Flashback: LATE WINTER IN NEW YORK
April 18, 2007
— In pinoyjazz@yahoogroups.com, "buszmail" <affinityjazz@…> wrote:
from Johnny Alegre
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Greetings from New York in the aftermath of a winter storm last March 16. Earlier, in the week of March 9 when the sun was shining, rehearsed and recorded a new album, with drummer Billy Hart and bassist Ron McClure. Hopefully, this album can be released late this year or early next year. It took almost another year of preparation and perhaps I can now do some feel-good spoilers for the Pinoyjazz community. Ron and Billy are excellent teachers, working with them was not only fun but brought out unrealized elements in my musicianship, introducing fresh territory. Ron in particular was very supportive in the performance department, he was very generous in providing playing ideas, sharing his confidence and experience.
Billy, on the other hand, was a great narrator of stories; and during breaks he would engage me in all kinds of jazz lore, making me feel at home in this rarefied company: stories about Wes Montgomery, Lee Morgan, Jimmy Smith, etc. The experience was surely lots of fun. The three of us posed for pictures in a New York sidewalk, etc. (trivia: We rehearsed in this small walkup in West 46th Street called Michiko on the 3rd floor, and downstairs, Chris Potter and Brian Blade were playing for a masterclass.) We worked together so well that this trio will most likely be my permanent band of choice outside the Philippines. (More on this at a later junction.) Here's some useful introduction of my American jazz friends (just Google the unfamiliar names). Hoping as well that Jazzphil-USA can provide this trio some assistance in the U.S. West Coast . Here goes:
* Ron McClure studied with Don Sebesky. He worked in the Buddy Rich Sextet in 1963 and Maynard Ferguson's big band and Herbie Mann in 1964, and then assumed the bass chair in the Wynton Kelly Trio vacated by the late Paul Chambers in 1965 (frequently accompanying guitarist Wes Montgomery). He thereafter joined the "classic quartet" of Charles Lloyd, together with Keith Jarrett and Jack de Johnnette, spanning 1966-69. In 1970, together with Mike Nock, Eddie Marshall and Michael White, they formed the groundbreaking experimental jazz group, The Fourth Way. He also participated in Carla Bley's innovative album, "Escalator Over The Hill". In the greater part of the 1970s, Ron engaged himself in an association with saxophonist Joe Henderson, with whom he joined Blood, Sweat & Tears. Henderson left soon before recordings were made but McClure stayed on to perform in three B,S&T albums ("Mirror Image", "New City", "Live And Improvised"). Henderson and McClure recorded four albums together. In the 1980s, McClure joined Quest, led by Dave Liebman, which included drummer Billy Hart and pianist Richie Beirach. He also recorded a duo album with Michel Petrucciani. McClure's major engagements in the 1990s through the 2000s were with Lee Konitz, and then with the reassembled Quest (which will be touring this year and releasing a new cd). His own solo albums are with John Abercrombie, Vic Juris, Richie Beirach and Randy Brecker.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GceGfe17Jkc
* Billy Hart got an early start in Washington DC, backing visiting artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Smokey Robinson, and then landed his first regular stint with singer-pianist Shirley Horn. He thereafter was recruited by Buddy Montgomery to join the Montgomery Brothers (with brothers Wes and Monk) in 1961, and then went through an intermediate period with Jimmy Smith (1964-1966), until he rejoined Wes Montgomery (1966-1968). Following Montgomery's death, Hart moved to New York, where he played with Eddie Harris, Pharoah Sanders and Marian McPartland, and recorded with Joe Zawinul ("Zawinul"), Wayne Shorter ("Odyssey of Iska") and, later, Miles Davis ("On The Corner"). In 1969, he became a member of Herbie Hancock's Sextet (1969-1973), which released some of the next decade's groundbreaking albums, "Mwandishi", "Crossings" and "Sextant". Upon the disbanding of the Hancock Sextet, he joined McCoy Tyner (1973-1974) and Stan Getz (1974-1979). In the 1980's Hart was a regular with bands led by Gerry Mulligan, Clark Terry, Mingus Dynasty and, most extensively, with Quest (with Dave Liebman, Richie Beirach, and Ron McClure). In the 1990's Hart joined Charles Lloyd (together with Marc Johnson and John Abercrombie) which released albums for ECM. He was the drummer for Pat Martino's "Live At Yoshi's" album. He also played with Joe Lovano, and in 1999 through the 2000s he performed and recorded with the Saxophone Summit (Liebman-Lovano-Brecker).
http://www.upbeat.com/lieb/summit.htm
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All for now. Nippy weather over here. Sun is out again but the ice hasn't melted. Visited today John Coltrane's old abandoned house in Dix Hills, Long Island, where he composed "A Love Supreme". Paid my respects. I swear I could hear the empty house reverberating. Three acres of snow, and no footprints until I got there. I'll do scans and post them in the Photos folder later this week or next. I'm heading home and back to the day job to keep body and soul together. See you guys (hopefully) at the bar gigs.
— End forwarded message —
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