COVER -> POWERSSOUND
The years have a way of accumulating. Back in the late 60s, I attended the Cincinnati Jazz Festival and one of its performers that year was the then-in-his-20s vibraphonist Gary Burton. The festival, then in its infancy and long since altered into a R&B affair, featured some of jazzs biggest names that year. Staged at the old home of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, Crosley Field, the festival that summer showcased such names as Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Jimmy Smith.
Bob Powers Burton, while garnering rave notices from critics, was essentially an unknown quantity. But that night his work (with a quartet, if memory serves) was unlike much of the jazz I'd fallen in love with during my high school days. Burton achieved a soft sound, delicate and precise. Most vibes fans were more familiar with the bombast and stage hijinks by such players as Terry Gibbs or Lionel Hampton.
So I was pleased to receive a copy of Burton's new album, "Libertango: The Music of Astor Piazzolla" (Concord Jazz). In researching Burtons work, I came across the statistic that startled me. The young Burton will turn 57 this year. Time flies while were not paying attention.
This album will interest listeners who have a soft place in their heart for the tango. Burton turned into a fan at age 22 when he heard Astor Piazzolla perform in '65. At the time, Burton was a member of Stan Getz's band. Of Piazzzolla, Burton says, "I found this music astounding, and his virtuosity as a musician very inspiring."
As the years passed, Burton observed that many jazz musicians are rabid fans of the tango. "There are elements of it which connect with jazz. There's drama, it swoops and soars, its got the soft and loud dynamic, its passionate."
Burton joined Piazzolla's band in 1985, playing selections written for the vibes. The band toured for awhile, but Piazzolla became ill and never managed to play in his native land of Argentina. He died in 1992.
The new album results from assembling many members of Piazzolla's band, with Burton as leader. The music is played expertly and manages to embody all that the tango is known for. But the jazz lover who has enjoyed Burton's work in the past should be warned that "Libertango" is authentic, not merely the tango intermeshed with jazz licks.
Anyone who takes this album home from the local CD emporium should know what it is. Piazzolla was a major figure in the music world from 1945 to the time of his death. But he's not a jazzman. He's rather a musician in the classical mold, who wrote meticulous charts for his musicians. Not much room was allowed for improvising. The result, of course, is almost totally against the precepts of what we have come to recognize as jazz.
Warning given. If your ears are open to different sounds, this album contains some superb arraignments, played with utmost confidence by its all-star lineup of tango greats.
Vocalese?
Ella Fitzgerald was good at it. King Pleasure made it into an art, though he never became a well-known performer. Annie Ross was magnificent was the best, taking instrumentals and adding lyrics that copied the jazz soloists, usually the saxophonists. In more recent times, Manhattan Transfer took old songs from the catalogs of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross and others to achieve national fame and several hit recordings.
The World's Magazine: g21.net
Event # 211: SINK OR SHRINK
This Pull-down Menu will hyperjump you to all our great features. Try it!
JOIN THE G21 MAILING LIST. Get updates on new features. Take part in our Readership polls, shape the future of The World's Magazine. It's easy! E-mail The World's Magazine with the "Subject" line: SUBSCRIBE.
Want to know more about our community? The Info is here.
LAST WEEK's EDITION
For Deep Background visit the G21-Barnes & Noble Shop
OR get great books at the G21 BARNES & NOBLE SEARCH ENGINE
Discover the MOIA Discussion List
Michael Schiefel has achieved a certain fame in his native Germany, indulging in music that combines vocalese with other less known techniques. Again, in my estimation (with a couple of exceptions), its not jazz. Sometimes the results are quite pleasant. Occasionally a track with irritate more than entertain.
"I Dont Belong" (Traumton Records) is, according to the press release, "voice, montage, collage. Schiefel experiments with layering and mirroring, linearity and simultaneity, directness and alienation." The record label thinks Schiefel "isn't satisfied with aesthetic normality. And one who has only just begun to go his own way."
Guitar Whiz
While I'm doing a mostly non-jazz column this week, let me tell you about guitarist Torben Enevoldsen, whose recent album shows that you don't have to be famous to play the living daylights out of a guitar."Guitarisma" (Roxon Records) shows the popular Danish strummer working at full blast. The dozen tracks include two vocals (by Kenny Lubcke) and are played with affecting enthusiasm and verve. The album has Enevoldsen playing all guitars on all tracks. He's efficient and stirring, playing a style of hard rock mixed with fusion that contains touches of brilliance on nearly every track.
It's a fine album, and I apologize to Enevoldsen for having buried his CD in a stack of "already dones" rather the proper "must review." For the next one, I promise a prompt review.
COMING NEXT: Reeds player Brian Ogilvie debuts as a leader on the new album, "Brian Ogilvie: For You." Also scheduled, the new album by the littlest Marsalis brother, Jason's "Music in Motion." Be here!
