Renowned Quartet Yellowjackets
Celebrate 35 Years with Cohearence -
Available April 22 on Mack Avenue Records
Album Serves as Debut for Virtuoso
Australian Bassist Dane Alderson
  
An outgrowth of L.A. Express guitarist Robben Ford's band founded in 1977, the Yellowjackets came to full buzzing flight four years later
with its debut eponymous jazz-funk album, a salient introduction to a
new-styled electric fusion of jazz and R&B--a modern take on Weather
Report, if you will--for the post Return to Forever/Headhunters decade.
The band was an immediate and controversial hit at the time when the
jazz pendulum was beginning to swing back in the acoustic direction.
Some skeptics didn't give the Yellowjackets
a chance to survive, but here it is 35 years later--hardly trailing the
segmented 40-year longevity of MJQ--and the group stretches its
impressive longevity by continuing to evolve artistically with its third
Mack Avenue Records recording, Cohearence. With two founding members--pianist/keyboardist Russell Ferrante and drummer Will Kennedy--and its longtime reeds player Bob Mintzer (a Jacket since 1990) and a brand-new virtuoso electric bassist, Australia-born Dane Alderson, the Yellowjackets
cover a range of jazz flavors, including a rousing Weather Report jazz
fusion vibe, a swinging switch-up on John Coltrane's "Giant Steps," a
moving rendition of a folk song classic, a funky soul-jazz excursion and
a chamber jazz-like grace in the album end-song, "Cohearence."
With its pockets of halcyon, buoyance, mystery, tumult and whimsy, Cohearence plays out as a multifaceted documentation of how far the once fusion band has come.
"There's
a lot of gratitude," Ferrante says of the band's 35th birthday. "It's
never been a given to us that we'd continue to be able to have the
opportunity to write and record for that length of time. But you
couldn't have that in place unless you had a band of generous, giving
musicians, none of whom have ever been ego'ed out."
Based on the music of Cohearence,
there's a wealth of variety. There's no sameness in hearing range. "We
write music that reflects what fascinates us; music that's worth
exploring," says Ferrante, who contributes five of the album's ten
songs. "I compose to work though ideas and workshop a piece, bring it
into the laboratory to work on the compositional elements and make the
piece a vehicle for improvisation."
Mintzer
composed three of the tunes and Kennedy one. Once an initial set list
was conceived, the Jackets road-tested the music for five months,
including dates in London in the late spring/early summer of 2015. "We
spent a lot more time with the music than we usually do before we
record," Ferrante says. "We rehearsed the songs by playing them live, so
that when we went into the studio we weren't just playing our first
impressions of the music. Then, we recorded totally live in less than
two days."
Opening the album is one of
Ferrante's songs, the catchy and upbeat "Golden State" about the
Interstate 5 north-south freeway that runs though California, that has a
bustling harmonic connect of piano and sax, and a relentless left-hand
piano triplet rhythm. "I wanted to capture the energy and activity of
the I-5," he says. This is followed by Mintzer's charged "Guarded
Optimism" that is not only vibrant but also has a touch of dark mystery
to it. "It's a fast piece with a syncopated melody that reminds me of
Weather Report," Ferrante says. "For my piano solo, I used it as a
challenge to see if I could keep my bass motif going with my left hand
while independently playing with my right."
Ferrante's
gentle "Anticipation" with folk-like influences starts slowly then
builds in anticipation thanks to Alderson's bass solo and Kennedy's drum
roll. It's followed by Mintzer's 6/8-grooved, synth-flavored
"Inevitable Outcome," featuring the composer's EWI's tonal colors.
"'Trane Changing' is a re-harmonization of 'Giant Steps' that Felix
Pastorius had started during his time in the group," Ferrante says. "I
was intrigued with the tune and helped to solidify the arrangement and
the countermelody, which gave Bob a great opportunity to play bass
clarinet counterpoint."
The
playful part of the album starts with Ferrante's funky "Eddie's In The
House," his tip-of-the-hat to the late saxophonist Eddie Harris who
first turned him on to jazz through his collaboration with pianist Les
McCann on their Swiss Movement album. That's followed by
Kennedy's "Fran's Scene," a play on his wife's name (Francyne) that he
masterminded, including the synth orchestration; while Mintzer's
skipping, carefree "Child's Play" is a simple melody that has a depth to
it with the band members' support.
A highlight is the Yellowjackets'
lyrical, tenor sax-led cover of the traditional American folk song
"Shenandoah." "That was Bob's idea," says Ferrante. "He heard it in the
last episode of that TV series The Newsroom and wanted to write a rearrangement for us to play."
Ferrante's
"Coherence" ends the album with a chamber jazz feel of intertwining
parts and the piano playing counterpoint to the melody. "It does have a
classical music feeling with the fixed rhythm underneath," says
Ferrante. "Again this piece also connects to folk music. It's a
challenging piece to play and was one of the more difficult pieces to
record. But we pulled it off."
Speaking of "Cohearence" the song, why is the album title Cohearence?
Ferrante laughs and says it's pun, with the word "hear" emphasized.
But, if there is a theme at work on the recording, it is that sense of
coherence.
When
the Jackets were playing in London, Ferrante and Mintzer went to the
Tate Modern where they were struck by the six-frame cycle of abstract
paintings by Gerhard Richter, Cage-Six Paintings. "I decided to
read further about it," says Ferrante. "I was impressed by the fact that
they were inspired by the music of John Cage and then I read that the
paintings were described as a coherent group. So I started looking into
that word."
What
Ferrante found was that the synonyms for coherent included balance,
harmony, symmetry and unity. Given the music they were playing for the
new album and the camaraderie of the band members, he had a profound
realization that the triumph of Cohearence reveals the
true nature of the group. "It means we're all connected to what we're
doing as a band," he says. "We're making harmonious statements."
For more information on Yellowjackets, please visit: Yellowjackets.com
Yellowjackets · Cohearence
Mack Avenue Records · Release Date: April 22, 2016
For media information, please contact:
DL Media · 610-667-0501
Maureen McFadden · maureen@dlmediamusic.com
Serving the Finest in Jazz Since 1988
For press materials on Yellowjackets, Mack Avenue artists or its family of imprints
(including album covers, promotional photos and logos), please visit media.mackavenue.com
MACK AVENUE · the road to great music · mackavenue.com
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Monday, March 14, 2016
USA/AUSTRALIA: Yellowjackets - "Cohearence" - Available April 22 on Mack Avenue Records
