I confess to being something of a vibraphone junkie. It is a fascinating instrument, one that combines percussion with multi-mallet chordal possibilities and horn-like two-mallet playing. Most jazz fans are familiar with the vibraphone through Lionel Hampton, but the first-rate music really began with Red Norvo. Listen to his unamplified xylophone (Dance of the Octopus with Benny Goodman), or the great trio with Charles Mingus and Tal Farlow, or, best of all, his work with singer Mildred Bailey. The xylophone hasn't come back, but it's big brother, the wonderfully woody marimba has, and many of today's young vibraphonists play it. Lionel Hampton was a ham-fisted drummer, but a marvelously inventive, subtle, and swinging vibraphonist. His work with the Benny Goodman Quartet is still fresh and exciting - and easily available. Check out as well his other small group work with quintets and sextets drawn from the big bands of the time. The best vinyl collection I know is called "Hot Mallets" and it is available on CD as well: Bluebird (6458-2-RB). By the way, the Goodman quartet - and Goodman - deserve much more credit than they get both musically and socially. Not only was the music great, but the Goodman quartet was seriously integrated at a time when blacks and whiles almost never played together in public (after hours gigs were another matter). And the Goodman quartet was truly mixed - both Teddy Wilson and Hampton were black.
Milt Jackson was to the modern vibraphone what Charlie Parker and Bud Powell were to the saxophone and the piano. Toward the middle of the last century an almost miraculous change came over jazz. Suddenly, the harmonic and rhythmic complexity of the music dramatically increased, recapitulating some of the changes in classical music in the early 20th century. These artists and a few others, Jackson among them, created the form called bop, the modern idiom of jazz, one that still is influential today. Out of that modern tradition come today's group of extraordinary vibraphonists - Locke, Steve Nelson, and Stefon Harris for example.
"Something about the vibes, perhaps the unique combination of percussion and melody, seems to attract the best and most versatile musicians."
Jonny King, "An Insider's Guide to Understanding and Listening to Jazz"
Joe Locke is regarded by many, including me, as the premier vibraphonist of our day. He can play chamber duets that are complex but soft and exceptionally lyrical. His gigs and CDs with Frank Kimbrough are perfect examples. Many of you will remember them from JazzNights 14 in 2006. But he has also played renowned duets with pianist Cecil Taylor, an icon of "outside" jazz playing. Their three-day series of duets has been described as "volcanic," and I can well believe it. Like Milt Jackson in his Modern Jazz Quartet role, Mr. Locke can often be soft - play pretty - without losing his musical inventiveness or becoming the least bit saccharine or uninteresting. Or, like Jackson in his bop-innovator role, he can swing like mad.
Mr. Locke also plays in a remarkable variety of important groups, some rather experimental, such as his 4 Walls of Freedom quartet (Locke, Gary Novak on drums, Ed Howard on bass, and Tommy Smith on tenor), or more traditional such as the Milt Jackson Tribute Band (Locke, Mike LeDonne on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Mickey Roker on drums). Other groups include collaborations with pianist Geoff Keezer, and Force of Four, with Jonathan Blake, Ricardo Rodriguez, and no-relation Robert Rodriguez (a pianist we are striving mightily to bring to Princeton). Force of Four is one of the most interesting groups around today - don't miss it. They'll be in Germany this July - it's worth a trip!
Early this May, Mr. Locke will be playing in New York at the Knickerbocker Bar and Grill (http://www.knickerbockerbarandgrill.com/) with the unusual trio he will bring to JazzNights on May 3. It includes trumpeter Lew Soloff (http://www.lewsoloff.com), who looks like an accountant, but plays like an angel. I see him often in New York, most usually at the Monday night Mingus Big Band events at the Jazz Standard. He reminds me at times of the late, great (and underappreciated) trumpeter Sonny Berman. Classically trained, he has appeared with just about every important big band in jazz: Gil Evans,Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Maynard Ferguson, Machito, and, of course, the MBB. His trumpet was often heard when we all listened to Blood, Sweat and Tears. Mr. Soloff has a beautiful sound and an imagination that lends itself to the concerto-like constructs of Sy Johnson's arrangements for the MBB - not to mention the frequent pyrotechnics.
"One often chooses to listen on the presumption that it will transcend the infelicities of society, ameliorate anxiety or transport one to another emotional space. If this is the lift one seeks, the pleasures to be derived from the artful trumpet of Lew Soloff are guaranteed."
Zoë Ang/Bomb Magazine
Bassist Francois Moutin (doctorate in physics!) often plays with Mr. Soloff. Born in Paris, he went on to become a member of Martial Solal's great trio. In 1997 he moved to New York, and can often be heard with his brother, drummer Louis Moutin. Their joint group, The Moutin Reunion Quartet, has several excellent CDs and is well worth catching whenever you can.
"François Moutin's bass chops are practically unparalleled; his facility in the highest register allows him to double melodies and sound almost like a guitar.
David R. Adler, All Music Guide Expert Review
CD Recommendations:
Locke (with Frank Kimbrough):
Saturn's Child, Omnitone 11901, 1999
Willow, Omnitone 12201, 2002
Verrazano Moon. Saturn's Child, Omnitone, 2008 (I haven't even heard this one yet, but the program is almost exactly that of JazzNights 14, and it was recorded live at almost the same time)
Locke (with The Milt Jackson Tribute Band)
Rev-elation, Sharp Nine, 2005
Locke (with Geoff Keezer and others)
Live in Seattle, Origin, 2006
Summertime, Sony, 2005
Summer Knows, Sony, 2004
Locke (with Force of Four)
Force of Four, Origin, 2008
And many more.
Soloff
Air on a G-String (with François Moutin, Larry Willis, and Victor Lewis, Crown, 2004).
With a Song in my Heart, Milestone, 1999
Moutin
Sharp Turns, Nocturne/Lightyear, 2007
Something Like Now, Nocturne/Lightyear, 2005
Red Moon, Nocturne/Sunnyside, 2003