© -
Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.
“Militello’s inspired playing with Brubeck has established him as the new Paul Desmond.”
-Richard Cook & Brian Morton, The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 6th Ed.
Bobby Militello
must be some kind of saxophone player.
Until “The Old
Indian’s” [Dave Brubeck’s name for himself] retirement
from music performance at the end of 2011, Bobby had played alto saxophone in Dave ’s Brubeck’s quartet for almost 30 years!
I first heard
Bobby in the late 1970s when he played baritone saxophone and flute with
trumpeter Maynard Ferguson’s orchestra.
A native New
Yorker, Bobby was resident in Los Angeles
But hearing is one
thing and listening closely is another and I really didn’t get a chance to dig
into his playing until I stumbled upon copies of two CDs that Bobby co-produced
for Positive
Music after he moved back to Buffalo , New York
The recordings in
question are Heart & Soul [PMD 78014-2] and Easy to Love: Dedicated to the
City of Buffalo [PMD 78006-2].
Hammond B-3
organist Bobby Jones and drummer Bob Leatherbarrow are on both CDs while Jeff
Jarvis makes the Easy to Love date on trumpet and flugelhorn.
Since I’m a sucker
for organ-trio formats, I really dug into both of these albums and finally
gained a deeper appreciation of what’s on offer in the music of Bobby
Militello.
After repeated
listening, I came away with an understanding of why Bobby’s been a favorite of Dave Brubeck’s for almost three decades, a
period during which he put his own stamp on the legacy of Brubeck’s quartets.
In the parlance of
the times, Militello is a monster saxophone player. He can do just anything on
the instrument, but what he chooses to express is generally mellifluous,
melodic and moving.
Bobby is what used
to be referred to as a wailer: he just plants his feet and brings it. His solos
are filled with outpourings of emotion.
On medium and up-tempo
tunes, Bobby’s solos are hard-driving and intense; on ballads they are
reflective and sensitive.
He plays with a
firm melodic foundation and while he ventures off into occasional harmonic
forays, Militello isn’t looking to be adventurous for the sake of impressing or
exploring.
Along with more
than a passing reference to the late alto saxophonist Bud Shank’s style, the
alto sax sound of Lou Donaldson and Sonny Stitt come to mind while listening to
Bobby’s music
Militello’s
phrasing in primarily expressed in the language of bebop, but with doses of
funk and fusion that serve to “spice-up” his music with numerous surprises. Your
ears think that they know where the music is going, but Bobby often interjects
“twists and turns” that keeps you continually engrossed in what he has to
“say.”
Another engaging
quality of Bobby playing is the smooth sound he produces, especially on alto
saxophone. Nothing harsh, nothing
strained, nothing cacophonous, but rather, a tone that is mellifluous and
mellow.
When you listen
closely to Bobby Militello’s playing, it’s little wonder that Dave Brubeck has “kept him around” for almost
30 years.
See what you think
while listening to this video tribute to Bobby which features him Graduation Day from his Heart
& Soul CD along with Bobby Jones on Hammond B-3 organ and Bob
Leatherbarrow on drums.
