the section I waited for every nite:
http://heliocentricworlds.blogspot.com/2008/02/miles-davis-at-montreux-1973-parts-1-3.html

TWO LIEB INTERVIEWS: In All About Jazz from Feb 25, there is a very interesting and involved interview with pianist Jim Ridl, psychologist Vic Schermer and myself about the artistic process. Vic, being a practicing psychologist asked some different kind of questions which might interest you. You can find it on their site.:
(all addresses on blog have to be typed in to your browser)
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=28416

On WKCR (New York’s only real jazz station from Columbia University) I did the Musician’s Show where you are asked to play the music that influenced me from the beginning. I had a very intense three hours which of course is a lot to listen to but if you are interested you can put this into your browser:
http://download.yousendit.com/6DE8CCA879E554DC

COSBY ON SITTING IN WITH STITT: This U tube is classic. Bill completely acts out the second by second fear and apprehension that he felt sitting in with Sonny Stitt when he was playing drums in Philly:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QPgcQydWWeE

BLUES RECORDER: Some people have heard a recording that I have of a recorded student playing a blues with Mickey Roker from the 70s. But this one is even more impressive-a recorded guy playing Coltrane’s “Blue Trane” solo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz7LvCS1oXM

ITINERARY
March:Lecture for Chamber Music America-New York City; tour of Argentina and Uruguay with Dave Liebman Group; Deer Head Inn with Mike Stephens, Tony Marino and Bobby Avey; Paris concerts with bassist Dominique Muzeau and group; gigs, teaching and recording (Kurt Weill project) in Holland with drummer Eric Ineke.

April:Tour with big band of Zagreb, Croatia; workshop at Moravian University, Bethlehem, PA; clinics in Quakertown, PA and Trees Island High School, Long Island, NY; lecture at Town Hall, NY; Dave Liebman Group at the Jazz Base in Reading, PA; Kitano Hotel, NYC; Turning Point, Piermont, NY; Paradiso Cafe, Ottawa, Canada; the Upstairs Jazz Bar, Montreal, Canada, One Longfellow Square in Portland, Maine; lecture on Miles and Trane with Dave Liebman Group at New England Conservatory, Boston.

Love this photo of two kids of the great Paris sax repair man, Herve Martin.

INTERVALS-JAN-FEB 2008

INTERVALS-JAN-FEB 2008


IT’S ALL ABOUT MELODY
I was interviewed by author Andy Hamilton for his new book on Lee Konitz which I just read cover to cover-a fantastic document. First of all the format is very interesting. It consists of an over two hundred page interview of Lee covering different stages of his career with comments by other musicians interspersed. Konitz is known in the biz as a very honest, outspoken and verbal person with an ability to cut to the chase when he comments on almost any subject. He is merciless in his opinions (being eighty gives you that right I suppose), highly judgmental (on himself as well), yet very clear and able to back up his comments with plausible explanations. I have always felt that musicians are the best sources for review and comment on others in the field, as long as they keep it objective, include comprehensible musical evaluations with of course nothing personal. Lee does just that. For example he admired Stan Getz except when he “pushed” his sound in the upper register, an observation I absolutely agree with. He is equally critical about himself, mentioning among other things perpetual intonation problems as well as a dislike of playing very fast tempos for example. But the major component of Lee’s aesthetic is his absolute allegiance and emphasis on melody making as the essence of improvisation, a view which over the years, I as well increasingly subscribe to.

My generation especially was entranced by harmony. I guess with my book on the subject, I am a prime target for what I am about to say. It was in essence “Giant Steps” which launched many of my peers on that path (or in some cases, a completely reactive “free” of harmonic content style). I was and still am entranced by the richness of color and its subsequent emotional power that I hear and feel from deep harmony as played to such a high level in the mid 60’s by specifically Hancock, Tyner and Corea. The same could be said about at a great deal of 20th century classical repertoire with Bartok, Scriabin, Shostakovich, etc., leading the way. My long relationship with pianist Richie Beirach has been predicated to a large part on harmony, which entices the intellect by challenging one to understand and use it. Naturally, it is also a bottomless pit of discovery with unending combinations. Therefore the trap!!

In jazz specifically, rhythm is still king. Without some aspect of swing, the core of the tradition is not present. What constitutes “swing” is a separate discussion, but suffice to say there are numerous ways that in my opinion music can so call “swing.” But ultimately, the supremacy of melody has to be acknowledged. As a consequence of its being universal, timeless (beyond style and even culture), with the ability to cut to the core of a listener’s visceral reaction to the experience of hearing music as a whole, one must deal with it. As I understand better now, when I hear someone like Chet Baker or Lee play to name two examples, inventing a SPONTANEOUS melody, set in a “swinging” feel as we are expected to do in jazz improvisation, I am duly impressed. In the final analysis harmony shades and supports melody, hopefully enhancing its intrinsic beauty and depth. Of course, as I discuss in my class at Manhattan School of Music on the subject, one’s personal judgment as to what constitutes a “good” or a “lyrical” melody are quite subjective. This perception is affected by one’s listening experience and in this case, culture, etc., hence an area of discussion always open to analysis and discourse. One way of the other, creating a good melody stands as a crowning achievement, be it written or improvised.

I highly recommend that you read Andy Hamilton’s “Lee Konitz: Conversations on the Improviser’s Art” (Univ.of Michigan Press). It will inform you about a great artist who has stayed true to his course flowing from the very beginning against the tide; is acutely aware of who he is and what surrounds him; has earned his place in the historical continuum of jazz and most of all is unfailingly honest. (I hope that someday, an interested party would produce a similar format with me like Andy did Lee for this book!!)

PASSINGS

KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN: Inadvertently when discussing the history of classical music, I and probably others will often state as a sort of overall generalizing statement something to the effect of “from Bach to Stockhausen” meaning the beginning and the end. In the past months by coincidence, Stockhausen received a lot of media attention as a supposed listening influence on the direction Miles Davis took in the 70’s during my time with him as we hear on the recent “Complete On the Corner” sessions box set release (see past Intervals on the subject). As an aside, to be honest I never directly witnessed or discussed that aspect with Miles. However, in any case the German composer had a tremendous influence on several generations of classical and jazz players. His “Gruppen” and “Licht” cycle to name two works certainly turned me around when I heard them. In a way, Stockhausen along with Cage, Boulez and several others were responsible for the unofficial announcement that the element of “color” had arrived, meaning that a texture, sound, color, whatever one might call it, could stand on its own merit as a valid musical gesture, not necessarily co-dependent with harmony, rhythm or melody per se. This is a mid 20th century innovation for sure and jazz has definitely taken that aspect to the limits as have many contemporary composers in the classical field. Stockhausen represented a different way to think about music.

RECENT HAPPENINGS

QUARTET WITH DANIEL HUMAIR. BOBO STENSONS, JEAN PAUL CELEA: I had two great gigs with a real “all star” quartet. Two of the icons of European jazz are drummer Daniel Humair and pianist Bobo Stenson. Their roots go back to Bud Powell and countless American jazz players who used to barnstorm across Europe with pickup rhythm sections. But most of all, these are artists who have found a unique way to play that comes out of the tradition, yet reflects their surroundings and influences. Free jazz is natural to them, but they also can play “inside” when called upon. Playing with this caliber of musicians incorporating such different influences from my own always brings out another aspect of my playing which I really enjoy. Hopefully there will be more work with this group in the future.

QUEST TOUR: Reuniting for the second time after our fifteen year hiatus (2005 was the first tour with a live recording “Redemption” on Hatology), it always feels good to go back home for me, so to say. Playing with Richie Beirach, Ron McClure and Billy Hart is like visiting one’s family. We have a way of communicating that is only possible with the four of us-a certain understanding and common experience which is palpable. We had the opportunity to record at the NDR in Hamburg, Germany (the state sponsored radio/TV network) under what could only be described as stellar conditions: separate engineers for lights, monitors, PA sound, recording and piano tuner on call (even in between tunes during the concert!!). On hand were our old friends from the former German jazz and world music label CMP for whom we recorded and I have done several of my solo projects, producer Kurt Renker and engineer Walter Quintus. The conditions were fantastic, recording for a live audience over two nights and one afternoon. Hopefully we will find a label for the music. In my experience, Germany still stands as the place where the most respect for art is realized in many different ways. When they do it right, it is the best situation for creativity.

RECOMMENDED

SAX MASTER CLASS:My 21st Saxophone Master Class will be held from Tuesday, July 29th through August 3rd at East Stroudsburg University in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Interested students must send me a tape of their playing and should go to that area of my web site for details.

TEO MACERO: A documentary is being made about producer Teo Macero who of course is best known for his work with Miles, but also with Monk, Brubeck, even Johnny Mathis and more. In fact 3000 albums produced!! I have had a lot of sessions with Teo and he is a great guy who really is into the music. This is a short clip, I assume as a preview for the upcoming film:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6072745037788321470&pr=goog-sl

CHET BAKER SITE: Great clips and recordings of a master:http://chetbakerfoundation.org/

ANOTHER CHILD PHENOM:Amazingly we get blasé about the amazing talent we discover around the world these days. But go to this video to see the latest ten year old from Israel playing Giant Steps, his own way: http://www.slide.com/r/hEIoBvLpwj8i6TMevbJ9l9ge22mGGsjy
Web site: http://www.arielpiano.com/

ITINERARY

JANUARY:IAJE Convention in Toronto –appearance with Mike Murley, Ian Froman and Jim Vivian at the Rex;England tour with giuitarist Phil Robson and drummer Jeff Williams;concert with drummer Tony Bianco and Evan Parker in London
FEBRUARY:Quest at Birdland, NYC;Cocnert in Torino, Italy with bassist Furio DiCastra and drummer Roberto Gatto; with Manahattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra performing Porgy and Bess and Miles Ahead at Zankel Hall,NYC; workshops and performances at University of Virginia, Charlottsville and University of Miami, Florida

Peace and the best for the New Year to you all; above a picture of a Palestinian and Israeli kid-my hope for the new year!!

Lieb

INTERVALS-NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 07

MILES AND GIL’S TRYPTYCH: LESSONS ABOUND

With the performance at the Jazz Improv Convention in New York a few weeks ago of the music from “Porgy and Bess” conducted by Justin DiCiocchio and the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra, I have finally completed the Miles Davis-Gil Evans trilogy of the late 50s. Finally, I have a vantage point concerning the challenges presented by this body of music.

The first of the trilogy “Miles Ahead” is really the most jazz oriented music with true ballads and chord changes in a variety of moods and tempos, not necessarily related to each other except for the signature orchestrations by Gil throughout. Once you move on to “Porgy and Bess” with its familiar tunes, more often than not set in a blues flavor, you can feel the necessity of having some kind of “attitude” towards the music in order to interpret it convincingly. In some ways I could take more freedom with “Porgy” than “Miles Ahead,” but it is incumbent to keep the blues flavor throughout. As an aside, most of the songs are really slow-I mean REALLY slow, a challenge unto itself. Finally, with “Sketches of Spain,” which is by nature more dramatic open (modal and pedal point to a large extent), it really becomes a tour de force for the soloist. You have to step up to the plate with “Sketches of Spain.” Overall, there is an upward trajectory beginning with “Miles Ahead” through “Porgy” and “Sketches” which places more demands upon the soloist each step of the way. Technically, the three are all about equal, but emotionally it is understood that the performer must climb the emotional curve from piece to piece. By the time you are playing “Sketches” you are your emotions are highly exposed, meaning that in the long run your emotional palette has by necessity risen to the occasion. And Miles plays perfect-simple and to the point with a natural dramatic curve. It’s clear why Gil had such an effect on Miles, because playing this music absolutely raised Miles’ game to another level.

In the final analysis, what a pleasure to stand in front of a good band and hear the wonderful orchestrations of Gil’s. Pure magic!!

TWO TRIOS (GERMANY AND ITALY)-I had a nice ten day tour with two trios. The first was comprised of German pianist Juergen Friedrich, bassist John Hebert and drummer Tony Moreno (both from New York). Juergen is a true composer as are so many pianists naturally/ They just seem to have more control of the compositional process with elements of long form and a real sense of development. I think it comes with the territory. The Italian trio (Roberto Tarenzi, Tony Arco, Paolo Benedittini) with whom I have been playing for several years is a real burning rhythm section--jazz all the way. As a horn player soloing with a trio, I get the benefit of an entire rhythm section’s modus operandi and the fun involved in figuring out how and what to play in order to maximize the potential.

NEW RECORDINGS:BLUES ALL WAYS: The newest recording of the Dave Liebman Group (Vic Juris, Tony Marino, Marko Marcinko) has its roots in my long time desire to record a blues record a la “Coltrane Plays the Blues” which is a classic from the early Trane period. My relationship to the blues tradition is obviously not something that I am known for but outside of the fact that most of us start with the basic blues scale as improvisers, there is the challenge of using such a known quantity to express one’s own compositional and improvisational ideas. For example, the opening tune written for my first musical influence is called “Elvis the Pelvis” and reflects what it is known as a “rubber” blues, meaning the traditional blues chords arrive in the improvising form when the improvisational (or traditionally the vocal) line dictates rather than having to stick to the strict twelve bar form. Vic Juris’ “Compared to Who” harkens back to Eddie Harris and Les McCann’s famous “Compared to What” sustaining a blues feel in odd meter while the closer, Vic’s “Night Tripper” does the same in shifting meters. Of course there are some traditional blues forms on the recordings, a ten bar blues with a Giant Steps bridge (“Down Time”), a three part blues in different harmonic colors (“Riz’s Blues”) and Tranes head for Bessie Smith, “Bessie’s Blues.” The title (“Blues All Ways”) is a play on words meaning blues are forever and in all manifestations. The masters had to have a slant on the blues as well as on ballads and rhythm changes; it was de rigueur at that time. Because of the universality of the blues, even I must admit that ”Blues All Ways” is one of the most user friendly recordings I have done with the group.

DREAM OF NITE: With the fine Italian trio mentioned above, we recorded several of our gigs on tour in 2005 throughout Italy. Incredibly we came out with over two CDs of material which was picked up by Universal in Italy, but more surprisingly is also released on Verve in the U.S. With a classic standard, Miles’ “Fran Dance” and some originals by all of us, this CD is as straight ahead jazz as I get.

SAX MASTER CLASS-My 21^st Saxophone Master Class will be held from Tuesday, July 29^th through August 3^rd at East Stroudsburg University in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Interested students must send me a tape of their playing after Jan 1 and should go to that area of my web site for details.

AWARD: At the Wanagratta Festival in Australia a few years ago I performed with the Dublin Project, but also did a midnight duo with New Zealand master pianist Mike Nock which was recorded and released in Australia, titled “Duologues.” We did a few standards and some originals with barely a rehearsal and after over 20 years since we played together. For 2007, the recording won the equivalent of the Australian Grammy award known as the Aria Fine Arts Award for Best Jazz recording of the Year.

DL GROUP ON THE WEST COAST-Touring with the group in a beautiful new club in San Diego (Anthology), the Jazz Bakery in LA and two schools in the Bay Area were as always interesting, mainly because of audience response. In some ways because of the intensity at which the DL Group plays, there is always a feeling of being a fish out of water in these kinds of places. After all, West Coast jazz was synonymous with laid back and relaxed music, even from the 1950s and we should recall that Bird was booed in LA. But on the other hand, the audience response is VERY enthusiastic and I sense a true hunger for real guys playing real jazz ( if you know what I mean). Although our culture has been dumbed down to such an extraordinary degree, there are many people who do appreciate when bands really put out and do the job the way it is supposed to be.

RECOMMENDED: Joni Mitchell has always been a favorite of jazz musicians, most obviously for her respect and interest in the music. There was a well publicized period when she was hanging with us peasants and I recall meeting her on several occasions. After a silence of several years, her latest recording titled “Shine” is very impressive. The music is vintage Joni with her doing a lot of work on synthesizers with some help from Bob Shepard on soprano and Brian Blade. The production is stellar, but what is most impressive as has always been true of Joni are the lyrics, which in this case are all concerned with the state of the planet and humanity in general. She is dead-on accurate, evocative and honest beyond the call of duty. The words themselves merit serious thought. Highly recommended.

ITINERARY:NOVEMBER/DECEMBER: Concerts in France with Bobo Stenson, Daniel Humair and Jean Paul Celea; Performance of music from West Side Story and Porgy and Bess with Manhattan School of Music Orchestra at Dizzy’s Club, New York; European tour with Quest (Richie Beirach, Ron McClure, Billy Hart).

INTERVALS - OCT 2007

MY 6Oth YEAR

I must say that this anniversary year was something else. With trips to Australia (performing with McCoy Tyner and Mike Nock); fulfilling a life long dream by visiting the Sahara desert (Mauritania); and doing a bunch of recordings and new books along with several Coltrane tributes and workshops as it was also his anniversary year. On Sept. 23, we celebrated Trane’s 81^st birthday at New York’s Symphony Space with Sax Summit and the Manhattan School of Music big band playing Gunnar Mossblad’s arrangement of “Meditations” in the large setting as well as some other late Trane music. The addition of Ravi Coltrane to Sax Summit (along with Joe Lovano, Cecil McBee, Billy Hart and Phil Markowitz) feels and sounds wonderful. We will be recording a new CD for Telarc to be released in the spring followed by touring.

Following is a link to You Tube to see the group performing "Expression" from Symphony Space:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=r-wl-QXqRPU

RECOMMENDED:

JAZZ ICON SERIES: A new set of DVDs has come out with an incredible one of Trane featuring three performances, among them is the best live Trane on video from Belgium in 1965. Some people may have seen “Naima” and “My Favorite Things” before, but on this DVD, there is in addition a short duo between John and Elvin that is very much like the tune “Vigil” which appeared on record around this time. Also, the newly discovered performance with Stan Getz and Oscar Petersen is included. The Mingus DVD is absolutely incredible, with Eric Dolphy, Jackie Byard, Johnny Coles and Clifford Jordan on tenor. The tunes are incredible, the vibe very real and Eric is playing beyond description. What an unsung hero Eric Dolphy is!! After this last tour with Mingus, Eric died passed within a few months.

DARK MAGUS by Gregory Davis: Not quite a kiss and tell book, there is no question that Miles Davis’ son is a bit peeved about being cut out of the will (which he eventually rectified.) I remember when he was around the band during my time having just become a Muslim with a different name, etc. We never talked. But I must say that the way he describes Miles is VERY accurate in a lot of truly personal ways. It’s too much to get into here, but suffice to say, the book is not a bad read.

COMMENT-THE AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL: Through the auspices of a local arts center out where I live in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, I gave a few clinics in neighboring high schools. I did an hour plus one day with my quartet performing a set the next day (very early in the morning!!). Of course, I have to assume and optimistically hope that there are always a few kids who sort of get it and seeing jazz right in front of them may have a real effect. But in general, my observation (and I am pretty confident that anyone who knows the situation will agree), being a high school teacher in the U.S. in our time has got to be one of the hardest jobs around. I don’t’ want to get into the rap like “Well, in my time, it was so and so….” After all, I went to Lafayette High School in Brooklyn with 6000 kids and a graduating class of 2500. Now with my daughter in tenth grade in the local high school in Stroudsburg, I am getting even more first hand looks at our education system. These kids are being controlled like they are in the army-God forbid a kid does anything out of the norm or thinks out of the box or acts in any way non conformist. Most of the guys I know now would probably have been shot if they went to school now. It’s tough out there for students and faculty alike…just another casualty of our “modern” society.

WARNING:I have been receiving this notice below from the “IRS” incessantly in the last weeks. Of course, when you click on it asks for your social and credit card. I called the IRS and as expected, they never e mail anyone, only by phone or letter. Be warned-do not fall for this:

“After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that
you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $249.30.
Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 3-6 days in order to
process it.
To access the form for your tax refund, please click here
Regards,
Internal Revenue Service

Note: For security reasons, we will record your ip-address, the date and time.
Deliberate wrong inputs are criminally pursued and indicated.
Copyright 2007, Internal Revenue Service U.S.A. All rights reserved.”

PASSINGS

Joe Zawinul: What a life this guy had and what an effect. A case could be made that Joe was the man responsible for the whole world music thing, pioneered with Weather Report and continued with his music of the last 20 years. As well, a case could be made that he is one of the founders of fusion-think “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” “Jive Samba” “In A Silent Way”, etc., not to mention the verifiable hit, “Birdland”. And finally, yet another case could be made that Joe was THE man who made the synthesizer a viable instrument for improvised music more than just a pop ornament. What a pioneer-what a presence-and by the way, what a unique and intense personality.

MISCELLANEOUS

RONAN GUILFOYLE:: Familiar readers know who Ronan is, the Irish bass player with whom I have played for twenty years and has written chamber pieces for me and others ranging from duos, to string quartets to orchestral settings. He is the author of a book on rhythm that is fast becoming a classic (title needed) covering the topics of metric modulation, subdivision and odd meter. He continues his research into rhythm and especially being able to teach this most elusive subject. Recommended is this article and in fact his whole site:

http://www.ronanguilfoyle.com/press-group-29.html
While you are at it, check the godfather of this stuff, Steve Coleman:

http://www.m-base.com/symmetrical_movement.html

And on you tube, myself with Ronan and the incredible Jim Black from the 55 Bar in New York a few years ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQQtXXHOOpA

RECENT HAPPENINGS

SONNY ROLLINS AT CARNEGIE HALL:Celebrating the 50th anniversary of a Carnegie Hall performance opposite Coltrane in 1957, Newk appeared with Christian McBride and Roy Haynes playing the same tunes he did at that concert: “Sonny Moon for Two,” “ Some Enchanted Evening” and “Mac the Knife.” The trio was great and Sonny at 77 was his usual communicative self both musically and personally to the sold out crowd. He still comes up with it as all the masters do, on the spot real time improvisation. In any case, with Roy Haynes (82 years young) what could be bad?

BEYOND THE CORNER AT BIRDLAND with Mike Stern, Anthony Jackson and my group (Vic Juris, Marko Marcinko, Tony Marino):.We had a ball playing the music from the recording (Shrapnel Records) which happens to coincide with the release of the “Complete On the Corner Sessions” by Miles which is definitely getting a lot of publicity. There is no question that playing in this style demands a different set of chops and conception, as it is musically dominated by open ended vamps and fairly steady, predictable beat patterns. It‘s easy and tempting to play clichés and stay on the same emotional plane, but if one really demands more of himself and the group, improvisational magic can be achieved as is the case in any style of jazz. And if a group has a chance to play the music for awhile, magic is bound to happen.

RECOMMENDED:

This is hilarious-the Spinal Tap version of jazz-British of course!

Jazz club

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TebUMhJAKSM

James Brown and Pavarotti-yes, it’s true and happening!!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=opME6ckBDkA

Gene Krupa's sticks and Benny Goodman's clarinet from the Carnegie Hall Concert-1938

FUTURE ITINERARY:

October:Tour of Germany with Juergen Friedrich Trio featuring John Hebert (bass) and Tony Moreno (drums); Italian tour with the Cues Trio featuring Roberto Tarenzi(piano), Paolo Benedettini(bass) and Tony Arco(drums); clinics and performance with the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra playing the Miles Davis-Gil Evans collaboration “Porgy and Bess” at the Jazz Improv Convention, New York City.\

DAVE LIEBMAN GROUP(VIc Juris, Tony Marino, Marko Marcinko):

Fall Tour 2007

Oct 21st 4pm (master class) 6pm (concert) The Deer Head Inn, Delaware Water Gap, PA
Oct.27th 8pm Chris's Jazz Café, 1421 Sansom St. Philadelphia, PA. (215)-568-3131
Oct. 28th The New Haven Lounge, Baltimore, MD. 1552 Havenwood Rd.
(410) 366-7416
WEST COAST LEG;
Oct 30th Anthropology Jazz- San Diego, CA.
Oct 31th through Nov 3rd 8pm & 9:30pm The Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helmes Blvd.,Culver City, CA www.thejazzbakery.com
Nov.4th 4:30pm concert The Jazz School 2087 Addison St. Berkeley, CA www.thejazzschool.com
Nov.5th 8pm Los Medanos College, Pittsburg, CA (925)-439-0200 for more info

Nov 8th 9pm Cachaca Jazz 35 west 8th St. Greenwich Village, NYC (212)-388-9099

INTERVALS - Sept 2007

(Drummers gathered at Max Roach's funeral)

PASSINGS:TWO DRUMMERS WHO WILL BE MISSED

Steve Bagby: Not a household name by any means, Steve was THE drummer in Miami for decades. He influenced countless drummers attending the University of Miami as well as studying with him, in particular my present man, Marko Marcinko. Steve was a fantastic musician who played the music, well beyond the drums themselves. He could go all the way and was perfect in a variety of musical situations. A sweet guy also who knew the truth and reality of what we do in the world.

Max Roach:When I spoke to Adam Nussbaum about Max’s passing and commented that he may have been the most important drummer ever as far as setting a new way to play, Adam said that Max would’ve probably said the same about Jo Jones. Max was a pioneer in a lot of ways-drum ensembles, civil rights activism, first recipient of the MacArthur grant for jazz, played with everyone from Bird to Cecil Taylor and was an influential band leader. He referred to the drums as the “multiple percussion set” and played them in a very melodic fashion. If I recall correctly years ago in a poll by Downbeat conducted among musicians for their choice of most respected musicians, it was Duke and Max who came out on top. This was a major guy!!

FROM FRIENDS ABOUT TRANE’S PASSING:

SPECIAL DAY:COLTRANE’S PASSING-JULY 17 1967

It was forty years ago that I landed in Stockholm, Sweden and calling pianist Lars Werner whose number was given to me by bassist Cameron Brown. After the usual salutations Lars asked: ”Do you know that John Coltrane died today?” I immediately broke into tears while Lars urged me to quickly take the train to his home. I was at the right place at the right time in the 1960s being able to see Trane many times in New York. It was completely by accident but it has determined my life since. I would not be the same person without the music of John Coltrane. Whatever words I write cannot express my appreciation as I was definitely privileged to have been witness to greatness. His music is as close to a belief in a higher power as I have ever felt.Anyone who knows me, either personally or through the music over these decades realizes how important Coltrane was to my life, way beyond the music itself. When I think of the most influences that have molded me outside of direct family, it is Trane, number one. Through his music, I saw the power of sound and human creation, that there is something else besides what we materially see or hear in front of us. What underscores these thoughts is that over the four decades, the power of Trane’s music has just grown more and more, obviously in some ways as a result of the constant releases of “new” material, but more than that. Eventually, by hook or crook as I became a better musician over these years, my appreciation of the skills and depth of what Coltrane gave the world keeps increasing. This reality has strengthened my convictions about the power of art to raise the human condition. As well, when you have such a model in one’s mind and ear on a daily level, it puts everything else clearly in proportion, in the real world as well as musically. I am a lucky guy!!

THANK YOU JOHN AND CONTINUE TO REST IN PEACE.

(NOTE:July 17, besides being Trane’s passing day is also Lady Day’s!!)

Following are some edited comments concerning my last Intervals edition written for Trane’s passing on July 17:

Hey Dave, It says in the Bible “that a man of justice lives by faith alone. Trane was a man of Faith… that’s why (to me) his music was righteous .Thank you for sending this to me. I love Trane.
Peace Brother
T

AMEN......thanx for reminding---i remember where i was then(home in 10th grade high school)--- i had really just begun to understand him (as elvin first grabbed my constant attention)---i remember staring at a picture from one of the lps----very shortly thereafter i remember IMPULSE released EXPRESSIONS---since you had heard his live testimony it probably didn’t shock you as much but that stuff on expressions really blew me away as i heard how he was clearly creating something totally new right till the end---as i guess we all have to........
best---ss

YEAH Brother Dave, MY feelings as well...
TRANE was my MAIN MAN, never heard anything like that and don't expect I
ever will again. Like YOU, when I want to hear PERFECTION I go right to
CRESCENT
and just lay up and open my SOUL and let the MASTER fill it with LOVE.
And LORD ELVIN too. I remember when I first heard him on a Gretsch Drum Night
recording with the other Masters, Max, Blakey, Philly Joe I think it was.
Elvin really blew them all away cause his shit was so New and SO HIP. (That thing he did
with the bass drum, playing two sixteenths that tata tata thing coordinated with
the left hand whereas before almost everyone played a single note off beat. Elvin
moved the time into the hands playing On Top like melody line players do while at
the same time providing the most profound but free kind of bottom. OH MAN, he
won my heart IMMEDIATELY.)
Yeah Brother, Trane took US way Up past the MOUNTAINTOP into the realm of
Heaven itself and WE could never be the SAME again...
R

I remember Coltrane's nod to us, some forty odd years ago, one night outside the Half Note. For me a pleasant anecdote, for you the royal touch, a transformation. You are right about luck David, it's influence is huge, defamed though it is by the muscular nitwits running things who seem to consider will, which usually is little more than favorable precondition, the only acceptable explanation. But falling into things works quite well too. I guess I've moved from being an ignorant jew to an ignorant daoist.
Mike

Dear David

This remembrance is extremely significant as only true genius, greatness can and should be. If not for the importance of universal sustenance and our own humanity and awareness, deep spiritual insight and the desire to have peace in a world of hostility and fear, then to enjoy in what little time we have the pleasure and the healing of such great and noble artists such as Mr. Coltrane for years of greatness still yet to be discovered by those who where there, those who are there and those who are yet to come
Michael

Dave
I remember one festival in the late 70's backstage in Japan when you ripped into "Giant Steps" like nobody's business--never forgot that moment of your confirmation re Trane . . . I had my moment with Trane myself, when we came face-to-face in the Village Vanguard. He said to me "Thank you", kind of out of the blue . . . but quite appropriate, what with your saying "Thank you" to the Master today, on the anniversary of his passing. What goes around comes around.
Love and Peace,

Larry and Tracey Coryell

I do share your feelings, dear Mr. Liebman.
There is not that much to add.
His music speaks for himself.
Warm regards
Flavio

Hi Bro:
Thanks for these few lines on Coltrane
I exactly know what you mean and I just can tell that
Him and his music and this quartet are for me a source
of immense emotion and, in the bad moments of life, a
reason to go on, for all the reasons you said.
You think you are a lucky guy
I think I am a super lucky guy to know you and share
sometimes this mystery of music with you
Love
JP

“The Half Note is what changed my life as Elvin and John played 40 minutes more after McCoy and Jimmy dropped out on one chord. NOW THAT I LIKED!

COMMENT

A VIEW OF RELIGION: From an article in the NY Times Sunday Section about the idea of redemption and its history in the modern world, I found these sentences which I feel are very accurate as to my feelings towards this touchy subject.

The Politics of God by MARK LILLA: “The idea of redemption is among the most powerful forces shaping human existence in all those societies touched by the biblical tradition. It has inspired people to endure suffering, overcome suffering and inflict suffering on others. It has offered hope and inspiration in times of darkness; it has also added to the darkness by arousing unrealistic expectations and justifying those who spill blood to satisfy them. All the biblical religions cultivate the idea of redemption, and all fear its power to inflame minds and deafen them to the voice of reason. We encounter what those orthodox traditions always dreaded: the translation of religious notions of apocalypse and redemption into a justification of political messianism, now under frightening modern conditions.”

ON INGMAR BERGMAN by Stephen Holden (critic of the NY Times)-some prescient remarks I think:

“Today the religion of high art that dominated the 1950s and ’60s seems increasingly quaint and provincial. The longstanding belief that humans are born with singular psyches and souls is being superseded by an emerging new ideal: the human as technologically perfectible machine. The culture of the soul — of Freud and Marx and, yes, Bergman — has been overtaken by the culture of the body. Biotechnology leads the shaky way into the future, and pseudo-immortality, through cloning, is in sight. Who needs a soul if the self is technologically mutable? For that matter, who needs art?”

RECENT EVENTS

IASJ 17^th Annual Meeting: For our third time in the beautiful Tuscan city of Siena, we were hosted by the Siena Associazone which has been conducting workshops for thirty years turning out countless musicians, Italian as well as other nationalities as a result of their yearly workshop held each August. We had the most countries ever in this, our seventeenth year with a sizable representation from the States:Cincinnati Conservatory, Univ of Miami, Cal Arts, New School, Berklee, Univ of Michigan, Indiana University, the New Paltz campus of the NY State University as well as the Souza Lima School in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Riga, Latvia (hosts of next year’s meeting); Prague, Czech Republic and usual attendees from around the world. Once again the level of the students along with their ability to get along both musically and socially in the international ensembles continues to impress my colleagues and myself. The IASJ is alive and doing well in our 18^th year!!

Lydia and Caris in Rome: St.Peters(top) and the Palatine

WE THREE TOUR: With maestro Steve Swallow and Adam Nussbaum, we had a wonderful week of nice concerts in July. What a pleasure to consort with Citizen Swallow who plays perfectly every night and conjures up aural impressions of J.S. Bach in his solo excursions, tune after tune. And “Dome” has to be one of the most fun drummers to play with-his energy and feel are always right on.

20^th MASTER CLASS: It is hard to believe that I have been conducting master classes at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, very near to my home for twenty years and in the same room with my partner Pat Dorian taking care of the logistics. For the first fifteen years or so I kept the saxophone theme, but then alternated with the chromatic concepts I teach at the Manhattan School of Music. This year, for the special class I decided to do a whole week on Coltrane culminating in a multi-saxophone version of the “Meditations Suite” which I have performed many times during the five year anniversaries of Coltrane’s birth and passing. With ten former attendees, spending a week on Coltrane was incredible. The truth is that the well never runs dry-John was amazing beyond belief and in a way, you couldn’t have written a better script (outside of his early passing). Everything in his musical life seemed to go down in perfect order, something which he was definitely aware taking positive advantage. Like all great art, the material itself continues to reveal more and more as time passes, based on its quality, not on the myth (which with the passing of time, naturally increases in any artist’s case).We also played a night at the Deer Head Inn in small group formations with the rhythm section of Mike Stephans(drums), Evan Gregor(bass) and Phil Markowitz(piano).

SKETCHES OF SPAIN IN MARCIAC, FRANCE: With my good friend, Jean Charles Richard, conducting great students from the Toulouse Conservatory, I had a great time as I always do performing my favorite all time piece of music, Gil Evans’ “Sketches of Spain.” Each time I do it I hear more of Gil’s orchestration and arranging which as mentioned above in relation to Coltrane, also reveals more each time. It appears to be a dictum that the true worth of a work of art cannot be fully discovered until some time has passed.

IRELAND, ISRAEL, SARDINIA: I had a very active four days in Dublin, Ireland culminating in a performance of a piece written by bassist Ronan Guilfoyle called “Head, Hand, Heart” (an expression I use in teaching describing those aspects of being involved in an art form. It was scored for clarinet (John Ruocco), trombone (Nils Wogram), guitar (Irish guy) , drums (Tom Rainey who is really incredible) and of course Ronan on bass. At the Red Sea Festival in Eilat, Israel Saxophone Sumit with Joe Lovano and Ravi Coltrane played two concerts of an all Coltrane program ending with the “Meditations Suite.” Finally, a return after thirteen years to Nuoro, a small town in the middle of Sardinia with native trumpet master, Paulo Fresu and his group with whom I recorded and toured in the 80s. Italian students have a really fresh and lively spirit.

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF LOST LUGGAGE: Maybe one of the greatest highs and lows in the world of travel is when at first your bag doesn't make it to your last stop and you start figuring out what to wear to the gig, how to wash up and what to buy if it goes on for more than a day. BUT, when magically you go to your room after the gig or sometime the next day and there it is, innocently standing in the middle of the room, it is like finding your lost child!! It happened to me twice in four days.

RECOMMENDED

Bret Primack presents Like Sonny - The Story of Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane
which can be seen here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=KckpQYnrozQ

SEPTEMBER SCHEDULE

Go to venue to get exact dates, fees if any and addresses.

September: Birdland, NYC with the Dave Liebman Group featuring guests Anthony Jackson and Mike Stern playing music from the “Beyond the Corner” (Shrapnel Records) recording; Saxophone Summit playing the music of John Coltrane including Meditations Suite with the Manhattan School of Music Concert Jazz Orchestra at Symphony Space, NYC featuring Joe Lovano, Ravi Coltrane, Phil Markowitz, Cecil McBee and Billy Hart; appearance at the COTA Festival, Delaware water Gap, PA –Dave Liebman and Neighbors with Mike Stephans(drums), Evan Gregor(bass), Matt Vashlishan (alto), Bobby Avey(piano), Lydia Liebman(vocals).

Peace
Lieb

Special Day - Coltrane Passing - July 17, 1967

It was forty years ago that I landed in Stockholm, Sweden and calling pianist Lars Werner whose number was given to me by bassist Cameron Brown. After the usual salutations Lars asked: ”Do you know that John Coltrane died today?” I immediately broke into tears while Lars urged me to quickly take the train to his home..

I was at the right place at the right time in the 1960s being able to see Trane many times in New York. It was completely by accident but it has determined my life since. I would not be the same person without the music of John Coltrane. Whatever words I write cannot express my appreciation as I was definitely privileged to have been witness to greatness. His music is as close to a belief in a higher power as I have ever felt.

Anyone who knows me, either personally or through the music over these decades realized how important Coltrane was to my life, way beyond the music itself. When I think of the most important influences that have molded me outside of direct family, it is Trane, number one. Through his music, I saw the power of sound and human creation, that there is something else besides what we materially see or hear in front of us. What underscores these thoughts is that over the four decades, the power of Trane’s music has just grown more and more, obviously in some ways as a result of the constant releases of “new” material, but more than that. Eventually, by hook or crook as I became a better musician over these years, my appreciation of the skills and depth of what Coltrane gave the world keeps increasing. This reality has strengthened my convictions about the power of art to raise the human condition. As well, when you have such a model in one’s mind and ear on a daily level, it puts everything else clearly in proportion, in the real world as well as musically. I am a lucky guy!!

THANK YOU JOHN AND CONTINUE TO REST IN PEACE.

INTERVALS:JULY-AUGUST 2007

COMMENT

CELEBRATING FORTY YEARS IN EUROPE

Little did I know that after finishing my junior year in college in 1967 when my parents gave me $1000 cash and a book called “Europe on Five Dollars A Day” that I would be going there countless times since. It was truly an adventure with tenor in hand, landing in London, scared out of my 21 year old wits and making my way to a hotel in Piccadilly Circus, the only hotel that my parents had wisely booked on the tour. I had a few phone numbers and somehow ended up at the premier club in London, Ronnie Scotts for after hours big band rehearsal with all the younger musicians. It was there that I met John Surman and Dave Holland who immediately invited me to stay at their pad, which I did for the next three weeks. (This was a year before Holland joined Miles Davis.) Being a young New York saxophonist was a bit exotic at the time and I completely grooved with the guys. I worked my way across Scandinavia by boat and train, making my way to Stockholm and again calling a number that bassist Cameron Brown had given me. Once more, I was invited to pianist Lars Werner house and spent two weeks there with a great bunch of older musicians, even doing my first recording. By coincidence, I landed on the day Trane died which was dramatic to say the least.

As anyone familiar with my schedule is aware of, I go to Europe on a very steady basis and have been doing this for the past twenty plus years. As George Wein, the impressario of the Newport and JVC Festivals for decades told me once: “If it wasn’t for Europe there would be no jazz!” A bit dramatic but I would have to agree. As well the changes in the European scene has been incredible over these decades, from a period when copying the American style was the main thing to the wonderful individuality we have become accustomed to with the German record label, ECM, leading the way in the 1970’s. European artists have and continue to find many voices to express their own identity. I have been very fortunate to have made many relationships with musicians from all the countries and of course the very existence of The International Association of School of Jazz (IASJ) came about due to the wide spread emergence and influence of jazz education in Europe. I have to state that for me Europe has made me a better musician and artist-it is in general a place where culture is respected and admired.

WYNTON MARSALIS ON THE CASE

I have never had any direct contact with Marsalis but of course like anyone in the business have observed him for decades, being at times exasperated with some of his remarks, but admittedly also agreeing more than not with some of his points. Not withstanding some negative side affects that have resulted from Wynton’s utterances, I still have a lot of respect for HIS respect of jazz and the fact that he tirelessly serves as a great role model for young people everywhere, African Americans particularly with his educational activities. I came across an article that appeared in US Today earlier this year titled “Hot Corporations Know How to Swing.” In a question and answer format Wynton makes some great points about jazz, how a group resembles a finely tuned business and more. Some excerpts:

“When you listen to great jazz musicians, you hear the respect they have for each other’s abilities. During a performance most of the musician’s time is spent listening to others and making adjustment, improvising based on what someone else does.”

“…jazz music always stood as a fortress of integrity. The musician’s skills were so hard earned that they did not easily sell out. Once the musicians decided to be less—for notoriety, publicity or money—our art began to face challenges:dearth of leadership reducing human labor to a line item on a budget and so on.”

“In jazz, hierarchy is determined by your ability to play, not your position in the band. It is rooted in the elevation and enrichment of people. The reason that jazz is the most flexible art form on the planet is because it believes in the good taste of individuals…in the human power to create wonderful things….”

“Swing is …a world view.. a belief in the power of a collective ability to absorb mediocre and poor decisions. When a group of people working together trust that all are concerned for the common good, then they continue to be in sync no matter what happens. That is swing—it’s the feeling that our way is more important than my way.”

1965-THE YEAR OF THE SAXOPHONE AND END OF COMMON LANGUAGE

I recently came into possession of live recordings from London’s Ronnie Scott’s club (the same one mentioned above) with Sonny Rollins playing with a local rhythm section in 1965. (I think they are commercially available). This is some of the greatest saxophone playing I have ever heard, on standards, creative beyond belief with a command of the horn and rhythm that is over the top. It lead me to thinking that during the year 1965 (or around that year), so many great live recordings of important saxophonists and bands have come to the fore and exerted an incredible contemporary influence. There is of course Trane at the Half Note, the Miles Davis Plugged Nickel recordings, some of Wayne Shorter's very influential Blue Note recordings, Ornette Coleman at the Golden Circle and Miles’ “Four and More” which really put the rhythm section of Hancock, Carter and Williams on the map. I think a case could be made that the era of jazz having a common language (harmony, time signatures, repertoire, etc) was fast approaching its zenith with so many musicians having spent years playing steadily on a night to night basis. Shortly after the direction of the music would change irrevocably.

RECENT ACTIVITIES

MILES DAVIS:BEYOND THE CORNER BOXED SET

Sony Legacy records is releasing all the tracks that were recorded in the period 1970-75, including “On The Corner” “Get Up With It” and many unreleased studio recordings in a five CD boxed set this fall. As part of their promotion, they gathered bassist Michael Henderson (who traverses the entire period), guitarist Pete Cosey and me to speak about Miles. They somehow procured the garden in back of Miles’ former residence in Manhattan where we all spent some significant times in our lives. I have not seen these gentlemen since my last recording date with Miles (which was for the track “He Loved Him Madly” from “Get Up With I.”). It was really a special meeting talking about the music we played, how Miles brought together so many diverse elements (a bassist coming from Stevie Wonder, a guitarist who worked with people ranging from Gene Ammons to Aretha Franklin, a saxophonist working with Elvin Jones (myself), a bebop drummer (Al Foster), etc—not to mention tablas, percussion and a few more guitarists and keyboardists. This period of Miles was met with much antipathy and I remember vividly when Michael Henderson, who plays only electric bass, took Dave Holland’s place. That was really a significant move by Miles, because it more than implied that the days of walking 4/4 time were over and all that meant. Nowadays, with rap and world music so in the fore, Miles’ far sighted thinking and concepts are being very positively re-examined and this boxed set is long over due. That evening I went down and sat in with Pete Cosey, playing some down home blues coming right out of Chicago, his home base. No doubt, in a lot of ways life does come full circle.

BBC RECORDING FOR COLTRANE ANNIVERSARY

July 17 will be the exact date of Coltrane’s passing forty years ago. In commemoration of that I was asked to organize a recording session for the BBC which we did in New York featuring Joe Lovano, bassist Ron McClure, Phil Markowitz and Billy Hart-a sort of half Saxophone Summit band. We did all Trane tunes and it was a great day to just go in and play the repertoire that is so close to all of us. Look for the broadcast on BBC on the web.

BADAL ROY AND STEVE GORN

Talking about Miles, it was after all through the “On the Corner” sessions that I met tablaist Badal Roy who became part of my first group “Lookout Farm” in the mid 70’s. We have maintained our friendship over the years and I had the pleasure of joining his band which features bansurai master Steve Gorn and guitarist Kenny Wessel at an event sponsored by National Geographic Magazine (which I avidly subscribe to by the way) publicizing India. We had a great time and though I cannot say I am intimate with the incredible intricacies of Indian classical music, when a situation like this comes up with people basically “jamming” on the sound and feel of that style, it is a lot of fun—and for sure it sets a mood on an audience that is very powerful. Listening to Steve play the long bamboo bansurai flute is a thrill in itself.

RECOMMENDED(paste into your browser)

A Dixieland rendition of Giant Steps, that is amazing:

http://www.upbeat.com/lieb/01-giantsteps-bluestobechet.mp3

This has to be seen to be believed-a canary singing the blues!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGJaz64lrJ4

ITINERARY

July: concert and 17^th Annual Jazz Meeting of the IASJ in Siena, Italy (our third time there celebrating the 30^th anniversary of the very influential Siena Associazone); performance with bassist Christian Stock Group in Augsburg, Germany; tour with “We Three: Steve Swallow and Adam Nussbaum in Europe. (http://www.saudades.at)

August: 20^th Anniversary of Lieb’s Saxophone/ Chromatic Master class at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, USA celebrating John Coltrane with a performance for multiple saxophonists doing the “Meditations Suite” joined by Evan Gregor on bass, Mike Stephans on drums and Phil Markowitz on piano; performance of “Sketches of Spain” at the Marciac (France) Festival with the Toulouse Conservatory Orchestra under the direction of Jean Charles Richard; workshop and premiere of chamber piece written for Lieb by Ronan Guilfoyle in Dublin, Ireland; Red Sea Festival in Eilat, Israel with Saxophone Summit doing Coltrane program; workshop and performance at trumpeter Paolo Fresu workshop in Nuoro, Sardinia.

September: Birdland in New York City with Dave Liebman Group featuring Mike Stern and Anthony Jackson doing music from “Back on the Corner” (Shrapnel Records); Festival in Delaware Water gap, PA with Bobby Avey, Matt Vashlishan, Evan Gregor, Mike Stephans and Lydia Liebman; Saxophone Summit with Manhattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra doing “Meditations Suite” at Symphony Space, NYC on Coltrane’s Birthday.

Peace

Lieb

INTERVALS - MAY/JUNE 2007

RECENT EVENTS

DL BIG BAND TOUR: There’s nothing like hitting every night and for a big band, with all the diverse ingredients, it is even more true. We had a chance to do three in a row and as it is said “what a difference a day makes!” Time spent is everything-you have to do it to become it. I could finally hear what the band could be like if and when we get the chance to play on some kind of regular schedule. My appreciation to the guys for making it work.

DIFFERENT BUT THE SAME EUROPEAN TOUR: Of course with a small group (Ellery Eskelin-sax; Jim Black-drums; Tony Marino-bass), the same is true about being able to hit regularly. The difference is that with good musicians something ALWAYS happens musically that is special, more so if you have an incredible talent like Jim Black playing with you. I really enjoy the music we make in this group, which we are going to record in the next month.

MCCOY AND MIKE NOCK: What a great week in Australia (helluva of a trip-35 hours door to door!!). Playing with McCoy’s Trio(Eric Gravatt-drums; Gerald Cannon-bass) is an honor and privilege. After all, I grew up at McCoy’s feet with Trane, Elvin and Jimmy and sometimes I have to pinch myself that I am playing with him. As well, the great Mike Nock who is of course an institution in Australia/New Zealand having spent many years in the States playing with everyone. One of the best composers in jazz and a passionate, lyrical pianist, it is always a pleasure to play with him. Also, I saw Pharaoh Sanders perform at this same Melbourne Festival and was knocked out by the sheer power and beauty of his tenor sound. By the way, the change in these two cities of Brisbane and Melbourne from when I was there decades ago is astounding, architecturally, foodwise and as far as cultural diversity is concerned.

We Played opposite Pharoah Saunders one night in Melbourne and it was fantastic to hear him. What sound that man gets!!

NEW RELEASE:

WATERS ASHORE-Last summer in Louisville, KY, I had the pleasure to spend an afternoon in the company of some true free jazz players. The violinist is La Donna Smith and the guitarist, Misha Fegin-who have played together for years. I had heard some of Misha’s music ( I actually do eventually listen to most CDs given to me taking note of things I like) and told him that it would be nice to play together. On LaDonna’s label, the recording is called “Waters Ashore”-a completely spontaneous afternoon playing in a language all its own.

TRANSMUSEQ CATALOG PAGE

RECOMMENDED

TRANEUMENTARY-a great series on Trane with interviews by many people including Joe Lovano, Sonny Rollins, Joshua Redman and myself constituting an ongoing, weekly series. Also recently on You Tube, a short version of “Vigil” featuring a great duo with Trane and Elvin from the best filmed performance of Trane from Belgium.

http://traneumentary.blogspot.com/

LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA: One thing about a long flight (Australia) is that you can catch up on movies, assuming there is something worthwhile to check out. Clint Eastwood’s film concerning the Japanese viewpoint of the battle for Iwo Jima is incredibly touching and emotion packed. When I see films like this, (Private Ryan, Platoon, etc). I just walk away thinking how dumb and wasteful war is. What can justify the slaughter of 20 year olds?

PASSINGS

ANDREW HILL:Talk about an true individualist, a man who followed his own star and
never relented. On that alone Andrew Hill would be required listening, but the complexity, sophistication and passion of his music, both in the 60s and in the past several years stands as a monument to what great music is about.

TONY SCOTT:An incredible clarinetist who could play from the beginning of jazz through the present and as well one of the first to travel and musically mix with other cultures, Tony was something else. When he would come to see you in Rome where he lived for years, he would be sure to get on the piano and play “Lush Life” in all 12 keys. A remarkable personality.

MEMORIALS:

DON ALIAS/ ALICE COLTRANE:I guess it is getting older, but it seems like there have been too many of these recently. A small and very private affair at a New York club for my old friend, Don Alias was touching. And for the first time at any of the recent musician memorials that I have attended, Don’s mother was there to speak which really put his loss into perspective. Surviving past your child has to be one of the worst of all things to go through as a parent. Don’s mom and family were truly inspiring. Alice Coltrane’s memorial at a large church in Manhattan was very fitting commemorating her life and works. There was equitable representation of both sides of her life-the music and the spiritual. With performances and talks by Charlie Haden, Jack DeJonette, Ravi Coltrane of course and others, the service was a true monument to a woman who went past category, time and place. Alice lived an inspirational life, something completely clear from the memorial service.

OF INTEREST

THE LEGACY OF WORLD WAR II:A rare recording of the Israeli anthem "Hatikva " from 61 years ago. It was recorded by a British reporter in May 1945 in Bergen-Belsen when the British army liberated the few thousand survivors in that concentration camp, half of which were Jewish, with most of them at the extremes of their strength. The British priest organized prayers for Shabbat for the Jews which was the first time after six years of war and more than ten years of persecution. With a lot of effort the Jews organized themselves and sang “Hatikva.” As you can hear they sang the original version exactly as it was written by Naftali Imber. http://genealogy.org.il/BergenBelsenHatikva.mp3

INFLATED VALUE?:On E bay, my first recording done in 1967 under the leadership of Lars Werner in Sweden was selling for $700. What’s going on here?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Love-LP-Lars-Werner-OCH-HANS-Dave-Liebman-1967-RARE-NM_W0QQitemZ250024959099QQcategoryZ306QQtcZphotoQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item250024959099

THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE-CHINA : (from the NY TIMES) “With stunning swiftness China’s surging ranks of classical musicians have found a home in Western concert halls, conservatories and opera houses, jolting a musical tradition born in the courts and churches of Europe.-With the same energy, drive and sheer population weight that has made it an economic power, China has become a considerable force in Western classical music. Conservatories are bulging. Provincial cities demand orchestras and concert halls. Pianos and violins made in China fill shipping containers leaving its ports.The Chinese enthusiasm suggests the potential for a growing market for recorded music and live performances just as an aging fan base and declining record sales worry many professionals in Europe and the United States. Sales for a top-selling classical recording in the West number merely in the thousands instead of the tens of thousands 25 years ago. Large solo fees, plush orchestra jobs, an established audience and the presence of teachers steeped in the tradition have lured them to American and European cities. The phenomenon, which has been building for at least a decade, has gathered steam in the last few years, injecting new vitality into the American classical music scene after historic influxes of Italians, Germans and Russian Jews, and more recently Japanese, Taiwanese and Koreans. “I honestly think that in some real sense the future of classical music depends on developments in China in the next 20 years,” said Robert Sirota, the president of the Manhattan School of Music. “They represent a vast new audience as well as a classical-music-performing population that is much larger than anything we’ve had so far. You’re looking at a time when, maybe 20 to 40 years from now, Shanghai and Beijing are really going to be considered centers of world art music.”

Will this be true in jazz?

ANOTHER WAVE OF THE FUTURE!! (again from the NY Times)-This is about a musician I met at the bar of the hotel we were staying at in Toledo, Ohio. He described what he was dong on the road and then this article appeared: Skip to next paragraph "Theater's Alive With the Sound of Laptops" by JESSE GREEN concerning a touring company doing “Wonderful Town. (excerpted) This article speaks for itself!!
“The orchestra is down to 12 traditional instrumentalists, including four reeds and three horns, with only a lonely violin and cello to sweeten the mix. So why does it seem as dense as it did on Broadway? Why is the string sound so big, if not exactly Bernstein-y? That would be the work of musician No. 13, sitting behind the reed with a Qwerty keyboard attached to an ordinary PC running a software program called Notion and wired into the sound system. This copy of Notion has been loaded with all the string parts for "Wonderful Town," broken down in individual instrumental lines that can be muted or played at will, all triggered by a finger tapping the rhythm on any key in the A-S-D-F row.
Notion comes on CDs that sell for about $600.These products are also cheaper and more compact than human musicians. They do not get sick or have bad nights. And after years of gradual improvements, their sound is now good enough to fool many nonexperts, especially since they are almost always used, as recommended, alongside traditional instruments. Their processing capacities are large enough so that details of articulation and attack, vibrato and decay, can be reasonably approximated, if not gorgeously rendered. (Brass and bass drum, I mean you.) And the notes themselves are no longer digitally created but are based on thousands of samples from real instrumentalists. Notion's main sample source is the London Symphony Orchestra. Why London? No American ensemble would cooperate. Whether jobs are being lost as a result is a matter of interpretation. Yes, "Wonderful Town" has 11 fewer musicians now than it did when it opened on Broadway, but the show probably wouldn't have toured at all had it been required to maintain the full complement. Keith Levenson, the production's music supervisor and a paid adviser to Notion, said he is in that sense saving jobs, not cutting them. (He pointed out that Notion too is played by a live musician.) But union representatives call such arguments naive; what if the producers of the next "Wonderful Town," having heard how this one sounds with Notion, decide they can only afford nine musicians, or five? Some see the slippery slope as most precarious not at the uppermost
levels of production but at the lowest. "Technology is always a threat to live music," said Bruce Pomahac, director of music at Rodgers & Hammerstein. "When the pianoforte
replaced the harpsichord, every harpsichordist was out of a job. And we all
fall in love with the art we grew up with. But this is not about putting musicians out of work. They're already out of work. This is about trying to get back, in some new form, something that's lost. "That may end up being the best the musicians union can hope for too. Sinfonia doesn't just mimic cymbals and saxophones. It can be programmed to control scenery too.”

Peace

Lieb

INTERVALS - APRIL 2007

RECENT EVENTS

INSHALLAH-MY TRIP TO MAURITANIA

When I was young, there was a common belief that travel broadened one’s horizons and to be a well rounded and cultured adult, you must range far and wide-something to that extent. In fact my parents gave me $1000 and a book called ”Europe On Five Dollars A Day” with a round trip ticket in and out of London when I was 20 years old to foster that conviction. (By the way I dutifully went through Europe with some playing in between visiting museums and staying at youth hostels, but more of that in a future newsletter celebrating forty years of travel.) I stand firmly behind that advice and in fact will go a bit further and state that not only should one travel but that every so often, it is important to experience a “third world country” meaning one off the beaten path. The reason is simple: one cannot appreciate how things are in other, less fortunate parts of the world by television and other media. One must feel a place to come back with a vivid impression and something of value, all towards putting perspective into what is going on in the world and what great fortune and luck we have being born into privilege as we know it.

A few years ago I went to El Salvador along with a mission trip sponsored by the local church where I live and where my daughter and wife are members. It was of course an eye opener to see what is happening in that part of the world, the conditions of daily life, etc. (My diary of that trip is on my web site in Past Newsletter Archives, Issue 2 in 2004.) But for decades I have always felt the desire to experience the real desert, as in the Sahara. Before I describe this incredible journey, there’s a related story.

I was living in the Bay Area in 1976-77 and one day went to a so-called psychic center where you would be told about your past, present and future-sort of an upgraded palm or tarot card reading. One thing stood out when I asked if they see anything with music in my past lives. They saw me in a circle of people, dancing, wearing white robes, surrounded by blazing sun and heat in a desert setting. I have always felt that somewhere in my DNA and past lives, there was a time in the desert playing a straight “horn” of some sort. Going to the desert has naturally been on my mind for decades.

In the late 90s I began thinking about it with my very good friend from France, Jean Jacques Quesada and finally decided to do it sometime as a gift to myself for my 60th year. There was of course Morocco and Tunisia as possibilities, but not much else because of political and cultural reasons. But the idea of visiting Mauritania in northwest Africa which was part of the French colonial system came to us and when we looked into it, seemed like a safe place that though it was not a heavy tourist center did have the possibilities to have a guide accompany you into the desert. Twice the size of France with a population of three million and a moderate Islamic government, we decided to give it a try. By chance, with Mike Brecker’s passing during the IASJ convention, saxophonist Ric Margitza who has been living in Paris for a few years came by the booth to commiserate about Mike. I asked if he wanted to go, so there were three of us.

This trip was definitely one of the great experiences of my life, right up there with going to India thirty years ago. Following are some impressions:

Six days driving around the Sahara camping out, living in the sand, witnessing changes of landscape ever few hours; sand always in your body, mouth and mind; blazing sun; hours of a four by four truck bouncing up and down over all kinds of topographies-small and large dunes deserts, miles of rocks only, mountains like Wyoming, an endless deserted beach; the truck undergoing a major breakdown but somehow getting out of the situation in a timely fashion with the guide (Sidi) walking several miles while we sat under a lonely tree for shade; five hours later a “taxi” arrives to take us to the next stop and somehow in this little village, the truck was fixed and driver Lemrabot showed up in the middle of the night ready to go the next day; daily malaria pills, yellow fever shots, avoid all water, etc; Sidi and Lemrabot could somehow drive for hours without any landmarks and find their way finding tracks of another vehicle in the sand; tall, thin men dressed in blue robes with handsome faces; beautiful women all wrapped in colorful draped fabric; the cheche which covers the head and face and is a necessity in the blowing sand (and takes several lessons to learn to wrap on one’s head); vocal music, especially Dimi Mint Abba, the leading female singer that is played incessantly everywhere with a definite blues vibe lying somewhere between African(Senegal is directly south of Mauritania) and Middle Eastern type Arab music; by chance coming upon a political rally in the city of Atar with singing and incredible dancing accompanied by hands on pots or the ground, dishes,etc., and a kind of out of tune ukelele-guitar; men and women seated separately, dancing with amazing grace like birds and gazelles; no alcohol or drugs present, only a joyous vibe between the people and total acceptance of our presence; the hot African “armatam” or continental wind blowing from inner Africa to the west; the full cosmos at night with Orion and the Dippers dancing in front of our eyes; several nights accompanied by a full moon providing our only light (besides flashlights); no hot water, no toilets or showers to speak of; driver and guide doing nightly prayers; the most friendly people to us and each other; even at the ever present police checkpoints a hand is extended and a polite “bonjour” offered; in the midst of a desert landscape, suddenly some green grows (calotropis-don’t touch-poisonous) meaning there is water and people can and do live nearby; nomads wandering with their camels (every family must have a nomad representative to keep the tradition alive); driving in a whiteout meaning a minor dust storm, having no idea how the driver could even see the road; fact:sand is actually white but the sun’s effect on the iron in the sand turns it brown; completely undeveloped and deserted beach where we slept one night after eating the best grilled fish (capitaine) ever; great conversations and hang with Ric and Jean Jacques as well as with Sidi and Lemrabot; early to sleep, early to rise and then drive just for the sake of driving with continuous bumping for hours; constant stopping to build a fire and drink cups of sweet mint tea, even at gas stations; me dancing with the mother of a clan who came out of nowhere one morning where we slept in an “auberge” a sort of “hotel-motel” (not really) and immediately started playing the boxes and furniture while singing; dunes, both high and low that can move by 10 feet from season to season because of the wind. often shaped like crescents (symbol of Islam); a kid with what looked like muscular dystrophy crawling across the sand; ancient caravan routes, cities from seventh century; heat that only is a hint of what it is like in a few months (130 in the shade); standing in front of a large dune in the “white valley”; tents and concrete huts (for storage of food) in the middle of nowhere always with goats and camels around; for some periods of driving no seeming signs of life (glad we didn’t get stuck out there!!); seeing the oldest Koran in western Africa from pre 10th century; original Arabic calligraphy accompanied by the museum guide singing poetry for us in the Chinguetti library (one room as big as one of our bathrooms lined with boxes of texts); seeing the “old” city of Chinguetti which disappeared centuries ago because of the blowing sand; the main city of Nouakchott bordering on organized chaos with no traffic lights or rules, dirty as can be, but somehow working; throngs of men standing around; marketplaces with no one buying anything; goats eating paper and cloth; men taking “baths” in the street with bottled water; every minute someone coming up to you to buy something with nothing much to purchase in any case except more bread; old Mercedes all over the capital with places to fix cars and get tires everywhere (every Mauritanian must know how to fix a car); being entertained by a an extended family with us joining in on some Indian flutes I brought during the evening in the middle of nowhere; every night the three of us playing the wooden Indian flutes I brought during the sunset hours; watching for mosquitoes but seeing none; “salaam malekoum”-a kind of greetings to all in Arabic; truly believing in the expression “Inshallah” meaning “as God wills it,” feeling completely comfortable, pain free and relaxed as if this was a kind of “home” to me in the past; a lot of staring at us but not one bad vibe; the guide and driver know everyone meaning the country is basically an extended family; with Ric and Jean Jacques listing songs we don’t like to play; imagining a Saturday Night Live skit with the premise of jazz musicians on a sightseeing bus tour accompanied by Midwesterners-tour guide is Dan Akroyd, driver is John Belushi, jazz guy is Eddie Murphy with Gilda Radner as his old lady; Will Ferrel and Jane Curtin and are Mr. and Mrs. Midwest (John and Mary); Chris Farley is the bus driver; hilarious situations on the road; etc; finally, promise to return again and play with Dimi next time.

Observations: Black people in charge with no paranoia for a change; everyone dressed the same with no obvious distinction of classes (except government of course); family culture front and center ties the people together even in poverty conditions; bottom line is that this is a completely different world which was a privilege to experience; in the desert there are no rules, only what works for survival; the way people improvise to live shows that anything is possible; the desert is THE most elemental of habitats-clothing isn’t even necessary; the obvious truth is that life is a lot of luck, meaning where and when you arrive on the planet. Check out Dimi on video:

http://www.tv5.org/TV5Site/musique/mondomix.php?id_artiste=573
http://dimi_mint_abba.mondomix.com/fr/video1717.htm
http://dimi_mint_abba.mondomix.com/fr/video1875.htm


FRANCE-THE LAND OF THE HAND SHAKE AND BONJOUR
There are certain aspects of French culture that are absolutely happening. (I don’t have to enumerate other less favorable traits!!) One is the fact that every day and anywhere you go, the first thing you do is shake hands with everyone, or a two/three cheek kiss. Though this might seem a bit formal, it does help to clear the air at the beginning of an encounter as well as establishing a level playing field for all those present, no matter what their relationship might be or become. As I mentioned above, even in Mauritania, a former French colony, before asking for your passport, the gendarme shake hands and say “bonjour.” In general, the French are among the most polite people I have encountered with constant “pardon moi” (excuse me) even when it is hardly necessary. Leaving restaurants is always accompanied by a good night and thank you. These are some redeeming qualities from the old world which do make a difference.

After Mauritania I had a few gigs in France and Belgium with a variety of wonderful musicians: a small big band led by arranger Christophe Del Sasso with part of the repertoire being his arrangements of a few of my more chromatic pieces; a few nights at the main local club, the Sunset with bassist Riccardo Del Fra, drummer Simone Goubert (killing!!), Bruno Ruder, a young, very unusual, original pianist and Ric Margitza sitting in. Mostly standards, these nights were burning. Finally a small tour with pianist Jean Marie Machado’s trio, a musician whose compositions I really enjoy playing, many of them with a strong “fado” or Portuguese folk influence, reflecting his mixed Moroccan and Portuguese heritage. That is the great thing about Europe which one encounters often. The musician’s heritages are all mixed up and of course reflected in their music, something not so common in the States and usually quite challenging to adapt to. One concert began with a bunch of students playing completely free-where else would that happen but France?

Finally, I gave a three day master class at the Paris Conservatory which centered around a performance of Gunnar Mossblad’s big band arrangement of Coltrane’s “Meditations Suite” which was excellently played by the students. But most interesting was a day spent with the classical saxophonists who study with Claude DeLangle who I highlighted in a newsletter from last year, commenting on his incredible playing on a CD called “the Solitary Saxophone”. My teacher, Joe Allard went to the Paris Conservatory and studied with Marcel Mule, the original teacher who began the classical saxophone department at the Conservatory. It was a great honor to be with Claude and his students, direct descendants of the original sax line.

They were kind enough to practice and perform several of my chamber pieces-for soprano and cello, soprano and viola, sax quartet and a duo for soprano and alto (all published by Advance Music). Of course, I have played and in some cases recorded these works, but hearing these incredible classical saxophonists play this material was an eye opener. When I first wrote these pieces, the late Hans Gruber of Advance Music insisted I be very exacting with dynamic, tempo and expressive markings-matters that for most jazz music are left to the performer. But classical guys like and require all these notations and believe me, after hearing them play my pieces, I am convinced of the value of spending time notating such things. Let’s put it this way. If you write a pianissimo going to a fortissimo for two notes tongued hard followed by several notes slurred together, you WILL hear these specifics really played perfectly. To put it succinctly, I never heard my music like this before and it was a revelation. We had a wonderful time together talking about the differences between the classical player who at first must find the inner voice of the written music and THEN use their artistry to transcend the notes; whereas a jazz artist takes the written notes as a starting point to immediately reveal his or her own individual voice. Different but the same!!

OM SHALOM:With two performances at the Deer Head Inn and the Bluenote, drummer Mike Stephans, a new transplant to the area where I live in the Pocono Mountains brought his arrangements of Jewish melodies in a new CD release with the great title of "Om-Shalom." Accompanied by bassist Scott Colley and the great Bennie Mauping, we had a lot of fun with tunes ranging from "Dayeinu" to "Bei Mir Bist Du Shon" and and even "Hava Nagilah." It was a real pleasure to look back on my heritage with an up to date point of view. Details on obtaining the disk:The best link to use is:www.michaelstephans.com. Click on WORDS, then on the CD cover for OM/ShalOM. That will take you right to CD Baby. Many track samples are available for listening. The CD costs $19.95, and includes postage and handling.

KEVIN MAHOGANY: I had the distinct pleasure to do a concert with the great singer, Kevin Mahogany at the Berks Festival in Pennsylvania. Billed as a revisit to the Coltrane-Hartman collaboration, we of course did a few of those tunes, but others that Harman or Trane recorded. As Kevin said, the repertoire we chose could be what the two giants might have recorded if they continued working together. Kevin is a true baritone (in the line of Arthur Prysock, Billy Eckstine and Hartman) with a voice as smooth as silk and one of the best scatters I have heard. I look forward to more performances together.

RECOMMENDED

JAZZ DISPUTE AND THE ERRAND BOY: In my last newsletter I recommended the You Tube segment where a guy is acting out an argument motion by motion matching the blazing Bird and Dizzy heard in the background; check out the classic Jerry Lewis (a comic genius) on You Tube in a segment called the “Errand Boy” where he does something similar to a big band tune. There’s always precedent somewhere.

REMINDER

COLTRANE MASTER CLASS: A reminder to past attendees of my annual Saxophone/Chromatic Master Class held each summer at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, this is the 20th anniversary which will center on Coltrane and is restricted to only past participants. Please get in touch ASAP if you are interested.)

PASSINGS

LEROY JENKINS: Though I had only a passing acquaintance with Jenkins, he was one of the most important of the avant garde movement for decades, highlighted by his instrumental choice, the violin, not common by any means in jazz, straight or avant garde.

QUEVA LUTZ: This was a woman who really cared about her club, the 55 Bar in Greenwich Village, New York. She always kept the ticket price reasonable, ran a loose but structured environment and was very supportive to a whole clique of young, up and coming New York based players. I enjoy playing there for its ambiance and direct contact with the people. She will be sorely missed. (Will be there with my group April 6 and 7.)

NEW RELEASE

REDEMPTION-Quest Live In Europe (Hatology)
Recorded at the Sunset in Paris and in Switzerland during our first tour in fifteen years during the fall of 2005, this CD is absolutely burning with both standards and originals. I am glad to say, that not withstanding the hiatus, we ( Billy Hart, Richie Beirach and Ron McClure) haven’t missed a step and with maturity, we have actually improved. Available thru:
The Jazz Loft: http://ssl.adhost.com/jazzloft/baskets/hathut.cfm
DownTownMusicGallery, N.Y.N.Y.: dmg@downtownmusicgallery.com
Jazz Record Mart, Chicago: jazzmart@aol.com

OF INTEREST

STUDY HABITS:I often get older students who are predictably concerned about being late in the music game, especially in our time when there are so many young whiz kids around. I tell them that of course there is nothing one can do about a late start, but that an older person has more discipline and when they apply themselves to learning something, there is more concentration which in a way makes up for the loss of youth and its affinity for processing new info. Lo and behold, an article from the NY Times about the pitfalls of “multi-tasking” (doing more than one thing at a time like driving and talking on the cell phone or listening to the ipod and making a phone call, etc.) Check out this item of research:

“A group of 18- to 21-year-olds and a group of 35- to 39-year-olds were given 90 seconds to translate images into numbers, using a simple code. The younger group did 10 percent better when not interrupted. But when both groups were interrupted by a phone call, a cell phone short-text message or an instant message, the older group matched the younger group in speed and accuracy. The older people think more slowly, but they have a faster fluid intelligence, so they are better able to block out interruptions and choose what to focus on,” said Martin Westwell, deputy director of the institute.”

ITINERARY

April-Dave Liebman Group at the 55 Bar, NYC; Concert and lecture for John Coltrane at East Stroudsburg University, East Stroudsburg, PA with Ravi Coltane, Billy Hart, Phil Markowitz and Cecil McBee; Dave Liebman Big Band at University of Michigan, Hope College (Michigan) and University of Toledo, Ohio; Dave Liebman Group at the Falcon Arts Center, Marlboro, New York and The Deer Head Inn, Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania; master class and concert at Musichochschule Lucerne, Switzerland; European tour with “Different But The Same” featuring Ellery Eskelin, Jim Black and Tony Marino

May-With McCoy Tyner at the Melbourne Festival, Australia; with Mike Nock at the Jazzworx Institute,Brisbane, Australia

Peace
Lieb

INTERVALS - FEBRUARY/MARCH 2007

RECENT EVENTS

MIKE BRECKER-“GATHERING OF SPIRITS”
In a small feature a few weeks ago I wrote about the funeral for Mike which took place a few days after his passing in mid January. Since that time I have been asked to write and comment for magazines, radio, etc., and have directed such inquiries to that statement which at the time was all I wanted to say on the matter. I refer interested readers to check it out in the previous newsletter, as well a little composition for violin and piano that I wrote for Mike when he first got ill (available on my web site under Mike Brecker). It has been a very long month between the funeral and memorial service which took place at Town Hall in New York on February 20th. I was depressed in general and quite apprehensive concerning the memorial after Susan Brecker asked me to speak. The article below from Ben Ratliff is a very accurate description of the service which was a wonderful and true representation of Mike’s spirit. I have been thinking about why Mike’s passing personally affected me so much. Everyone will understand the following comments as they are universal emotions representing an attempt to make sense of this tragedy.

In the course of a human life, a person can consider themselves fortunate if he or she can honestly say there was at least one person who truly understood who they were. As an artist who spends their entire life trying to create, it is even rarer to encounter another person who truly understands the creative process that YOU are engaged in. By that I meaning what motivates and inspires oneself as well as the kinds of doubts that go along with the territory. Mike was one of the only people I have known who saw things the way I do. On the surface, these “things” would seem to be concerned with the obvious pursuit of musical excellence, in our case using Coltrane as the model. But it goes deeper than that having to do with how you perceive yourself in relation to the past, present and future.

Beyond interpersonal relationships and the immediate demands of life, there exists another parallel reality which one feels and in rare moments, can recognize. Yet, this vision stands apart and is seemingly far off in the distance. When that personal scenario, is recognized by another person, there is a mutual understanding beyond words. Though this common understanding may be traceable to a common background, shared events, etc., it is still mysterious and as we know, quite rare. I miss Mike as a brother who saw the same things that I did. With his passing, the world is a bit lonelier than it was before. This is something that age brings upon all of us, representing one of those universal passages of life. Therefore, I am just taking note of the obvious. As sad as his passing is to family, friends and fans, I know he was alright with it and at peace. The title tune which he wrote for the Sax Summit recording a few years ago (which I played on wooden flute at the memorial service) has an appropriate title. Michael is now part of a “Gathering of Spirits” in the heavens ---(and can finally ask Trane all the questions we have).

As mentioned on my site, in the Jewish faith we mourn for one year. The pages for Mike will stay up and all my performances will be dedicated to Mike’s memory for this period.

Moving on, I am gratified that Ravi Coltrane has agreed to join the “Saxophone Summit II” (working name for now as “Sax Summit” has been retired). We will perform at the Red Sea Festival in Eilat, Israel in August; Symphony Space in New York on Coltrane’s birthday (Sept 23) and record for Telarc in October. The plan is to explore the late Coltrane ballad repertoire and of course the recording will be dedicated to Michael. Guesting with us for some of the recording and Symphony Space will be brother Randy Brecker.

With all that has been written about Mike in the past weeks, I recommend for anyone interested to go to saxophonist Mike Zilber’s blog and click on the section for Brecker:
www.michaelzilber.com/blog

February 22, 2007
MUSIC REVIEW MICHAEL BRECKER MEMORIAL
Celebrating a Saxophonist’s Art and Heart
By BEN RATLIFF

The memorial program for the saxophonist Michael Brecker that filled Town Hall on Tuesday night kept landing on the theme of generosity. Mr. Brecker died of leukemia on Jan. 13 at 57. During his illness he enlisted family members and friends in sending out a call for bone-marrow donors — not just for himself — that resulted in tens of thousands of donor registrations. His friends in jazz and pop music all implied that this wasn’t just an isolated case of conscientiousness. Mr.Brecker,a virtuosic musician, was soft-spoken and didn’t look to score points on his magnanimity. James Taylor, who sent a testimonial on film from San Francisco, said that Mr. Brecker had saved his life when Mr. Taylor was quitting drugs. (Mr. Brecker had been a drug user in the 1970s and helped treat substance abusers after he went clean in the early 1980s.) “I identified so closely with Michael,” Mr. Taylor said, looking shaken. “The fact that he managed to turn his life around and go forward made it possible for me to do it too.” The saxophonist Dave Liebman talked about
a Samaritan impulse as something he and Mr. Brecker shared, which he said came in part from their urban Jewish upbringing — he in Brooklyn, Mr. Brecker in Philadelphia. “There was also an unspoken agreement that we should do something good for humanity,” he said. Mr. Brecker’s wife, Susan, had asked that there be no saxophone playing in the performances. So Mr. Liebman played a piece, composed by Mr. Brecker, on a small wooden flute.

Pat Metheny played his “Every Day (I Thank You)” on acoustic guitar, full of open ringing notes. Mr. Brecker’s brother, the trumpeter Randy Brecker, played “Midnight Voyage,” a piece from a recent Michael Brecker album, with a quartet including the pianist Joey Calderazzo, the bassist James Genus and the drummer Jeff Watts. And the pianist Herbie Hancock performed one of his own pieces, “Chan’s Song,” with John Patitucci on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums.

But his colleagues also joked that Mr. Brecker could be unintentionally cruel. “The most treacherous position in jazz,” Mr. Metheny said, “was being the guy on the bandstand who has to take a solo right after Mike Brecker.” Randy Brecker told a similar story, about one of the hundreds of recording sessions at which he had been hired to work alongside his brother. Michael, he said, came to work straight from the airport after a long flight, not having had time to read the music. He was asked by the producer to build a solo through a long two-chord vamp. One could see where this was going: Michael’s solo was of disturbingly high quality, and Randy was asked to take it from there.

Mr. Liebman also brought up a less technical, more philosophical point about Mr. Brecker’s career: his willingness — unusual, for someone so highly accomplished in jazz — to work regularly in pop. He did so, Mr. Liebman said, “without any shame or guilt.”

A short film about Mr. Brecker’s career brought this point home as well. He was seen with recent bands, playing dense, complex jazz in the post-Coltrane tradition; then, in the 1970s, playing fusion and funk; then as a sideman with Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon. Mr. Simon himself emerged to sing “Still Crazy After All These Years,” one of the pop hits that bore a famous Michael Brecker solo, with Mr. Hancock on electric piano. Then the memorial closed with chanting. Mr. Hancock explained that Mr. Brecker had started practicing Buddhism nine months before his death, and joined Soka Gakkai International, the American-based group associated with Nichiren Buddhism, three months later. Mr. Hancock, the saxophonist Wayne Shorter and the bassist Buster Williams, who all practice the same form of Buddhism, as well as Mr. Brecker’s son, Sam, went onstage, sat in a line with their backs to the audience while facing a painted scroll in a wooden shrine, and chanted, “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” for five minutes. For the next hour and a half, after the hall cleared, musicians hung out by the doors of the theater, trading stories.

TOM RAINEY:A GREAT MEETING
Every once in awhile you play with a guy that you have been hearing about for years but never had a chance to hit with. Such was the case with drummer Tom Rainey and myself, which finally occurred during the IAJE Convention at the 55 Bar in New York along with bassist Ronan Guilfoyle. Though we had played once on a big band project, on this gig we were completely improvising which by the way is when you really know what someone has to offer-no agenda-no talking beforehand about the music-completely conversational and spontaneous. You bring your whole musical life to the table in such situations. Ronan and I have been doing this for awhile now with some wonderful drummers (Jim Black, Nasheet Waites, Chander Sardjoe). This gig with Tom was fantastic. He is really special and most of all, he hits the drums like he means it-taking no prisoners, confident and strong-qualities that I love in drummers. I look forward to more along the same line in the future. I might mention also at the IAJE Convention, my band did a great set to a really appreciative audience.

COMMENT
THE WAY IT WAS: THE AMERICAN SONG TRADITION
I have been waiting for a down period of activity to highlight some of the material that the great writer Gene Lees (who publishes the indispensable and highly recommended “Jazzletter”) wrote in his biography of songwriter Johnny Mercer. Being one of the premier composers/lyricists of the 20th century, he epitomized this period when what we know as the “standards” were written by the likes of Gershwin, Porter, Arlen, Rodgers, etc. From the jazz point of view, a large part of our basic repertoire derives from the American song tradition represented by these composers, manifested to a great degree through the opportunities presented by the flowering of the Broadway musical and Hollywood movie scores. Taken as a whole, the entire body of work stands as one of America’s greatest contributions to the history of music. Though there was still activity of sorts in this genre after 1950, it was in the first fifty years of this century that this music developed. This intense period of songwriting was the result of historic and cultural trends that are fascinating and of course underlie the notion that art and culture are a two way street, each affecting the other in big and small ways. With Gene’s permission, I quote some passages from the book.

On songwriting:”It is the ability to walk to the edge of the pit and step back from it with a good story that makes the great writer. In the case of lyric writing, this surefootedness is even more necessary, for the lament is one of the main forms of art, and the ability to walk that wire of pathos without falling into the pit of bathos is an indispensable element of the craft. You cannot write tragedy without a sense of humor; the lack of it produces something turgid and dull. Wit must be the underpinning of all dark writing.”

On the importance of radio: “Network radio made the career of Johnny Mercer. It is generally overlooked, and it is no coincidence, that the golden era of American song and the golden age of big bands were exactly coeval with the great period of network radio. Radio could make a star, or a song, overnight. The song pluggers of the 1930s were seeking radio performances. Records were of secondary, even minor interest to them. Records didn’t make stars; stars made records.”

On the symbiosis of events during these years: “Irving Berlin’s 1911 song “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” was a catalyst in a craze for dancing that would last for more than three decades in the United States. To cater to this new pastime, hundreds of ballrooms and dance pavilions sprang up across the country, many of them in amusement parks and at lakesides, with countless dance bands formed to provide the music. The quality of songs in Broadway musicals was rising steadily, and radio made many of their best songs into hits. A three way symbiosis emerged: movies and theater as a source of popular music; dance bands and their singers to perform it and radio as a medium to present it nationally. The level of public taste throughout North American was lifted. For example, broadcasts from the Cotton Club in New York established Duke Ellington as a major American musical figure before the 1930s began. The same for Guy Lomabardo, Cab Calloway and of course Benny Goodman.”

How television broke the scene up: “If you examine the annual lists of songs written in American in the 20th century, you will note that they start to improve in the second decade, attain a higher quality in the 1920s, get still better in the ‘30s and ‘40s, and then begin to decline in the 1950s, increasingly crowded out by material like “How Much Is that Doggy in the Window?”, “Oh, My Pa-Pa,” and “Vaya Con Dios,” all from 1953. Why the decline in the quality of the American song? One of the factors was certainly television.”

“Nobody was paying much attention to television after the war, of for that matter FM. In short order, two or three thousand little radio stations went up all over the country, and many of them depended on the networks for news and drama. There were fewer remotes of the bands because there were fewer and fewer locations for them to play. These stations went right on playing hit records which were for the most part still quality stuff. And gradually it began to go downhill. The networks withdrew, turning their attention to television, until all they were giving their affiliates was five minutes of news on the hour. And that left the stations to their own devices, filling the airtime with recordings to sell their advertising. Gradually radio ceased to produce music at all; it simply appropriated the product of the record business. As the small operations were bought up by large scale operators, the new “group owners,” as they were called, felt they had too little control over the stations that were far from their headquarters. So they turned to programmers which began to dominate in the late 1950s, and by the mid 1970s, it was paramount and today it is completely dominant.”

On the end of the tradition: “…..the most powerful blow to quality popular music would come from the very label that Mercer founded, (Capitol Records) through the success of the Beatles. The industry discovered just how much money could be made from records, and from then on it was interested in little else, and today is interested in nothing else. The Top Forty format was a deliberate restriction of the music available to the public. Since bad taste is, and always has been, more common than good taste (which by definition is more selective), these stations sought a constantly lower common denominator in the music they played. There was no room in this for music by the likes of Kern and Porter and Mercer, much less Mozart and Ellington.

Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in “Democracy in America“(1835) about the tyranny of the majority (Chapter 11):
“There are in any democracy men whose fortunes are on the increase but whose desires increase much more quickly than their wealth, so that their eyes devour long before they can afford them. They are always on the lookout for shortcuts to these anticipated delights. These two elements always provide democracies with a crowd of citizens whose desires outrun their means and who will gladly agree to put up with an imperfect substitute rather than do without the object of their desire altogether.

“The craftsman easily understands this feeling, for he shares it. In aristocracies he charged very high prices to a few. He sees that he can now get rich quicker by selling cheaply to all. Now, there are two ways of making a product cheaper; the first is to find better, quicker, more skillful ways of making it, while the second is to make a great number of objects which are more or less the same but not so good. In a democracy, every workman applies his wits to these points. He seeks ways of working, not just better, but quicker and more cheaply, and if he cannot mange that, he economizes on the intrinsic quality of the thing he is making, without rendering it wholly unfit for its intended use. In this way democracy …induces workmen to make shoddy things very quickly and consumers to put up with them. And this phenomenon ultimately became evident in popular music.”

And so we have Britney Spears!!(that’s my comment!!)

MORE NAILS IN THE COFFIN: From an article in the NY Times by Robin Pogrebin which recently appeared:
Over the last decade, the portion of corporate philanthropy dedicated to the arts has dropped by more than half, according to the Giving USA Foundation, an educational and research program of the American Association of Fundraising Counsel. In 2004, the most recent year for which figures are available, support for the arts was 4 percent of total corporate philanthropy, compared with 9.5 percent in 1994 — part of a general shift in giving toward health and social services.

When companies do support culture, they are increasingly paying for it out of their marketing budgets, which means strings are attached to the funds: from how a corporation’s name will appear in promotional materials, to what parties it can give during an exhibition, to the number of free or discounted tickets available to its employees.

RECOMMENDED

A GREAT DAY IN HARLEM: The famous picture taken in the late 1950s of many of the legendary musicians gathered on a street in Harlem is available for highlighting the individuals and getting the inside scoop on the photo shoot. By the way there is a wonderful DVD concerning the shooting itself. http://www.harlem.org/ ITINERARY March: I am off to the Sahara Desert in Mauritania with two friends. It has always been a wish of mine to experience the real desert. As a gift to myself for having made it to the age of sixty, I am taking this trip now, before I get older and it gets harder to do. My next newsletter will obviously include impressions of the trip. After that: Paris, France-two nights at the Sunset Club with bassist Riccardo Del Fran and group; master class and performance of big band arrangement of “Meditations Suite” at the Paris Conservatory; master class at Paris Conservatory with students of Claude DeLangle; performances in Belgium with pianist Jean Marie Machado; with singer Kevin Mahogany commemorating Johnny Hartman with John Coltrane recording at the Berks Jazz Festival, Reading, Pennsylvania; the Dave Liebman Group at Keystone College, La Plume, PA. (Dates for all appearances available at each site). Peace Lieb

PASSINGS:MIKE AND ALICE - January 15, 2007

PASSINGS:MIKE and ALICE
Jan 15 2007

I write this a few hours after Mike Brecker's funeral, Monday Jan 15. It was as you could imagine quite moving and sad. He leaves a wife, two teenage children, a sister and brother Randy, who took his greatest solo today when he spoke so honestly about Mike at the funeral. I know these guys for forty years. One of his last records was with Joe Lovano and myself in "Saxophone Summit" with his tune as the title track appropriately titled “Gathering of Spirits.” As well, his last official gig was with that band in New York at Birdland in March 2004. We were particularly close in the early days. Mike took over my first loft on West 19th Street when I moved on, living there for ten years using the same piano and continuing the research and practice vibe that permeated the atmosphere. He and I were close mainly as a consequence of our love and respect for John Coltrane’s music. Ultimately, even more important than the music was the message that Trane left to all of us concerning humility, humanity and honesty. Music after all is in the final analysis just sound without emotion or feeling until the artist possesses the notes so the listener, if they care to and put the effort in, feels something. To move the listener, you have to bring something to the music that is inside you. Michael had plenty inside him and through music, he found a way to let people know what he was thinking and feeling. Besides inspiring so many saxophonists to pursue this deep musical tradition that we all love and respect, he personally helped many people involved in addictive behavior to find and cure themselves. Even at the end, he realized that though he wanted his disease to stay quiet, by asking for blood donors, he was helping to save others, which is exactly what happened. This is the essence of selflessness.


As Randy said in his eulogy, the passing of Alice Coltrane within the same twenty four hour period is significant on several levels, specifically in relation to Mike because of the Coltrane connection. It was the late Trane period that we (meaning Michael, Steve Grossman, Bob Berg, Randy, myself and others) were hooked on and tried to emulate in the early days. The fact that these two passings occurred during the IAJE convention in New York and became common knowledge in the last few hours of the weekend was in some ways fortuitous since such a large part of the community was by circumstance together.


The last person I saw as I was leaving the hotel was Roy Haynes. His final thought to me was exactly that, meaning this is the time for the community to pull together and keep the faith. We will do our best Sergeant Haynes.

Peace my brother
Lieb

INTERVALS - JANUARY - 2007

RECENT EVENTS

PLAYING DUO: In the last period of work I did a few gigs with pianist Bobby Avey playing the music from a new release titled “Vienna Dialogues”(Zoho) where we performed our adaptations of some of the classical repertoire ranging from Debussey to Handel to Mahler. As well I did a European tour with Marc Copland-thirteen consecutive concerts. Playing duo is one of the most challenging situations for me because there is literally nowhere to hide. Every note is heard clearly without a rhythm section to obscure things and there is real opportunity to play very soft and delicately, especially with a pianist like Copland who has such control of the soft pedal. The intimacy is very concentrated and I think quite personal for an audience to be part of. And of course, in Europe, the concentration from the audience is intense and perfect.

COLTRANE PANEL AND CONCERT: As part of the four day celebration of Coltrane at the Manhattan School of Music where I teach my chromatic approach, one night was dedicated to a panel consisting of Roy Haynes, Rashied Ali, Jimmy Heath, Ira Gitler, Ashley Khan and myself. It was fantastic to have two of Trane’s drummers discussing what it was like to play with John. Roy said that he could do anything that was in his head because John had such secure time. Jimmy Heath told a story of how he took Coltrane home between a matinee performance (late afternoon) and the evening sets to for a home cooked meal in Philadelphia where they grew up together. Trane asked if he could use the practice room and shedded between the gigs, just pausing to eat a bit. The practice stories are legendary and of course shows how Trane made such incredible progress in such a short period. Also I was thrilled to play Gunnar Mossblad’s big band arrangement of the “Meditations Suite” which I will be performing with Sax Summit at New York’s Symphony Space on Tranes’ birthday, September 23, 2007. Getting a student band to play collective free music was quite an accomplishment for these young musicians under the direction of Justin DiCiocchio.

BRUSSELS JAZZ ORCHESTRA: I had a good three concert tour with this fantastic big band who are always ready to rehearse and really work on the music. It’s such a pleasure to land overseas, get on the stage and be able to hit with all the prior work completed to such a high level.

NEW PUBLICATIONS:

From time to time, I devote some time to writing new books as I have just done for my 60th birthday year. Two books for Jamey Aebersold Publications were written with the invaluable help of a former student and wonderful saxophonist, Matt Vashlishan. The other book is for Advance Music and available through Caris Music Services. I have a few more planned for this year also.

SAXOPHONE BASICS: A Daily Practice Guide: This is a handy, shirt pocket size pamphlet that basically distills the information from my larger book on the subject “Developing A Personal Saxophone Sound” (Dorn Publications) and DVD, “The Complete Guide to Saxophone Sound Production” (Caris Music) into essential guidelines for practicing on a daily level. From putting the horn together to posture, to breathing and warm up exercises, along with a detailed outline of all the overtone exercises one would need for a lifetime in sequential order, this is a good book to have around for daily reference.

HOW TO APPROACH STANDARDS CHROMATICALLY-TECHNIQUES OF SUPERIMPOSITION: Prompted by a suggestion from my wife, Caris, to create something more basic and comprehensible than the material in my “Chromatic Approach to Jazz Melody and Harmony,” I decided to take all of the various methods of superimposition (approximately a dozen) that are described in the book and apply one method per tune. Most importantly for this purpose, the tunes are basic ones from the jazz repertoire, used as a setting for me to improvise over within one superimposition method per tune. The accompanying CD therefore includes pre-existing playalong tracks from the Aebersold series on tunes like “Satin Doll,” “Girl From Ipanema,” Take the A Train” and other “chestnuts”. Included in the text are my superimposed progressions as well as transcriptions of many of the performances. Of course I am playing literally “against” the recording meaning there is no harmonic response or initiation of chromatic superimpositions emanating from the track itself, which of course in a real time playing situation would hopefully not be the case. Though it may appear to be contrived, this book makes the point that sensible and logical chromatic superimposition can sound good even in the most conservative of settings, a handy tool for keeping harmonic interest going.

ANTHOLOGY: This is a collection of over fifty original compositions spanning the past thirty plus years including tunes from all the genres I have recorded in: be bop contrafacts, chamber duo and chromatic harmonic settings, fusion, free and world music tunes. The notation includes exact voicings for most of the songs, an essay on composing, as well as notes concerning the inspirations for each of the songs. The book is beautifully printed by Advance Music. I worked very hard on this collection and am indebted to Hans Jurg Rudiger, the copyist for his patience as I am very meticulous about notation.

THE DL GROUP AT FIFTEEN YEARS
My present group is fifteen years old this past fall with members Vic Juris and Tony Marino with me from the beginning and Marko Marcinko since 2000. I am eternally grateful to these guys (and to past members Phil Markowitz and Jamey Haddad) for their dedication and musicianship. I would not be the same person without them and the music we play. Though we haven’t had the greatest of commercial success, the communication we have together and recordings we have done have made this a pinnacle of my creative life. The following review really captures what we do and coincidentally the performance was at our home base, the Deer Head Inn in Deleware Water Gap, PA.:

The David Liebman Group at the Deerhead Inn

November 6, 2006 by Vic Schermer
David Liebman is a preeminent jazz saxophonist who has sustained a top-of-the-line reputation for four decades. He embodies a rare combination of discipline, knowledge, technique, and passion. Simply put, he is a true and dedicated master. Throughout his career, he has kept growing, evolving, listening, playing, composing, teaching, seeking new understanding, and pushing the limits of the instrument and of musical expression. His music compels the listener to think as well as feel. Each phrase and line emerges from his horn as a concept, a question, and answer. Then, kaleidoscopically, he goes on to the next series, so that an integrated composition evolves from the many parts as they emerge. When you attend one of his performances or listen to his rich library of recordings, you never know where the creative impulse is going to take him, so you may sometimes be stunned or even puzzled by the corner of the labyrinth onto which he has turned.

For Liebman, as for other jazz greats, a steady working group is an artistic necessity. To quote from his Arkadia Records biography, he “has spent his whole career playing with some of the best in the business. He spent extensive periods as a member of the Miles Davis and Elvin Jones groups. As a leader, he has been associated since 1970 with a succession of extraordinary groups from Open Sky Trio to Lookout Farm to Quest, each of which has framed a distinct phase of his musical evolution. His present ensemble, The Dave Liebman Group, was formed in 1991. Pursuing a very eclectic contemporary style, the band has toured Europe, Japan and Israel, and recorded seven CDs. Each member brings to the group a wide range of talents, which enables the music to move in many directions.” According to his former drummer, Jamey Haddad, who recently left Liebman to tour with Paul Simon, “Dave is the most inspired and hardest working musician I know, comfortable enough in his own skin to tolerate me! Dave not only gives me the space I need, but he digs, mines and helps to refine the musical personalities in all the musicians he comes into contact with.” The group’s new drummer, Marko Marcinko, would certainly echo these sentiments. A hard-driving percussionist in the Art Blakey tradition, yet with a contemporary flair and mind-boggling technique, Marcinko brings a dynamic energy to the Liebman group and can go in any direction the group and the music take him. With Liebman, guitarist Vic Juris, bassist Tony Marino, and Marcinko, the David Liebman Group gave a stunning, vibrant, and swinging performance at the Deerhead Inn on a fall evening in late October.

But the event was not without its vicissitudes! Juris was delayed in a traffic jam while driving out to the Water Gap on the infamous Route 80, so the evening had to begin with a trio. Dave handled the circumstance with grace, but later told me somewhat apologetically that “it was the first time in fifteen years that one of our guys came late.” Nonetheless, the group minus one took the occasion to do some standards like “You and the Night and the Music” and “Milestones.” Not that they played them in any “standard” way. Liebman seemed to use the situation to flex his chops with various sounds reminiscent of saxophone greats from Coltrane to Sonny Rollins to Stan Getz, switching around his phrasings in ways that seemed to evoke a history of jazz saxophone. Only Liebman could pull this off and make coherent music of it. He went everywhere it was possible to go with both the soprano and tenor sax, and yet there was a wonderful and lyrical continuity to it all. This was helped along by Marino’s passionate bass playing and Marcinko’s steady and powerful rhythm. It will be interesting to see where this eclectic group will go musically with Marcinko’s very distinct hard bop style.

When Juris came on board, the group did a Liebman original called “A Brite Piece,” recorded with Elvin Jones in the early ’70’s. The contrast with the “trio” was striking. Juris shifted the whole atmospheric of the group, lending it a funky feeling and utilizing amplification and reverberation to create a panoply of sustained chords mixed with lines reminiscent of Wes Montgomery. Next, the group executed an extraordinary performance of “Stardust,” in which Liebman used his consummate harmonic skills to create some of the most beautiful rapid-fire improvisations I’ve ever heard, including a passage which sounded like several contrapuntal lines combined into one. The energy generated by Liebman led the group into a kind of overdrive such as occurs when you throw a sports car into a lower gear at high speed. Marino’s bass solos took on unsparing emotionality, and Marcinko let loose on drums and various hand-held percussion insturuments. With a composition called “Anubis,” in which Liebman played an intro on a small bamboo flute, the suggestion of a Middle Eastern belly dancer combined with “all stops out” expressions in various jazz idioms created an almost unbearable intensity. Only Liebman’s musical discipline brought just the measure of control to bring the two sets to a barely-restrained and utterly magnificent climax. The otherwise sedate “family” audience applauded and cheered ecstatically.

Earlier, the evening was given a tender touch when Dave introduced his fourteen-year old daughter Lydia, a vocal student, and brought her on with the group to sing Jobim’s “Dindi,” made famous of course by Astrud Gilberto. Lydia has a beautiful, sultry voice and a precision she must have learned from her father. She did a wonderful rendition which I’m sure would have pleased Mr. Jobim had he heard it. I was also very touched by the rapport of father and daughter in this situation.

The Deerhead Inn is a jazz venue which is owned by dedicated new management and offers a unique combination of a very hip music joint with family values, a warm, friendly staff, and the bucolic casualness of a country inn. No wonder guys like Liebman, Keith Jarrett, John Coates, Jr., and Phil Woods are more than happy to perform there whenever they can. If you city folks from the New York and Philadelphia areas want a relaxed day or weekend in the country combined with some of the best jazz you’ll hear anywhere, the Deerhead is the place to go. And they have overnight accommodations as well.

Recordings by the Dave Liebman Group

Back on the Corner Tone Center (2007): For this unique recording in relation to the Dave Liebman Group, guitarist Mike Stern and bassist Anthony Jackson were added to the line-up. The music suggests Lieb's tenure with Miles Davis, most notably the seminal "On the Corner" recording. Featuring two Miles Davis compositions from that period and Lieb originals, the addition of the guitar and bass to the quartet sound adds a whole new dimension.
Conversation - Sunnyside (2003): Featuring the newest addition, drummer Marko Marcinko along with Vic Juris and Tony Marino this CD shows the group in transition with a wide mix of material from an odd meter arrangement of "On A Clear Day" to free group playing as well as several lyrical tunes. Also featured is Caris Visentin on oboe and english horn. This was recorded immediately after a midwest tour and reflects the strong "conversational" aspects of the group's sound.
In A Mellow Tone Zoho (2001): Recorded with original drummer/percussionist Jamey Haddad, this features an assortment of material from the re-arranged “My Heart Goes On” to the free form “Change Up” and the funky “Romulan Ale”. This is very representative of the quartet minus keyboard instrumentation that began in 1997.
A Walk in The Clouds-Liebman Plays Puccini - Arkadia(2001): Another unusual arrangement of classic material with the group plus guest artists including Phil Woods and others.
The Unknown Jobim - GMN (2001): A collection of unique arrangements of some lesser-known Jobim compositions.
Thank You John - Arkadia (1997): Tunes by or written for Coltrane featuring Arkadia artists Benny Golson, Billy Taylor and the Liebman Group playing "My Favorite Things" and "I Want To Talk About You". Liebman's solo on "My Favorite Things" received a Grammy Nomination for "Best Instrumental Performance" in 1998.
The Meditations Suite - Arkadia (1997): A live recording of the Coltrane piece (1965) from Symphony Space in New York City, December 1995, featuring the Dave Liebman Group with guests Billy Hart, Cecil McBee, Tiger Okoshi and Caris Visentin.
New Vista - Arkadia (1997): The recording features the Dave Liebman Group along with percussionist Cafe playing Brazillian inspired music and including renditions of Jobim's "Zingaro", the classic love song, "Estate", and a unique rendition of "Beauty and the Beast" from the Disney movie.
Voyage - Evidence (1996): An eclectic collection of originals and standards similar in concept to Turn It Around.
Return of the Tenor: Standards - Double Time (1996): Featuring the group playing standards in a straight jazz style and Lieb returning to the tenor saxophone after over fifteen years concentrating on the soprano.
Songs for My Daughter - Soul Note (1994): A collection of originals dedicated to the first child of David and Caris Liebman, Lydia, using the group in a mostly acoustic fashion reminiscent of the classic ECM sound.
Miles Away - Owl/EMI (1994)): A journey through the Miles Davis landscape from bebop (Boplicity, Solar), through the modal and Gil Evans period (All Blues, Pan Piper), into the 60s (Fall, 81), to the fusion era (Code M.D.). Each arrangement is unique and personal similar to Liebman's renditions of Coltrane compositions on his acclaimed Homage to Coltrane (Owl-EMI 1987).
Turn it Around - Owl/EMI (1992): A mostly electric collection of originals showcasing composition and contemporary colors through the group's various instrumental combinations.

MISCELLANEOUS

SAXOPHONE MASTER CLASS: I am sending out a separate e mail to all past participants who have attended my annual Master Class held at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania which is celebrating the 20th year this August. Anyone who might not hear from me since it was years ago and before e mail, please contact me directly or go to my site under Saxophone Master Class to see the details of the week dedicated to the music of John Coltrane with a final performance of “Meditations”.

ON TRANE: Some comments of mine for a new site called Traneamentary; also note on my web site addresses to find a bunch of You Tube and Google clips of me with Miles Davis:
http://www.vellainteractive.com/podcasts/trane/trane_liebman_ep.mp3

MY MOST INFLUENTIAL TRACKS: I had a fantastic interview in Bremen, Germany for the radio there (thanks Arne). The idea was to trace my musical growth through a selection of the most influential recordings on my development. This is slightly different than the typical “desert island” question. It really made me think about exactly what music shaped my life. Here’s the list with some comments:

Crescent-Coltrane: - poetry, passion, intensity and an incredibly swinging rhythm section at a slow and relaxed tempo, this performance sounds like it was written out beforehand, as it is so perfectly conceived.
One Up and One Down-Coltrane: captures the feeling of what it was to hear the classic quartet live in front of your eyes-beyond a tsunami and ultimately life affirming in its honesty and energy.
Afro Blue-Coltrane Live at Birdland: another track recorded live, this time on soprano which really conjures spirits of all kinds up to the surface.
So What-Kind of Blue-Miles: THE classic modal track of all time that set the stage for most of my life’s harmonic research.
Witch hunt-Wayne Shorter from Speak No Evil: once again with Elvin Jones on drums, featuring perfect solos from Wayne, Freddie and Herbie all demonstrating with economic note choices and incredible swing.
Maiden Voyage-Herbie Hancock: suspended chord harmony that invites lyricism and grace from all the soloists involved as well as a landmark harmonic tune at the time.
Passion Dance-McCoy Tyner from The Real McCoy: burning, chromatic McCoy with gutsy, swinging Joe Henderson and again Elvin Jones doing the THING he did so well. Inner Urge-Joe Henderson: an unusual and challenging chord progression played to perfection by Joe and the band.
Concerto D’Aranjuez-Miles Davis from Sketches of Spain: from my favorite all time recording, this incredibly evocative arrangement and performance surpasses idiom, style and time immersing the listener directly into the rich culture of Spain.
Four-Miles Davis from Four and More: the burning MD rhythm section of the 60’s with Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter, storm at a blazing tempo changing meters and feel at will.
Sonny Moon for Two-Sonny Rollins from Live at the Village Vanguard: the whole saxophone tradition is on view in one of the most rhythmically interesting solos ever heard-again with Elvin Jones. In fact, for all these ten jazz tracks, Elvin is the drummer on seven of them!!
Adagio For Strings-Samuel Barber: the essence of lyrical beauty where everything is right, in order and balanced; poignant and dramatic almost beyond one’s ability to perceive it-achingly beautiful would be the description.
String Quartet 131 in C# Minor-slow opening movement-Beethoven: this most moving music is the track that gave me a look into the depths that a human soul can convey-true passionate art.
Fifth Symphony-adagio-Mahler: similar to the Barber, but in this case pathos and tragedy perfectly revealed through music.
Rock-Elvis:Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, All Shook Up, Don't Be Cruel; Duane Eddy:“Rebel Rouser”, Otis Redding, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Sly Stone, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix : If 6 was 9; Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, the Beatles, Jerry Lee Lewis: High School Confidential, Whole Lot of Shakin’ Goin’ On; Chuck Berry, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gay, Little Richard : Long Tall Sally, Keep’ a Knockin; some of the tracks and artists that accompanied my youth and personal life.
World music-Panallal Ghosh, Bismillah Khan, the Ali Bros, Vilayet Khan, Ravi Shankar, Bulgarian Girls, Choir, Armenian Duduk playing by Gasparian; again some of the artists that broadened my horizons and directly influenced my musical and artistic vision.

YOU TUBE: As everyone knows this is an incredible site from the historical standpoint. I have seen things of myself that really bring back some memories. Recently I saw a few clips featuring the Brazilian genius Hermeto Pascal. One in particular where he is playing electric piano is incredibly chromatic. Then there is on with Joao Gilberto doing his famous rendition of the beautiful tune “Estate”. Gilberto has the uncanny ability to strum a basic, swinging rhythm on the guitar and sing completely against the pulse, a skill that I have been trying to do since time immemorial and preach to my students as a way to escape the tedium of straight eighth notes.

OF INTEREST: From the Economist, a weekly magazine I highly recommend (you need about a day to get through it)-this concerns how human beings developed in cooperation with each other: “Both the non human apes and the human children tended to look where they thought the experimenter was looking, But the non human apes paid most attention to where the experimenters head was pointing, in particular, looking up when the head was pointed up no matter what the eyes were doing. Human children on the other hand, paid the most attention to the eyes and were relatively indifferent to where the head was pointed. The idea that people evolved eyes that make it easy for others to see where they are looking suggests just how important sociability was for early humans. If human interactions were primarily competitive, it would be advantageous to camouflage eye movements, as other apes seem to do. People have evolved to make it easy for others to see where they are looking. The advantages of co-operation seem to have outweighed those of competition.”

RECOMMENDED

BIRD AND LENNIE: Incredible duo and group recordings with Lennie Tristano and Bird from 1949 on CD; two geniuses getting it on in spite of critics who tried to set up controversy between the supposed “non-swinging” Tristano and Bird bebop schools.

THE “NEW” RECORD BUSINESS from “The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More” by Chris Anderson: “When we think about traditional retail, we think about what's going to sell a lot. You're not much interested in the occasional sale, because in traditional retail a CD that sells only one unit a quarter consumes exactly the same half-inch of shelf space as a CD that sells 1,000 units a quarter. There's a value to that space—rent, overhead, staffing costs, etc.—that has to be paid back by a certain number of inventory turns per month. In other words, the onesies and twosies waste space. However, when that space doesn't cost anything, suddenly you can look at those infrequent sellers again, and they begin to have value. This was the insight that led to Amazon, Netflix, and all the other companies I was talking to. All of them realized that where the economics of traditional retail ran out of steam, the economics of online retail kept going. The onesies and twosies were still only selling in small numbers, but there were so, so many of them that in aggregate they added up to a big business.”
Maybe there is light at the end of the record business tunnel!!

”Me Talk Pretty One Day” by David Sedaris: A hilarious book with vignettes about what it’s like to order food in a restaurant in New York and a great discussion of what computers are really like-wonderful writing.

PASSINGS:

JAMES BROWN: Singlehandedly, James was responsible for much of what has been played in any one of several genres for decades. This guy made an incredible impression and for me is still the standard for what a swinging, happening groove should be. Rest in peace Godfather–you sure worked hard enough!! Out this fantastic version of “Mother Popcorn” with James and Maceo Parker burning it up from 1968:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=583580261536412491&q=james+brown
ART MURPHY: One of my first piano teachers(taught me 1-10-7 voicings) and an early transcriber of Bill Evans in the ‘60s, a wonderful man and pianist who came to see my group at the Deer Head Inn a few weeks before he died, to say good bye. Thanks for all Art.
WALTER BOOKER: I had the pleasure to record and work with Bookie along with Jimmy Cobb in the 80’s. He was the hippest of cats, who knew what the bass was supposed to do in a rhythm section. One of the real guys.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE:

JANUARY: Jan 3-6 with Delfeayo and Jason Marsalis-“Tribute to Elvin Jones” at the Blue Note-NYC;Jan 12-IAJE Convention-Hilton Hotel, NYC-performance with Dave Liebman Group at 7PM-Trianon Ballroom-Hilton Hotel; Jan 12 with Ronan Guilfoyle(bass) and Tom Rainey(drums) at 55 Bar-NYC; Jan 17 with Scott DuBois Quartet(Thomas Morgan on bass, Gerald Cleaver on drums) at 55 Bar; Jan 19th at Penn State University, Main Campus-State College,PA -Music School Auditorium with Marko Marcinko,Phil Markowitz and Evan Gregor.

February: Feb 11-Clinic and duo performance with Marc Copland at the Deer Head Inn, Deleware Water Gap, PA;Feb 23- David Liebman Big Band at East Orange County Community College, NY; CD release-"Om/ShalOM: Old Wine, New Bottles: Jewish Music Revisited"-well known Jewish songs with Mike Stephans, Scott Colley and Benny Maupin at the Deer Head Inn-Feb 25 and the Blue Note, NYC-Feb 26

Wishing you the best for 2007
Peace
Lieb