blir.
Jfokl test
phil woods
l . M A Y N A R D F E R G U S O N .l f I T h o u g h t Y o u ' d
Ever Change Your Mind (trom M. F. Horn, Colum-
b i a ) . F e r g u s o n ,t r u m p e t , f l u e g e l h o r n ;B i l l y G r a -
h a m , C h r i s P y n e ,A l b e r t W o o d , t r o m b o n e s ;P e t e
K i n g , a l t o s a x ; J o h n C a m e r o n ,c o m p o s e r ;K e i t h
M a n s f i e l da. r r a n g e r .
At first I thought it was Stan Kenton. The
trumpet player sounded like Harry James . . .
so when I thought it was Stan Kenton, I
thought it might be Gary Bartz on alto. But
the trumpet player sounded like an older cat,
and I don't think Kenton's band has got that
kind of sound with that vibrato . . . he couldn't
seem to make up his mind whether he was
going to play with no vibrato or with it, and
when he added it, it kind of dated him a bit.
The arrangement sounds Gil Evans-ish a
little bit. The trombones sounded very Ken-
ton-ish, although I don't think it was Kenton.
The alto player, I don't know who it was. Like
a lot of players, when it's a slow ballad, they
can't play slow notes and double up imme-
diately without establishing a ballad frame of
r e f e r e n c e .H e i m m e d i a t e l y w e n t i n t o , n o t a l o t
of notes, but he didn't really get into the
character of the long notes of the piece. But a
good player, in tune,fine sound.
Enjoyable, not fantastic, for me. Three
stars.
2 . H A N K C R A W F O R D/.t ' s A F u n k y T h i n g T o D o
( J r o m/ l ' s A F u n k y T h i n g T o D o , C o t i l l i o n ) .C r a w -
f o r d ,a l t os a x ;B e r n a r dP u r d i ed, r u m s .
I d i d n ' t c a r e f o r i t t o o m u c h . I t s o u n d e dl i k e
a Texas alto PlaYer a Texas waY of
playing. It could be Hank Crawford or Fat-
head Newman. Not much to say about it, be-
cause there's not much happening. They
recorded the bass drum very *ell. the pres-
ence is great. lt has a good funk-v kind of
groove, but I -wouldn't buy it. It's kind of
pleasant listening, but not very serious. I
think they might have made a better take on it
He didn't really get into it too much. lt didn't
really have the grit sound like it could have
been. But a good try at the pop market. Two
stars.
3. WEATHERREPORT.Iears (from Weather Re-
p o r t , C o l u m b i a ) .W a y n e S h o r t e r , s o p r a n o s a x ,
c o m p o s e rA; l M o u z o n d, r u m s ,v o c a l .
At first, I thought it was Wayne Shorter,
which led me to believe that it would be
Weather Report; then the voice kind of threw
me for a curve, so I don't know. But I like that
kind of direction, the thing that Miles in-
by leonord Feqther
The case of Phil Woods differs demonstrably from those of many
others who have chosen to transfer their musical careers to another
country. (Phil dislikes the word "expatriate"-he says it sounds like
"l turned left on my country" - so it will not be used.)
Phil was not scuffling for a living. He had all the studio work he
could handle in New York, a comfortablecountry retreat in Pennsyl-
vania, complete financial security-but he wanted out, becausein all
this there was no artisticgratification.
S i n c e M a r c h , 1 9 6 8 ,w h e n h e p u l l e d u p h i s U . S . r o o t s , W o o d s h a s
worked almost continuouslywith his European Rhythm Machine, has
extended his activities as a composer, and claims with pride that he
h a s b e e n a b l e t o c o n c e n t r a t ee x c l u s i v e l y o n j a z z .
Recently he made his third return visit. The previous trips had been
made for a Newport Jazz Festival appearanceand a gig at Dick
G i b s o n ' s C o l o r a d o j a m s e s s i o n .T h i s t i m e , t o o , h e h a d s e t a N e w p o r t
date, but before he could pick up his ax, hoodlums had hoisted their
own weapons, destroying chairs, sound equipment and the festival.
Woods did proceed, however, to gigs at the Top of the Gate and
Shelly's Manne Hole. During his incumbency at the latter he dropped
by for his first-ever Blindfold Test.
troduced with the longer linesl and I like the 5. ANTHONY ERAXTON. To Artist Murray De
feeling of the record. The looseness with the P l l / a r s( fr o m F o r A l t o , D e l m a r k ) .
way lazz composers are treating song\ no\\. That was terrible. I can't imaginethe ego of
t h e r e ' sa c e r t a i n e l a s t i c i t yw i t h i n t h e f o r m t h a t a per5()nthinking they can sustain a whole
| find very intriguing,although it can be over- p e r f o r m a n c e b y l h e m s e l v e s ,w h e n t h e y c a n ' t
r e a l l y p l a y t h e s a x o p h o n ew e l l .
done.
(l-.F.: This is part of a two-LP album in
After you hear Miles' things,then you hear
which he plays solo all the way.)
this, it sounds so very much like Miles, but
Yeah. well, he should learn to play the sax-
still it has a characterof its own. But it's very
ophone first. It should be called "the trill is
Miles-y in its approach, and this has to be
gone." lf you're going to try and play-and
very carefully handledso it doesn't sound like
i t ' s a c l a s s i q a l l y - o r i e n t e dw a y o f p l a y i n g , t h a t
a complete copy. And this was pretty good. I
kind of sound he's trying to get-you should
liked it. l'll give it four.
have the training to carry it off. lt's not jazzy,
i t ' s n o t c l d s s i c a l. . . i t ' s d u l l . . . i t ' s n o t w e l l
4. DUKEEttf NGTON. Blues fot New Orleans d o n e , h e d o e s n ' t b r e a t h e p r o p e r l y . ' l ' m s u r e
(from lvew Orleans Suite, Atlantic). Ellington, his fingerswave offthe keyboard; I'm sure he
c o m p o s e r ,a r r a n g e r ,p i a n o ; J o h n n y H o d g e s ,a l t o
hasn't studied the saxophone. This doesn't
s a x ;W i l d B i l lD a v i so, r g a n .
bother me, there's a lot of primitives that play
That of course was Johnny Hodges. There
w i t h h i s d e a t h ; and get a lot of exciting music; but this is such
w a s s o m e t h i n gi r r e p a r a b l y l o s t
an ego trip, that you can think you're that
a way of playing the saxophone that young
much of a bitch thal you can do a solo album.
saxophone players know nothing about. An
No stars.I don't like it at all. I wouldn't
economy of meansl he's the master at finding
y o u c o u l d n e v e r e v e n w a n t t o g u e s sw h o i t i s . b e c a u s e I m i g h t
the notes. The sound alone,
h a t eh i m .
copy it. lt was such a unique, creamy sound'
but yet with the hard funkiness. It was never
o v e r l y s w e e t ,b u t i t w a s s u c h a u n i q u e v o i c e i n
jazz. H is contribution is fantastic. 6. CTARKE-BOLAND N.e w 8 o x ( f r o m S a x N o
The saddestpart is that when people like E n d , S a b a ) .F r a n c yB o l a n d ,c o m p o s e r ,a r r a n g e r '
Rabbit are gone, with the passing of that p i a n o ; A k e P e r s s o n ,t r o m b o n e ; D e r e k H u m b l e '
g e n e r a t i o n ,t h e r e ' s s o m e t h i n g l o s t i n t h e w a y a l t o s a x : S a h i bS h i h a b ,b a r a t o n e sax.
o f p l a y i n g s a x o p h o n e ,a n d t h i s I l a m e n t v e r y Expatriate City therel Clarke-Boland, a
much. I don't mean people should play like very good band. t think they've about racked
Johnny Hodges, it'sjust technically there are it up. for lack of interest in big bands in
things he does on the saxophone that people Europe right now. I mean it's economically
don't even realize. that could add to the vo- hard for them to work. Derek Humble, one of
cabulary of what everybody is trying to do. the master saxophoneplayers in the section.
And this is regrettable. He's one of the best lead alto players I've
This happens in jazz a lot. Johnny was ever heard. ln fact. if anyone asked me my
playingfor the people all his life, but you take favorite lead alto players I'd say Gene Quill
a cat like Ben Webster, over in Copenhagen. and Derek Humble . . . for latter-daylead alto
To me this is a sin that a cat like this has to p l a y i n g .T h e y w e r e t h e f i r s t c a t s t o t a k e a w a y
work. He should be in residence in some the vibrato. and play a more Bird-oriented
university where they have a jazz-oriented type of lead. Derek's a master of this. His
program . . . he shouldn't have to scuffle in death was a big drag.
clubs. All this ties in with the way I feel about T h a t ' s a F r a n c y B o l a n d a r r a n g e m e n t ,I p r e -
this kind of music. It's something we should sume. I like the way he writes very much. The
h o l d o n t o , g e t t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n f r o m t h e s e p e r f o r m a n c ew a s n ' l a s g o o d a s I ' v e h e a r d t h e
p e o p l e . F i v e s t a r sf o r R a b b i t . b a n d m a k e . O r m a y b e i t w a s t h e s e p a r a t i o no n
The rest of it I didn't care for too much t h e c h a n n e l s ,b u t t h e r h y t h m s e c t i o n c o m i n g
R a b b i t w a s i t f o r m e . T h e a r r a n g e m e n tw a s n ' t on strong on one side, and the horns on the
t h e g r e a t e s t I ' v e e v e r h e a r d ,j u s t a s i m p l e r i f f . other. you didn't get any feelingof percussion
It doesn't kill me too much, the organ with the on the bottom.
band, but Hodges did so many nice things A k e P e r s s o n ,S a h i b S h i h a b b l e w v e r y w e l l
along with the organ, I think maybe that's the o n t h a t . D e r e k p l a y e d m a r v e l o u s .F o u r s t a r s .
r e a s o nD u k e k e p t i t . db
October 14 D 33