Album:
I'll Be Seeing You
Size: 158,7 MB
Time: 68:08
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2012
Styles: Jazz: Straight-Ahead/Mainstream
Art: Front
01. Alone Together (4:10)
02. I'll Be Seeing You (6:08)
03. Our Delight (3:52)
04. Spring Is Here/A Time For Love (4:28)
05. When Your Lover's Gone (5:14)
06. Blues For Alice (4:10)
07. You Do Something To Me (6:59)
08. Gots The Horn In My Mouth Blues (5:00)
09. The Touch Of Your Lips (6:06)
10. Confirmation (2:14)
11. Here's That Rainy Day/My Funny Valentine (7:09)
12. Bernies Tune (3:20)
13. Azule Serape (5:11)
14. Pennies From Heaven (4:01)
Clarinetist Mort Weiss is a character. That much is readily evident by reading his All About Jazz column, The Mort Report. He is opinionated and passionate, both driving forces that easily season his playing in such a way that when Weiss plays, he's readily recognizable. Since returning to recording in 2001 after nearly 30 years away, Weiss has recorded a number of well-received CDs bringing him to what he considers his most fully realized release, I'll Be Seeing You.
Stylistically, Weiss is somewhat of a missing link within the post-swing jazz clarinetists. He lies somewhere between notable saxophonists who doubled on clarinet, like Lester Young and Art Pepper, and progressive (for the era) clarinetists like Buddy DeFranco and Tony Scott. Weiss' playing betrays his admiration for DeFranco in his fluid bop delivery and a certain risk-taking that made up Scott's oeuvre. Weiss is this side of Eddie Daniels and that side of John LaPorta. His previous recording, the solo clarinet outing Raising The Bar (SMS Jazz, 2010), demonstrated Weiss' continued growth, through his legendary practice and listening, into a brilliant second act to a first-rate life.
Weiss begins with a spare and laconic "Alone Together," dramatically displaying the clarinetist's intentions for the remainder of the disc. Weiss' approach on I'll Be Seeing You is the musical equivalent to what Salvadore Dali did with the visual arts. Weiss likes playing behind the beat and stretching his passages as far as the next measure. The elasticity Weiss uses in his phrasing adds just enough tension that, once resolved, creates a satisfaction akin to tasting an exceptional red wine...a real spark to the head. And sometimes that resolution is not what is expected, making the experience all the sweeter.
Weiss also allows this elasticity into his soloing, taking it to a slippery extreme. I'll Be Seeing You was transferred as first takes with no overdubs, giving the recording a bit of a high-wire feel. On Tadd Dameron's "Our Delight," Weiss expels flourishes throughout his solos that could go in any direction, but Weiss manages to remain close to the song's perimeter. On a hyper-fast "Confirmation," Weiss smooths out Anton Schwartz complexities before adding his own with his pliant, light-speed phrasing.
On the slower-tempo side of things, Weiss' pacing is measured and sure. "Spring is Here" and "My Funny Valentine" are taken largo, but never lose their pulse. This is hard to do in a trio setting sans a harmony continuo, but Weiss never bogs down or loses his place. He weaves his ideas together seamlessly and logically, always swinging; whether it is "Bernie's Tune" or "Pennies from Heaven," Weiss treats his subject with respect, but also a familiarity that allows him to take his chances—and, more often than not, improve the music. ~C. Michael Bailey
Personnel: Mort Weiss: clarinet; Roy McCurdy: drums; Chris Conner: bass; Ramon Banda; conga.
I'll Be Seeing You
Album:
A Giant Step Out And Back
Size: 103,9 MB
Time: 43:53
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Free Jazz
Art: Front
01. Trane Of Thought (2:37)
02. All The Thing You Are (1:51)
03. Allegory (3:26)
04. Dark Eyes (2:15)
05. Fair Weather (1:52)
06. Goodbye (2:37)
07. Invitation (2:55)
08. Jivin (2:00)
09. Soliloquy (3:20)
10. Straight No Chaser (1:15)
11. Summertime (4:53)
12. Talkin'about It (2:14)
13. Transfiguration (6:08)
14. Waltz For Deddie (2:02)
15. Warm Up (4:21)
The statement on the front CD cover announces what this music is about: “A Free Jazz Recording By The Undisputed Master Of The Jazz Clarinet.” Brash, yes, but as I’m reminded, it ain’t braggin’ if it’s true.
Mort Weiss, that undisputed clarinet master, is one of jazz’s remarkable stories of making up for lost time: zero albums under his name in the first sixty-six years of his life and now, eleven over the last twelve. Each with a different configuration, presenting his amazing facility on the blackwood in a different way. For the second time, Weiss is going it alone, with no one else accompanying him, and seeing how well that turned out the first time, there could be not harm in undertaking another solo clarinet album.
But there are some unique twists to A Giant Step Out And Back — as they are with every Weiss album — and to borrow from the title of that prior record, Weiss raises the bar once again. As you may have guessed already, this faithful adherent to the bop tradition is stretching out, and he walks the tight rope with no net: all first takes, no edits, no rehearsals, no even listening to music for six months prior to this five hour recording session; he walked in and cut these tracks cold, then flew back home.
For some of the tracks, like the first one “Trane Of Thought” (YouTube above), the song didn’t even exist until the tape rolled. At first blush, “Trane” appears to be a departure into whack jazz wilderness, but Weiss never compromised his basic principles. Listen close enough to it, and you’ll find the flow, the rhythm, and a harmonic shape. It’s the essence of Mort Weiss that always bleeds through, even when he’s stepping outside. The closing number “Warm Up” is similarly a series of somersaults that result in Weiss landing squarely on his feet each time.
For the sturdy standard “All The Things You Are,” Weiss introduces yet another new tact, dubbing over himself. Within a magical two minutes, Weiss is fluttering up and down scales hitting all the critical notes of the melody along the way so you can’t miss it, and then he does it again, as if a second take was playing alongside the first. Except, that both of these “takes” are in perfect congruence with each other.
“Allegory,” “Jivin’!” and “Soliloquy” are sort of combinations in approach of those first two songs: made up on the spot, but later dubbed over. For these cuts, Weiss was required to rely on his ear this time instead of memory to make the overdubs work on these pure improvisations.
Other standards such as “Fair Weather,” “Dark Eyes,” “Straight No Chaser” and “Summertime” are performed without the overdubs, but are played a little quicker and with a little more abstractness than the way he tackled the standards on Raising The Bar. Bill Evans’ gorgeous “Waltz For Debbie” is hastened and somewhat reharmonized, in what must be the most radical remake of that song, ever. However, Weiss never, ever loses sight of the underlying harmony.
Weiss’ most way out song of this collection ironically doesn’t even involve a clarinet: “Talkin’ About it” is vocal scat made up on the spot lacking a melody but still possesses rhythm and progression. One might call it a human beat box with swing.
As a whole, A Giant Step Out And Back can confidently be named Weiss’ most daring work. At a time in his life where his peers are slowing down, playing it safe and retreading the same ground, he’s still looking for ways to extend his art to the outer limits. Adventurous jazz isn’t necessarily a young man’s game, but it does belong to those young at heart. And that kid Mort Weiss made a record not for the faint of heart, but in many ways it’s very rewarding for those who are as open minded as he is. ~Review by S. Victor Aaron
A Giant Step Out And Back
