Most music makes too much noise. This is what I have concluded after years of listening to head-banging power chords and free jazz blowouts. Especially in our currently overheated climate, sometimes the best thing a musician can do is shut the hell up, or, to put a finer point on it, allow the spaces between the notes the room and air they need to breathe. It is for these reasons that most of the contemporary music I listen to now is of the lowercase variety, and it is also for this reason that I have recently found myself returning to the understated improvisations of the Modern Jazz Quartet.
I have long had my issues with the MJQ. I never much cared for their concert hall aesthetic, which has evidently long appealed to the more conservative element in the jazz community. (Honestly, there is no reason why any grown man should willingly choose to wear a bow tie.) Be that as it may, a listening session with a friend earlier this week forced a reappraisal. After a few minutes of chatting, my friend put on Fontessa, originally released by Atlantic Records in 1956. I was immediately drawn into the placid waters of this music, the ringing solos of vibist Milt Jackson, John Lewis’s elegant figures on piano, and Connie Kay’s deft touch on percussion. But for some reason, Percy Heath on bass stood out the most. When he walked down a line on the standard “Willow Weep For Me,” playing notes that a thousand musicians had played before him, and a thousand more would play after him, somehow the sensitive way in which he handled his work, imparting to his notes a soft, boozy sentimentality that one often experiences after that fifth glass of beer, made me feel completely at home, happy to be lost in the music. My friend, noticing the pleasure I derived from Heath’s playing, leaned towards me and said, with some urgency, “You need to play the bass. Don’t worry about being any good. I’m not talking about playing in a band or for anybody else or anything like that. You need to play the bass for yourself. Get a bass, and play it until your fingers bleed, and then keep playing it. Then you’ll be able to hear music like this from the inside.”
~ David Jones
Posted by djones on July 30, 2006 9:42 PMNice review. Like you, I haven't played much of the MJQ's music over the years, feeling it was too tame, not dangerous enough. I'll have to check out Fontessa.
As for playing bass, your friend is right--though I'd say playing any instrument will shed light on the music and allow you to experience it a different way.
Posted by: Paul B at August 2, 2006 9:25 AM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................