DownBeat 1997 (nem teljes évfolyam) [antikvár]

I On the beatWm FEBRUARY 1997Celebrity Jazzby John EphlandBig names sell records. Likewise, big names sell tickets. And the recent spate of big names playing and recording jazz together suggests a need as well as a desire for each other's company.Take a look at any number of new recordings and you'll see. Oscar Peterson's newest includes Roy Hargrove and Ralph Moore. Joshua Redman and Jesse Davis grace Ray Brown's latest. Or how about Benny Green? For the first time ever, the pianist has moved outside his trio format to include Stanley Turrentine and Ron Carter.And this past year saw Pat Metheny team up with Kenny Garrett for a variety of live dates, while Chick Corea got Roy Haynes together with Wallace Roney. Christian McBride and Redman to do the same. And both bands have new albums.A trend in jazz that means great music, no doubt. And yet. there seems to be a dubious side to this phenomenom. Call it musical insurance, hedging one's bets, playing it safe. Remember, the norm has been to hear an artist or artists record and perform with their own groups. After all, one of the great things about jazz is the level of communication between musicians, a group interaction based on years of living and breathing the same music together."If s all part of an effort to make what we do stand out," explains Richard Seidel, senior VP, A&R and an executive producer at Verve Records. 'There are far too many records being made," Seidel continues, "and I think with the economy, ticket and CD prices going up, people want to get the most for their money."What about the label's well-deserved rep as a purveyor of "concept" albums, featuring lots of name recognition? Perhaps Verve's best-known examples include tliree by Joe HendersonLush Life: The Music Of Billy Strayhorn, Double Rainbow: The Music Of Antonio Carlos Jobim and So Near, So Far (Musings For Miles), as in Davis. Isn't the tribute to past greats a marketing ploy? "I'd like to set the record straight on that," Seidel says. "Verve never intended these albums lo be tributes. 'Hiey've always been about repertoire, not, 'Here's something that will stimulate the consumer.'"Referring lo past all-star dales done for Prestige, Blue Note, CTI and Verve's Jazz At The i'hilharmonic, Seidel adds, "Contrary lo what was happening in the '50s, 'f3()s and '7()s, a lot more Ihoughl has had lo go into making a record. You ci)uld be more spontaneous (hen. Now. with theTony Williams (far left) is joined by friends (l-r) Pat Metheny, Michael Brecker, Stanley Clarke and Herble Hancock for his new album. Wilderness.entire jazz legacy behind us, you need to make records events."One recent "event" was Henderson's inaugural big band album (see last month's Down Beat). Laden with stars, the music was created on the go by a who's-who of mainstream jazz, many of whom had never recorded together in a big band context. Album producer/arranger/saxophonist Bob Beiden gave an example: "Nicholas IPayton] literally flew in, played his solos and is now catching a plane back to New Orleans." The same held true for Chick Corea, who needed to split soon after to rejoin his temporary bandmates Haynes, McBride, Roney and Redman on their tour. No wonder, then, that fans might have a hurry-up attitude toward the music as well. "Things have to be eventful, because audiences don't have the patience to develop a relationship with the artist," Beiden confirms."Is it dishonest to record with one band and lour with another?" asks Tom Evered, VP of marketing at Blue Note Records. "Given the conditions of the market and how hard it is to sell records, it there something wrong with that? You're looking at a recording reality, a touring reality, time and money. It's just very, very difficult with musicians scrambling to make a living. Sales are so bad across the board for new sounds."Evered concludes,"If you aren't compromising your vision, it's foolish not to include name players."Perhaps the key challenge for most recording and touring jazz musicians today is to stay together, as you cultivate your audience, building continuity from album to album, establishing a band identity all the while. Hardly novel, al! of these points address both the questions of musical integrity and commercial success, or audience appreciation al bolh ihe local record store as well as the ticket boolh.Not that the "good old days" were always kind (o jazz, bul llie legacies of past groals should serve as models from a less clul-lered culture and lime, where celebrity and the almighty buck look a back seat. DB