The Problem with Phil

Phil Woods–a problem? Who could have any problem at all with Phil?

I can, and here it is: the guy is too good!

If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was blowing choruses on Donna Lee while still in his diapers. Of course, Woods paid some serious dues to play as beautifully as he does, but he seems to have been playing that way awfully early in the game. Here”s a black-and-white video clip of Phil from back in 1968.

He would have been…um, let’s see, born in 1931…okay, well, one can certainly be playing a lot of horn at age thirty-seven. I guess that much is obvious. And in Phil’s case, he evidently was playing outstandingly at least fourteen years earlier. His extensive discography goes back to 1954, two years before I was born. Phil had to have been darned good even then for a record company to pick him up at the tender age of twenty-three.

I guess that’s why he’s Phil Woods. Why he’s a jazz icon. Because he was a killer player back then and remains so today. He had the fire in him at an early age, he took it and ran with it, and he’s been running ever since.

And playing beautifully.

You got a problem with that?

January 24, 2008 by
Filed Under: Entertainment, Jazz, Life, Music, Recording, Saxophone, Video

Cannonball, Hard Bop, and “Work Song”

More on Cannonball, one of the inescapable (as if you’d want to escape him!) influences on contemporary alto sax players. We’re fortunate to have a sizable body of his work, featuring him as both a group leader and as a sideman, notably with Miles Davis.

Cannonball’s technical abilities were remarkable, but his style largely reflects a trend from the harmonic complexity of bebop to a simpler, more visceral approach. Don’t take “simpler” to mean “simple,” though. There’s nothing simple about the playing of Cannonball Adderley. He was a ferocious player, with an inventive, very personal way of weaving “outside” playing into a wonderfully earthy, “inside” overall conception.

To me, Cannon is the essence of the hard bop approach, which combined tunes most listeners could readily get a feel for with lessons learned from the bebop pioneers. Arguably, no better-known example of what I’m talking about exists in the Cannonball repertoire than “Work Song.” According to the YouTube notes, the following rendition of it was performed in 1964 for the BBC series, Jazz 625. I give you…”Work Song.”

UPDATE: The YouTube clip that existed at the time this post was first published has since been taken down. Too bad, because it was exceptional, and my following comments hinged on it. As a compensation, the above link now takes you to an alternative, 1962 rendition. Sorry, no Charles Lloyd on tenor, but Cannon still burns like crazy!

Geeze, do you think those guys could play, maybe? Just listen to how they build energy. By the time Charles Lloyd is wrapping up his tenor solo, I want to stamp my feet and yell like a crazy man. Cannonball exudes a real joie de vivre. His group must have had a lot of fun playing together!

In previous posts on Sonny Stitt and Phil Woods, I’ve noted those players’ economy of motion. Bop lines like the ones they weave have no business originating from men who seem to barely move their fingers. By contrast, watch Cannonball’s fingers. They’re all over the place. So…who wants to critique his technique? Not me, that’s for sure. Besides, I’m of the philosophy, “Whatever gets the job done.” When it comes to that, Cannonball had everything it took and way, way more.

January 21, 2008 by
Filed Under: Band, Entertainment, Jazz, Music, Saxophone, Video

Cannonball Adderley: Primitivo

Let’s talk about Cannonball Adderly. Better yet, let’s get an earful of him–or should I say, of his sextet. Cannon doesn’t take the spotlight in the tune you’re about to hear, preferring to let his other band members shine.

The year is 1962, and “Primitivo” is the name of the Cannonball composition. The title aptly describes this brooding, chant-like modal piece with its droning bass and loose yet relentless rhythmic feel. Yusef Lateef plays a marvelous, haunting oboe solo–no pyrotechnics, nothing fancy, just a beautiful use of motif, with phrases ending on the same pitch–a note that falls off at the end like a sigh.

There’s plenty more to say about this tune, but I’m talking too much. Let’s listen.

Wow. Talk about mood. Talk about colorful note and scale choices. Talk about rapport between musicians. This tune has it all.

January 18, 2008 by
Filed Under: Band, Entertainment, Jazz, Music, Recording, Saxophone, Video

Must-See Storm Chasing Videos

The old adage, “One picture is worth a thousand words,” is quadruply true when it comes to video. So if you wonder why I work up such a lather over storm chasing, just check out the clips on Robert Prentice”s Atmospheric Images on YouTube.

In particular, you definitely want to watch Prentice”s video segment on the history-making 1999 Moore-Bridge Creek, Oklahoma, tornado. This was the last tornado to be rated an F-5 under the old Fujita Scale (updated last February and renamed the Enhanced Fujita Scale), and it sent that rating system out with the highest winds ever recorded–over 300 miles per hour.

My own videos are not, to date, of a quality I care to make public, though they are improving. Thankfully, seasoned chasers such as Prentice have produced a huge volume of top-quality storm videos, and Prentice has very generously made much of his material public. If you’re at all interested in storm chasing or severe weather, Prentice”s clips are a must-see.

January 16, 2008 by
Filed Under: Entertainment, Life, Music, Recording, Storm Chasing, Video, Weather
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