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| Bang on! |
| Billy Bang |
| első megjelenés éve: 1997 |
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| (1997)
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CD |
Kérjen
árajánlatot! |
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| 1. | Bama Swing
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| 2. | Sweet Georgia Brown
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| 3. | Peaceful Dreams
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| 4. | Spirits Entering
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| 5. | They Plan to Leave
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| 6. | Three Faces of Eve
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| 7. | Yesterdays
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| 8. | Don's Dream
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| 9. | Willow Weep for Me
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| 10. | Mr. Syms
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Jazz
Billy Bang - Producer, Violin
Akira Ando - Bass
D.D. Jackson - Piano
Ronnie Burrage - Drums, Producer
Last summer, I had the privilege of once again experiencing Billy Bang in person. At once buoyant, gritty and melodic, his playing evoked 'Bama Swing,' whether the tune was 'Bama' or not. There is in the quality of Billy's playing a sense of studied urgency, humor and a reverence for the fragility and resilience of the wood, string, horsehair and craftsmanship that make a violin come alive. Although I doubt that Bang would be unable to coerce any violin, the energy he is able to generate on this instrument that has struggled so hard for its voice in the jazz arena is simultaneously startling, unnerving and reassuring.
I first encountered Billy Bang on my late night sojourns to hear charanga and pachanga bands (where the violin is a percussive instrument) at supper clubs like the Rainbow Room, where his violin sang, threatening no one. That cannot be said of Bang's bowing or chordal flights towards the talking drum. 'Sweet Georgia Brown,' which I thought was perfected by Stuff Smith, comes alive again with Bang's specific articulation, leading directly to comparisons with horns (Philip Harper, Lee Morgan), woodwinds (Albert Ayler, Arthur Blythe, Hamiet Bluiett), the quick brilliant feet of tap-dancers, (Savion Glover, Mickey Davidson), sand dancers and the image of Lena Horne, in the window, before she turns around to sing. This anticipation, not knowing how a phrase is going to present itself, is particularly true in the Bang composition 'Peaceful Dreams,' where, not unlike Sun Ra (with whom Bang played intermittently over the years), solace can be found in risk. The lyrical qualities Bang is able to draw from this instrument, while persisting in rigorous bowing innovations, allows the sound to hover in the air and over our bodies, not unlike Cecil Taylor's quieter moments and Muhal Richard Abrams raucous seductions of the piano. From Bang's violin comes everything we know about black music and a lot we have yet to learn about rhythm, subtlety and swing. Bang's technical facility in the upper registers of the violin, past the third position, where the neck of the violin is cradled in his hand while his fingers reach eagerly toward the bridge, is evident in his composition 'Spirits Entering'.
On 'Three Faces Of Eve', Bang almost seems to challenge the Latin jazz virtuoso, Alfredo de la Fe, whose skillful fingering and brilliant bowing can make us believe violins spit bullets that not only hum, but shout and take solos before hitting their marks. This soft salsa-inspired piece permits Billy Bang to take on arpeggios as assaults, without losing a keen hold of the beauty of speed in harmony with pianist D.D. Jackson, drummer Ronnie Burrage and bassist Akira Ando. Their careful support of Bang's sometimes-sensual approach to the instrument is never intrusive. Bang's pizzicato on 'Yesterdays' hints at the miracles he is capable of with his left hand, his fingers taunting the speed of sound, if not of light. In 'Don's Dream,' Bang falls back on the keys and the weight of southern work songs before venturing into a melodic riff that may mislead those who think Bang loses control of the bow when playing passionately.
To those people, I say Billy Bang can play circles around whatever he last did, while jumping up and down on one foot, which he sometimes does with his spats, silk forties suits and bowler hats. I've even seen Billy Bang mistake himself for a Senegalese acrobat, violin in hand, and never miss a note, a beat or an insinuation of what's possible with his amazing instrument. We don't even know what is possible. But I can assure you, even if he's at a reunion of The Heliocentric Arkestra, Peter Pan hat, Robin Hood cape and all, Billy Bang cannot be dismissed. The violin, with all its preconceptions, comes knock, knock, knockin' on our imaginations, and the legacy of our people doesn't even ask who's there. It's just Bang. Billy, that is.
---Ntozake Shange
• Bill Kipper - Mastering
* Chip Verspyck - Assistant
* Fernando M. Natalici - Hand Tinting, Photography
* Ian Terry - Engineer, Mastering, Mixing
* Jason Standard - Assistant, Assistant Engineer
* Jim West - Executive Producer
* Ntozake Shange - Liner Notes
Bang is well-regarded as one of the premier progressive jazz violinists, and this recording, not surprisingly, shows him balancing music both inside and out. Pianist D.D. Jackson follows these modern traditionalist lines, while unheralded bassist Akira Ando holds up things nicely, and drummer Ronnie Burrage constructs and deconstructs rhythms in rapid-fire fashion. Of the standards, played within the tradition, all are easily identifiable and enjoyable. "Sweet Georgia Brown" is a most vibrant rendition of the other side of Stephane Grappelli -- straight, swinging, and yes, incorporating some low-atmosphere blasts and scrapings. "Yesterdays" has Jackson setting off sparklers with his now characteristic Don Pullen-like, hand-turned rumblings. "Willow Weep for Me" is a neat changeup on the well-known ballad; instead, it's a down-home blues, flowing from wistful crying to a river of tears. Bang writes engaging material for this quartet, and likes to mix messages. The R&B bass ostinato against bubbling Latin rhythm sets Burrage ablaze during "Don's Dream," while more funky blues and a simple melody works with a complex, acid-tinged Bang solo on "Three Faces of Eve." The hippest of modern compositions, "Spirits Entering" is rambunctious, loaded with changes -- many on the spot -- and framed by modal piano. Jackson constantly challenges rhythmic parameters and melodic barriers, while Bang follows suit. Both are at the top of their game on this one. "'Bama Swing" might turn out to be a standard; certainly it's a signature piece for the violinist, a very tuneful, straight swinger wiith both plucked and bowed melody lines which any listener should appreciate. This is Billy Bang's finest recorded hour -- a hallmark for modern jazz violin in the 1990s, and a strong candidate for best jazz CD of 1997.
----Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide |
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