sugar 5:40
TRANSCRIPT
Having created a great situation in his current quartet, John Stein continues to make the most of it. Stein is one of far too few contemporary musicians who have found and sustained a band that brings out his best as an instrumentalist and composer, a band with its own evolving sound and ensemble dimensions. A signal achievement at any time in jazz history, ensemble longevity is particularly rare at present; yet the John Stein Quartet, a multi-generational and intercontinental enterprise from the outset survives. And as the present and three previous Whaling City discs have documented, it thrives.
Stein’s focus on melodic invention and insistence that technique is a means rather than an end as a guitar soloist, his wryly challenging sense of rhythm and color as composer and bandleader, follow from an early fascination with playing and singing folk songs and the bossa nova he also came to love via his family’s first jazz LP, Getz/Gilberto. It was inevitable that Stein’s first visit to Brazil, through the invitation of one of his former Berklee College students, would prove inspirational; but beyond the music created on that 2005 tour (which Whaling City has documented on Concerto Internacional de Jazz), Stein found a musical soul mate in drummer Zé Eduardo Nazario, whose history as a sideman (with the likes of Hermeto Pascoal and Egberto Gismonti) plus three decades at the head of his own ensemble have made him a legend in Brazilian music. The affinity between guitarist and drummer begat the present quartet, the recorded history of which begins with the 2007 session that produced Encounterpoint. This fourth installment from the quartet chronicles the accelerating success of a most felicitous collaboration.
Efficiency is at the center of Stein’s approach to music. He wrote two of the tunes here, “Unraveled Plans” and “Waiting for Woody,” in the hours when a carpenter left him hanging on a home repair project; and he shows a similar knack for making the most of available opportunities in the way he develops each quartet album. While the originals and standards are selected in advance, time is always set aside for one-on-one woodshedding with Nazario before the full band is brought together. The drummer has wide-ranging interests and skills beyond what might be national typecasting, and he inevitably adds successful wrinkles to Stein’s already personalized conceptions. As a result, Stein’s take on “Sugar” hip-hops rather than shuffles, “Delilah” sheds its usual desert-caravan exotica for a maracatu rhythm, and “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” arrives as a fast waltz. “My arrangements inevitably change,” Stein acknowledges. “Zé Eduardo takes me out of my comfort zone.”That zone is further expanded as the rest of the rhythm section contributes ideas. Charter member John Lockwood, who has played with Stein for more than a decade, is the premier bassist in New England, and would be more widely recognized as one of the best anywhere if family duties did not keep him off the road. Stein calls Lockwood “incredibly fast in picking up what I want, and unbelievable in every aspect of his playing. The only problem is he’s so busy - he’s often too busy to rehearse.” Not that the demands on Lockwood’s time inhibit his contributions, as his solos on “Sugar” and “Unraveled Plans,” and his intro to “Delilah,” should make evident.
Jake Sherman, a Berklee student and the quartet’s newest member, debuted on the band’s last disc, Hi Fly. He shares Stein’s knack for finding ideas that surprise without being different for their own sake. As his solos on “Chelsea Bridge,” “Lover” and “Delilah” confirm, he is equally adept on piano, organ and Fender Rhodes, with an “old soul” quality that belies his youth. “I can’t imagine being that brilliant that early, both musically and socially,” Stein marvels.
Together, these four create sounds heard from no other group, sounds like the simmering introduction to “Unraveled Plans” and the diaphanous voicing of the “Belo Horizonte” melody. Stein provides a lot to work with, including five strong originals (two of which confirm his empathy for things Brazilian), well-chosen standards (his use of Mingus’s Ellington tribute to frame “Chelsea Bridge” is inspired), and a lyrical solo concept that has only been enhanced by his recent work with Ron Gill and other vocalists. Best of all, Stein’s vision of music as “a conversation among friends, not an excuse for impressing people with chops,” sets a tone that is upheld and magnified by his partners.
While Bing Bang Boom! is the strongest statement by the John Stein Quartet to date, it is even more encouraging to know that there is more and (if past experience is an indicator), better to come.
Bob Blumenthal
Together, these four create sounds heard from no othergroup... Stein provides a lot to work with, including fivestrong originals, well-chosen standards, and a lyrical soloconcept that has only been enhanced by his recent workwith Ron Gill and other vocalists... Best of all, Stein’s
vision of music as “a conversation among friends, not anexcuse for impressing people with chops,” sets a tone
that is upheld and magnified by his partners.
Bob Blumenthal - from the liner notes
1) Sugar 5:40Stanley Turrentine, La Place Music Inc, BMI
2) Menina 4:24John Stein, JS Jazz, BMI
3) Unraveled Plans 5:02John Stein, JS Jazz, BMI
4) Bing Bang Boom! 5:03John Stein, JS Jazz, BMI
5) Medley: 7:42
Duke Ellington’s Sound Of LoveCharles Mingus, Jazz Music Workshop Inc, BMI Chelsea BridgeBilly Strayhorn, Tempo Music Inc, ASCAP
6) Belo Horizonte 4:39John Stein, JS Jazz, BMI
7) Lover 6:44Rogers & Hart, Sony ATV Harmony, ASCAP
8) Delilah 5:19Victor Young, Sony ATV Harmony, ASCAP
9) Waiting For Woody 5:26John Stein, JS Jazz, BMI
10) You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To 4:02Cole Porter, Chappell-Co Inc, ASCAP
Music Format : Jazz
Produced by:John Stein
Executive Producer:Neal Weiss
Recorded by:Peter KontrimasPBS, Westwood, MANovember 19 & 20, 2011
Mixed and Mastered by:Peter KontrimasPBS, Westwood, MADecember 10, 12, 17, & 19, 2011
Liner Notes:Bob Blumenthal
CD Design :David Arruda, Jr.
Photography by Kofi, except photo of Jake Sherman by Amy Poliakoff
John Stein Jake Sherman
John Lockwood Zé Eduardo Nazario
or2012
Catalog # wcs062
Whaling City Sound1310 Tucker Road No. Dartmouth, MA 02747 USA
www.whalingcitysound.com
Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws
Total Running Time: 54:18
Naxos of America
615.771.9393
www.naxosusa.com
DISTRIBUTION RADIO PUBLICITY
Dick LaPalm310.472.7246
Fred Mancuso702.457.8815
Mixed MediaGinny Shea
