The Blues and the Abstract Truth
1962
Oliver Nelson, Eric Dolphy - woodwinds
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet
Bill Evans - piano
Paul Chambers - bass
Roy Haynes - drums
I don't think I want to discuss this recording tune by tune. With one exception. "Hoe Down". And that will come at the end. I don't want to think too much about that song until I have finished with the rest of the album. There is no doubt at all that it will color the rest of the album's greatness with a darkness that I don't think is fair.
Instead, I think going through each artist will be the best way to look at this thing. There is a reason why the front of the album cover lists the personnel so prominently: this is an all-star recording session. Not to be dismissive, but of the six guys on the date, Oliver Nelson, the leader, is (at least in my perception) the least famous.You put those kinds of musicians together and you have some pretty high expectations. Which with very few exceptions they manage to meet.
So, in the order they are listed on the album cover...
Oliver Nelson
Nelson's solo on "Stolen Moments" is great - laid back, relaxed, smooth. It is a great counterpoint to the Dolphy flute solo that comes before. Nelson has this lazy arpeggio thing he does for about the first 7 bars that is understated and quiet. Those couple of bars manage to mix the melodic and harmonic ideas of the song together in a nicely balanced way.
Appreciating those sorts of things are important to really getting Oliver Nelson. Even where he is playing with more fire (see the first solo on "Butch and Butch", he is still understated.You throw in some Eric Dolphy craziness, and if you don't know what you are listening to, his abilities are going to get ignored.
I will throw this out there for discussion: Oliver Nelson, at least on this album, is for hard bob/post bob what Paul Desmond was for cool/west coast jazz. Quiet and smooth, but musically interesting. Paul Desmond is easy to listen to, just as Nelson is. At least on this album, Nelson served as a counterpoint for a more "interesting" player (Dolphy), just as Desmond did throughout his career (Brubeck - which is interesting considering that Brubeck is mostly famous for a Desmond composition - "Take Five"). But there is stuff for the more sophisticated listener to get excited over; neither of these two guys are simply ear candy.
Paul Chambers
Chambers is the least obvious thing to like about this album, short of you being a bass player. I very much enjoy the more prominent sound that Chambers has on this recording. It is, quite simply, that Chambers knows exactly how to play - when to be innovative and when the tune needs conservative backing. "Teenie's Blues" has dissonance in the head, an Eric Dolphy solo that is typical Eric Dolphy - as a whole the tune gets pretty musically crazy. Chambers keeps it all together (obviously the rest of the rhythm sections helps, but...). His solo on the song is short and intriguing and new without being trite, but keeps the tune safe enough for the average listener not to be alienated - which is his m.o. for the entire album - keep things comfortable while still doing something a little bit progressive.
Eric Dolphy
(I am limiting myself to 175 words or so on Dolphy. And I am only writing about him on this album. I could go on and on. I am going to force myself to be concise. And this aside doesn't count toward my word limit.)
Here is my guiding thought on Dolphy on this album: inflammably seditious. Dolphy manages to make music that is so far outside the normal range of what jazz is (at least in 1961) and he makes it swing. It is quite simply effulgently brilliant. I am tempted to say that he reigns it in, to keep it musically acceptable with the rest of the music and musicians, but knowing what I know about Dolphy, no way. This is exactly what he wanted to do - and it is great. "Yearnin'" is a relatively brief solo that blows me away (I love hearing the clattering of the keys...) What I love about this stuff (see again, his flute solo on "Stolen Moments") is that it is just crazy stuff that he is playing, it is crazy musically, emotionally, technically; but it is still exciting. I am not a demonstrative person, so anything that gets a reaction from me has to be good. Dolphy's stuff on this album gets a reaction.
(Less than 175, I have a few to spare, but, I am being concise.)
Bill Evans
Bill Evans greatest contribution on this album is his dynamic range. He knows when to play loud and he knows when to play soft (I know that the producing and engineering team has a lot to do with that, but, it is still the musician who ultimately influences what is on the album). This is a piano player who knows that he is part of the rhythm section - not the leader of the band. If there was only some way to get trumpets to learn that...
Roy Haynes
I am afraid I am taking the easy way out with Haynes. See Evans, Bill. Haynes doesn't try to be the center of attention. Drums are for accents and rhythm, not a constant barrage of ride cymbals and snare hits. He floats along behind the tunes, sounding the most cloud-like of any drummer I have ever heard. Haynes might be the only drummer that I would describe as being relaxing. Not always a good thing in a percussionist, but it is definitely a trait that more of them could develop. See Roach, Max. (I do love Max Roach, but I am trying to make a point.)
Freddie Hubbard
One of the things hat makes me saddest is that, because of illness, Hubbard had to cancel a show that I had tickets to the summer before he died. I never got to see him perform. (It is only of moderate consolation that shortly after that I did get to see Dave Brubeck play - hands down the most incredible live music I have ever seen.) All that I will say is that this might be the best of the early Hubbard performances. He had recorded a few solo albums when he participated in this session, but I think that being a sideman on this recording took off some of that pressure and gave him the chance to work a bit more freely, which helped Hubbard in his later recordings as a leader.
Finally, "Hoe Down". This song is a 44-bar melody that is strange. It reminds me of a 1960s television game show theme song - "Are you ready to play Hoe Down?" - that has gone horribly wrong. Its melody is just weird. If this album was the subject of a Sesame Street "One of These Things is Not Like the Others" segment, this song would be the right answer. The musicians know it too - the solos have no relation to the head, it just doesn't fit. The only reason that I don't completely pan this tune is that if you can ignore the first 44 bars and the lat 44 bars, the solos in the middle are passable. They aren't great, but they aren't bad either. Consider that this tune has no place on the album and their averageness is understandable - what can you do with thing? I won't say that I skipped over this tune when I was listening to this album this week, but I didn't look forward to it coming up.
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