STEVE SWALLOW/Damaged In Transit
CHARLIE HADEN/The Montreal Tapes
Two recent recordings featuring groups made
up of tenor sax, bass, and drums point out the wealth of
musical space and freedom that can be found in the format.
Unencumbered by a rhythm instrument that comps the chord
changes, such as piano or guitar, this trio arrangement
makes the bassist the keeper of the harmonic kingdom, and
when one is speaking of bassists of the caliber of Steve
Swallow and Charlie Haden, both of whom lead their respective
groups, you know that they will be up to the challenge.
More interesting still is the fact that both
of these discs were recorded during live performances. Damaged
In Transit, which features Steve Swallow, saxophonist
Chris Potter, and drummer Adam Nussbaum, was recorded at
various performances on tour in France. Haden’s The
Montreal Tapes find him performing at the 1989 Festival
International de Jazz de Montreal on one of a series of
eight concerts presented in tribute to Charlie Haden. Most
of these performances have been released by Verve (see sidebar).
The cover of the CD, however, carries the legend “Tribute
to Joe Henderson,” and it can clearly be seen that
Henderson is the star of the performance. Along with drummer
Al Foster the trio performs two standards (“Round
Midnight” and “All the Things You Are”)
a Charlie Parker classic (“Passport”) and a
Charlie Haden original (“In the Moment”) that
finds he, Foster, and Henderson falling in and out of free
improvisation a la Ornette Coleman’s work with Haden.
At times the work on Damaged In Transit
resembles the famous Sonny Rollins bass-drums-tenor trio
work found on Freedom Suite. Chris Potter also explores
Rollins’ Caribbean calypso approach. “Item 8,
D.I.T.,” for example, can’t help but bring “St.
Thomas” to some listeners’ minds. Potter’s
playing on this CD is superb, and would qualify this as
a significant addition to a solid jazz collection even if
the work of Swallow and Nussbaum weren’t so excellent.
Potter has sometimes been accused of not being up to the
standard of his influences, but anyone hearing this disc
will find it difficult to say that he’s not playing
with a recognizably distinctive tenor voice and playing
well. Potter seems to be at that stage where he has an incredible
stream of fresh ideas and the technical capacity to voice
them.
Swallow composed each of the nine numbers
here (identified as “Items” 1-9), and the score
for each piece is included in the CD’s booklet. A
perusal of them while listening to the album serves to drive
home the deceptive subtlety of Swallow’s compositions.
Each is scarcely more than an outline, a la Miles Davis
Kind of Blue-era compositions, but the variety
of styles and moods that are evoked are enough to have kept
a roomful of arrangers and copyists busy had these been
rendered in big band arrangements.
Damaged In Transit is a sleeper 2003
album that jazz fans, from bebop to postbop and a little
free improv as well, will all find something about which
they like. It also is a real triumph for Potter, who demonstrates
clearly that he’s in the big leagues here.
One of the biggest of the big league players
was saxophonist Joe Henderson. Recording for Orrin Keepnews’s
Milestone label, he worked with Freddie Hubbard and with
the sextet that Herbie Hancock set up when he left his employment
with Miles Davis. That group recorded Fat Albert Rotunda,
a record that featured Henderson. He continued to lead groups,
recording regularly, and even played with Blood, Sweat and
Tears in 1971. He worked with the Horace Silver band that
recorded the classic Song For My Father, and also
appeared on timeless jazz recordings such as Lee Morgan’s
The Sidewinder, Andrew Hill’s Point of
Departure, and Larry Young’s Unity.
In 1986 Blue Note Records released The State of the
Tenor, a live recording by Henderson that ranked him
among the best tenor players of the day. A second disc was
released the following year from the same three-day engagement;
both are now available together.
Montreal Tapes, recorded just a few
years after State of the Tenor, features Henderson
near the top of his game, and it is a pleasure to hear him
play and to hear the genuine musical camaraderie between
Henderson, Haden, and drummer Al Foster, who was also the
drummer on the State of the Tenor dates. This is
a group of musicians who are very familiar with each others’
playing stretching out on some tunes that they enjoy playing,
and it is a really pleasurable listen.
Henderson’s opening cadenza on “Round
Midnight” is a beautiful example of the full maturation
of an artistic sensibility. Tempered by years of experience,
Henderson’s playing is by turns tender, mysterious,
and bold. “All the Things You Are” is prime
post-bop tenor, Henderson’s tone singing out in joy,
as he takes chorus after chorus primed with interesting
ideas, both harmonically and rhythmically. Haden’s
composition “In the Moment” provides a framework
for the trio to explore some of the same territory that
Haden first explored with Ornette Coleman. Here again Henderson
is able to make standout contributions that really light
the spark of the group. This is part of what made Joe Henderson
such a consummate musician: he could play completely within
whatever idiom he was playing and was always completely
authentic because whatever style he applied to his improvisation,
it was completely his voice. The group’s twenty-minute
take on Parker’s “Passport” is wonderful,
a testament to the roots are common to all of these musicians.
Haden takes the first solo and manages to make the bebop
changes sound as easy to play as a simple folk melody. Henderson
then takes over and again mesmerizes with his playing. Foster
then takes an extended drum solo that will hold your attention
completely.
Both Damaged In Transit and The
Montreal Tapes: Tribute to Joe Henderson are live recordings
that live up to the high standard set by classic live sets
of years gone by.
