© -Steven
Cerra , copyright protected; all rights reserved.
“He was a mysterious man, as
elusive and evanescent as his art. He could be maddeningly absent-minded; yet
he could be closely attentive and solicitous, and you never quite knew how much
Gil Evans was noticing about you. His childhood is an enigma, and there is even
a question about his real name. Tall, lank, professional of mien, he was kind,
self-critical, and self-doubting.”
- Gene Lees
“The mind reels at the
intricacy of his orchestral and developmental techniques. His scores are so
careful, so formally well-constructed, so mindful of tradition, that you feel
the originals should be preserved under glass in a Florentine museum.”
- Bill Mathieu [arranger-composer]
“His name is famously an anagram
of Svengali and Gil spent much of his career shaping the sounds and musical
philosophies of younger musicians. … His peerless voicings are instantly
recognizable.”
- Richard Cook
“I bought every one of Louis
Armstrong’s records from 1927-1936. … In each of these three minute records,
there’s a magic moment somewhere. Every one of them. I really learned how to
handle a song from him. I learned how to love music from him. Because he loved
music and he did everything with love and care. So he’s my main influence I
think.”
- Gil Evans
As a teen-ager, Gil Evans
listened to records at speeds slower than 78rpm’s to pick out sounds from the
Louis Armstrong recordings that he treasured and then invented his own notation
system to write arrangements before he had any sort of schooling in the art of
orchestration.
This may account for the fact
that Gil’s arrangements always seem to use unique combinations of instruments
including tubas with flutes and rarely heard [in Jazz] reed instruments such as
the oboe and English horn.
He was trying to replicate
into music, sounds that he heard in his head and these odd or unusual
instruments were the best source to emulate his impressions.
He didn’t know what he
couldn’t do, because he had no formal training to tell him otherwise.
- the editorial staff of JazzProfiles
“We build our styles not on
our abilities, but on our limitations.”
- Charles Aznavour
To offer a context
in which to truly understand what Ryan Truesdell has accomplished with his
recording of Centennial: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans [ArtistShare
0114], when Jazz pianist Michel Petrucciani died quite suddenly in January,
1999, Francis Marmande wrote in La
Chambre d’Amour:
“If the death of a
musician touches us in a special way, it is because they take their secrets
with them – the secret of their unique musical sound, the secret of their
precise relation to space, air and the movement of their bodies that they alone
knew how to produce.”
So what do you do
if your name is Ryan Truesdell, and as an ex-student of the late Gil Evans, you
are faced with unlocking the secrets of a musician who died in 1988?
What happens when Gil’s
family and estate grant you access to the his musical archives and you discover
“… nearly fifty never-before heard manuscripts, which illuminate as-yet-unheard aspects of said master’s musical world?”
How do you unravel
the unique essence of a lost artist who, like Michel, left such a huge
footprint of the Jazz world?
What do you do to
bring this music to life?
And when you do,
how are you going to play it?
What tempos are
you going to employ; what dynamic ranges are you going to use; what are you
going to do with the uncompleted parts? These questions only hint at the
magnitude of the challenge one faces in bringing the Gil Evans musical
treasures that Ryan discovered into existence.
As Ryan’s
colleague, composer-arranger Maria Schneider [who also studied with Gil]
explains it: “It’s like finding the impossible: imagine you buy and old house
and discover a box of lost Beethoven manuscripts in the attic – scores that
have never been heard before. That’s exactly what happened here. It’s been
something that I’ve wished for, for decades now – something that so many of us
have wanted and it’s here. It’s an incredible opportunity to hear this music
uncovered.”
The genius of what
Ryan Truesdell has accomplished with Centennial: Newly Discovered Works of Gil
Evans is twofold: [1] he’s not only brought the music to life in the
ArtistShare CD, no small feat in and of itself, but he’s also documented in
words and photographs what he and the musicians associated with this project
did in the form of the two, brilliant insert booklets which accompany the CD.
The CD itself is
comprised of ten tracks of previously unrecorded arrangements [including two
original compositions by Gil] that Evans penned between 1946 and 1971. See www.GilEvansProject.com
or www.iTunes.com/GilEvans100
for order information.
In a way it’s
ironic that a man like Gil Evans, who shunned bringing direct attention on
himself for most of his lifetime, has such adoring adulation shined upon him
and his music with the issuance of this CD in celebration of the 100th
anniversary of his birth.
In these
introductory paragraphs from A Portrait
of Centennial, the expository insert booklet which accompanies the disc,
Ryan Truesdell offers these insights into his approach.
© -Ryan Truesdell, copyright protected; all
rights reserved.
“Composition is an
isolated art form, with countless hours spent alone at the piano in front of
empty sheets of staff paper. Until instruments give breath to what's been
written, the scrawls of a composer are little more than marks on a page. Much
of the process takes place in the composer's mind; requiring an experienced
ear, and a comprehensive understanding of the colors and capabilities of each
individual instrument. Gil heard more than just the sound of a particular
instrument, creating even more distinctive sonic and harmonic textures by
writing for the unique sounds of specific musicians. In Gil's compositional
mind, a soprano wasn't just a soprano, it became Steve Lacy; a trumpet became
Miles Davis, or Johnny Coles.
The combination of
these distinct voices breathe life into the music, creating the sounds, feel,
and energy that we hear in each performance. Although Gil originally wrote
these pieces with other musicians in mind, I chose each person on this record
for what I felt their individual voice would bring to the music. If even one
member of the ensemble were changed, the atmosphere might have yielded
something entirely different. The confluence of this diverse group of musicians
has resulted in the stunning performances represented on this record, honoring
Gil Evans and his timeless legacy.
As you explore
these new works, I encourage you to look through the photos taken during the
recording sessions, in hopes that you'll be able to put a face and a name to
the sounds that you are hearing. Then you'll begin to hear what I heard; that
an alto saxophone became Steve Wilson or Dave Pietro, and a trumpet became Greg Gisbert.
And in the moments when their voices become more than the sum of their parts,
you'll hear the magic that can only be described as the unique voice of Gil
Evans.”
Braithwaite and Katz are handling communications for Centennial: Newly Discovered Works of Gil
Evans and Ann Braithwaite,
Jon Muchin and the other members of the team there had this to say in their
news release:
CENTENNIAL features an eclectic but cohesive
collection that represents the best of Truesdell's historic discoveries. Of
these ten works, half were originally written for the Claude Thornhill
Orchestra, including an Evans original composition, "Dancing on a Great Big Rainbow" and a striking
arrangement of "The Maids of
Cadiz" written in 1950, seven years prior to the version for Miles
Davis on their landmark collaboration, Miles Ahead. "It's fascinating
to compare the two versions," Truesdell says of Cadiz
Three of the new
works, two of which were originally written for Astrud Gilberto and Lucy Reed,
will feature vocalists. On CENTENNIAL, these arrangements are
masterfully interpreted by the seasoned voices of Kate McGarry, Luciana Souza
and newcomer Wendy Gilles, who glides effortlessly over Gil's intricate
arrangement of "Beg Your
Pardon" originally written for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra in 1946.
Kurt Weill's "Barbara Song" and Evans'
medley, "Waltz/Variation on the
Misery/So Long" are arranged for a twenty-four piece orchestra which
more closely resembles a wind ensemble than a modern day big band, and is
augmented by oboes, bassoons, French horns, and percussion. While both pieces
may ring a familiar bell to the veteran Evans listener, these arrangements
illuminate a key element in Evans' compositional process, and present each tune
in a whole new light. "It was evident from sifting through Gil's
manuscripts, that he was constantly revising and revamping old
arrangements," Truesdell remarks. "With these two large ensemble
arrangements, Gil has greatly expanded upon what we know from the previous
recordings, and further developed these pieces in terms of form, harmony, and
rhythm. The sonic palette offered by this large instrumentation was like
nothing Gil had available to him before. I felt these tunes were essential to
presenting this newly discovered world of Gil's." Soloists Steve Wilson
and Donny McCaslin on saxophone, vibraphonist Joe Locke, and trombonist
Marshall Gilkes, add their distinct creative voices to this new sonic world,
exploring the endless possibilities revealed in these arrangements.
One of the most
exceptional pieces on the record is "Punjab ," another Evans' original composition,
written for his 1964 album The Individualism of Gil Evans. The process of
bringing this particular work from the page to the studio provides an excellent
example of the research required to assemble this groundbreaking album. The
score was incomplete, with no indication of tempo, and very little notation for
the rhythm section. "I knew Gil had recorded sketches and an initial
reading of "Punjab " during the Individualism
sessions," recalls Truesdell. "Gil had no intention of these
performances being commercially released, but I knew they were my only chance
to figure out what Gil had intended for the rhythm section." Assistance
from Universal Music made it possible for Truesdell to hear the rehearsal
tapes, enabling him to interpret Evans' intentions, and make the informed
decision to add tabla to the track. "There was something about the drums
in the rehearsal that didn't seem to support what Gil had written," said
Truesdell. "I knew "Punjab " had its roots in Indian music, so I
decided to add tabla player Dan Weiss to the ensemble and see what happened.
I'm glad I trusted my instincts, because the effect was almost transcendent. It
was a moment of recognition between the musicians and I, confirming what we had
felt all along; that we were all a part of something truly profound."
With CENTENNIAL,
his first CD as a leader, Truesdell has taken on a daunting task, relying
heavily upon his encyclopedic knowledge and love of Evans' music, his
discerning ear, and decisive leadership in the studio to breathe new life into
a collection of Evans' works that might otherwise have remained forgotten. This
achievement, to say nothing of the remarkable number of first-call musicians
more than willing to follow his baton, solidifies Truesdell as an emerging
producer and bandleader to watch out for.
Upcoming Gil Evans
project performances:
Saturday, July 7
through Thursday, July 12, 2012
SIX-CONCERT
RESIDENCY Umbria Perugia , Italy
Featuring Ryan Truesdell with the Eastman
School of Music Chamber Jazz Ensemble and special guests, saxophonists
Francesco Cafiso, Stefano di Battista, and Scott Robinson, and trumpeters Frabrizio
Bosso and Paolo Fresu.
_
Presenting all new
music from CENTENNIAL on the festival main stage.
It’s been said
that our immortality lives on in the minds of others.
100 years after
his birth, the musical mind of Gil Evans lives on thanks to the mortality of
Ryan Truesdell.
Jazz fans, new and
old, owe him a debt of gratitude as it’s not often that something this special
comes along.
