The Kennedy Dream - Oliver Nelson [From the Archives]

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

"In February of 1967, Oliver Nelson recognized Kennedy’s contributions and assembled a big band to play music in his honor, with taped segments of his speeches as preludes. The result is a heartfelt yet eerie combination, perhaps a bit off-putting, but absolutely relevant decades later. The music is reflective of the changing times as identified by Nelson, ranging from commercial movie score-type music, to soulful or straight-ahead jazz, bop, and the modern big-band sound that the leader, composer, and orchestrator owned... it's a stark reminder of how one man can positively influence the human condition aside from politics and corporate greed, and how another can change his world musically.”

- Michael G. Nastos, allmusic.com

Recorded on February 16 and 17 in Capitol Studios, the eight tracks that were subsequently issued on Impulse! Records as The Kennedy Dream [AS-9144] “contain only a modicum of big band Jazz,” according to Kenny Berger, “since part of the album is written for a string-and woodwind based studio orchestra. In addition, seven of the eight tracks begin with recorded excerpts from Kennedy’s best known speeches.”

Of the eight movements, Berger goes on to say in his insert notes to Oliver Nelson: The Argo, Verve and Impulse Big Band Studio Sessions [Mosaic MD6-233]:

LET THE WORD GO FORTH begins with a somber introduction which segues into an ear-catching sequential figure in 7/8 meter. This figure is derived from another example in Oliver’s Book Patterns for Saxophone (...), and is based on a series of altered pentatonic scales that descend in whole steps. Next comes a dramatic-sounding theme in 9/4, stated by the low brass, followed by the full ensemble. Clarinets restate the 7/8 theme, which builds in tension till a return of the 9/4 theme. Nelson's imaginative use of the tuba here is noteworthy, as is Don Butterfield's flawless execution.

A GENUINE PEACE begins as a straight waltz stated by Phil Bodner on oboe. The low brass then take over, and the rhythmic feel begins to take on a martial quality, especially when the drums begin a rhythmic pattern that feels like a cross between a march and a waltz. This section segues into a jazz waltz with unison brass stating a theme that bears a strong resemblance to GREENSLEEVES. Two English horns take over the theme and the mood darkens as the intervallic tension between the melody and the bass line increases.

The melody of THE RIGHTS OF ALL is stated by Bodner on English horn followed by the album's first jazz solo, by Phil Woods on alto saxophone.

THE ARTISTS' RIGHTFUL PLACE is actually PATTERNS FOR ORCHESTRA wisely reorchestrated so that only the saxes play the wide skips in the melody, which hung the trumpet section out to dry on PATTERNS.

DAY IN DALLAS begins with a sense of foreboding, segues into a conventionally tuneful ballad, and then takes on a dirge-like atmosphere. This last section is a good illustration of the ways in which Nelson's compositional skills allowed him to make use of harmonic devices outside the realm of conventional jazz harmony. The increase in disquiet as the piece develops is achieved with subtlety, though carefully controlled increases in intervallic tension [intervals in pitch usually expressed in semitones].”

In his review of The Kennedy Dream for wwwallmusic.com, Michael G. Nastos offered the following views of the suite and its significance.

When the late President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, the world lost not only a prominent politician, but one who truly championed the arts and civil rights. In February of 1967, Oliver Nelson recognized Kennedy’s contributions and assembled a big band to play music in his honor, with taped segments of his speeches as preludes.

The result is a heartfelt yet eerie combination, perhaps a bit off-putting, but absolutely relevant decades later. The music is reflective of the changing times as identified by Nelson, ranging from commercial movie score-type music, to soulful or straight-ahead jazz, bop, and the modern big-band sound that the leader, composer, and orchestrator owned. Kennedy's most famous speech about fellow Americans, asking what they can do for their country, is folded into the last track "John Kennedy Memory Waltz" with a string quartet and the regret-tinged alto sax of Phil Woods.

The 35th President's oratorios on human rights act as prelude to the soft clarion horns, 7/8 beat, flutes, and vibes, giving way to the modal and serene passages of "Let the Word Go Forth," or the cinematic, military beat, harpsichord-shaded, plucked-guitar-and-streaming-oboe-accented "The Rights of All," which is also reflective of the immortal spiritual song "Wade in the Water." Where "Tolerance" has a similar verbal tone, the mood is much more ethereal between the flutes, oboe, and strings, while the two-minute etude for the first lady and widow,

"Jacqueline," is in a loping stride, reflective of how much longer it always took her to get dressed and organized. "A Genuine Peace" is an anthem for all time in a soul-jazz mode that parallels Aaron Copeland's Americana moods, while "Day in Dallas" is the expectant, ominous, foreboding calm before the chaos. Nelson's straight-ahead jazz exercise is "The Artists' Rightful Place," a spoken word tonic for musical troops in a bop framework that has the horn section jumping for joy.

As always, Nelson surrounds himself with the very best musicians like Woods and Phil Bodner in the reed section, tuba player Don Butterfiled, bassist George Duvivier, pianist Hank Jones, and all produced by Bob Thiele.

Now reissued on CD some 40 years later, it's a stark reminder of how one man can positively influence the human condition aside from politics and corporate greed, and how another can change his world musically.

On August 26, 2009, Douglas Payne published this review of The Kennedy Dream on his Sound Insights blog.

“At a time when most of what used to be called “record companies,” are slashing budgets, cutting staff or going out of business altogether, Universal Music has been doing a superb job reissuing their huge treasure trove of jazz on CD. Through its Originals program, dozens of nearly forgotten jazz gems from the old Verve, Impulse, A&M, Philips, MGM, Mercury and Limelight catalogs are finding their way back onto the nearly 30-year old CD format.

The other majors (WEA, Sony, EMI) are either (thankfully) licensing albums out to boutique reissue labels like Water, Wounded Bird, Collector’s Choice and Collectables or making the music available for download only. Universal Music’s Original series is catering its great wealth of music to what has become an appreciative, though small and shrinking, market base that still likes to have and hold music with great cover art, musical credits and, in some cases, liner notes (which CDs tend to make almost impossible to read).

To get an idea of just how obscure some of these Originals releases are, take the Oliver Nelson (1932-75) album The Kennedy Dream: A Musical Tribute To John Fitzgerald Kennedy, originally released in 1967 by the Impulse Records label. Even in 1967, hardly anyone knew the record existed. These days, Oliver Nelson’s name barely registers. Sadly, he does not get the recognition he so richly deserves outside of the required nod to “Stolen Moments,” Blues and the Abstract Truth, the brilliant 1961 album “Stolen Moments” appeared on, and – often snidely – a handful of Jimmy Smith’s Verve albums.

The release of Oliver Nelson’s The Kennedy Dream is, indeed, cause for celebration. It is a masterful work that ranks high among the composer’s very best work. This tribute is probably one of the most personal, deeply felt pieces he was ever asked to do outside of Afro/American Sketches (Prestige, 1961) or Black Brown and Beautiful (Flying Dutchman, 1969). And the sincerity of his conviction shines through, producing an impassioned tribute to an inspired leader who inspired much hope for a brighter future and a better world.

The Kennedy Dream is a semi-orchestral suite in which seven of the eight compositions are launched by brief, yet memorable sections of John Kennedy’s speeches about equality and positive change. The recording was made over two days in February 1967, with a small, uncredited cast of New York’s finest session men, including Snooky Young on trumpet, Jerome Richardson and Jerry Dodgion on reeds, Phil Woods on alto sax (and solos), Phil Bodner on English horn, Danny Bank on bass clarinet, Don Butterfield on tuba, Hank Jones on piano and harpsichord, George Duvivier on bass and Grady Tate on drums.

Despite the stirring of Kennedy’s words and the rush of the occasional solo, one’s attention and admiration is drawn throughout to Nelson’s beautiful melodies, constructed with evocative passages and very personable turns of phrase. His writing for strings, for which he never got his proper due, is remarkable; filled with a purposeful passion and a rare and poetic restraint.

Each of the suite’s eight pieces have a chapter-like quality in what could be considered a musical novella – not quite the magnum opus it might have been under different circumstances (thanks to producer Bob Thiele, Nelson was probably lucky to get this record made at all) but certainly more reflective and insightful than a mere song could have ever conveyed. Still, the album’s highlights include “Let The Word Go Forth” (based on Example 45 from Nelson’s instruction Book Patterns For Saxophone), “The Artist’s Rightful Place,” known elsewhere as “Patterns For Orchestra” and, most notably, the outstanding “The Rights of All,” featuring a pizzicato strings rhythm and a gripping Phil Woods solo.

Released on CD* in what would have been Kennedy’s 82nd year – and during the first year into the term of a president who presents as much hope for positive change as Kennedy once did - The Kennedy Dream is a remarkable work from a period when orchestral jazz was not all that uncommon. It is as much a musical tribute to the presidential legacy of John Fitzgerald Kennedy as it is a documented tribute to the beautiful musical legacy of Oliver Edward Nelson.

* The Kennedy Dream was included on the 6-CD Mosaic boxset, Oliver Nelson: The Argo, Verve and Impulse Big Band Studio Sessions issued in February 2006.”

Phil Woods - Bird with Strings ... And More!

 © Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

“If there was anyone born to give a tribute to alto sax legend Charlie Parker, it had to have been Phil Woods, who dedicated his career to keeping the bebopping legend’s music alive. For a concert recorded back in 2005 with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Woods brings in his own ensemble of Ben Aronov/p, Reggie Johnson/b and Douglas Sides/dr for not a re-creation, but an evaluation of the groundbreaking “Bird With String Sessions” that were the first attempt to blend modern jazz with modern classical.

This rendition is a bit different, with a full chamber orchestra, which gives a thicker frame for the masterpieces. Also, Parker’s renditions did little more than state the melody, while Woods stretches on on a number of the tunes such as “All The Things  You Are” and “You Go TO My Head” while also allowing Aronov some time in the spotlight as on the “The Best Thing For You Is Me/How Deep Is The Ocean” medley. Likewise Sides gets some space on “Repetition” and violinist Jens Lohmann delivers some wonderful moments on “Willow Weep For Me”. Kurt Meier’s oboe sighs on “Temptation”, but make no mistake, this is Woods’ gig, and between chats about his meeting with Charlie Parker, as well as his thoughts on his impact, he mostly speaks through his rich alto, and has a lot to say. The sounds are still fresh, and like all good wines, get better with age.”

- www.jazzweekly.com

The recording of Bird with Strings...and More! took place in Tonhalle, Zurich on June 13, 2005 with the help of pianist Ben Aronov, bassist Reggie Johnson, drummer Douglas Sides and the fantastic Zurich Chamber Orchestra.

The beautiful and characteristic sound of jazz and pop supported by a string orchestra is a very special and rare experience.

Bird with Strings...and More! uses the classic album Charlie Parker with Strings as a point of departure. Charlie Parker, also known as Bird, recorded the original Charlie Parker with Strings in 1949 with a rhythm section plus a very small string section.

On this recording, Phil has written all new arrangements based on the original scores, and expanded the original arrangements to a much larger string section of 24/30 pieces and added a small woodwind section of oboe, flute and clarinet. Phil has also proceeded to write a dozen extra arrangements with the same instrumentation. He pays perfect tribute to Bird and his original project, as he is the continuator of Bird's music, spirit and life, but has his very own sound signature, sometimes warm and sometimes volcanic.

Phil was not only an extraordinary alto saxophonist, but also an incredible composer and arranger. Woods was known for a lyrical and beautiful sound making him one of the most popular musicians in mainstream jazz. Born in 1952, he was influenced by Charlie Parker and Lennie Tristano, but worked in both jazz and pop influencing artists like Kenny G and a whole generation of alto played in jazz. Today he is considered a modern jazz giant and one of the most important alto saxophonists in the history of jazz

This is emotional music for lovers, so savor the moment and relax in the company of one of the true masters!

The Phil Woods Six "Live" from The Showboat

 © Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

One of the great advantages of social network topic pages, or focused chat groups or webinars, all to do with the subject of Jazz, is that they can often be a source of new information.

I’m not a completist or a discography maven, so, from time-to-time, I really enjoy the “surprise” of catching up to a recording that I missed when it was first issued by way of a suggestion from someone via online communication.

Such was the case with The Phil Woods Six "Live" from The Showboat.

In 1977 RCA Victor issued a 2LP set, BGL 2-2202 of the Phil Woods sextet performing at the Showboat Lounge", Silver Springs, Maryland in November 1976. The album was the winner of the 1977 Grammy Award for the Best Jazz Performance By A Group and Time magazine also picked it as one of 1977's Ten Best Records

Despite these high ratings, and a five star review in Downbeat in October 1977, RCA Victor did not deem it important enough to issue the complete contents of the two LP records on CD. Instead, just over half of the recorded music, the first nine tracks, were issued in 1991 on RCA Novus CD 3104-2, "Phil Woods Live" To my knowledge, the balance of the original Lp has not been issued on commercial CD. The second CD in this set, transferred and mastered from Lp to CD by Errol Baker [Auckland, New Zealand], has the remainder of the original RCA Victor two LP album as issued on Japanese RCA BVCJ-3752324 [2006] and more recently on Japanese RCA SICP3992-3 [2014]

THE SIX:

Phil Woods, alto sax, soprano saxophone 

Mike Lellilo, piano

Harry Leahey, guitar

Steve Gilmore,bass

Bill Goodwin, drums

Alyrio Lima, percussion

Phil Woods is certainly no stranger to recordings made either in the studio or in performance, as a leader or as a sideman, in a big band setting or with a combo. In 1987, Paolo Piangiarelli founded the Philology label in Macerata, Italy to record him and many of his contemporaries like Lee Konitz and Chet Baker.

Phil always brings his best to each recorded endeavor but in my opinion, his playing on these showboat recordings is full of surprises and astounding inventiveness.

A few years before these 1976 performances, Phil had disbanded his very successful European Rhythm Machine, moved back to the states from Paris, relocated to California for a while and fronted a group that used electronic keyboards and sound effect devices. He found California to be a wasteland, both professionally and personally [he went through a divorce].

But by 1976, he had relocated to the Delaware Gap area of the Poconos mountains in Pennsylvania, married Jill Goodwin and formed a new group with his brother-in-law Bill on drums which would be together for about 40 years until Phil’s death in 2015.  

His personal life was together and he was happily leading a hot new band; this contentment certainly shines through his playing on these recordings.

It even comes through on the following comments that he and other members of the band offered about this album.

“I've been playing in jazz saloons for nigh on to 30 years- Everywhere from Tony's on Flatbush Avenue to the Chat Qui Pache on Rue St Andre des Arts, and though the hours and noise and bad pianos can be annoying, there is no ambience more stimulating for jazz when all the elements are almost right. And all of the elements were right at Pete Lambrose's Showboat for this live recording. The audience was attentive and intelligent; the piano and sound system were excellent; the dressing room was comfortable; the boss's daughters were cute and the band was fired up   I even dug the stoned cat who yelled "play the blues'" (Thank God not too many requests for Melancholy Baby these days.)

Jazz is a group effort. I am proud to play with this working group that responds to every musical and extra musical challenge with devotion and love. I think that this performance was one of their finest shining' hours   And sneaking of group effort and love, no team in the biz can equal the superior talents of Keith Grant, Dale Ashby and Father, Mary, Arlene, Jill, Nat and especially my good friend Norman Schwartz. I thank everyone who helped make this a truly memorable gig. And to the cat who wants to hear the blues- maybe next time.”

• Phil Woods

Other band members also waded in with comments:

“What an experience... playing and recording with this great band. In the beginning I felt an overwhelming nervousness, but that feeling disappeared the more we played. By the time the last night of recording came around, only the music mattered. What a great feeling. The only words I can think of to describe it lie in the title of Mike Melillo's tune A Little Peace.

• Harry Leahey

“Playing at the Showboat was an experience for me, since it was my first "live" record date- quite different from studio work   It was a touch nerve-wracking because you really can't stop and start as in a studio, yet somehow relaxing at the same time since it's an environment very familiar to me - working in a club - something I've been doing all my life. It's a real thrill working with four other guys who are dedicated to serious acoustic music, and who feel the rhythm in the same place. Phil, of course, played brilliantly throughout.” 

• Steve Gilmore

It's a great pleasure to see Harry Leahey, whom I've known for years as one of the greatest players of the world, get this much belated opportunity to be recorded. I also feel fortunate that Phil Woods has shown no aversion to attempting some of my compositional efforts, as well as to deciphering my occasional "derrangements" of other runes, i.e. Cheek To Check, Bye Bye Baby.

In addition, no manner of adversity seems to star "strum" and "drum" (Gilmore, Goodwin) from their appointed rounds  They just keep a-strollin' along.

In short: "Tank-a-you-a-fellas."

• Mike Melillo

The band has travelled far from its beginning in Mike Melillo's music room over three years ago   We've gone from New Jersey jazz clubs to New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Amsterdam and Antwerp, and in the process the music has grown and changed. With Harry Leahey's addition six months ago, we have expanded and changed again. The music is always fun to play and each musician has complete input at all times. For me it is a culmination of 20 years experience each time we play. Thanks Steve, Harry, Mike and Phil for the music and friendship. To the listener: Enjoy! Then, see THE PHIL WOODS QT “live"! You won't regret it.”

• Bill Goodwin

Here are the liner note to the original RCA Victor LP album.

“To me, Phil Woods is very much like any really fine actor who must periodically return 10 the stage in order to reestablish his relationship with an audience and, in fact, with himself, his language and his craft, it is not surprising, therefore, to find, at this point in time, that Phil Woods wanted to record his little repertory group as they appear before audiences.

We began to think about this recording in April of 1976 when Phil and I, together with Lena Home and her manager, Ralph Harris, were in London recording "Lena - A New Album" and Phil's "Floresta Canto", in which Chris Gunning did a great deal of composition and orchestration. These, along with the weight of the previously released "Images" album, done with Michel Legrand, and "The New Phil Woods Album" featuring Phil's orchestrations and some of his compositions, left us with the feeling that perhaps the next project should be a small group effort in which Phil's voice was the central core and in which a demonstration of his virtuosity as a player would be the primary objective.

We didn't really do anything about the idea until late summer of 1976, Phil had just spent four months on the road with his group; they went to Japan for two weeks and then travelled from Los Angeles to Chicago to Washington to Boston - returning to New York with a fistful of great reviews and comments about the excellence of his little company of players. And so we decided that the time was right.

We found a room that had a good sound, that was run by pleasant people, and in which we could record the essence of a small group experience. Jazz, if you can define the word, does not only mean improvisation and someone playing a mess of notes around a melody; it's an attitude, it is the American music of the street; it is an art form into which the performer can bring special meaning to an existing piece of music in much the same way that an actor brings his special feelings into his interpretations of Shakespeare or O'Neill. The essential difference between a studio recording and an in-person, live recording is in the feedback from the audience to player and player to audience - a direct parallel to the actor when he mounts a stage to do the same lines night after night and yet, through his relationship with the other players and the audience invests every performance with new and different colours and meanings.

Phil and I both feel strongly about the need for composition and arranging in the development of the jazz idiom. Every album we do in the studio contains at least one long work that can be played by high school and college bands in which young people are able to develop new insights into jazz and the elements  To this end, we have just completed recording Phil's next album, a comprehensive sixty-minute work entitled "The Seven Deadly Sins Circa 1977.” 

This live recording, however, is something else. It is Phil as he relates to his little group and as they relate to him. Phil's musicians are special in that four of them have been together for some time; only after a great deal of searching and consideration did they add the fifth member. For this performance, a sixth player was added, as you will hear at the closing when Phil introduces the company. From the top, it is evident that the group really works together and is, in the idiom of the jazz community, "tight."

This is not just an album of songs and aimless improvisation, there is a great deal of composition in evidence in much of the material   Brazilian Affair, for instance, is a full-length work designed for a small group, but one which will be expanded for larger ensembles and can be made available for concert performances.

Working with Phil Woods and his tremendous virtuosity enables me to fulfil some of my dreams of being able to participate in creating a body of music that will be listened to and played after both Phil and I are long gone.”

• Norman Schwartz

And lastly, from DOWNBEAT 20 October 1977.   Rating .*****

“This normally jaded pundit isn't normally moved to superlatives Yet in the light of what I've been doing for nigh the last two hours- digesting this most tempting meal of an album - I’ll have to whip out the praise.

We've seen live Phil Woods albums before, and insofar as this sextet is concerned, we've heard most of them previously. The unit has not been exposed to such a creatively enticing set of circumstances before however, this 115 minutes of vinylizing occurs at the Showboat, a most hospitable jazz club near Washington, D.C., where musical subtleties are immediately appreciated by an uncommonly perceptive audience.

It seems as though everything was working right on this night. The Six exceeds its own lofty standard of excellence, glorying in wave after wave of musical triumph   This band plays with a clarity and sense of unity that the overrated European Rhythm Machine never came close to attaining.

Woods, at the centre of things, is consummately masterful. On each of the tracks he does something just a little bit different. From the pretty, rote reading of the self-scribed Lady J to the raw, high notes and screeches of Randy Western's Little Niles he covers all the bases. Phii even busts his rump on soprano sax, contributing a frantic soio during I'm Late, from the classic Alice In Wonderland movie.

Hardly greenhorns, his fellow musicians are of a fairly common background; they are studio men and teachers who have finally been provided with a forum whereby their talents can be noticed by the masses. Drummer Bill Goodwin, for example, has played with jazz and rock acts who are household names, yet his brilliant cymbal work on High Clouds makes one wonder why he hasn't received more acclaim. Ditto bassist Steve Gilmore, he of the invisible fingers, whose digitals go so fast they can barely be seen. On the other side of the coin, Gilmore's bowing technique during Rain Danse is most welcome for its lyricism, an unusual grace in these days when most bows sound like hacksaws.

There is an essence of excellence here; the six members coalesce into one symbiotic squad, interdependent on each other. Not forgetting the Djang-oish guitar of Harry Leahey, the lyrical keyboards of Mike Melillo and percussionist Alyrio Lima's seemingly endless array of percussive tinker toys, this ensemble has the potential to continually define new vistas in team-work.”

• Russell Shaw

Needless to say, having discovered the joys of this splendid set of in-performance music, I’m hoping that after reading the above, you’ll check out The Phil Woods Six "Live" from The Showboat for yourself. I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.

Phil Woods - Part 8 - The Smithsonian Interview

 © Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved

In 2007, Phil Woods was awarded the coveted Jazz Master designation by the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honor that our nation bestows on its jazz musicians. To date, the Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program has interviewed 212 jazz subjects, including most of the NEA Jazz Masters. Ken Kimery is Director of the Jazz Oral History Program at the Smithsonian Institution (www.smithsonian jazz.org), and provided the technical engineering for Phil's recorded interview, which was conducted on June 22-23, 2010 by saxophonist Marty Nau.

“Perhaps the professor emeritus of bebop saxophone, as it has endured from one century to the next.”

- Richard Cook’s Jazz Encyclopedia

[MN]: Phil, one thing that impresses me about you is that you don't seem to be scared of this new technology that's out there. I've seen you embrace it. 

[PW]: Oh yeah, oh yeah.

[MN]: You did a CD-ROM years ago ... you write and arrange on it. 

[PW]: Yep.

[MN]: Can you talk about how much you like it?

[PW]: I had the very first Music Printer Plus, which was the first music program; it was an old DOS-based program. I got tired of having my sketches on the back of matchbook covers, and a piece of paper here and there. Now, I have all of my music in the computer, everything I've ever written, including my final exam from Juilliard. I've transferred all of my stuff into a computer, on a network with my wife - she takes care of all the publishing so we have it all, and we have backup, of course. Yeah! The Music Printer Plus that I was using, the DOS-based program, was built on a small [operating system], and as they kept updating it, it became top-heavy, it was too cumbersome. Then they changed and went to strictly

a Mac platform, they abandoned the PC, and they changed the name of the program and whatever.... I never got into using Finale because I explored the idea of Finale when it first came out and I remember going to Emile Charlap's office, which was the main copy service, and still is, in New York City, and I looked into the copy room where the guys were copying music. They had a music stand here with the score on it and a music stand here with five volumes of How To Work Finale [both chuckle].

So that's when I got into Music Printer Plus. And then, when that crashed I said, oh man, I'm gonna have to have to go to Finale. And they said, well, check out Sibelius. In Sibelius, you can download the program but it didn't save so it was useless. But you could learn the program. You couldn't really use it but you could learn the technical part of how to—. And I fell in love with it. So I've been a Sibelius user. I'm up to Sibelius 6 and the new Sib 6 is incredible from where they were in Sib 1. And they work closely with Yamaha. At one point, they ran a thing that if you bought a Yamaha alto you got a free Sibelius. So I'm kind of hooked up with both of those companies.

So yeah, I'm a firm believer in high tech. My son is really good at computers. He works for some big chemical company and does their in-house networking. He keeps me up to date on what's hot, what's not, what's good. He's into Mac but, as I said, I'm a PC guy. But I love it. As I said talking yesterday, I do my writing, my composing, at the piano as far as thematic material and what I want to do. 

Actually, when I compose a song, I might get an idea and it'll gestate. I mean ... I have a thing with my wife that I do. If she says, like, "Did you remember to mail that thing off?" I'll say, "Oh man, I was working on the rondo." "Did you remember to take the garbage out?" "Oh, I was working on my rondo." It's always the rondo, the never-completed rondo. "I know, honey, I look like I'm not doing anything sitting here but I'm working on my rondo.'' You know what I mean? So, one time we're driving, with my wife Jill, and Steve Gilmore is behind the wheel, and we're going somewhere and she asks me, "Did you remember to ..." I said, "Aw man, I forgot. I was working on the rondo." She said, "You know, you've been working on that goddamn rondo for 30 years" And Steve Gilmore says, "Oh, but Jill, you can't rush a rondo.'' [both laugh] You can't rush it. So, I was tempted, working on my book, to add a subtitle: My Life in E Flat or You Can't Rush a Rondo, [chuckles]...

Nevertheless, when I look like I'm not doing anything, I'm thinking about songs. I wake up in the middle of the night, just like in the movies. I carry a little booklet with me, with staffs, and I jot down ideas and stuff. But I get to a certain place in a composition and I can't seem to get over the fence. That melody just keeps going and then it stops and I can't get it, you know? The gestation period can go on and then all of a sudden "Ahhhhh, okay," then I go back to the keyboard and finish. Then, when I get from point A to point C or D or whatever it is, I go to the computer and orchestrate or further develop it. 

But a lot of it is just "Hmmm, what am I going to do here?" I love the process, but sometimes it's painful.

Something like "Goodbye Mr. Evans" took a long time to write. It's only [Phil hums] "da da da de da" and that's the whole song, it's just permutations of that motif. But it took a long time to get it of interest. And most of my songs have an odd number of bars. "All Bird's Children" is 43 bars or something, "Goodbye Mr. Evans" is 27. It's not eight-eight-eight-eight, the basic 32-bar form. It's not by design, it just happens that way. I kind of like the odd, to have it sound normal but it's really odd, you know? And now I'm quite aware that I do that instinctively, so I try to make sure that that's one of my signature things, that it's not a simple edifice. It's like architecture. Don't just square it, put a block here, block there, block there. Change it up. The element of surprise in any creation, I think, is really vital.

[MN]: So the technology ... 

[PW]: Doesn't scare me at all.

[MN]: ... doesn't scare you at all. 

[PW]: No.

[MN]: And it's kind of nice if you're in Europe or Asia and you don't have a part or something ...

[PW]: Exactly. Well, when I used to write it by hand, I remember sending arrangements to Spain and they got lost in the mail. And I was writing the music on the computer. But my son said, "Hey, Pop, you know you can send it by pdf." I said, "PD What?" And he said, come here, you know, and he turned me on to it. Now, in most of the music programs, you can write the score and the parts and then turn them into pdf files and just email them.

If somebody loses the fourth trumpet part, it's in the computer. Or, if the singer doesn't like that key, boom, I push one button and change the key and send it off and I never have to get out of the chair, [chuckles] I don't have to go to the post office; I don't have to deal with packages. It's a wonderful tool for a musician.

[MN]: You said something in your answer that made me think of this next question. When can we expect a book?

[PW]: Well, Ted Panken, who writes for Down Beat and is a very good writer, is working on it as we speak. I took it as far as I could and I have realized that I don't know anything about the book business. I mean, the record business is hard enough, but the book business is really--, getting it published and all that. And then I realized that I'm an amateur writer. I can tell a story, but--. So he's been working on it; he's not changing my words, he's just making it more readable. People who really understand literature, when they read my book, they can see the seams. It's not quite there, so I've got a professional guy who knows about that sort of thing, does the research, and knows how to make the timelines and not to have repeated words. Just small details that I'm aware of but I don't have the technique, the chops, to do myself. I took it as far as I could, so it's about finished. He's working on it and I hope to have it-- But selling it is hard, these days, and I don't know where we're going to go. I don't really care if I sell it because I'm not asking for any money for it. I just want to have it out there ... so it's finished for archival purposes, even if only my family reads it. It's my life and stories.

I was perched historically at a very important time: after the Second World War during the cultural explosion; getting to know Bird and Dizzy; I played with everybody. It's not that I'm so important, but it's important because of all the people I got to know and learned from. So, I wanted to share that and make sure it was documented. I figure after, when I'm gone, I know it'll be published. And my records will probably sell more, that's a reality. I mean, I hate when they say, "He passed away." No, he died. [MN chuckles] We're afraid of death, especially in America. But death is part of life and I'm not afraid of it or technical things. I'm more in the reality of existence, you know? I'm going to die some day so I'm making sure that my affairs are together. But I'm saving it for last. [chuckles] It's the last thing I'm going to do. [MN laughs]

But death is something we all have to face, and with our eyes wide-open and straight ahead. Yeah, you can die, man, so get your sh— together, man. From that point of view, I don't have any fear of it. But, I mean, every day I get up in the morning, I brush my tooth, [MN laughs] I look in the mirror, I give myself a round of applause, say thank you to whoever, I'm not a religious man but whatever, thank you, and get on with it and treasure each day. I know what I'm going to eat, what I'm going to have, I drink the best coffee in the morning from my espresso machine, I drink good coffee, I eat well. You know, I've got some little neck clams and tonight I'm having linguine and clams, that's what I'm going to make. That's my supper tonight, I've got that all figured out. I've got some prosciutto to start with, with a little melon. I mean, I don't drink much wine anymore, but I might have a glass of wine. I don't plan each day but I'm still aware of the sensual pleasures. I like to eat well; like, that sauerkraut we had yesterday, in that pork roast, that was good. I mean, it was simple diner food but it was five-star. But it was a good diner, not a junky one. So, I like that kind of quality.

I'm looking forward to the North Sea Jazz Festival. They had a cancellation so I'm going over to do the one-nighter. Then I'm supposed to open up in Paris but it's not until a week later. So they said, "Do you want to stay in Rotterdam? I said, "No, man, I want to go to Paris as soon as I can." And I'll just hang in Paris, man, because my French is good and I won't need anybody. I'll be by myself, and I'll have a nice suite. I will eat well, and I know where the restaurants are. I know what wine I want to have; I know what I want to see. I'll do the Bateau Mouche, which I always do; I'll go to Sacre-Coeur; I might even go up in the Eiffel Tower again; just visit old friends and just enjoy Paris. It's a great, great city.

That's one of the perks of being a musician when you've been around the block. I mean, I was in Paris in '59; I lived there five years. It's like my second city. Rome is a little too intimidating; I don't know Rome as well. But I know London, I know Paris, I know Frankfurt, I know Munich. I love Munich. Barcelona has become one of my favorite cities; Madrid not so much. But I have the cities that I know, and I really enjoy spending time and living their way, living the European way, I love that. And Japan, I love Japan. You get to know the cultures and feel comfortable with them. If you're afraid of traveling, you don't learn about other cultures. You might as well not become a musician. I mean, I understand. I've had players that are not really good at traveling, not good on the road, and that's cool. But I'm great at it. I've got chops, man, I've got chops.

[MN]: Why are you so good? Are you patient?

[PW]: I'm excited by the adventure of life, you know? I love coming home, my home is very comfortable. I mean, I just enjoy living, man. It's a marvelous gift and my health is--. I mean, I've dealt with prostate cancer, I have emphysema, I'm having bleeding ulcers, I've got cataracts, I have false teeth, but I'm still smiling and I'm still reading and I'm still eating and none of this is going to slow me down, man, you know?

I'm still playing. One of my favorite lines is, "Emphysema is nature's way of saying you've been playing too many goddamn notes." [chuckles] So now when I play I'm not as fleet a finger as I was when I was 24 but who is? I mean, as I approach 80, I can still play, man, because I have rearranged my breathing process, so I have to leave more space. But my music has become clearer to me because I have to pace it differently. You make adjustments; each decade, I think, is a process of evolution. As you grow, either to maturity or age or being slightly infirm, you deal with whatever you're dealt and try to make art out of it.

I really like these later years. Musically, I'm really playing better than I've ever played before, because I think it's more thoughtful, it's not so glib. I'm trying to be more direct, trying to get right to the core of what a note means. I'm not so busy and filling the air with what the French call "remplissage," which is like "the frosting." I want to get to the cake part, to what the frosting sits on. So, every day is a challenge. But I still love to play. I mean, I love to travel but I sure love to get to the gig; get off that goddamn airplane [chuckles] and just get to the gig and say, "Ahhhh, I'm safe now, on the bandstand - they can't hurt me here." The bandstand, that's a sacred place to me and I love being there. I love getting off the bandstand and getting back on the plane and coming home, too. I love the circle of life.

But you've got to keep moving, and my life is very rich in the fact that I'm still moving. I mean, I've been almost everywhere. I don't want to go to China; I've never been there but I'm not interested in China because the air quality would be very rough, I think, on my lungs. I have to be careful about that. I'm not interested in Africa or places that I'm not sure I can rent an oxygen machine. So, I have to deal with the Western civilization: I want the best room, I want nice clean water, I want an oxygen machine; you know, the comforts that I require. But within those parameters, I'm pretty good to go. Ninety per cent of the world is still my oyster.

[MN]: But, as you say, you're getting older. It's not for sissies, is it?

[PW]: No, but life is not for sissies. It's an adventure, it's the voyage, it's the journey. I mean, retirement does not interest me. That would assume that you've arrived. You never arrive. You do it until you can't do it anymore and then you die. Ciao. [laughs] But I'll be back! [both laugh]

[MN]: Well, I think a lot of people are going to be glad to hear you say that, that you've still got that passion at that age.

[PW]: Oh yeah, the passion. I think doing something you love to do keeps

you young. I mean, there are so many embittered sons of bitches that do a job they hate, you know? [Mimics a voice] "Can't wait to retire and then go crazy." I mean, my job gets better and better.

[MN]: So, while you're alive, you've been honored. The NEA [National Endowment for the Arts] has honored you.

[PW]: NEA, that's a great thing, the hippest club in the world, [chuckles] all my heroes. Yeah, and they helped me. I just completed my Children's Suite - NEA gives you a nice fat check and I used my check to buy my plasma TV and I used it to produce The Children's Suite which is a piece of music based on A. A. Milne's poems. I took the money that I got from the National Endowment for the Arts and put it into the art of my music. I didn't want to buy a new car. I mean, I wanted to buy a nice entertainment unit, state of the art, and I wanted this piece I wrote 40 years ago finally realized. A. A. Milne and Walt Disney, I had a lot of trouble dealing with Mickey Mouse and all that. But, finally, I got permission to do the piece.

The NEA, like I said ... it's the government saying that jazz is okay, and I think it's great. Finally, you know? We're not the cultural barbarians that people paint us out to be, and the NEA is a great example of that, that they honor jazz artists. Yeah. God bless them.

[MN]: Well, I saw a performance of your Children's Suite a couple years ago at the Sherman Theatre here in town and it was wonderful - big band arrangements, acting, singing.

[PW]: We just did it in New Orleans, it was very successful. The NEA helped me take it on the road, so I'm hoping to do more of that with the help of my government. That's neat.

[MN]: Excellent. Welt, Phil Woods, in closing ... there's a jazz book I was reading through, maybe back in the eighties or the seventies, that had a little bio on everyone in the jazz world. And when it came to Phil Woods, at that particular time, it described you as a force to be reckoned with. I say that, now almost 79, you are still a force to be reckoned with.

[PW]: Well, God bless you.

[MN]: So, it was an honor to interview you.

[PW]: Thank you, man.

[MN]: If there is anything you'd like to say in closing ...

[PW]: Well, you did a good job, and I'm honored that the Smithsonian is doing oral histories of the jazz masters. I think that's a great thing. Archivally, I'm a part of American history, that scholars and young people and old people--, and if you're interested I'm sure it's going to be online, the information about who you are and what you did. So, it's not so much about how many records you sold or how popular you were but as an artist you have a place in American history and for that I am forever grateful.

[MN]: And we are too as well. Thank you, Phil Woods. 

[PW]: Thank you.