© -Steven
Cerra , copyright protected; all rights reserved.
Along with the trumpet, the clarinet was the preeminent instrument of the Swing Era when some of the era's most popular bands were led by the likes of Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and Woody Herman.
While the trumpet persisted as a featured instrument in the smaller combos that brought Bebop and Modern Jazz to the forefront in the years following the end of the Second World War, the clarinet seemed to recede into Jazz History.
The exceptional playing of Buddy DeFranco brought the devilishly-difficult-to-play clarinet into the world of Bebop and beyond with a degree of skill rarely rivaled by other modern, Jazz instrumentalists.
Each and every time I return to Buddy DeFranco's music, I shake my head in amazement at his superb technique and consistently innovative improvisation.
Although rarely recognized as such, Buddy's achievements rival those of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, the two principal originators of Bebop. His skill and ideas never fail to impress me, whatever the setting.
Along with the trumpet, the clarinet was the preeminent instrument of the Swing Era when some of the era's most popular bands were led by the likes of Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and Woody Herman.
While the trumpet persisted as a featured instrument in the smaller combos that brought Bebop and Modern Jazz to the forefront in the years following the end of the Second World War, the clarinet seemed to recede into Jazz History.
The exceptional playing of Buddy DeFranco brought the devilishly-difficult-to-play clarinet into the world of Bebop and beyond with a degree of skill rarely rivaled by other modern, Jazz instrumentalists.
Each and every time I return to Buddy DeFranco's music, I shake my head in amazement at his superb technique and consistently innovative improvisation.
Although rarely recognized as such, Buddy's achievements rival those of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, the two principal originators of Bebop. His skill and ideas never fail to impress me, whatever the setting.
“Nobody has seriously
challenged DeFranco's status as the greatest post-swing clarinetist, although
the instrument's desertion by reed players has tended to disenfranchise its few
exponents (and Tony Scott might have a say in the argument too). DeFranco's
incredibly smooth phrasing and seemingly effortless command are unfailingly
impressive on all his records. But the challenge of translating this virtuosity
into a relevant post-bop environment hasn't been easy, and he has relatively
few records to account for literally decades of fine work….”
“Dave McKenna
hulks over the keyboard…. He is one of the most dominant mainstream players on
the scene, with an immense reach and an extraordinary two-handed style which
distributes theme statements across the width of the piano.
McKenna is that rare
phenomenon, a pianist who actually sounds better on his own. Though he is
sensitive and responsive in group playing … he has quite enough to say on his
own account not to need anyone else to hold his jacket.”
- Richard Cook and Brian Morton, The
Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 6th Ed.
In the 100+ years
that Jazz has been in existence, it has been expressed in any number of
instrumental combinations: combos, trios, quartets, quintets, sextets, octets,
tentets and big bands.
It almost seems
that as the popularity, and with it, the fortunes of the music, waned, the
smaller the groupings became.
The big bands of
the Swing Era were replaced by combos after WW II and these would soon be
reduced to piano-bass-drum trios. Sometimes locally-based trios served as
pick-up rhythm sections for horn players who traveled the Jazz club circuit of
major cities as guest soloists. It was cheaper for them to get booked into
local clubs this way. Star alto/tenor
saxophonist Sonny Stitt made his living this way for many years.
Throughout its
history, Jazz has had a long association with night clubs many of whose owners
were looking to pedal booze with the music serving as a convenient backdrop.
Jazz nightspots
like The Lighthouse and Shelly’s Manne Hole in southern California, The
Blackhawk in San Francisco, the Jazz Showcase in Chicago and Birdland and The
Village Vanguard, all of which featured the music as well as sold libations,
have become few and far between since their heyday from 1945-65.
Not that these
smoke-filled rooms were ever the best environment for the music let alone the
musicians, but at least they gave Jazz fans venues in which to hear the music
performed on a regular basis.
Duos have always
been around the Jazz scene, but they were generally formed by a pianist or a
guitarist backed by a bass player, in other words, an instrument to carry the
melody while the other played rhythm to keep the swinging sense of metronomic
time which is a key feature of Jazz.
This low-key
approach was generally favored by some of the smaller rooms that offered Jazz
and was usually easy on the wallet of the club’s owner. Adding horns and drums
to such an environment would overpower the patrons.
Not surprisingly,
with the passing of time and the diminishing of its fans base, Jazz solo piano
gigs also became ensconced in some clubs. Occasionally, a guitarist, or a
trumpet player with a mute or even a saxophonist who could keep the volume down
might drop by to sit-in with these solo pianists.
For many years,
one of the best pianists in Jazz was a frequent performer as a solo pianist in clubs
in the greater Boston area with occasional swings down to Newport , R.I. and to Florida for “the season.”
His name was Dave McKenna [1930-2008] and he always
maintained that, “[ … because of his fondness for staying close to the melody],
I’m not really a bona fide jazz guy”. Instead, he claimed, “I’m just a saloon
piano player.” Regulars at the Boston’s Copley Plaza Bar (now the Oak Room),
where Dave often performed, rebuffed this modest
remark by telling McKenna that he was ‘just a saloon player’ like Billie Holiday was ‘just
a saloon singer.’”
Thanks to the late
Carl Jefferson’s patronage, many lesser known, but not necessarily
less-skillful, solo pianists would have their work showcased on his Concord
Records Maybeck Recital Hall [Berkeley , CA ] series which was issued in the 1980s and
1990s.
Richard Cook and
Brian Morton of The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 6th Ed. had this to
say about the DeFranco-McKenna collaboration:
“Concord threw a line to players of DeFranco's
sensibilities. The one to get … is the magisterial encounter with Dave McKenna, still as fiercely full-blooded as
ever at the keyboard, and musician enough to have DeFranco working at his top
level. 'Poor Butterfly', 'The Song Is You' and 'Invitation' are worth the
admission price, and there are seven others.”
Here’s what Dr.
Herb Wong had to say about the DeFranco-McKenna Jazz alliance in his insert
notes to Dave McKenna and Buddy deFranco: You Must
Believe in Swing [Concord
CCD-4756-2].
© -Dr. Herb Wong, copyright protected; all
rights reserved.
“Though rare up
until some 25 years ago, duos now occupy a pivotal niche in jazz. Their
interest stretches beyond mere curiosity; two-instrument bands face the
challenge of creating musical moments germane to their special environment
which neither solo musicians nor conventional small combos can furnish.
Most duos
highlight the beauty of musicians of similar styles and schools of thought
playing with a preferred consonant sound. On the surface, therefore, the
pairing of Dave McKenna and Buddy DeFranco might seem
unlikely. "At first thought, Dave and Buddy may not be a perfect fit, since
they come from somewhat different directions," recalls Dr. Dave Seiler, Director of the University of New Hampshire Jazz Band . "But we watched them rehearse - the
way they communicated was incredible!"
The background
trail leading to this unusual pairing is of interest. Born in the vision of one
Joe Stellmach, a devout fan and good friend of both McKenna and DeFranco, this
recording was inspired by the spectacular match-ups of DeFranco with super
piano icons Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson back in the 1950s. The prospect of
DeFranco's thorough mastery of the instrument (with his modern harmonic
vocabulary and improvisational skills) brought together with the extraordinary
pianism of McKenna (one of the most triumphant post-Tatum pianists) was
Stellmach's dream.
"I was
inspired to bring Dave and Buddy together - specifically Dave as the third prodigious jazz pianist to be
coupled with Buddy," said Stellmach, who was the catalyst in gaining the
enthusiasm of Concord Jazz to make this recording. Less than a week after the
teaming was agreed to, a debut concert was organized by local piano great Tom
Gallant and the aformentioned Dr. Seiler for October 9, 1996 at Portsmouth , New Hampshire as part of the Harry W. Jones, Jr. Jazz
Concert. Prior to this venue, McKenna and DeFranco hadn't really played
together other than brief jams at parties. A week later, they were in New York recording this CD.
DeFranco's esteem
for McKenna is markedly illustrated by this anecdote: "Two summer ago in New England , a friend of Dave 's asked me if I'd like to go hear him play
solo in a hotel by the coast. I had a plane to catch later on, so I decided to
catch one set and then fly home. I wound up listening to the entire three
sets."
McKenna is an
anomaly in the world of jazz pianists; his two-handed style is so rhythmically
powerful that he's essentially self-sufficient. Ace trombonist Carl Fontana,
who has played with McKenna many times, simply said, "Dave is
a band. You don't really need one when he's around!" Pianist Dick Hyman
agrees, "He's his own rhythm section. The left hand plays a 4/4 bass line,
the right hand plays the melody, and there's that occasional 'strum' in between
- like three hands." Check his right hand off-beat single notes, and
unpredictable spaces promoting accents that create ear-tugging reactions.
Reminiscent of Tatum, McKenna's arpeggios at times seem like they're 50 feet
long.
"Dave plays a different way - an orchestral
way," DeFranco elaborates. "Of course, Errol Garner and Oscar
Peterson had it too, but Dave has a bass line going on all the time. He has the orchestral
melodic part, and those exciting chord progressions, but somewhere he sneaks in
what might be 'brass figures,' and it's fascinating to wonder how he gets them
in. He inserts these figures while everything else is going on."
McKenna explains
it quite simply: "I like to play a long line - like a horn player's single
notes, which also equate to single notes on a bass. Well, sometimes I'll pause
- take a breather in that line, and on occasion just throw in a chord or
two." His predilection for single note lines suggests that he has listened
a great deal more to horn players than he has to pianists.
Buddy DeFranco is
the titan of the modern jazz clarinet who had taken his instrument to the peak
of mastery decades ago and has maintained this preeminence internationally
since the forties. He has pushed his digital precision to its technical
boundaries, and early on merged his blazing, flawless execution with the vital
force of Charlie Parker's harmonic approach. With his devastating speed and
gorgeous, fluid tone, he improvises with emotional candor and blows nuclear
ideas that explode with surprising hues and shapes.
An accomplished
clarinetist himself, Seiler says simply "Buddy is a clarinet player's
clarinet player." …
Speaking about
DeFranco, McKenna said firmly, "It was a real pleasure working with him.
Man, he's got it all! In a duo you have to be busy all the time. It's one of
the hardest things to do, but with a great horn player like Buddy - that's
something else! I really enjoy his musicality."
In a duo, each
musician is truly half of what happens. It's a matter of the freedom to express
and letting things happen with complete confidence — a process which shows the
music is worthy of risk. There's an enchanting aura about the numeral
"two". This duo reflects that mystifying magnificence. There is
something pristine about combining a piano note and a clarinet note. Dave McKenna and Buddy DeFranco share in tandem
a striking set of properties of integrity and musical character only mature
creative players experience. Their sophisticated knowledge and simpatico are
self-evident.
DeFranco said it
well: "If it doesn't swing, it isn't happening!"
You can savor the
duo delight that is Dave McKenna and Buddy DeFranco in the following video tribute which
features their performance of Tadd Dameron’s If You Could See Me Now.
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