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Liner Notes

John Kelman, October 25th, 2010

 

Solo performances may approach presenting an artist at his or her most vulnerable, but it's in the context of the duo that they're the most exposed. Not only are their abilities, instincts and improvisational élan laid bare, but their communication skills, at the deepest level, are impossible to disguise. The good news is that, were pianist Marc Copland and saxophonist Dave Liebman in Hans Christian Andersen's famous children's story, "The Emperor's New Clothes," there'd be no child crying out, "But they aren’t wearing anything at all!" Still, this pair of profoundly intrepid improvisers is as naked as they’ve ever been on Impressions, a collection of material culled from an afternoon recording session and evening live performance at Foundation Artists' House, in Bosweil, Switzerland on the cusp of Spring, 2002 (originally on Bookends on hatOLOGY 2-587).

 

"I've done a lot of duos," says Liebman, "and duo is the most challenging, because you really have to be concerned with very specific nuances that are particular to a wind instrument: the beginning of a note, the intonation, the vibrato, the expressive device you use…everything is exposed and you're really naked in front of the microphones. Playing duo - and especially with someone as sensitive harmonically, and as far as touch goes, as Marc - is really a great challenge and I love doing it because it raises my game."

 

Liebman should know, as he's shared intimate musical relationships with a number of significant pianists in addition to Copland, in particular Phil Markowitz, and Richie Beirach, with whom the saxophonist has worked, off and on, for over forty years.  "All three players, who are all so great, really are completely different and bring out completely different things in me," Liebman explains. "Of the three - and pretty much of anybody I play with - Marc is the one who combines the sensitivity of the Bill Evans tradition with that Herbie Hancock thing.  He's really coming from that side of things, for the most part, though he's capable of doing everything else. From a textural standpoint, especially playing saxophone with him, he's the most transparent, the most translucent, the très légère. He brings a certain response out of me as a horn player; not to be more delicate, but to know when and where to pick my spots of energy.  I play pretty intense a lot of the time; that's one of my trademarks, but I love to play softly, and understated, and in this situation that's really called for."

 

Copland's relationship with Liebman predates his days at the piano, when he was still a working saxophonist, and he shares a similar respect.  "I've played with a lot of musicians over the years, but I don't think I've ever worked with one as hardworking and dedicated as Dave; he's really into it, and it's wonderful to play with musicians with that kind of a commitment. From the beginning, even when we were both playing sax, the thing I think we shared in common, which makes the whole thing go, is an interest in understanding the outer reaches of harmony and the outer possibilities of harmony, so that when there's a certain chord symbol written on a page, it's just immediately understood that this is not a directive, this is a doorway. Dave, he totally gets that."

 

In a mixed program of standards and originals, nowhere is this more obvious than Impressions' opener, a take on Jimmy Giuffre's "Cry Want," from the reed and woodwind multi-instrumentalist's out-of-print Fusion session that was rescued and reissued as 1961 by ECM. Not that there's a lot to go on with this rubato sketch of a composition, but Copland attacks it with greater energy and weight than that for which he's commonly known, while Liebman's  trademark expressionism lifts it to not one, but two powerful climaxes, before dissolving back into the ether from whence it came. 

 

Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage" is far better known - certainly part of the jazz zeitgeist - and, perhaps, because of its status as often-covered rite of passage for so many aspiring musicians, it runs the risk of becoming something ordinary.  But with Copland and Liebman viewing its deceptively simple but open-ended structure as nothing more than a starting point, it becomes  something darker, more foreboding…and entirely fresh and unpredictable.

 

Words like "unpredictable" are bantered about often in jazz, mainly because of its improvisational nature; but even A-list musicians fall prey to the trappings of safety and personal convention, which is what makes this set so compelling. Copland and Liebman may occupy a general space along a very broad continuum, but they're each capable of stretching their own personal boundaries to the breaking point - and those of their partners, as well. Liebman's upper register multiphonics and stretching of the melody to John Coltrane's enduring "Impressions" render it almost unrecognizable, and while he's often compared to the late saxophone icon - more, perhaps, than truly necessary - his sparer approach, even at its fieriest and most intense, is a far cry from Coltrane's relentless sheets of sound. Without a rhythm section, "Impressions" doesn’t exactly swing, but it does have a pulse, one that Copland explores at length during his a capella solo, playing with atypical fire but still the kind of harmonic ambiguity that's become his own trademark, alongside the characteristic extroversion that, even in a context such as this, Liebman proves perfectly capable of turning towards a more lyrical bent.

 

Liebman subsequently brought "WTC" - one of two originals on Impressions' (the other is Copland's ethereally re-harmonized blues, "Blackboard") - to the set list played during a 2005 reunion of Quest, his longstanding group with Beirach, bassist Ron McClure and drummer Billy Hart, and documented on Redemption: Quest Live in Europe (hatOLOGY 642).  Here, however, this first reading of Liebman's cathartic 12-tone piece, written in response to the events of September 11, 2001, powerfully evokes the emotions of the day, even almost a decade later.  Intentional or not, then, Copland's "America the Beautiful" quote at the start of the preceding "Impressions," is, like the days leading up to that tragic day, a foreshadowing optimism shattered by the dense, low-register chords that signal the beginning of "WTC." 

 

Following the conclusion of "WTC," the set adopts a more positive, even direct tone, with versions of Miles Davis and Bill Evans' "Blue in Green," from 1959's Kind of Blue (Columbia); a brief but buoyant solo saxophone reading of Lester Young's signature, "Lester Leaps In," that moves effortlessly between implicit swing and outrageous virtuosity; and Copland's thematically (and key signature) linked version of "When You're Smiling," where the  pianist demonstrates his ability to skew even the most popular song and standard changes with the subtlest of nuanced shifts.  These three songs, leading to Copland's closing "Blackboard," typify the relaxed nature with which Copland and Liebman come to the repertoire.  "Most of the time," says Liebman, "when musicians of a similar generation pick their originals, everyone is usually pretty agreeable to doing what the writer wants.  But once you've chosen your two or three originals, you pick tunes that are familiar - that both guys enjoy playing because of familiarity, and because we’ve done our 'work' by capturing, learning and negotiating the originals  - me learning his language, he learning mine.

 

"The beauty of the standard, as any good listener knows," Liebman continues, "is that because it's a known quantity that's been done so many times, you have a certain standard that you have to come up to. Also, you have the choice to say, 'Let’s look at this in a different light.' We don’t really sit down and discuss the harmony, or the exact arrangement; we really leave that to be in the moment - more so than the originals.  With the originals, I really want to know what Marc means.  But the standard? This is jazz, and we should just be able to say 'hello,' and talk about the weather."

 

The two may have done little more than talk about the weather before they began playing the largely standards-focused Impressions, but from such mundane chitchat comes a performance that exemplifies the best of what each of these fine musicians does - but also, with the push-and-pull of two different musical personalities, demonstrates the ability and willingness of each to be drawn outside their normal predispositions, to create music that's the best of both, and something a little more, and a lot special.

Reviews

Liner Notes

UNSPOKEN-Liner notes by Lewis Porter

 

Liebman and Beirach—forty plus years of musical history and collaboration! There are other saxophonists and pianists who have worked together as a duo (for example,Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock toured and released a CD in ’97), but I don’t know of any with such a long track record. Dave and Richie’s previous duo albums were Forgotten Fantasies (1975),Omerta (1978, released in Japan), The Duo Live (Germany, 11 April 1985; and transcribed completely in a book by Bill Dobbins), Double Edge (standards in Copenhagen, recorded just ten days later, 21 April 1985), and Chant. That last was in 1989, so it’s high time to have another offering from them.

This CD has a dreamy, while at the same time dramatic quality. Both feel it is their best duo yet. The depth of sound is enhanced by the luxuriant piano tone, captured so well by master engineer Walter Quintus. Richie is playing what he describes as “an amazing 25-year old Bechstein piano” The repertoire is an unusual mix of styles.

1. Invention (Aram Khachaturian; arranged by Beirach)
The CD opens with their treatment of  this Invention, known in full as "A Glimpse Of The Ballet; Adagio From The Ballet 'Gayaneh." Beirach has loved the piece ever since he heard it played by strings in Kubrick’s classic film 2001.  A master of pedal effects, Richie leaves the sustain pedal down at the opening to create a shimmering feel. He
begins his piano solo slowly and rhapsodically. Dave comes in subtone with freely improvised counterpoint. The solos are in Bb minor. At 4:25, Dave starts a melody and Richie follows him in the distinctive way the two have of reading each other's minds.

2. All The Things You Are (Jerome Kern; arranged by Beirach)
This rendition of the classic standard flows naturally from the first piece. Richie’s harmonies enrich and alter this familiar piece, giving it an edge of mystery. His
friend, the late pianist Bill Evans, said you need to make standards your own, something the duo is known for. Richie worked on this arrangement for a long time and he has certainly succeeded. His version is keyless, expanding on the already wide-ranging twelve tone harmonic motion of Kern’s original with a vamp at the beginning, using Db 7sus/Dbmaj b5. After the initial theme, Dave solos on the vamp as well. The piano solo starts around 2:40 and brings back some of the Kern song, especially at 2:58 and further on. When Dave returns at 3:55, he plays the original melody again.

3. Ballad 1 (Liebman)
Dave describes this, modestly, as “a simple small phrase that I needed for a record date some years ago.” But like all of his compositions it has harmonic depth. This piece is included in the David Liebman Anthology (Advance Music, 2006), which includes sixty of his unique creations, notated in detail (many with piano voicings). Dave plays tenor, very softly, subtone-like.

4. Awk Dance (Beirach)
During the ‘70s, while touring the USA in a van for thousands of miles with their first group, "Lookout Farm," Richie and Dave had fun making up their own slang. “Eek” was
uptight, not hip, classical, while “Awk” was hip and jazz. This “Awk Dance” starts with a groove for a change of pace with Lieb on tenor again. Richie’s solo at 1:10 is slightly reminiscent of the darker side of Lennie Tristano, especially as it goes into a kind ofdouble time. Dave raises the temperature level with some screaming intensity. At about 5:40, Richie becomes more active as Dave fades out.


5. New Life (Beirach)
About two years ago, Richie had become so overweight that his doctor told him he had acute diabetes. The doctor put Beirach on an extremely restricted health diet, and emphasized that his life was at stake! To Richie’s credit, he held to the diet and has lost great deal of weight. This is the “New Life” referred to here. This one has a theme that’s played by the two in unison—Beirach fills it in with pointillistic dots of sound, with that texture continuing for the first two minutes. He describes the effect as being slightly reminiscent of the modern classical music of Takemitsu or Boulez. Then it opens up with more space, and Richie plays contrapuntal melodies behind Dave. When the theme returns at the end, Richie backs it with big chords.


6. Waltz for Lenny (Micu Narunsky-arr. by Liebman)
Narunsky, an Israeli pianist with a second career as a winemaker, is Dave’s good friend. He wrote this in honor of “Lenny” Bernstein. Dave and Richie state the theme in unison. Richie does a lot of interesting things here. At 5:14 he creates dramatic percussive chords, an effect resulting from pedal usage and a special kind of attack. At 5:50 you can hear him repeat this effect a few times. At 6:22 one of  Richie's distinctive polychords appears, followed by what sounds like a glimpse of Bill Evans’ famous “Peace Piece.”


7. Tender Mercies (Liebman)
Dave describes this as “one of my simplest ballads. ‘Tender Mercies’ is kind of a ‘religious’ term, I guess....meaning thanks for the tender mercies, the everyday things we take for granted, like living another day, love and family.” It introduces some new sounds
for this CD—Richie on the piano strings and Dave on his wooden flute. A written theme (published in the Anthology) enters at 1:14. Richie’s solo is a kind of free rhapsody in the style of the theme. When Dave returns with the theme at 5:40 the effect is quite dramatic. Dave slides up to the last note with Richie placing some interesting stuff under it.


8. Transition (John Coltrane)
This free improvisation begins right off with a lot of activity, sounding almost like we’re catching the two musicians in progress. Richie goes into a solo right away, again invoking Tristano at his most “out.” At 4:22 Dave goes into the theme “Transition,” originally recorded by Coltrane in June 1965.


By the way, it is interesting that both Dave and Richie studied with Lennie Tristano, though a bit unsuccessfully.....Dave for about a year and Richie for three lessons, way before they knew each other. They were both teenagers at the time, and they found Tristano to be unnecessarily harsh and judgmental, not to mention that he charged $20 per lesson, even though he sometimes sent you home after three minutes! Lennie had Richie singing solos from recordings, and didn’t even let him touch the piano. Finally he advised Richie to get out of music—luckily for all of us, he ignored Lennie’s advice.


9. Hymn For Mom/Prayer For Mike (Liebman)
Dave wrote “Hymn” (also published in the Anthology) when his Mother died in 2005. It begins with Beirach in a mystical/Messiaen mode, very spare. At 2:37 he plays a sequence of harp-like arpeggios. Dave comes in gently around 3:50. After the piece ends at 6:23, Dave begins “Prayer” on tenor, very intense followed by Richie stating the written theme at 8:40. “Prayer For Mike" (Brecker) is dedicated to one of Dave's oldest compatriots, “when he was going through the final ‘try’ with his daughter giving her blood—as there was still a glimmer of hope for him.” Brecker had a rare and dangerous form of cancer that could be abated only if he received an exact blood match (not just the blood “type”). His family put out a call to the jazz community but no exact match was ever found. I ran into Mike—we’d been introduced through Dave—when I accompanied a friend to the Sloan
Kettering Memorial Hospital in April 2006, and Mike explained to me that his daughter was a “half match,” better than nothing, and that he did feel a bit better thanks to the transfusion. I later read that he sat in on one tune at Herbie Hancock’s concert that June, so there was hope that he might make it. But the cancer came back and Brecker died in January 2007.

There are deep feelings expressed in this last track, and throughout the CD. Liebman and Beirach—“Unspoken,” indeed. After a lifetime making music together, what need for speaking?
Lewis Porter
July 2011

Lewis Porter is a pianist, author (best known for his biography on John Coltrane) and  jazz professor at Rutgers University in Newark, NJ, USA.  Videos
of him performing with Liebman are at www.lewisporter.com. Liebman’s
autobiography, What It Is, was written with Porter’s assistance, and
will be published by Scarecrow Press around January 2012.

 

 

Reviews

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John Kelman
All About Jazz

It's one thing for individual artists' voices to be instantly recognizable, another thing entirely when a readily identifiable language evolves amongst them, one that's absent when they're apart. There's no mistaking the bop-rooted expressionism that saxophonist Dave Liebman imbues with oblique lyricism, whether with his longstanding group on Turnaround: The Music of Ornette Coleman (Jazzwerkstatt, 2010) or in a new collection of largely old friends on Five on One (Pirouet, 2010).

Liner Notes

(above)

Reviews

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ALL ABOUT JAZZ
By John Kelman

While there is some truth in the old adage “if it ain't broke don't fix it,” it's not always bad to mess with a good thing. Saxophonist Dave Liebman and pianist Richie Beirach have been playing together for over 40 years, in ensembles ranging from the big band of Quest for Freedom (Sunnyside, 2010) and smaller ensemble of Quest and Re-Dial: Live in Hamburg (OutNote, 2010) to duo records like 1985's Double Edge, recently reissued with two early Quest albums as Searching for the Next Sound of Bebop (Storyville, 2010).

Liner Notes

(above)

Reviews

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DOWNBEAT
By John Ephland

There’s something slightly different hearing Steve Swallow’s electric bass as it fills the air of this oft times quiet and gentle album of trio jazz. It’s conventional jazz but with an attitude of nothing to prove, nowhere to go necessarily, something three friends I (who’ve made music together for over three decades) might play just because they like to play, and play with each other.

 

THE GUARDIAN
By John Fordham

The American sax virtuoso Dave Liebman is a master who does not disguise his Coltrane inspirations, but he has rarely paraded such a wealth of saxophone homages (consciously or not) as he does here. It sounds as if the gauzy willfulness of Lee Konitz or Warne Marsh, the romanticism of Stan Getz and the rumbustiousness of Sonny Rollins have all crossed his radar over the years.

Liner Notes

(above)

Reviews

Liner Notes

NOTES BY DAVE LIEBMAN:


As I repeatedly say at DLBB performances, I have been very fortunate to have arrangers be interested enough in my compositions to put them in the big band context, something that to me personally is daunting. I just cannot imagine what you do when you have so many choices of voicings and colors. I get crazy with just a sax quartet! Usually, I give an interested arranger a recording of only the melodies of my tunes and ask them to choose a few that interest them. I follow up with the full recorded version and lead sheet-the rest is up to their imagination which I strongly encourage. As you will hear, the results are extraordinary and because there are so many diverse arranging concepts, the music is by nature very eclectic and wide ranging in sonorities and idiomatic direction. One note is that I have purposely restricted my big band playing to the soprano saxophone giving at least that color as a common denominator for the music we play.

My thanks to Andrew, Scott and Guri for their great arrangements and support. Most of all to Gunnar, not only for the great chart he did on a challenging piece of music, but also as my eternal friend and collaborator on books, videos, recordings and now as the leader of the DLBB. As always, thanks to my friend!

1-A BRIGHT PIECE: One of my first original tunes, this is really just a simple ditty with a vamp on the bridge in the Art Blakey Jazz Messengers tradition. You can tell it is an early piece when I had only a rudimentary understanding of piano voicings, because it is based on fourth interval chords (McCoy Tyner influence) moving stepwise down with a common tone line that fits over the various lydian scales. There’s nothing mysterious about the title—the music just had a real bright and major sound to it when it was conceived. I was fortunate that Elvin Jones liked playing this tune and it was recorded with him using three sopranos on “Merry Go Round” (Blue Note). Andrew came up with some really fresh ideas on what is a very basic composition.

2-AS ALWAYS: This was recorded with my group of the ‘80s, “Quest” with Richie Beirach (“Natural Selection”-Pathfinder) and is intended as a lyrical “love” waltz. I like the warmth that is implied in this expression meaning one’s love and gratitude is and will always be present. Pete’s arrangement is fittingly colorful and lush.

3-ANUBIS: In Egyptian mythology the jackal with this name is the guardian of the after life. When my daughter was young she was fascinated by Egyptian history and one day handed me a little color drawing that she said was “Anubis.” I put it on the piano to inspire a composition with a Mid-East flavor. This has been recorded a few times with the same rhythm section in the DLBB as in my steady working group- Marko, Tony and Vic. The contrast of a rubato phrased melody over an odd meter vamp is the crux of the composition which Scott really captures.
 
4-NEW BREED: The piece was originally written for the Elvin Jones Group that I was part of with saxophonist Steve Grossman and bassist Gene Perla in the early ‘70s. The recording we did “Live at the Lighthouse” has become a minor classic for saxophonists and the ensemble tutti you hear is my actual solo from that track voiced by Scott Reeves for the sax section. When I wrote this for Elvin’s group I was thinking of the music from Tony Williams’ recording “Spring”-fast time with brushes, but Elvin slowed it down right at the first rehearsal in London. The title recognizes that Steve, Gene and I were a new generation coming after Coltrane’s time, which of course Elvin was and will always be associated with. Elvin said it reminded him of a combination of Duke Jordan and Monk—nice!!

5-PHILIPPE UNDER THE GREEN BRIDGE: This is definitely one of my more chromatic pieces, very much in the language I describe in my book “A Chromatic Approach to Jazz Melody and Harmony” (Advance Music). Recorded on “Manhattan Dialogues” (Zoho) in duo with Phil Markowitz, the title commemorates a visit to a Boston museum featuring “Monet in the 20th Century. I was stuck by the fact that this one painting was all green, which in the midst of all the other incredible Monet canvasses with his usual incredible array of colors, stood out dramatically. It just reinforces the notion of contrast and similarities in art and how one can use this principle so effectively. When we went into the gift shop, my wife Caris and I bought our daughter Lydia, who was very young at the time, a stuffed green frog which she promptly named Philippe and became her mascot for years. Gunnar also lifts some of my solo from the duo recording and uses Charlie Pillow’s wonderful oboe expertise as a foil to the soprano sax.

6-TURN IT AROUND: The title here derives purely for musical reasons rather than my more often reference to programmatic names for compositions. I played opposite Jack DeJohnette somewhere in the ‘80s and there was a tune where he was hitting the first and third beats of the bar insistently, rather than the customary two and four. So along with some odd bars, this became a little rhythmic puzzle to play over which I recorded with my present group on our first release called aptly enough “Turn It Around” on the French Owl label in the early ‘90s. Guri Agmon (from Israel) captures the odd flavor of the rhythm but also the groove that is present.

Again thanks to the great arrangers who have brought new life into these pieces and of course to the band and their generosity in allowing this music to be released.

NOTES BY GUNNAR MOSSBLAD - CONDUCTOR AND LEAD ALTO SAX

To a jazz aficionado it would take only a glance at the personnel list of this big band to realize it is made up of the brightest and most creative New York jazz musicians. Everyone is not only well-versed and experienced in the traditional big band performance practices, but each and every one of them are gifted soloists and renowned jazz musicians in their own right. What is not obvious until you hear the band is that collectively, the level of musicianship is so high that the band easily breaks the boundaries of the traditional big band.

In addition to Liebman's compositions and the writer's creative arrangements, the unique sound of the DLBB is also due to how easily the group traverses the line between tonality and atonality; executes dramatic stylistic changes in the moment; and most importantly, can create collaborations of improvised music that are so well-aligned with the compositions that it is hard to tell what is or is not improvised. This, coupled with Liebman's never ending pursuit of all possible avenues of expression in his soprano sax playing, offers the listener a new approach to the big band tradition.

It is an honor to be associated with such a great group of musicians dedicated to making extraordinarily beautiful music together.

 

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Selected quotes:

ALL MUSIC GUIDE
By Ken Dryden

David Liebman's long list of accomplishments includes working in many different-sized groups in a variety of styles. For this big-band project the soprano saxophonist leads a big band in concert playing his compositions, though with arrangements by others and the band conducted by Gunnar Mossblad (who also plays several reed instruments).

SAXOPHONE JOURNAL
By Frank Bongiorno

"Dave Liebman’s latest recording, "As Always," is one of numerous recent happenings in the creative life of this extraordinary musician. In addition to the release of this new recording, and a busy fall touring schedule, Liebman has also reached several prestigious milestones in his career of late, including receiving the 2011 National Endowment of the Arts’ Jazz Masters Award, the Order of Arts and Letters medal from the French Ministry of Culture and Communication in 2009, and celebrating twenty-five years of teaching his Saxophone Master Class at East Stroudsburg University in August of 2011, among other honors and achievements."

Liner Notes

Notes by Dave Liebman:

A lot has been written about the music and legacy of Ornette Coleman, his “harmelodic” approach and overall influence. If only for his first recordings in the late 50’s and early 60’s, especially Free Jazz with the double quartets, he would’ve made musical history. On a personal level from the several times I’ve met Ornette, he impressed me as soft-spoken, a total gentleman always ready to talk about music and explain his theories (which after five minutes had me completely baffled--similar to what I have heard from others). I particularly love two of his recordings for their incredible swing and fire: New York Is Now with Elvin Jones and Jimmy Garrison and Live At the Golden Circle with Charles Moffett and David Izenzon-both great rhythm sections. But in general his music has not had as much an influence upon me as others from my generation. This is primarily due to the relatively minor role that harmony plays in his music, or shall I say intentional-direct harmony. For my aesthetic, choosing and refining harmony (at least on occasion) deepens the expressive power of a melody, be it an improvised line or a nursery rhyme. The development of harmony stands as one of the major contributions of Western culture to the musical world at large. Although there have been “harmonic moments” in Ornette’s music in tandem with pianists Walter Norris, Paul Bley, Joachim Kuhn and Gerri Allan, as well as all the bass players throughout the years, for the most part Ornette’s brand of “free-bop” doesn’t really place much importance on harmony per se.

Nonetheless I do admire his seemingly never ending repository of lyrical melodies, most of which do just fine with little or no direct harmony. Over the years it intrigued me to imagine what would happen if I “loaned” harmony to some of the more likely material and arranged the freer music to fit my long standing group of twenty years which features the guitar in the person of Vic Juris.

A primary factor for me when considering what I call “repertoire” projects (as opposed to original material) is that I can learn something by immersing myself in another’s person’s music and life. After choosing material from Ornette’s vast catalogue and re-thinking the original recorded concepts, I focused on his improvising and found several recurring tendencies: tonally centered material for extended periods sprinkled by short chromatic excursions into neighboring key areas; triadic and close interval line construction with occasional use of wider intervals; often use of blues inflections if not actual blues licks per se; intense swinging eighth notes interspersed with non metrical fast multi-noted flurries; a basically legato flowing approach to articulation encompassing the full range of the alto saxophone with a very strong and focused tone. Finally, there is present a feeling of controlled abandonment which consistently underlies the group interaction surrounding Ornette as a soloist.

Above all as in any great music, it is the spirit that shines brightest. In Ornette’s music there is a joyful spirit which permeates throughout and explains why people love his art as they do. His music expresses an irrepressible joie de vivre, uplifting and mournful at the same time, playful and deadly serious-a full view of the human condition. With deep respect to a true individualist and master of his art, I hope you enjoy our Ornette Coleman voyage.

 

 

Reviews

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THE OTTAWA CITIZEN
By PETER HUM

This disc’s pairing of musician and material is instantly intriguing. Ornette Coleman was the father of free-jazz who never met a set of chords he couldn’t disregard. But here he is, interpreted by veteran saxophonist Dave Liebman, one of jazz’s ultra-harmonic thinkers.

ALL ABOUT JAZZ
by Dan McClenaghan

Liebman has never risen to the highest levels of jazz stardom, but seems too busy making music to worry about profile or career moves. Turnaround: The Music of Ornette Coleman should shine a very bright and well-deserved light on the veteran artist and his magnificent quartet......

ALL ABOUT JAZZ
by Ken Waxman

Ornette Coleman is the modern jazzman closest to country blues. Yet Liebman, who specializes in harmonic development, chooses to emphasize Coleman's melodies on Turnaround......

AUDIOPHILE
by Doug Simpson

Turnaround: The Music of Ornette Coleman is superb for both Coleman and Liebman fans. Coleman’s spirit bursts through and Liebman shows serious virtuosity as well as interpretive skills. Maybe it’s time someone stands up to give Liebman his due and produces a Liebman tribute. It’s overdue.  

DOWNBEAT-4 STARS
by Jim Macnie

Eric Boeren bent him. John Zorn and Tim Berne ran him through the grinder. Old And New Dreams kissed his ring. Improvisers have tried all sorts of ways to tackle Ornette Coleman. On this sashay through the iconoclast’s songbook, Dave Liebman has his ultra-tight group re-imagine 10 of the maestro’s pieces—some usual suspects, some oddballs—illustrating just how pliable the material is. In doing so he somehow liberates Coleman, or at least cracks apart the now-codified architecture of those classic Atlantic quartets. Liebman has no interest in mirror images, however. During several of these feisty little performances, it takes a second to hear Coleman floating around the room. That, of course, speaks to Liebman’s individuality. This homage stresses his imagination as much as it illustrates sax prowess. From the wooden flute of “Lonely Woman” to the Steve Lacy-like chirps of “Bird Food,” there are discrete approaches to each tune. Using a series of ballsy exclamations, “Turnaround” enjoys several slants, the most convincing of which are a strip club swagger and a momentary barroom shuffle. Somewhere between the space guitar and the cracked second line allusions, Liebman finds a way to bring the bluesy side of Texas to the table while dodging honking-and-shouting orthodoxy. Technique has its place. “Kathelin Gray” is one of Coleman’s most plaintive ballads, and the smooch it gets from Team Liebman places its elegance front and center. The leader’s reeds are full of grace, and guitar foil Vic Juris comes off with lithe lines on nylon strings. The foursome has an aggressive side, though. It’s also a kick to hear them tumble through the turf of “CrossBreeding,” a pithy investigation into freedom. With Coleman, Liebman comes up with one of his most novel celebrations yet.

 

 

Liner Notes

Richie Beirach writes:

I am basically a classically trained jazz pianist and composer. My experiences playing with big bands has been brief and not always satisfying, probably the result of little exposure and like any other musical endeavor, lack of experience in that format.

But my listening knowledge and love of big band music is a very different story!! I have loved, studied and lived with Count Basie, Duke, Gil Evans, Thad Jones, George Russell, Bob Brookmeyer, Vince Mendoza, Maria Schneider and now Big Jim McNeely. 

The main reasons why this recording was such a great experience for me is that Mac happens to be one of the most brilliant, experienced and creative arrangers/ pianists and composers we have. His great arrangements of mine and Lieb’s music fit like a glove…like an Armani suit!

Only someone who has so much experience dealing with creative improvisers would be flexible enough to change arrangements right on the spot in the studio in order to better integrate our improvisations within the general fabric of the pieces. Courage and confidence are essential here. Thanks Big Jim.

Dave Liebman writes:

It doesn’t get much better than to have one your longest musical relationships immortalized in such a dramatic setting as the big band. From my past experiences with Jim which include his classic arrangement of “Sing, Sing, Sing” written for me in the ‘90s (earning a Grammy nomination), I knew that this would be an incredible project and am thrilled that Sunnyside is releasing it.

Jim is one of the foremost arrangers/composers in jazz, but I know him first as a great pianist who has appeared on several of my recordings in the past and with whom I have had wonderful playing experiences. It takes someone of this caliber to understand the implications of the particular kind of harmony that Richie and I have been exploring for years. The writing feels like Jim was actually playing with us-accompanying me, soloing and being completely inside the music.

“Pendulum” is pretty much the “theme song” for the group Quest which is the band Richie and I have been playing with on and off for decades (Billy Hart on drums and Ron McClure on bass.) We have recorded this tune several times and to hear it with the big band in back of us was quite a thrill. Tony Lakatos takes a great solo, right into the chromatic language of the tune. I wrote “Jung” for the Swiss psychoanalyst and Jim originally arranged this as a commission for the Zagreb Big Band a few years ago. “Vendetta” is one of my personal favorite compositions that Jim really gets a hold of texturally using the woodwinds to great advantage. “WTC” (World Trade Center) arranged by Heiner Schmitz, also recorded by Quest (Redemption-Hatology) captures the horror of  9/11. “Port Ligat” was one of the tunes I recorded with Jim in the ‘90s on a sextet CD (Timeline-Owl Records). It was written for a sojourn near Barcelona in the 70s, right next to Salvador Dali’s house, where Richie and I spent some time. I wrote “Enfin” to celebrate the election of Barack Obama, meaning FINALLY, an Afro –American President!! Jim’s “The Sky’s The Limit” is just that—a 12 tone voyage into fantastic sonic and rhythmic realms.

Richie and I thank the HR Band for their incredible musicianship and cooperation; to Olaf and his staff who helped us throughout the week; to Axel, the engineer, who painstakingly edited and mixed the music.

Most of all, our deep appreciation to Jim McNeely for his painstaking dedication to getting the music right.

Jim McNeely writes:

The quest for freedom is a thread coursing throughout human history.  It has taken shape (indeed, still takes shape) in many forms:  freedom from tyrannical rule, freedom from slavery, freedom from social and religious oppression, freedom from censorship.  On another level, people continue to struggle to free themselves from personal demons—addiction, emotional paralysis, and immobilizing fear.  So it is no surprise that art should reflect, express, and inspire humanity’s continuing quests for freedom.  It is one of the most important roles of an artist in modern society.

Yet freedom must be balanced with structure.  Without that, freedom can dissolve into chaos and anarchy.  Jazz—the music developed by descendants of African-American slaves—represents that perfect marriage of freedom and structure. Every jazz performance contains elements determined beforehand—composed—and elements freely improvised in the moment. David Liebman and Richie Beirach are masters of both ends of the equation, able to develop elegant structures in which to pursue their continuing quests for freedom.

I’ve known David for 30 years.  Even before I met him, I was inspired by his music, going back to his time with Miles Davis and Elvin Jones, and then his own groups like Lookout Farm and Open Sky.  Richie has been his musical partner for most of that time.  Together they have developed “The Code”—the intensely chromatic harmonic and melodic language that forms the basis for their performances. Their language has been well documented over many years of duo recordings, but not in a large ensemble setting.  In writing the arrangements for this recording I considered the duo to be the prime soloist.  To be sure, each individual has his own solo role to play.  But the chemistry between the two creates an energy greater than the sum of its parts.  My job was to use the considerable abilities of the Frankfurt Radio Big Band to create structures within which both players, individually and together, would be free to search and explore.  I also wanted to shape each arrangement so that it would build organically, using their solos and duo as key structural elements.  Another consideration (for you budding arrangers out there) was that the harmonic language of the music is quite chromatic and, at times, dense.  I had to be careful not to score it too heavily, especially in the slower pieces, or the clarity would be lost.  Transparency is the key.  Now, to the individual pieces:

Pendulum is one of Richie’s tunes, based on three different pedal points.  After a terrific opening solo by Tony Lakatos, Richie and David each have a solo turn.  Then they join forces, improvising freely in a series of exchanges with the whole band.

I wrote this arrangement of David’s tribute to Carl Jung a couple of years ago, for a band in Zagreb featuring David as the soloist. I am amazed by his ability to play so freely over chord changes that would baffle most players.  As is the case with all great artists, there is a lot of theory and structure in David’s playing.  Yet we are not made aware of those elements; we hear the shapes, the sound, the passion; the music.

I arranged Vendetta for a scaled-down version of the big band, with conical-bore brass and five woodwinds.  It starts with Richie laying out the essence of the song in a beautiful solo introduction.  David then joins him with the melody.  Even in playing a composed song together, the two demonstrate their near-telepathic ability to anticipate and echo each other.  The ensemble states the theme again, and David solos briefly over the coda. 

W.T.C. was arranged for David by Heiner Schmitz.  It starts peacefully, with David’s wood flute and Richie’s playing inside the piano, evoking the tranquility as the city awoke the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 (I remember it as a stunningly beautiful late summer morning without a cloud in the sky, until…).  The rest of the piece reflects the horrific events of that day, and the reactions of people in New York and around the world. 

I had played Port Ligat on Dave’s sextet recording, Time Lines (Owl Records).  Now it was an enjoyable challenge to approach the tune from the perspective of an arranger.  The melody chorus evokes Spain, Catalonia, the seacoast, and the peaceful nature of the surroundings.  Once it gets into Richie’s freely-associative solo, the atmosphere becomes darker.  Bucket-muted brass back him up, leading into a freely improvised duo with David.  The band enters again, pushing and prodding the two to the climax of the solo section.

Enfin begins with a lyrical, thoughtful solo from David.  Richie introduces the beginning of the theme, and the two play it together.  After the ensemble accompanies them on the theme, the space is cleared for a solo from Richie.  As David joins him the band develops the tune’s changes; the chords change at an increasingly faster rate.  Finally, David re-states the theme over muted brass and woodwinds.

In planning this project, David suggested that I write an original piece for him and Richie.  The result is The Sky’s the Limit.  A twelve-tone row forms the basis for the melody and harmony.  I occasionally use serial technique as a way to free myself from my own harmonic and melodic clichés.  This piece gives both David and Richie the opportunity to solo and play together.  In composing for strong players it is exciting to imagine how they will sound when they finally play the music.  In this case, they devour the material just like I knew they would!
 

This project was extremely satisfying.  It gave me the opportunity to construct arrangements around these two great musicians who are also long-time friends.  This project also represents another big step in the relationship between the Frankfurt Radio Big Band and myself.  I am so pleased to be their Artist-in-Residence as they take their place in the ranks of the world’s great jazz orchestras.  Most of the selections were recorded in a live broadcast from the HR Broadcast Hall.  We had a great audience that night, and their energy and response definitely contributed to the charged atmosphere around the music.  We now offer this music to you, as we all continue our quest for freedom.

 

Reviews

Click here for the full reviews section.

ALL MUSIC GUIDE
By Ken Dryden

Dave Liebman and Richie Beirach made a number of important recordings together in small groups (Quest and Pendulum) and as a duo during the 1970s and 1980s, but for these 2009 sessions, they are guest soloists with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, arranged and conducted by Jim McNeely. Beirach's dark, brisk "Pendulum" proves to be a powerful opener, with thrilling solos by the tenor saxophonist and the composer, plus a wild, freewheeling feature for Liebman on soprano sax......

ALL ABOUT JAZZ
By John Kelman

"The Sky" covers a wide swatch of tempos and grooves, with the horns moving from vivid counterpoint to rich harmonies in support of an early solo from Liebman that's not surprising in its depth of invention, but is in its ability to feel like far more than the more common cathartic outpouring of players who lack the Liebman's ability to think long-form, and structure his solos so that they combine powerful emotion with a remarkable narrative sense........

 

ALL ABOUT JAZZ
By Raul D'Gama Rose

Quest for Freedom—featuring soprano saxophonist Dave Liebman, pianist Richie Beirach, and the arrangements of Jim McNeely, and performed with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band—contains some of the most vivid music on record. Almost all of this has to do with three factors: Liebman and Beirach's ingenious compositions and stunning performances; McNeely's intuitive arrangements; and the sublime readings by the members of the entire ensemble. The album is as large as life—pensive and brooding, full of the depth and breadth of musical history and the sheer joy of making harmonious sound that reflects a similarly sheer joy of living........

Liner Notes

By Michael Cuscuna

It is a chronic cliché among people who observe and write about art of any kind to describe an artist as ahead of his or her time. Utter bullshit. An artist, no matter how innovative or ground-breaking, is OF his time. In the ‘60s when Coltrane was blazing trails faster than a forest fire in a California draught and Miles Davis’s quintet was stretching the rules and potential of hard bop to its very limits, they were creating the music of their time. It couldn’t have happened without them and it couldn’t have happened at any other point in time.

I make this point because I remember the first time I saw Quest in the mid ‘80s. It was an amazing musical experience, but what struck me most is that these four master musicians shared a broad-ranged common music language that defined a generation. Those of us born in the ‘40s tended to have eclectic musical experiences, tastes and influences. We were weaned on Ray Charles and Blue Note, came of age during the reigns of the various Charles Mingus groups, the John Coltrane Quartet with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones and the Miles Davis quintet with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. We witnessed earth-shattering shooting stars like Jimi Hendrix and the rise of free jazz on one hand and fusion on the other and took what we liked from each. Contemporary classical music and Indian music were also eye-opening sources of study and fascination.

In the ‘70s, there was no need to evolve in a linear fashion from one style or genre to another. Everything could happen simultaneously and did! It is that era and that generation which Quest epitomizes. Liebman wrote in 2004, “To a large degree, Quest summarizes the musical relationship between Richie [Beirach] and myself. The artistic success of the group was a result of the compatible skills, common history and experiences of the four of us since we had all been influenced by the same music at roughly the same time in our individual development.”

The first incarnation of Quest appeared in 1981 with Liebman, Beirach, George Mraz and Al Foster. But Al was pressed back into service with Miles Davis’ re-entry on the scene and George Mraz became constantly in demand with Tommy Flanagan, Roland Hanna and others. By 1983/’84, Quest had solidified as Liebman, Beirach, Ron McClure and Billy Hart. Unlike Lookout Farm, Liebman’s ‘70s group with Beirach, the Coltrane and Miles ‘60s groups were clearly the foundation and inspiration for Quest. But the quartet’s vocabulary and horizons grew every time it came together to make music

The collective history of the band members includes making meaningful music with Elvin Jones, Ten Wheel Drive, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Wynton Kelly, Charles Lloyd, Keith Jarrett, the Fourth Way, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Wes Montgomery, Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner to name a few. The musical world they inhabit was and is vast and ever expanding.

The band began recording in the mid ‘80s and lasted until 1991 when Liebman and Beirach parted ways. It became the stuff of legends with fans and other musicians recounting this or that amazing performance by this under-appreciated group.

Fast forward fourteen years-Lieb and Richie find themselves performing as a duo at a mutual friend’s 50th birthday party. That night triggered the 2005 reunion of Quest. Remarkably, they picked up where they’d left off in 1991 with their empathy, common language and common goals intact.

This live Hamburg performance for NDR radio comes a little more than two years into the band’s second life. Their interplay, their energy and their individual and collective contributions on stage make every performance a revelation. And this concert is no exception. If you haven’t heard the reunited Quest, you are in for some surprises.

Ron McClure’s “Let Freedom Ring” is a marvelous, snaky line against a pulse rhythm. It inspires Liebman and Beirach to use space magnificently. The improvisational section is essentially a duet by them with Richie answering Lieb’s quirky soprano statements and eventually stoking him with some outrageous voicings. McClure explains: “This piece first appeared on my 1999 album Double Triangle. The line we recorded with Quest is only the opening line. There was an entire arrangement for the sextet recording on Naxos Jazz, which we didn't get into.” Billy Hart was on the original version as well.

Lieb composed “Standoff” as a lament on the situation in Israel (one step forward, two steps back). It is a beautiful, stately ballad. Richie’s solo piano introduction is a stunning two-minute meditation on the composition. Lieb’s soprano carries a tone of poignancy and dignity throughout his solo. This composition dates back to 2001 when it was recorded on the album Lunar by the Marc Copland-David Liebman Quartet.

Lieb opens “Re-Dial” unaccompanied. When the rhythm section kicks in, Richie embarks on an ever building solo that begins where McCoy Tyner lives and gradually grows freer. Billy Hart’s highly musical drum solo is a demonstration of the importance of the discreet tuning of a drum set. Lieb joins him for a duet in the tradition of Trane and Elvin that raises the intensity. The last section is an all out free-form quartet improvisation. This is a new approach for the group, inspired by swirling improvisations reminiscent of Coltrane’s last period. Lieb calls it “a loose chromatic burn – our “current” direction.”

Richie Beirach’s “Continuum” is an exquisite piece introduced by the composer. Lieb has called Richie “Mr. 20th Century Chopin” and that’s a fair assessment. Who else can be divinely lyrical one minute and swing and phrase like Bud Powell the next? Richie is an old soul with a youthful mind.

“Pendulum” is Quest’s “flag-waving pedal point tune,” as Lieb describes it. Lieb finally picks up the tenor sax and his other voice (the one that those of us who of a similar age are most used to) emerges. The band used to open with this tune and it’s as close to a theme song as they’ll ever have. It is a perfect vehicle to show off the way these four men listen to and play off each other.

Artists as diverse as Chris Swansen, Pink Floyd and Van Morrison have used “Piper At The Gates Of Dawn” as a title. Lieb never heard any of their versions but liked the image that it created in his mind and used it to title this beautiful piece. “This is the kind of harmony and rubato that I like to do.” And it certainly is the kind of piece that no one who came of age before the ‘60s would be comfortable performing. Everyone, especially Richie and Lieb, is outstanding on this.

John Coltrane’s “Brazilia” starts with a drum and wooden flute duet that belies the identity of the composition. Then Lieb picks up the tenor and the band moves into Coltrane orbit, stating the theme with changes provided by Dave. This is a tune that Coltrane first recorded in early 1965 at a point when his amazing quartet was at the beginning of its deconstruction. Interestingly, though the members of Quest were profoundly shaped by the classic Coltrane quartet in its prime, this performance immediately sails into the realm of the Coltrane quintet of 1966-’67 – freer, fragmented and intense in a different way. Quest captures the tumult and frustration of that era.

The lyrical, stately “Hermitage” comes from the pen and piano of Richie Beirach. This is a beautiful reading. The piece is named after the club in the late Thomas Stowsand’s hometown of Schwaz, Austria. Stowsand, a co-founder of ECM Records and one of the best and most beloved booking agents in Europe would bring musicians there during a tour where they would usually end up playing at the Hermitage before returning to the road.

This is only the second album by the reunited Quest (they recorded Redemption for Hatology in 2005). But hopefully there will be more. Thankfully the members intend to set aside time every year or two to get together to tour and record. What can you say about a band that started out great and keeps getting better?

Reviews

Click here for the full reviews section.

ALL ABOUT JAZZ

by John Kelman

The new millennium seems to be a time when groups are reuniting, sometimes to even greater acclaim than they achieved the first time around. It's also a time when aging jazz musicians are lighting a fire under their own careers, ramping up their output and broadening their reach. Saxophonist Dave Liebman's activity in the past year has been almost beyond belief, closing in on a dozen as a leader and co-leader, as well as a couple of important reissues. One significant re-release is Searching for the Next Sound of Be-Bop (Storyville, 2010), bringing three important albums back into print, including the first two discs by Quest--once it arrived at a consistent lineup with its second release, Quest II (Storyville, 1986)--and Double Edge (Storyville, 1985), a tremendous duo record from Liebman and Quest-mate/pianist Richie Beirach, which further solidifies the language and mitochondrial connection these two have shared, dating back to the 1970s and other groups, including Lookout Farm and Pendulum.

Liner Notes

The trio was on tour playing Kurt Weill and Alec Wilder compositions from our two releases on Daybreak. Arriving at this small club in Belgium and feeling a bit under the weather, I felt that we should play something different. As I try to do on these occasions, I like to have at least the thread of a story line for a night’s repertoire. Why not play some blues played or associated with John Coltrane? Thanks to Kris Roevens and some additional sound reinforcement from Marius, to our surprise we came out with a CD’s worth of music without planning it at all.

For many years till the late ‘80s, with a few exceptions I purposely  refrained from recording Coltrane tunes for the obvious reason that I needed and wanted to escape his titanic ( and positive) influence on my life and music. It is well known among those who have heard me speak in classes or interviews that seeing Trane live in the ‘60s was my epiphany. By the late ‘80s I felt ready to tackle it somewhat of my own terms, which I did on “Homage To Coltrane” (Owl Records) in 1987 and have recorded several Trane compositions since then, especially from the late period. In the case of this CD, the vibe was to just play the music for an evening and have fun. With such a strong bass-drum team as Marius and Eric are, I knew that whatever transpired it would certainly swing…so no arrangements, just the heads and blow. There is nothing new contained herein but it does reflect the absorption of years of study of Trane’s music and a kind of homage to one particular aspect of his massive style.

Coltrane had a different approach to playing the blues than others from his generation as well as from his usual approach to chord change playing. In a way Trane was like an old blues cat who couldn’t give up the strong pull of the basic I-IV-V progression. This is notable in light of so many intricate altered blues statements that existed like Bird’s “Blues for Alice” or even “All Blues” which were compositional variations of the format. And there is of course the incessant cry of the blues scale itself to deal with. Just imagining how many variations exist on that basic sound is impressive.

For the beboppers, the blues was an old friend who had to be visited, almost as an obligation. There is so much in the blues that transfers to the standard song repertoire: the tonic, sub dominant, dominant relationships of the harmony; the call and response aspect of the form; the lyrical (vocal) intimations of the melodies; the universal appeal of the blues. When Trane played the blues you really GOT IT. He wrote a lot of blues in different keys, sometimes with different substitute harmonies but always true to the integrity of the blues sound. One of his most influential solos, the classic live track from the Village Vanguard of “Chasin’ the Trane” is a great example of his commitment to the basic I-IV-V blues model as is “Pursuance” in a completely different way a few years later. Of course there is the landmark recording “Coltrane Plays The Blues,” a primer for anyone interested in his music.

To me when I hear the blues played well, it is an affirmation of the human spirit…neither sad nor happy…just a slice of life on this planet that all humanity feels and lives through beyond time, place, culture and ethnicity. In broad terms people have much more in common than not-the life/death, young/old, love/loss cycles that we all pass through…the general “yin/yangness” of it all. The blues is a universal declaration of what it is to be alive in the moment.

Once again my thanks to Marius and Eric for their ongoing musical support, to Fred Dubiez for his unwavering commitment to the music and to Kris Roevens for capturing that night on tape.

March 30 2010
Stroudsburg, PA USA

Reviews

  Click here for the full reviews section.

It’s a sax master class, as usual.
THE GUARDIAN (UK)

…full of passion, invention and sheer joy…
IRISHTIMES (IR)

 …en dat is bijzonder goed uitgepakt.
JAZZ (NL)

Diese Live-Einspielung vom April 2008 (…) schafft tatsächlich eine unglaubliche Atmosphäre…
Für Trio-Fans eine absolute Bereicherung.
JAZZPODIUM (D)

…a worthy tribute to Coltrane and a more than welcome addition to Liebman’s extensive discography.
Few can conjure the spirit of the blues like Liebman (…) Village Blues is the most breathtaking sweep of emotions that might be heard on soprano saxophone for some time to come.
ALL ABOUT JAZZ (USA)

…five lengthy tracks that shine from beginning to end.
BOSTON POST GAZETTE (USA)

…Lieb Plays the Blues à la Trane is a smouldering piece of work.
JAZZ, BLUES & THE TRUTH (C)

…an Adrenalizing, Unexpected trio album.
…a must-own for Liebman fans…
LUCID CULTURE (USA)

I give this my HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating (…) my “PICK” for the best live jazz recording of 2011.
Zzjaj Productions (USA)

…impressive examples of passion tempered by deliberate control.
JAZZIZ (USA)

“Lieb Plays the Blues à la Trane” is destined to become a classic…
THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD (USA)

ALL MUSIC GUIDE
By Ken Dryden

Jazz is often at its best when musicians come to a live performance without preplanning a set, which is the case when David Liebman recorded this trio set at a Belgium club called De Singer in 2008. With the strong support of bassist Marius Beets and drummer Eric Ineke, Liebman tackles five blues either written or recorded by John Coltrane, starting with a breezy, playful version of Miles Davis' "All Blues" that swings like mad, with the soprano saxophonist making great use of space and taking the piece far beyond its usual horizon.

ALL ABOUT JAZZ
By Raul DeGama Rose

There are few artists who can channel the spiritual fervent of John Coltrane better than Dave Liebman. Liebman was so deeply moved by Trane, that it took him two decades to renew a commitment to revisiting the legendary saxophonist's work. Liebman was so completely under Trane's spell that, by his own admission, it was like having a musical epiphany. Liebman has developed a voice so singular and unique that his broad tone on tenor saxophone and his plaintive, almost crushing wail on soprano mark him with one of the most distinctive styles of horn-playing in all of modern music. Liebman is, of course, rooted in modal music, but his approach is not quite as raw as Coltrane's. His honks and bleats are shorter; his lines more elastic (especially on the soprano), and he breathes the Lydian modes more exquisitely in the ebb-and-flow of his playing.

 

THE GUARDIAN (LONDON)
By John Fordham

David Liebman is one of the most creative jazz saxophonists on the planet – but he adds to that an unmistakably single-minded devotion to fresh music-making that makes each new album feel like an informal meeting with an inspired friend. Liebman didn't plan this Coltrane-dedicated trio exploration of the blues – he just turned up on tour at Belgium's De Singer club with bassist Marius Beets and drummer Eric Ineke and felt like examining Coltrane's harmonically revolutionary approach to the idiom. Three pieces here are therefore Coltrane blues originals, alongside a feverishly whirling visit to Miles Davis's All Blues and a finale of Duke Ellington's Take the Coltrane. In between is the deliciously lazy swinger Up Against the Wall that turns into a slamming improvisation, a skimming Mr PC featuring the powerful Eric Ineke, and a quietly whimsical and eventually exultant Village Blues. It's a sax master-class, as usual.

 

THE IRISH TIMES
by Ray Comiskey 

Even the astonishingly consistent Liebman must have been surprised at how this blowing session, made on tour with bassist Marius Beets and drummer Eric Ineke in 2008, took off. It’s full of the passion, invention and sheer joy in playing that the great saxophonist can summon in the right company. The common thread of this live date is blues written by or associated with Coltrane, an acknowledged seminal influence on Liebman.

But this is no “tribute” album – and in any case there is more to Liebman (and Coltrane) than the blues. What distinguishes the best performances here ( All Blues, Mr PC, Take the Coltrane and, especially, Village Blues ) is Liebman’s instinctively creative response to the tug of the underlying, age-old blues structures, and the tension between them and the free-ranging, highly original soprano and tenor improvisations they nourish.

 

ALL ABOUT JAZZ
by Bruce Lindsey

One day in April, 2008, saxophonist Dave Liebman, on tour in Belgium, was feeling a little under the weather. He decided to replace his trio's planned set list for the evening with a set of blues tunes associated with John Coltrane. Kris Roevens recorded the set, at De Singer in Rijkevorsel, and two years later it has become Lieb Plays The Blues À La Trane--a tribute to the great saxophonist, but also a tribute to the creativity that can arise from spontaneous decisions.

A new release from Liebman is hardly an unusual event--he must be one of the most prolific of jazz musicians--but it is always a welcome one. Liebman has clearly been inspired by Coltrane--describing seeing him in the '60s as “my epiphany”--and there are plenty of tunes associated with the jazz legend in Liebman's back catalogue. The rhythm section here--bassist Marius Beets and drummer Eric Ineke--are both experienced Liebman sidemen, appearing on Lieb Plays Wilder (Daybreak, 2005) and Lieb Plays Weill (Daybreak, 2009).

 

BOSTON POST GAZETTE
by Bob Morello

Saxophonist David Liebman succumbs to the inspirations of John Coltrane in his music. Teaming up with Marius Beets on bass and Eric Ineke on drums, Liebman created a night’s repertoire of Coltrane’s blues, and ended up with a CD’s worth of music. Liebman arranged five lengthy tracks that shine from beginning to end. Opening with just under ten minutes worth of Miles Davis’ “All Blues,” climbing aboard the Coltrane train with the legend’s efforts that include, “Up Against the Wall,” the fast pace of “Mr. P.C.” and over fifteen minutes worth of “Village Blues.” The fitting tribute to Trane “Take the Coltrane” was penned by Duke Ellington and played brilliantly by the trio The blues of Trane —Liebman-ized!

 

LUCID CULTURE (on line)

Dave Liebman Delivers an Adrenalizing, Unexpected Trio Album

This album – titled The Dave Liebman Trio Plays the Blues a la Trane –  was in the can for awhile before Liebman might have said to himself, “Hey, why not release this?” And why not? He’s the rare artist who could probably get away with releasing pretty much everything he plays – which he may realize, because he’s pretty much been doing that lately. This set has the saxophone giant playing in a trio situation at a live date in Belgium in the spring of 2008 with Marius Beets on bass and Eric Ineke on drums, an interestingly stripped-down configuration in light of Liebman’s recent, noteworthy big band work. The official story is that Liebman decided to go completely off program for this one and jam out on a series of blues by John Coltrane, or associated with him. It’s both fresh – especially for the rhythm section – and retro at the same time.

 

 

AUDIOPHILE AUDITION (web based)

David Liebman is a true link to seminal jazz of the late fifties and early sixties. As a twelve-year- old student of the saxophone, he was drawn to the abstract structures of jazz. A native New Yorker, he frequented historic Greenwich Village clubs, including the Village Vanguard, Half Note and Birdland. It was there he witnessed, in awe, the genius of John Coltrane.  After an initial foray into fusion, he was hired by the legendary Coltrane drummer, Elvin Jones. A four year tenure with Miles Davis augmented the learning curve. Following a world tour with Chic Corea in 1977, he formed the David Liebman Quartet, which included John Scofield. This ensemble recorded seven albums, and established the saxophonist as a prominent exponent of idiomatic jazz.