![dtrcd156.jpg (35233 bytes)](../Cd-covers/dtrcd156.jpg) |
Jon Gordon - The Things We NeedDtrcd-155
DTRCD - 156 Jon Gordon -
Alto Sax
Peter Bernstein - Guitar Mike LeDonne - Piano Dennis Irwin - Bass Kenny Washington - Drums Childrens Choir ~ Ronnie Mathews - Piano
^ Eddie Locke -
Drums +
1. Minor Dues 9:29 2. Without A Song 5:10
~+ 3. These Are The Things We Need 5:51 ~+ 4. Monk’s Dream
7:08 ^ 5. Stapleton 11:17 6. Isn’t It Romantic? 8:04 7.
SKJ 7:06 + 8. Ugly Beauty 4:52 ^ Total Time
59:00
|
Last summer, Eddie Locke called me and said he had a
tape of some kids he wanted me to hear. I went to see him and he
told me that these kids were between eight and eleven years old and that
their teacher was and is Gannon Asip a friend of Eddies and a student of
Barry Harris. When Eddie played me the tape I was amazed.
Eddie told me that when Gannon asked Barry to play a concert with these
kids , he cried when he heard them sing his song, “These Are The Things We
Need”. Other musicians like Bill Finegan and Sir Roland Hannah were
equally moved and astonished when they heard these kids sing and I thought
about some gigs Eddie and I had done a few years earlier with Mike LeDonne
and Dennis Irwin. I had been looking for an opportunity to record
that group and it seemed a perfect fit to have these kids come and sing
some songs they knew with us. I called Gannon from Eddies and we
decided to record.
It was really a homecoming on a
lot of levels for many of us. Eddie has been like a father to
Gannon, Mike and myself. And playing music with these kids who bring
such a sense of joy, honesty and freedom was especially meaningful as it
was only a few weeks before my wife Jennifer gave birth to our first
child. There are many other connections between the musicians as
well. Eddie and Barry grew up together in Detroit ; Kenny and Ronnie
played together for years in Johnny Griffin’s group, and Mike, Peter,
Dennis and Kenny have worked together in many different contexts.
Mike and I have been friends for
over ten years now, and Eddie introduced us. Mike is one of the most
honest and soulful musicians I know, and a great piano player. No
less a giant than Oscar Peterson has said that Mike is one of his very
favorite pianists and that is really saying something!
Dennis Irwin is a great bass
player and musician. He’s coming from the tradition in a very strong
way, but has played in a lot of different musical settings, including
groups led by John Scofield and Joe Lovano (two of my favorites). To
me, what Dennis Irwin is doing is what I try to do. Stay open,
listen to everything, but don’t forget where you came from.
Eddie Locke, along with Eddie
Chamblee and Phil Woods has been one of my musical fathers and I was so
grateful to have had the opportunity to record with him. The great
drummer Billy Hart, once told me that he wanted to study brushes with
Eddie; high praise indeed. Eddie’s knowledge, experience, presence,
support and love have meant more than words could ever say. He got
me my first apartment in Manhattan, housesitting for a neighbor, hired me
for gigs, and had me sit-in with him on a gig with Roy Eldridge (!) at the
day school where Eddie teaches and organizes jazz concerts to
introduce kids to the music. Those kids just love him. Last
year Barry Harris gave Eddie a Lifetime Achievement Award in jazz at his
yearly symphony space concert. Eddie had no idea that he was going
to receive this award and was overcome with emotion. But when he was
asked to speak, he quickly recovered to give a rousing speech on how Barry
should be running a jazz school, and presenting jazz concerts in high
profile situations, as opposed to others with more media hype or shallow
degrees. And that’s everyone’s favorite quality about Eddie - he
always speaks the truth.
That first day at Avatar studios
with this band, the kids, friends in the control room and Barry
overseeing his piece was a thrill!
The next week we went to Mike
Brorby’s to record with LeDonne and Ronnie Mathews on piano , Dennis on
bass, Kenny on drums, and Peter Bernstein on guitar. I’ve known Pete
since our days at Augies, playing with Larry Goldings, Bill Stewart and
others in the mid-to-late eighties. Pete is so musical, again very
grounded in the tradition, but open. He’s also a prolific
listener. Bill Charlap and I recently joked that every time either
of us goes to a club to hear music, Pete’s always there. His
demeanor and playing are totally devoid of ego and he’s a pleasure to work
with.
Kenny Washington, along with
being a great drummer, is one of the hippest D.J.’s around. When I
asked LeDonne about a drummer for this session he emphatically suggested
Kenny. Then I remembered that Kenny and I grew up some years apart
in the same neighborhood on Staten Island - Stapleton. He has as
much knowledge on the history of jazz as anyone and also brings with him a
producers sensibility and perspective.
I’m really glad that Ronnie
Mathews was able to be part of this recording. He’s on the first
jazz record I was ever given, Dexter Gordon’s “Homecoming” (thanks
Margaret!). Ronnie and I met about four years ago when Don Sickler
called me to sub on T.S. Monk’s sextet. Ronnie has a depth of feel
and feeling, and a weight of meaning and understanding to his playing that
is truly rare in this day and age. I told him a couple of years ago
that I had never heard anyone play Monk’s music as well as he does.
He thanked me, but then said that he had recently been given the
complement of a lifetime when Nellie Monk said the same thing to
him. Ronnie has also just published a book on Monk’s music
As for the music we
recorded, the kids inspired us all, but especially on Barry’s
piece. Gannon said he thought that that song should be sung on the
steps of Congress and at the White House as a national anthem for kids - I
think he’s right. S.K.J. was from that session as well and was
written by Milt Jackson, who LeDonne has worked with for years. On
the second day of the recording we played some originals, and an
arrangement of “Isn’t It Romantic” by a great pianist, musician and friend
Bill Mays. Then we played a couple of Monk tunes with Ronnie.
I wanted this project to
represent a part of myself that I hadn’t recorded as much, but really, at
my core, is a big part of what I do. I always look to find common
ground with the tradition and the present, but on this project, the tunes
and forms leaned more toward the tradition than I had in the past.
For me it was about the inspiration I’ve received from musicians like Doc
Cheatham, Jay McShann, Benny Carter, Milt Hinton, Jimmy Lewis, Mel Lewis,
Jackie McLean, Charles McPherson, Eddie Bert, Ben Riley, Kenny Davern and
the others I mentioned (and the others too numerous to mention).
Just being around these people, playing music with them, or even just
briefly talking with them has taught me things and inspired me in ways
that no school ever could. They are all very different, but have a
common and timeless gift that transcends words like “style”, “modern”, or
“traditional.”
Norwegian Saxophonist Jan
Garbarek once told me that every day he gets up and listens to Ben Webtser
and Johnny Hodges, and that his favorite saxophone player is Eddie
“Lockjaw” Davis. I got such a kick out of that because, first of
all, Garbarek is a totally different kind of player from those guys, and
secondly, “Lockjaw” is Eddie Chamblee’s favorite too. To me,
that just confirms my belief that content, or feeling transcends form,
style, generational, and any other assumed or mythical boundaries.
For me it’s never about styles, but it’s about trying to stay rooted and
bring something personal to the music, whatever the context.
The connection to history or
tradition, and the feelings and experiences it teaches is something I’ve
always needed as a player and listener. And regardless of style,
form, or context, I think that’s something most music and most of us need.
Jon Gordon - March ‘99