  |
|
|
 |
|
CD |
| 6.410 Ft
|
|
| 1. | Real Life
|
| 2. | Quill
|
| 3. | Idols
|
| 4. | Loose Change
|
| 5. | Waltz for Harry
|
| 6. | Sail Away
|
| 7. | Laddy Buck
|
| 8. | Bouquet
|
| 9. | Viable Blues
|
| 10. | How's Your Mama? (Phil's Theme)
|
Jazz / Bop, Hard Bop
Phil Woods - Sax (Alto), Arranger, Clarinet
Bill Allen Assistant Engineer
Bill Goodwin Drums, Associate Producer
Bob Katz Engineer
Bret Primack Liner Notes
David Chesky Producer
David King Photography
Hal Crook Trombone, Arranger
Hal Wilson Design, Art Direction
Jeremy Kipnis Editing
Jill Goodwin Associate Producer
Jim McNeely Arranger, Piano
Larry Smith Technical Supervisor
Lynette Meynig Cover Art, Paintings, Cover Painting
Nelson Hill Sax (Tenor), Sax (Alto)
Nick Brignola Sax (Alto), Sax (Baritone)
Norman Chesky Executive Producer
Roy Spangenthal Project Coordinator
Sal Cappi Production Assistant
Scott Meynig Paintings, Cover Painting, Cover Art
Steve Gilmore Bass
Steve Guttenberg Associate Producer, Assistant Producer
Tom Harrell Trumpet, Prp, Flugelhorn
Phil Woods, the searing alto saxist and clarinetist, calls his occasional expanded combo "the Little Big Band". Listeners will find that the inclusion of three horns to his quintet adds to the excitement. Real Life, the octet's second recording, offers up a hot band with inventive solos and big-sounding, imaginative ensembles. This is an album with no let downs.
During a major portion of his career, Phil Woods predominately led a quartet or quintet, so the opportunity to work with his Little Big Band gave him a special pleasure, by expanding both the brass and reeds to an octet. His third release to feature the octet includes his working quintet at the time, including trombonist Hal Crook, pianist Jim McNeely, plus his longtime rhythm section, bassist Steve Gilmore and drummer Bill Goodwin. Guests include Woods' former sideman trumpeter/flugelhornist Tom Harrell, alto and baritone saxophonist Nick Brignola, plus alto and tenor saxophonist Nelson Hill. Although the economics of touring with a band this size made it impossible to tour, the musicians dove into the difficult arrangements with plenty of gusto and end up sounding as if they had been playing them in concert for months. McNeely's challenging "Real Life" is especially inspired, while Woods is joined by both Brignola and Hill on alto saxes for a bluesy rendition of "Quill," a tribute to Woods' former partner, Gene Quill. The leader switches to clarinet for the powerful "Waltz for Harry," written in memory of Woods' former guitarist, Harry Leahey; Harrell's warm flugelhorn and McNeely's piano solo are also featured. Harrell's "Sail Away," one of his most important compositions, is arranged by Woods to feature Crook's potent trombone. The program ends with a boisterous rendition of Woods' usual set closer, including snatches of several pieces, among themDizzy Gillespie's famous introduction to "All the Things You Are," a blistering bit of "52nd Street Theme," plus the closing tags of "Salt Peanuts" and "Harlem Nocturne." Sadly, this would be the final recording of this octet, as the death of Nick Brignola in 2002 prevented a reunion of this particular lineup of jazz all-stars. ~ Ken Dryden, All Music Guide
Phil Woods
Active Decades: '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and '00s
Born: Nov 02, 1931 in Springfield, MA
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Big Band, Bop, Post-Bop, Hard Bop, Mainstream Jazz, Progressive Jazz, Standards
One of the true masters of the bop vocabulary, Phil Woods has had his own sound since the mid-'50s and stuck to his musical guns throughout a remarkably productive career. There has never been a doubt that he is one of the top alto saxophonists alive, and he has lost neither his enthusiasm nor his creativity through the years.
Woods' first alto was left to him by an uncle, and he started playing seriously when he was 12. He gigged and studied locally until 1948, when he moved to New York. Woods studied with Lennie Tristano, at the Manhattan School of Music, and at Juilliard, where he majored in clarinet. He worked with Charlie Barnet (1954), Jimmy Raney (1955), George Wallington, the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra, Buddy Rich (1958-1959), Quincy Jones (1959-1961), and Benny Goodman (for BG's famous 1962 tour of the Soviet Union), but has mostly headed his own groups since 1955, including co-leadership of a combo with fellow altoist Gene Quill in the '50s logically known as "Phil & Quill." Woods, who married the late Charlie Parker's former wife Chan in the 1950s (and became the stepfather to singer Kim Parker), was sometimes thought of as "the new Bird" due to his brilliance in bop settings, but he never really sounded like a copy of Parker.
Woods popped up in a variety of settings in the 1960s -- on Benny Carter's classic Further Definitions record, touring Europe with the short-lived Thelonious Monk Nonet, and appearing on studio dates like the soundtracks to The Hustler and Blow Up. Always interested in jazz education (although he believes that there is no better way to learn jazz than to gig and travel constantly), Woods taught at an arts camp in Pennsylvania in the summers of 1964-1967. Discouraged with the jazz scene in the U.S., he moved to France in 1968. For the next few years, Woods led a very advanced group, the European Rhythm Machine, which leaned toward the avant-garde and included pianist George Gruntz. Their recordings still sound fresh and exciting today, although this venture would only be a detour in Woods' bebop life. In 1972, he returned to the U.S. and tried unsuccessfully to lead an electronic group that featured keyboardist Pete Robinson.
In 1973, Woods formed a quintet with pianist Mike Melillo, bassist Steve Gilmore, drummer Bill Goodwin, and guitarist Harry Leahey that had much greater success. Their recording Live at the Showboat officially launched the band, which today, after a few personnel changes, still tours the world. After Leahey left in 1978, it was known as the Phil Woods Quartet until trumpeter Tom Harrell (1983-1989) joined; his spot has since been assumed by trombonist Hal Crook (1989-1992) and trumpeter Brian Lynch. Pianist Melillo went out on his own in 1980, and his successors have been Hal Galper (1980-1990), Jim McNeely (1990-1995), and Bill Charlap; Gilmore and Goodwin have been with Woods since the group's start. Not just a bebop repertory band, Woods' ensembles have developed their own repertoire, taken plenty of chances, and stretched themselves while sticking to his straight-ahead path.
Woods contributed the famous alto solo to Billy Joel's hit recording of "Just the Way You Are" and has been one of Michel Legrand's favorite artists, guesting with Legrand on an occasional basis; he has made dozens of rewarding recordings himself through the years. He debuted as a leader in 1954 and has since recorded for Prestige, Savoy, RCA, Mode, Epic, Candid (the brilliant The Right of Swing in 1961), Impulse, MGM, Verve, Embryo, Testament, Muse, Omnisound, Enja, and Chesky, and has recorded with his QuintetQuartet for RCA, Gryphon, Adelphi, Clean Cuts, SeaBreeze (two sets adding Chris Swansen's inventive synthesizer to the band), Red, Antilles, Palo Alto, BlackHawk, Denon, and quite extensively for Concord. Some key sets include 1960's Rights of Swing on Candid, 1974's Musique Du Bois on 32 Jazz, 1981's Birds of a Feather from Antilles, and 2002's Americans Swinging in Paris from EMI.
An Italian label, Philogy (which has some broadcasts and live performances from Woods' bands), is named after the popular and still brilliant altoist. Still going strong well into the 21st century, Woods cut a live session with the Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra in 2005 that was released by Jazz Media in 2006. American Songbook, which features Woods' treatment of pop and jazz standards, appeared from Kind of Blue later that same year. In 2009, after years of attempting to secure the rights to interpret the work of writer A.A. Milne, Woods released Children's Suite -- a tribute to Milne's classic book Winnie the Pooh.
---Scott Yanow, All Music Guide |
|
CD bolt, zenei DVD, SACD, BLU-RAY lemez vásárlás és rendelés - Klasszikus zenei CD-k és DVD-különlegességek |  | | Webdesign - Forfour Design |
|
|
