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KANSAS CITY OUTBOUND
ROBERTO MAGRIS TRIO
The old adage that music is the universal language couldn’t be truer when it comes to the music of Italian pianist Roberto Magris. His latest recording with the legendary bassist Art Davis titled KANSAS CITY OUTBOUND is a ripe example of jazz pianism at its best. The Robert Magris Trio plays excellent renditions of songs from the Great American Songbook (“I Fall In Love Too Easily” “A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing,” among others) jazz favorites written by Andrew Hill, Thelonious Monk and Benny Carter, as well as Magris’ originals which include the title track, “Iraqi Blues”, “Rainbow Eyes,” and “KC Inbound.” Magris’ style is pure, delicate when necessary, tempting and gives you, dear listener the feeling that he is playing especially for you. Joined by Art Davis on bass, and drummers Jimmy “Junebug” Jackson and Zack Alberta on select tracks, the performances by Roberto Magris will endear you to his playing for years to come. Whether he’s bopping, playing a quiet ballad or swinging hard, this trio has something for everyone and is sure to entertain you with the wonderful selection of special songs. Buy it today.]]> http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#96 Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800 Artist Support and MultiMusic Services - Paul Collins Artist Services International - PCAMI* News http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#95
By Angelo Leonardi
All'età di 81 anni Herb Geller è in piena attività ed il suo stile creativo, variopinto e luminoso, è inossidabile al trascorrere del tempo: sembra voler ripercorrere le orme del suo primo modello, Benny Carter, in gran forma ben oltre i novant'anni.
La sua biografia è esemplare, come lo è quella di un grande protagonista della storia del jazz che ha attraversato e reinterpretato con personalità almeno tre scuole: il Be-Bop, il West Coast Jazz e l'Hard Bop.
Il suo nome resta associato alle celebri incisioni del 1954 con l'ottetto Clifford Brown-Max Roach e nella California di quel decennio collaborò con i protagonisti del West Coast Jazz: da Shorty Rogers a Howard Rumsey, da Shelly Manne a Chet Baker, da Bill Holman a Maynard Ferguson.
Dopo la morte della prima moglie Lorraine nel 1958, Geller tornò a New York dove guidò il suo ensemble più importante, il sestetto con Scott LaFaro (Gypsy, 1959). Dai primi anni sessanta la sua carriera si è svolta principalmente in Europa: in orchestre tedesche, in collaborazioni con Friedrich Gulda (1965-66), Peter Herbolzheimer (1970-79), Jan Lundgren (1994) e con propri gruppi.
All About Jazz: Negli ultimi anni Lei ha registrato in Germania una decina di dischi come leader e un lavoro in Italia per la Soul Note, nel nuovo organico Herb Geller & Roberto Magris Europlane Quintet.
Come è nata la collaborazione col pianista triestino?
Herb Geller: Roberto mi ha contattato nel 2003, invitandomi a Trieste per registrare il CD Il bello del jazz ma la collaborazione non s'è fermata lì. Da allora abbiano suonato in vari concerti: ad Ancona Jazz, al JazzTime Rijeka in Croazia, a Padova Jazz e in un breve tour italiano. Saremo il 19 novembre al festival di Novi Sad in Serbia e al Porgy & Bess di Vienna in dicembre. Per me è un'esperienza particolarmente felice suonare con Roberto, con il sassofonista Denis Razumovic, il contrabbassista Nikola Matosic e il batterista Enzo Carpentieri.
Se tutto va bene ci sarà anche un prossimo disco.
AAJ: Il suo ultimo disco è dedicato alle composizioni di Arthur Schwartz. Un autore importante ma poco noto. Com'è nata l'idea?
H.G.: Quel CD è nato dietro suggerimento di Alastair Robertson, per la sua etichetta Hep Records. Mi trovavo in tour in Gran Bretagna e sono stato fortunato a poter incidere con la mia formazione di allora, comprendente il pianista John Pearce, il bassista Len Skeat e il batterista Bobby Worth. Ho sempre raccolto le canzoni dei grandi songwriter americani come Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Jimmy Van Heusen eccetera ed ho raccolto circa tremila pezzi nel mio hard disk comprendenti testi e armonie. Arthur Schwartz è stato uno dei miei autori preferiti anche se purtroppo non ha raggiunto la popolarità degli altri.
AAJ: Benny Carter è stato molto importante nella sua formazione. Cosa ricorda di lui?
H.G. Benny Carter ha rappresentato qualcosa di veramente speciale per me. L'ho ascoltato per la prima volta in un teatro di Los Angeles quando avevo 14 anni e fu allora che decisi di diventare un musicista professionista. Divenimmo amici quando mi trovai ad incidere con lui in un long playing di Quincy Jones negli anni cinquanta. Poi ci siamo ritrovati altre volte: abbiamo registrato assieme nel 1988 a New York, suonato in un festival ad Helsinki e partecipato al concerto celebrativo per i suoi 90 anni. Ogni volta che sono tornato a Los Angeles sono andato a trascorrere un po' di tempo con lui e sua moglie.
AAJ: Oltre a quella di Benny Carter ha avuto altre influenze significative?
H.G.: Si, Johnny Hodges... ma negli anni quaranta Charlie Parker ha rappresentato per me un modello importantissimo.
AAJ: Quando ha suonato per la prima volta in Europa?
H.G.: La prima volta fu nel 1962 quando mi venne offerto di suonare con la SFB Orchestra di Berlino Ovest. Tre anni dopo ebbi la proposta di una scrittura stabile nella NDR Orchestra di Amburgo, dove sono rimasto fino al mio 65° compleanno, quando sono andato in pensione. Nei 15 anni che sono trascorsi da allora ho suonato regolarmente in Europa e negli Stati Uniti.
AAJ: Lei ha lavorato per un certo periodo nell'orchestra di Claude Thornill. C'era anche Gil Evans?
H.G.: Ho suonato nell'orchestra di Thornill tra il 1950 e il 1951. È stata una straordinaria esperienza per me. Si c'era Gil Evans e scriveva occasionalmente qualche arrangiamento, provandolo poi con tutta l'orchestra.
AAJ.: Poco tempo dopo Lei ha lasciato New York per trasferirsi in California...
H.G.: Mi sono trasferito a Los Angeles nel 1952 perché c'erano parecchie opportunità di registrare stando lì. La musica fu etichettata come West Coast e Cool per evidenziare una differenza con le session di New York ma ironicamente la gran parte dei musicisti di quel movimento erano originari della costa orientale. Ho suonato spesso con i musicisti che orbitavano attorno al Lighthouse e lì ho incontrato la mia prima moglie Lorraine che era pianista stabile in quel locale insieme a Max Roach ed altri.
AAJ: In quegli anni Los Angeles fu anche la culla per le prime esperienze di molti innovatori della comunità afro-americana, come Eric Dolphy e Charles Mingus...
H.G.: Ho frequentato la scuola superiore con Eric Dolphy ed eravamo amici stretti ma allora non ho conosciuto Mingus.
AAJ: Per restare nell'ambito dei musicisti neri, è vero che ha suonato con l'orchestra di Roy Porter?
H.G.: Si ma non molto. Con quella formazione ho svolto alcune prove e ci siamo poi esibiti in concerto.
AAJ: Nel 1954 ha partecipato a famose registrazioni con Clifford Brown. Cosa ricorda del trombettista e di quella session?
H.G.: Mi ritengo molto fortunato di aver potuto suonare con Clifford Brown, che era anche un mio buon amico. Io, Clifford e Max Roach avevamo tutti un contratto con la Mercury e così registrammo assieme in alcune session con Dinah Washington, Maynard Ferguson e Clark Terry. Clifford resta il mio trombettista preferito e di lui voglio ricordare anche le doti umane: era una persona magnifica.
AAJ: Uno dei suoi gruppi migliori è stato il sestetto comprendente Thad, Elvin Jones e Scott LaFaro. Cosa ricorda di quel grande bassista? È vero che fu Lei a presentarlo a Bill Evans?
H.G.: Scott era un carissimo amico e visse a casa mia per alcune settimane mentre era alla ricerca di un appartamento a Los Angeles. Più tardi lo raccomandai a Benny Goodman che stava organizzando un tour della sua band, di cui anch'io facevo parte. Scott voleva lasciare la California per stabilirsi a New York e l'ingaggio andava nella giusta direzione.
La notte prima di partire andammo a sentire Bill Evans in un locale, io li presentai e Bill chiese a Scott di unirsi a lui nel secondo set. Nei giorni successivi, quand'eravamo già in tour, Scott ricevette un telegramma da Bill Evans che gli proponeva di unirsi a lui.
AAJ: Restiamo ai primi anni sessanta. In tour con Goodman Lei si recò anche in Sud America e per qualche tempo decise di fermarsi in Brasile proprio nel momento in cui nasceva la bossa nova...
H.G.: L'ultimo concerto con Goodman fu a San Paolo. In quei giorni avevo conosciuto un pianista che era anche proprietario di un night club e mi propose di restare per far parte del suo combo. Così quando l'orchestra di Benny tornò a New York io rimasi in Brasile per sei settimane dove ebbi modo di conoscere e suonare brani come “Desafinado” e “One Note Samba” che diverranno famosi più tardi, dopo che Stan Getz li incise.
Successivamente mi fu offerta la scrittura nell'orchestra di Berlino Ovest di cui ho detto e lì conobbi la mia attuale moglie.
AAJ: Che progetti ha per il prossimo anno?
H.G.: Spero di continuare a suonare tanto a lungo quanto la salute me lo consente.]]> http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#95 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700 Artist Support and MultiMusic Services - Paul Collins Artist Services International - PCAMI* News http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#93 "EUROPLANE QUINTET"
Venerdì 9 Ottobre 2009
(1° set ore 19:00 — 2° set ore 21:00 )
“Jazz at the Plaza — Straight, No Chaser”
Hotel Plaza, Padova

Herb Geller - alto sax
Denis Razz - alto sax
Roberto Magris - piano
Nikola Matosic - contrabbasso
Enzo Carpentieri - batteria

L’aggancio con la storia del jazz è fornito quest’anno dalla presenza di Herb Geller, sax contralto sopraffino tra i più rappresentativi del jazz californiano sviluppatosi negli anni ’50, ben noto ed apprezzato da tutti i fan ed addetti ai lavori nel campo del jazz mainstream. Ottantenne, Geller possiede ancora una vitalità e una sicurezza sullo strumento che sembrano non aver perso nulla di quella presenza che tanto caratterizzò incisioni importanti al fianco di figure magari più famose. E qui l’elenco, pur tedioso, si impone : Chet Baker, Clifford Brown, Anita O’Day, Bing Crosby, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Bill Holman, Quincy Jones, Art Pepper, Kenny Clarke-Francis Boland Big Band, Benny Carter, Stan Getz, Scott La Faro, Bill Evans”¦e ne mancano ancora parecchi! Residente in Europa da anni, ha trovato nell’ Europlane del pianista Roberto Magris la formazione ideale per continuare a suonare e girare, in particolare in Italia, dove manca da decenni. Insieme i due hanno registrato il cd “Il bello del Jazz” per la Soul Note e si sono esibiti in prevalenza all’estero. La formazione è completata da Denis Razumovic al sax alto e Nikola Matosic al contrabbasso, tra i migliori specialisti del loro strumento nei loro rispettivi paesi, Croazia e Slovenia, e dal batterista Enzo Carpentieri, già a fianco di Magris in Europa, Cina, Indonesia, Australia e Uzbekistan, a Tashkent e Samarkanda con “Il Jazz sulla Grande Via della Seta”.]]> http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#93 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700 Artist Support and MultiMusic Services - Paul Collins Artist Services International - PCAMI* News http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#92 Reviews the Roberto Magris Trio
Kansas City Outbound

Kansas City Outbound est le dernier-né de Roberto Magris, pianiste originaire de Trieste relativement peu vu en France mais qui, d’album en album (déjà une quinzaine), installe une belle aventure musicale. Sur cet album, enregistré à Kansas City, il mêle ses propres compositions à quelques titres de Monk, Andrew Hill, Benny Carter ou Billy Strayhorn. Mieux encore, il y invite Art Davis contrebassiste de légende (Coltrane, Olé et A Love Supreme, Gillespie) rencontré l’année précédente lors de ses débuts à Hollywood dans les clubs, et côté percussions Jimmy « Junesbug » Jackson (qui escorta longtemps Jimmy Smith) et Zack Albetta. Autant d’ingrédients justifiant d’emblée l’intérêt que suscite cet album. Dans l’art du trio piano—basse—batterie à l’histoire marquée de chefs-d’Å“uvre, ce pianiste au parcours inhabituel apporte une « pierre » tout sauf anodine.
Dans ce « set » d’une heure - original et savoureux car mûrement pesé -, c’est surtout le cheminement complexe du trio qui retient l’attention. Tour à tour apaisé ou virevoltant, Magris a un jeu dépouillé faussement simple, toujours étincelant. De « I Fall In Love Too Easily » à « A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing », on peut évidemment pointer ses sources d’inspiration mais on cède vite à l’étonnement devant le brio de son style, où la fantaisie est la trame qui noue et renoue la rencontre. Le maître mot est ici la clarté, et les exposés en sont presque pédagogiques. Magris s’efface volontiers pour laisser ses complices se dévoiler ou montrer le chemin. Mais quelques thèmes favorisent particulièrement les élans des trois musiciens, tel « Reverend du Bop » (Andrew Hill) ou « Bemsha Swin », (Monk). On est convaincu par son art de la pirouette gracieuse, modeste ou nonchalante - un art de la note précise qui n’est pas sans rappeler Ahmad Jamal. A déguster ici, au piano solo cette fois, « Lonely Woman », incisif. Ailleurs, la présence débonnaire de la basse ou le jeu de drums de Jimmy « Junebug » Jackson se plaisent à renverser les rôles ou à les compléter.
Pour le pianiste, Kansas City Outbound n’est pas un disque comme les autres : il l’a enregistré il y a deux ans aux Etats-Unis, après un festival où il rendait hommage à Jay McShann. Le résultat a manifestement profité de cette rencontre entre musiciens venus d’horizons très divers.
Jean-Claude Pennec]]> http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#92 Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700 Artist Support and MultiMusic Services - Paul Collins Artist Services International - PCAMI* News http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#91 — Bob Karlovits]]> http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#91 Wed, 27 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700 Artist Support and MultiMusic Services - Paul Collins Artist Services International - PCAMI* News http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#90 Roberto Magris: I've always liked the Hammond organ players like Jimmy Smith, Charles Earland, John Patton etc. so when it came the acid jazz season I was so happy to feel that such an organ sound was on the spotlight again. So I wasn't afraid to miss something but simply I catched the opportunity to play a certain genre of jazz (soul jazz) that I've always appreciated. Of course, that kind of rhythm (acid jazz), the hip-hop with the rap lyrics and also the use of some digital technology (loops etc.) were an added value to the music to me.
Stephen Bocioaca: How was Alfabeats received by jazz fans and audiences around the world? Are you encouraged to continue with Alfabeats recording new albums and touring?
Roberto Magris: When I noticed that the "acid jazz" stream reached an artistic end and when I felt a little bit fed up with all those digital sounds, I decided to move the band into a new "acoustic" sound, but I had some difficulties with some bandmates. So, we splitted and I re-founded the band - together with the drummer Paolo Prizzon and rapper Max M'Bassado Marzio (both from the DMA experience) and 2 new musicians, guitarist Luca Boscagin and bassist Paolo Andriolo - under the name of Alfabeats Nu Jazz. From the beginning people enjoyed such a changing of atmosphere, with more aggressive rhythms and a variety of musical influences from jazz to hip-hop, progressive rock and ambient too. The feedbacks were so positive that I had to take my time to decide how and where to get our new CD "Stones" released. At last, some friends and my manager in the U.S., Paul Collins (from the www.paulcollinsartismanagement.com ) were so enthusiastic that we decided together to get it released in the U.S. by independent label Oasis. No doubt that we'll keep on alfabeating around...
Stephen Bocioaca: Can Alfabeats evolve to a sort of musical laboratory where other contemporary or ethnic sounds and influences can come into mix? Without comparing, can Alfabeats become a sort of "elektric" version of the Europlane Orchestra?
Roberto Magris: I think Alfabeats will always follow the present times and society with its urban rhythms and illusions... Not only my compositions and improvisational mood, but also Max's poetry is very important too in the Alfabeats project. And the variety of rhythms and grooves too. My personal musical experience began in the crazy '70s, with a lot of jazz, rock and jazz-rock... too... so I really have a "progressive" approach to music with the Alfabeats and with the Europlane as well. In this period I'm especially concentrated in playing the acoustic piano, without any keyboards, and I'm looking for a dried and more essential approach to music, in the sense of melody, harmony and rhythm. I feel that the Alfabeats have no specific "European" influences, in the sense of musical culture, but just range from different styles and musical approaches (jazz, rock, hip-hop, ambient, progressive) looking for a personalized mixture good for the body and good for the brain of the listeners. Europlane is a jazz laboratory with a different concept, rooted in the European jazz tradition, and trying to export worldwide such a point of view, similarly to Vienna Art Orchestra, for example (even if the musical approach is quite different).
Stephen Bocioaca: How different the collective chemistry and the music-making process is with Alfabeats than with Europlane Orchestra?
With the Alfabeats I need very much the collaboration of drummer Paolo Prizzon, who is charged to find the "right" grooves and rhythms for each song, and of rapper poet Max Mbassado Marzio who sets the mood with his stories. I'm very much influenced by the lyrics while composing; see for example "Red Cap & the Bad Loop", which make me select the key to press (the jazz key, the rock key, the ethno key...). It's very much a workshop, like an "old time" progressive band. On the other side, with Europlane, I mainly dig my own straight jazz experience and I like to plan everything before: the choice of the program, the arrangements, the soloists etc. Nothing stiff, but I like to be a real bandleader and music organizator. Indeed with the Europlane I've always recorded "concept albums", like, for example, "Check In" featuring Tony Lakatos (Soulnote 2005) or "Il Bello del Jazz" featuring Herb Geller (Soulnote 2006) and just in couple of months I'll have my newest 2007 album "Current Views" released by Soulnote too (website: www.blacksaint.com)
Stephen Bocioaca: Some voices are criticizing the expansion of jazz schools arguing that they produce too much quantity and less quality.
I'd say that it's thank to the music schools that now we have so many excellent professional musicians all around the world (we couldn't imagine it in the '70s) and the general level of musicians is so high. Yes I talk about the technical and musical levels, that are fantastic. And it's a joy to find so many excellent musicians everywhere around the world and to have the possibility to play together with them without barriers, thanks to a common musical background. And this is thanks to the music schools. If the musical and technical level is very high, that's a great thing for all the "music" I'd say, mostly in such a technological world....
Stephen Bocioaca: In an interview with Boston Herald (Monday, September 11, 2006), Branford Marsalis commented: "The times are different now. The talent level is severely diminished and that stuff that has replaced it has really put jazz in a bind because the music seems to lack any kind of substance in regards to human-ness or humanity. It's very professorial, like think-tank music. "Jazz is in trouble. But the reason it's in trouble is not because the music's dying, but because the people who are playing don't have a lot of talent. We have great players in terms of playing their instruments, but in terms of some kind of understanding of jazz, we don't have a lot of talent right now." Do You think that Marsalis is right?
I don't agree with Marsalis, I'm sorry. If we talk about "art" the story may be different, as Marsalis says. But in my opinion, certain lack of artistry in music is simply a result of the "spirit of times". That's the world today.. we have globalization, everything is almost the same everywhere.. how can we have a new Charlie Parker or a new Jimi Hendrix today? I'd say the only way for a musician to find his artistry, is to look inside his experience for his own personal resources. Like George Harrison I'd say that "We live in a material world (with a digital brain)" and we have to compare this to the "naif" Woodstock heroes from the '60s... and to John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler from the '60s too... The world is different and the concept of art is and will be more and more different.... (what kind of art is the computerized music?).
Marsalis is right when he speaks about great technique without genius. He perfectly knows all the styles and the history of jazz but, in my little opinion, he cannot be compared to masters such as Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw, just to mention a few names of the '60s generation, about artistry and creativity... so I can't see any reason for him to declare that young musicians have completely lost their talent and jazz awareness today. On the other side, it's also clear that a new Mozart is missing, even if the Conservatories are packed with students. I'd suggest, let's try to better understand what it's happening now to us, to our society and to our music and maybe we'll find some new concept of "art" if we are open minded enough to cross our cultural heritage and share our experience with the young generation not as a teacher but simply as an older colleague.
That's the way Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane have shown to us and it's still the approach of people like Ornette Coleman and Roy Haynes, for example, or my own much older friends Herb Geller and Art Davis and the many other living legends of jazz still on the scene today. Last but not least, one of the best results of having all that music students at jazz schools now (it's obvious that the most of them won't become nor famous nor stars but just will keep alive the flame of their interest in jazz all their life) is that we find to have grown a generation of "quality" jazz listeners and that we have now an audience not only of jazz fans but also of people who have attended some jazz courses, who can play some jazz, who knows (better than in the past) what we're playing about... So, that's not definitely a bad situation, in my opinion.
Stephen Bocioaca: What are your impressions of the artistic and creative content of the current jazz and fusion scene in Europe and North America? What new talents can you see there?
I can find many interesting musicians in the current jazz and not only jazz scene. A first name is Roy Hargrove, who plays great music either with his straight jazz group either with his RH Factor, then Joshua Redman, Greg Osby... No, there are no great differences anymore between Europe and North America in music in my opinion, even if each artist has its own peculiarities coming from his race and culture, but it's simply a matter of good or bad music, without geographical borders.
Stephen Bocioaca: What chances are for European jazz musicians to play more in North America? What do you think that should and can be done to promote it? Do you think there's enough "market" for European jazz?
In my little experience Americans like professionism at the most. If Europeans plays at the same high standard of Americans they are immediately accepted. On the other side, in Europe, jazz is quite strong too and I'm very happy to say this, but there is still a big difference. In America there is much more selection and the average jazz musician has a higher standard than in Europe. However, in Europe everybody can find his own little space, even if having nothing to say, and that's good for musicians and bad for the audience. However, I'd say that the level of the audience in the U.S. is the same in Europe and in Japan too... and the show business is definitely international, like the credit cards. When you consider that there is not enough market for jazz, yes, I think there's enough market for European jazz... and that's a god new in a sad story...

Stephen Bocioaca: Internet became a powerful promotional tool for musicians, yet there are many independent musicians on both sides of the Atlantic who think that their Internet presence and promotion didn't bring them the benefits they were expecting, in terms of sales and bookings. How beneficial was Internet for your projects?
Internet is definitely important for my activity even if I think that it's hard to spend time and energy to promote a new CD when the most of people won't buy it in the shops and will try to download it from the net. Probably we must figure out the possibility that the artist will directly sell to the customers the file songs they want to listen but.... what about "concept albums"? Internet it's like a rodeo, not easy to ride... even if everybody uses it, now. One thing is for sure: Internet has become a fourth part of my life (1/4 music, 1/4 driving to the gig, 1/4 at the p.c., and the rest to be divided trying to survive....)

More about Roberto Magris:
www.paulcollinsartistmanagement.com
Roberto Magris at JWQ]]> http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#90 Wed, 27 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700 Artist Support and MultiMusic Services - Paul Collins Artist Services International - PCAMI* News http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#89 No mistake, Kansas City Outbound where the Italian pianist honors American jazz is not an exception. Along with famous standards, Magris included four originals. I would mention the beautiful Rainbow Eyes a balladesque fusion between the jazz of two continents and the intense, nervous Iraqi Blues. Magris, wonderfully joined here by Art Davis’ quite robust and deep bass lines, has a sense of keeping the listener alert and surprised, switching rhytms and tempos, blending classical touches with modern sonorities. The tonal contrasts and consonances between piano and bass are deligtful throughout the album and particulary on the intimate Darn That Dream or on A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing, where the theme is captured in its essence while the rhytm brings an interesting modern twist One can feel the music of this album as a view to the mainstream jazz, filtered by a sensitive "magrisian" manner, spiced up with "new age" inflexions and unexpected grooves. Although it may not be apropriate to characterize the album as an "intelligent soulful jazz improvization" it is hard to oversee the precision of performers combined with the emotional drive that makes the jazz a lively music.]]> http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#89 Wed, 27 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700 Artist Support and MultiMusic Services - Paul Collins Artist Services International - PCAMI* News http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#87
Yesterday's mail brought an advance copy of Italian pianist Roberto Magris' new recording, Kansas City Outbound — the last recording to feature the great bassist Art Davis. My liner notes for the recording are re-printed below.

Usually, a liner note assignment entails getting inside the music and attempting to help the artist communicate his/her intentions to the listener. Contextualize, in other words. Kansas City Outbound was a different matter because it involved two intertwined stories: Magris' brief relationship with Davis, just prior to the bassist's death, and the mystery of Philadelphia pianist William Langford (aka Hassan Ibn Ali or The Legendary Hassan).

Kansas City Outbound has another backstory, too. Originally intended for release on Soul Note, it was still in production when the venerable Italian label and its parent — Black Saint — were sold to CamJazz. Fortunately, Magris' disk didn't fall between the cracks; it's now released on a label created by the pianist's agent, Paul Collins. It's available from CD Baby or directly from Collins.

Copyright © 2009 by James Hale

As musical relationships go, the one between pianist Roberto Magris and bassist-turned-psychologist Art Davis was short, but intense and oh so sweet.

They met in Los Angeles — Davis’ adopted home since 1986 — in October 2006, when Magris’ agent Paul Collins secured him a number of dates in the U.S. Davis — who continued to keep a full schedule as a bassist in addition to teaching and running a non-profit organization — joined the pianist’s quartet for two evenings at Catalina’s Jazz Club in Hollywood. They played a third time in a trio at the Jazz Bakery, and wrapped up with a set of duets in Santa Monica, where Davis had a long-standing Sunday gig at the Ritz Carlton.

“It all turned out very cool, onstage and offstage,” recalls Magris. “On one side I think that Dr. Art felt my awareness, respect and knowledge of the jazz tradition, and on the other side I felt that he really appreciated my pianism.”

Magris returned to his home in Italy, but eight months later he reunited with the 72-year-old bassist in Kansas City, along with drummer Jimmy “Junebug” Jackson — the 21-year veteran of life on the road with B-3 master Jimmy Smith. Together, they played a tribute to the recently departed Jay McShann at the American Jazz Museum and reconvened the following day in the studio.

The title track catches Magris in a John Coltrane state of mind, improvising with some dark, dense chords reminiscent of McCoy Tyner and drawing Davis back to his collaboration with Trane on Africa/Brass, Ascension, Olé! Coltrane and the alternate takes of A Love Supreme. With a muscular tone and unerring, majestic touch, Davis reminds us why he was the only bassist with an open invitation to jam with Trane’s classic quartet, and an ongoing favorite of Alice Coltrane’s after her husband’s death.

Magris says he chose “I Fall In Love Too Easily” to take advantage of Davis’ “slow, rolling walk,” which is much in evidence here — stark contrast to the pianist’s angular phrasing and unexpected accents.

The otherworldly introduction to “Iraqi Blues” seems to speak to lost souls, and Magris says: “There is no political statement behind the title except the aim to recall the memory of people who died there, no matter who was right and who was wrong.” A strong touchpoint in his conception was Stanley Cowell’s 1969 “Blues For The Viet Cong.”

Billy Strayhorn’s gorgeous “A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing” was brought to mind by Davis’ recording of it with Herbie Hancock on the bassist’s 1995 recording A Time Remembered. Magris’ solo take on it is rendered stately and timeless by his extraordinarily precise fingering and light touch.

The scene shifts to the next day — when the young Kansas City-based drummer Zack Albetta joined Magris and Davis — and, as before, Magris opens the session with an improvisation that he relates to the influence of Denny Zeitlin.

When he recorded it on his 1978 Artists House album From California With Love Andrew Hill rendered his composition “Reverend Du Bop” as a meandering abstraction. Here, Magris tightens the focus while respecting Hill’s signature obtuse angles. Davis is extremely judicious in his note selection before switching to arco for one piquant chorus.

“Rainbow Eyes” is dedicated to the pianist’s beloved, and again, Strayhorn’s influence is much in evidence. Strays for lovers? Always.

Davis sets out the theme of Thelonious Monk’s “Bemsha Swing,” and the trio (with Jackson back on drums) bounces it between them — having so much fun, says Magris, that they almost forgot the arrangement they had worked out.

“Lonely Woman” — Benny Carter’s, not Ornette Coleman’s — was a gift left to Magris by saxophonist Herb Geller after they recorded the 2003 Soul Note release Il Bello Del Jazz together. He plays it pretty here; edging toward a stride style with deliberate phrasing.

Davis begins “Darn That Dream” with a distracted-sounding solo — like a man waking from confusing sleep — and he continues to set up tension through the piece with accompaniment that slips out of phase with Magris’ lead.

“Alone Together” is the sound of a band grooving hard. Davis is way up in the mix, setting a bustling pace and swinging effortlessly.

“Bye Bye Baby” maintains the pace, with Magris striking an unusually bravura stance that finds him chewing up the changes like Oscar Peterson as he duets with Albetta.

Peterson, Tyner, Cowell, Hill, Monk, Ellington”¦ the roll call of great pianists present in spirit in Kansas City on these two days continues with one other who Davis felt Magris conjured the first time they met: “the Legendary Hassan.” Hassan Ibn Ali (born William Langford in 1931) is little more than a legend a couple of decades after his death. His recorded legacy is a mere single disc made with Davis and drummer Max Roach in 1964 and released under Roach’s name. A second recording with saxophonist Odean Pope was never released and the tapes are rumored to have been lost in a fire. But, like Robert Johnson, Hassan’s legacy can’t be contained by two shadowy recording sessions. A ubiquitous — albeit mysterious — figure on Philadelphia’s jazz scene in the ”˜50s, Hassan is credited by Coltrane biographer Lewis Porter with opening the saxophonist’s ears to new harmonic possibilities. Jimmy Heath has said, “Hassan was Cecil Taylor before Cecil Taylor.”

“’You play like Hassan,’ Dr. Art told me,” says Magris. “’Your sound and concept remind me of him.’ I’d never heard the name before. I’d completely missed him, even though I’d listened to most of the pianists from the history of jazz, and studied many of them, too. When I was a young musician I learned day by day, listening to LPs and checking out names and styles, including some of the most obscure and forgotten ones, but I’d never heard of Hassan. Dr. Art said that the session with Hassan was one of the best sessions he ever played.”

Art Davis’ words carried authority, just like the man himself carried authority. His stand against discrimination at the New York Philharmonic shone a light on the continuing racism in U.S. symphonies, and his application of cello fingering to the double bass helped revolutionize the way the instrument was played. A giant figure, Davis died just three weeks after this, his last recording session.

“I still keep the image of him standing in the studio in front of me,” says Magris. “I am very proud to have shared a stage with him and to have these recordings. I think that Hassan and Max Roach would enjoy them.”
POSTED BY JAMES HALE AT 12:58 PM]]> http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#87 Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700 Artist Support and MultiMusic Services - Paul Collins Artist Services International - PCAMI* News http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#86 Reviewer: Walter Kolosky @ Jazz.com]]> http://paulcollinsartistmanagement.com/news.html#86 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700 Artist Support and MultiMusic Services - Paul Collins Artist Services International - PCAMI* News