Steve Smith/Michael
Zilber Quartet: "Reimagined, Volume 1 Jazz
Standards" (Blue
Jay Records)
Michael Zilber's
Notes to the new CD:
Steve
Smith, with whom I’ve played for the past six
years in various settings, has particularly
enjoyed blowing on what he calls my “Zilberizing”
of jazz standards. He suggested that we make a
CD consisting entirely of them. Traditionally,
jazz musicians have reworked tunes from the
great American Song Book in one of two ways. The
beboppers took chord changes to standards such
as I got Rhythm and wrote new melodies on them
(Shaw Nuff, Oleo). Later, folks such as Bill
Evans took existing tunes and subtly reworked
the harmonies supporting them -what jazzers call
reharms (or as my friend John R. Burr jokes, to
harm again).
I don’t know whether or not
I coined the term “reimagined,” but it is the
best description of what I do to standards. It
is the process where everything in the tune
EXCEPT some form of the melody (sometimes
rewritten) is fair game, from changes to meter
to form to tempo. For over 20 years, I have been
doing my own reimaginings of tunes at the same
time I’ve been writing originals.
At the
time of this recording, Steve and I had been
playing together for about two years in a
quartet rounded out by the beautiful piano
playing of Paul Nagel and the inspired bass work
of John Shifflet. These two, joined by the
astonishing polyrhythmic virtuosity of Steve,
made this sax player’s job very easy and joyful.
The results are in your hands.
In most
cases, the reimaginings went far past simple
reharms. In “All Blues,” we put the Miles Davis
classic into a Teen Town-style 4/4 groove with
altered changes and melody, “Manteca” was
reworked into a pedal point 7/4 with 11/8 tag,
“Freedom Jazz Dance” became a 3-4 Bobby Timmons’
inspired bugaloo, and so on. Some titles are
tongue in cheek, such as “Re:Pressions,” taking
Trane’s simple two chord tune and keeping the
form, but cycling it through all 12 keys in row
fashion, or turning Trane’s breakneck
“Countdown” into a slow ballad in three with
Pastorius-influenced harmonies. Probably the
most radical departure is “Mood Indigo” — taking
Ellington’s seminal ballad and turning it into a
mid-60s Miles Davis-style sprint with loosely
abstracted melody (it’s in there, trust me).
“Solar” takes the original melody, reworks it
through different key centers and puts it in a
slow Brazilian groove, ”Caravan” adheres fairly
closely to the original, other than some
harmonic and measure modifications and the
Trane-inspired bridge. “How Long Has This Been
Going On” and “Somewhere” are more in the Bill
Evans tradition, with little modification of
melody or form, just different harmonic colors.
As for “Fantasia on Giant Steps,” it’s a little
bit of a musical Escherism: let’s take the tune
that has traditionally been viewed as the
proving ground for changes playing the past 40
years and rework it through six keys with a new
melody.
I hope you enjoy listening to
these as much as we enjoyed playing them!
Michael Zilber
Albany, California
Fall 2001
Dave Liebman's
Notes to the new CD:
In his own
notes, Mike Zilber very clearly describes what
jazz musicians have traditionally done when
playing the standard repertoire. Though some
purists may differ on the subject (along with
composer Alec Wilder who wrote a famous
editorial lambasting jazz players for changing a
composer's intentions) and keeping in mind that
after all it is a matter of taste, I have always
felt personally that we have no choice but to
put our own stamp on these chestnut tunes. After
all, who can do it better than Miles, Monk,
Trane or Newk to name only a few? I remember
hearing Aretha Franklin singing “Bridge Over
Troubled Water” years ago and hardly recognizing
the song, but really digging how individual it
was-and for me improved!!
What Mike
refers to as “reimagining” could on a more
technical level be called “reconstruction” or
“deconstruction.” I must admit that I have never
heard such abstractions of standards before,
though it seems to be in the air these days. To
use even just one small element of a tune and
make that the leimotif for a new format is the
modern generation's way of handling standards.
Whereas we used to reharmonize, change meter and
possibly change melody, Mike completely rewrites
the tune and puts in front of the musicians an
extremely challenging improvisational format to
blow over. (By the way for the non musicians
reading this, the techniques Mike uses are
extremely sophisticated on a purely technical
level.) With musicians like Steve, Paul, and
John, the outcome is an unqualified success.
Mike really has an original voice. Descended
from a strong Wayne Shorter influence with
others intertwined, his thought processes are
very compositional when he plays. He is not
afraid to take chances saxophonically speaking
(“Manteca”) and plays with a raw passion that is
always apparent (“Mood Indigo”). Steve brings to
the music influences from other genres and of
course an impeccable technique while Paul and
John take care of the business at
hand-contributing when called upon and holding
the line where they have to, which is especially
important on such challenging material. “Giant
Steps” is just amazing and for my taste, I think
the new “Solar” melody is superior to the
original, dare I say!
When I first heard
this CD I was knocked out by the concept
immediately. I think that this recording marks a
step forward in the time worn tradition of each
musical generation's placing their own slant on
the jazz legacy. The cliche of putting old wine
into new bottles is very accurate for this
recording. A true adventure awaits the serious
jazz listener-this music is not for the faint of
heart.
— Dave Liebman
Michael Brecker's Notes to the
new CD:
An inspired and burning
CD by Mike Zilber, Steve Smith and friends. Mike
has chosen some familiar jazz standards and
through the process scientifically known as "Zilberization"
has transformed them into new and refreshing
compositions. Wonderful music.
—
Michael Brecker, eight-time Grammy
winner as Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year
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All
Music
Guide
Rating:
Four
Stars
"Drummer
Steve
Smith
and his
quartet
(comprised
of
Michael
Zilber
on tenor
and
soprano,
pianist
Paul
Nagel
and
bassist
John
Shifflett)
live up
to their
CDs
title by
performing
sometimes
radically-reimagined
renditions
of 11
jazz
standards.
“All
Blues"
is a bit
spacey
(with
Zilber
on
soprano),
“Mood
Indigo"
is taken
uptempo
with
Zilber's
tenor
sounding
a bit
like
Wayne
Shorter
in the
mid-1960s,
“Freedom
Jazz
Dance"
is a
postbop
romp,
“Manteca"
is
stripped
of its
Latin
rhythms
and
played
in 7/4
time,
etc.
Although
the
melodies
to the
famous
songs
are
still
present,
the
tunes
have
been
reharmonized,
tempos
and
moods
have
been
changed,
and the
results
are very
fresh
looks at
a
variety
of
standards.
This set
is full
of
surprises
and well
worth
exploring
and
savoring."
- Scott
Yanow,
All
Music
Guide
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