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Composer/Saxophonist Rob Reddy
Honors Sidney Bechet's Place In History on
Bechet: Our Contemporary
Available September 11 via Reddy Music
Mr. Reddy...is no rabble-rouser by temperament:
his music emanates from the hurricane's placid eye. - The New York Times
Rob Reddy plays the saxophone, but he seems most at home as a composer
and conductor, helming ambitious projects that combine classical sweep with avant-jazz abandon. - Time Out New York
In recent years, a well-done tribute album has almost become its
own form of release. But to truly pay proper homage to its subject, it
must only be a point of departure. The ultimate purpose must be to
create an entirely new musical journey that only looks back to move
forward. Composer and saxophonist Rob Reddy's stunning new album Bechet: Our Contemporary does
exactly that - and a good deal more. Intertwining Sidney Bechet's music
with original works inspired by him, Reddy has not simply updated the
legendary icon's image, but presents him as the truly avant-garde and
innovative giant that he still is today.
"I
see this project as an honest and respectful attempt at honoring
Bechet's place in history as a seriously forward-thinking, avant-garde
artist of his time, while also putting his work into conversation with
our own present-day sociopolitical landscape," comments Reddy.
The
fact that Rob Reddy is also a soprano saxophonist must only be viewed
as coincidental here. Every player of that instrument owes an
inspirational debt to its father; and Reddy's full-bodied, vibrant and
sinuously impassioned sound certainly amplifies the context of this
music. Since his emergence on the scene in the late 1980s, he has
virtually always been a leader and conceptualist, and for the past 20
years has been a visionary, heavily acclaimed and an often commissioned
composer for a wide variety of ensembles ranging from five to nineteen
musicians.
On Bechet: Our Contemporary,
Reddy has assembled some of New York's most outstanding contemporary
musicians to join him in this brilliant ensemble. In the classic
traditions of Ellington, Mingus, George Russell and Gil Evans, Reddy's
composing is dialed directly into the distinctive sounds of his
musicians; most of whom have been frequent participants in his music,
some for over 20 years. John Carlson on trumpet and Curtis Fowlkes on trombone join Reddy on the horn line, violinist Charlie Burnham, cellist Marika Hughes, guitarist Marvin Sewell, and Rob's longtime bass/drums collaborators Dom Richards and Pheeroan akLaff round
out this sterling group. Despite Reddy sharing Bechet's primary focus
upon the same instrument, this is not a showcase for his soprano
playing, but rather his profound vision.
The
depth and scope of the compositions and arrangements require an intense
focus, an urgency and unfettered creativity, and a release of the inner
spirit in both virtuosity and abandon to spawn the synergy required to
bring this music to its highest level. The challenging discipline of
freedom is fully realized, keeping the music spontaneous and visceral,
but totally within the intent of the Reddy's vision. The result is
music that meets the seemingly contradictory goals of being powerfully
earthy, yet utterly transcendent. The exhilaration, joy, wit, beauty and
sheer fun of Sidney Bechet are in radiant presence, translated and
re-imagined by Reddy.
"The
idea was to approach Bechet as a composer and intertwine his original
compositions with those of my own, making a narrative between the two
that made sense; and have my musicians play and improvise on his
compositions just as I ask them to do with my own, seeking the same
openness, energy, commitment and wisdom," explains Reddy.
The
delightful repertoire includes four Bechet pieces and four Reddy
originals. Vividly reflecting that purest sense of tribute to produce
inspirations, it is challenging to differentiate Bechet's from Reddy's
compositions as Reddy has made Bechet's so much his own; and Bechet's
inspiration such a fundamental component of his own writing. It would be
highly inappropriate to overlook the compelling lyricism and exquisite
beauty of Bechet's music for the sake of modernism, but it would be
equally invalid to underplay the groundbreaking adventurousness and
depth of sophistication that Bechet brought to the music. With that in
mind, some of the most "down home" moments are in Reddy's originals and
some of the most unabashedly contemporary are on Bechet works.
"Song
of the Medina" epitomizes Reddy's brilliant compositional approach and
his choice of the jazz idiom as his primary means of expression. While
his vernacular is rooted in the full scope of American folk forms-
including blues, gospel, country, marches, and the full scope of the
jazz legacy - the jazz form provides the ideal canvas for his painting.
Trusting his musicians to contribute freely to the context without
losing track of the story he's telling incorporates the improvisations
into the composition, giving it new life with each time you listen. This
extended work anchors the album with its expansive sonic landscape
reminiscent of the Art Ensemble of Chicago's finest creations.
Bechet's
signature piece, "Petite Fleur" is evocatively atmospheric, with the
beautiful melody stated by violin colored by the soprano and buoyed on a
swirling undertow of colors and shapes. Reddy's "Erasing Statues"
features drawling horns in a slow drag procession - almost funereal, but
joyously hymnal. Gospel of another sort is the mode for Bechet's "Chant
in the Night,"with guest artist Lisa Parrott's baritone sax
clearing the church entrance for an exuberant, rapturous prayer meeting
excursion of Mingus-like jubilation. In mesmerizing fashion, Reddy's
"Yank"weaves between abstract rubato ruminations and alluring, richly
lyrical orchestration.
Reddy's
"Speedy Joe"is a brief, nicely textured aperitif that leads into the
album's concluding piece, Bechet's "Broken Windmill" - a perfect
complement to Reddy's "Up-South,"which opens this stunning album. A
boisterous, celebratory piece with so much going on underneath, it aptly
demonstrates the powerful influence that early New Orleans music had
upon the collective approach of the avant-garde and foretells how the
album will do proper justice to the spirit of Bechet. "Broken
Windmill"(with Oscar Noriega's clarinet adding the extra spice)mirrors
that piece in bouncing, effervescent early jazz vigor, bringing
everything full circle to its source.
This
is Reddy's seventh album-his third for his own Reddy Music label that
he founded in 2006-and the first time that he has ever incorporated
another composer's work into his music, but it's eminently clear that
this extraordinary music is his own as well as another major step in the
legacy of one of today's most important composers.
Rob Reddy · Bechet: Our Contemporary
Reddy Music · Release Date: September 11, 2015
For more information on Rob Reddy, please visit: RobReddy.com
For media information, please contact:
DL Media · 610-667-0501
Matthew Jurasek · matthew@dlmediamusic.com
Don Lucoff · don@dlmediamusic.com
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