Written by Pico, Blogcritics
Published August 21, 2007
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/08/21/093613.php
Orchestral jazz seem to be a dying art these days. Oh sure, there are
Ellington, Monk and Mingus tribute bands, but there seems to be a
dearth of composers creating new works. Well OK, maybe that's a little
dramatic. In reality, such jazz composers still do exist today, but
they toil in relative obscurity. One of the more notable contributors
to the under-appreciated art of classical jazz among contemporaries
was Paul Nash.
Paul Nash was a jazz guitarist who studied classical composition and
from early on in his career concentrated on composing for and leading
large ensembles. Shortly after he completed his studies in composition
in the San Francisco Bay Area, Nash stuck around the area and founded
the Paul Nash Ensemble in 1977, later establishing other jazz
orchestras. The young, budding talents of trumpeters Mark Isham and
Tom Harrell as well as future Spyro Gyra vibe player Dave Samuels have
cut their teeth playing in Nash-led groups before making their own
marks on the jazz world.
Eventually, Nash moved back to his native New York City in 1990, where
he launched another vehicle for his compositions, the Manhattan New
Music Project. Over the years MNMP has played in venues around NYC,
presenting the music of Nash of other modern creative composers from
the USA and around the globe. Prior to Jazz Cycles, they had put out
just two albums, Mood Swing and The Soul Of Grace.
You might be wondering why I write of Paul Nash in the past tense. In
2003 while in his mid-fifties, Nash was diagnosed with terminal brain
cancer. He met this challenge with a determination to create a last
flurry of compositions before his impending death to be recorded by
the MNMP. The ensemble convened in the studio on December 6, 2004 and
in a live-in-the-studio six hour session of only two takes, knocked
out the fourteen tracks that make up this CD. The following day,
during mixing, Nash fell ill and had to be brought straight to the
hospital from the studio. He died there six weeks later.
The seven-piece band that came into the studio for Nash's last hurrah
consisted of Shane Endsley on trumpet, Bruce Williamson on alto and
soprano saxes, Tim Ries on tenor saxes, Vic Juris on guitar, Jay
Anderson on bass, Grisha Alexiev on drums and Jim Ridl on piano.
Juris, the guitarist who played alongside Mike Stern on Dave Liebman's
Back On The Corner, displays a decidedly more John Scofield-like tone
on this set. Jay Anderson, late of David Witham's Spinning The Circle
provdes his accurate acoustic bass services for MNMP as well.
And as for the record itself, it's clear these guys were giving it
their all for their ailing leader. There's no wrong note that I could
detect, it all sounds as if they've worked with this material for
weeks. And the material itself is no cakewalk; Nash changes tempo,
time signatures and styles frequently. It's not a terribly difficult
listen and consists of a lot of pretty passages, but consistent with
the classical aspect of it, the pieces are demanding of the musicians'
attention to detail. The array of moods and modes encompassed by this
single collection also suggests that Nash wanted to take a look back
at his career and the various styles he touched upon along the way.
The first two tracks are fine examples of Nash's talent for
intertwining interesting song structures and improvisational space.
"Passaglias" gets going with a line played as an ostinato by Juris and
then a countering line by Reis. The horns as a whole augment the
counter line and then the melody shifts, opening the way for a
passionate alto solo by Williamson. Just as Williamson reaches his
climatic note, the song segues into the staccato-filled "Night
Flight", and Alexiev's drums provide the backdrop for soloing by
Endsley, then Anderson, and finally, Juris and Ries.
The deeply lyrical "Desire" follows, reminiscent of Herbie Hancock's
best ballad pieces of his classic Blue Note days, with Endsley's muted
horn setting a melancholy mood. "Wind Over The Lake" begins with
dissonant figures before settling into a repeating melody and
pulsating rhythm. Ridl provides some interesting, angular piano lines
in the solo break.
Other notable tracks include group improvisational "Strange Rife," the
funky, shifting "Outside In" and the straightforward, hard swing of
"It's Only a Dream." The album wraps up with a longer reprise of
"Night Flight", which sounds more expressive and softer than the
former version. Ridl provides a particularly inspired solo for this go
around. A brief, energetic epilogue follows, as if to be saying
goodbye on a upbeat note.
When Nash first learned of his impending demise, he wrote "My life has
been given sudden definition, an end point that I can almost prepare
for, at once frightening and magnificent...". With Jazz Cycles, Nash
clearly greeted the news as an opportunity to produce one last great
set of works with the clock running out. He wasn't merely inspired to
create enough material for one CD on such short notice; a second CD
containing more of his final musical statements is still forthcoming
after this one. Paul Nash is gone, but his music is very much fresh
and alive.
Jazz Cycles will be available in stores October 2.
http://www.myspace.com/paulnashlegacy
http://www.mnmp.org
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