"LET'S CALL THIS ... ESTEEM"
Steve Lacy sop sax; Mal Waldron piano.
Recorded at The Playhouse, Oxford, England. 16 May 1993. SLAMCD 501.
Recorded live by Tim Turan, produced by George Haslam.
TRACKS:
1 Introduction by (Lol Coxhill) and Let’s call this. 7m 03s
2 Monk’s dream 5 25
3 In a sentimental mood 8 18
4 Snake out 14 00
5 Blues for Aida 7 26
6 Johnny come lately 6 53
7 What it is 9 06
8 Evidence 6 56
9 Epistrophy 5 18
10 Esteem 7 50
JAZZ NOTES, September 1993
With an association spanning almost forty years, these two jazz masters bring a wealth of experience to the concert platform at the 1993 Oxford Playhouse Jazz Festival. Emcee Lol Coxhill respectfully introduces the duo for their first appearance together on British soil, and they they're off, laconically and lovingly making their way through Monk, Ellington and Strayhorn territory with occasional detours to cover their own originals. Why does this gig sound so good? It's a great duo, simple as that. Lacy's long affair with the music of Thelonious Monk continues unabashedly. He remains one of the foremost interpreters of the composer's tunes. The dry tone and steady phrasing belies a complete mastery of the soprano saxophone. Lacy is a pure delight and it's sheer pleasure to hear one of the great improvisors at work, all the way through this long set.
Mal Waldron's big left-hand chords bring a directness to the proceedings. The long and moody development of his own "Snake Out" is particularly beguiling, settling the brew down to a slow burn after meditative and unaccompanied saxophone hauntingly shadowed by the piano's ringing strings. And then Waldron's Oxford outing is a terrific affair and comes heartily recommended. MATTHEW KRIEG
THE WIRE
This duo album, recorded live earlier this year in Oxford, has two each of their own compositions plus four by Monk and two from the Ellington book (including "Johnny Come Lately" which Lacy first recorded with Cecil Taylor). Actually, there are signs that they were slow to settle down, on this occasion - the whole performance is here, warts and all - and the standards don't quite catch fire. It's only with a long "Snake Out" by Waldron and Lacy's "Blues for Aida" that the music becomes really gripping, the soprano and piano less motivic than mellow, like a velvet cushion on granite. Certainly, the energy level is higher thereafter and, when the participants come temporarily unstuck at the reprise of "Evidence", the human fallibility is captivating.
Riley is not so uniquely dour as Waldron, but this material certainly brings out a similar doggedness. See for instance "Evidence", the only overlap between the two sessions, which Howard plays over a walking bass line to make it crystal clear how clever Monk's composition really is. This album too gets off to a slow start with rather literal readings - almost as if the pianist was reading. But the surprising dynamics of Duke's "Melancholia" lead to the supreme(ly met) challenge of Monk's "Friday The Thirteenth". Despite some rather too Monkish arrangements of the Ellington tracks, this is an intelligent programme, well carried out. BRIAN PRIESTLEY
JAZZ JOURNAL This complete concert from 1993's Oxford Jazz Festival provides quality with its quantity. Lacy and Waldron have played together on and off for years. They are founder presidents of a putative Thelonious Monk Inspirational Club, and the back bone of this programme is the four Monk compositions. 'Let's Call This' is a delightful start, Lacy's solo a recomposition into a legato, mid-tempo ballad. Lacy generally avoids excesses derived from the free approach. His high notes are flute-like at the start of 'Epistrophy' and in dog-whistle-land on his own 'Esteem', but his improvisations are mainly straightforward - 'Esteem' becomes an elaborated blues. The first half of Waldron's rhythmically surging 'Snake Out', though, has the excitedly whirling soprano adopting an uglified tone. The piano changes the mood with an attractive, largely chordal improvisation, a relative of ' 'Round Midnight'. Waldron throughout is more chordal/percussive than on Songs of Love and Regret, the most recent previous record of his that I've heard, and that does lend a certain heaviness at some points. 'Sentimental' and 'Johnny' are developed powerfully, yet, like other tracks, with touches of humour. I'm less enamoured of 'What It Is', restlessly static, or of the teasing 'Epistrophy'. But 'Evidence' and 'Aida' are delights. The latter, with its modal paucity of chords, is very restful; its bars of sustained, unkeyed piano strings resonating very, very quietly to Lacy's soprano notes, like a sort of Aeolian piano (!), are charming. Incidentally, I phoned producer George Haslam for this explanation, the insert being limited to where, when and what. This must have been a cracking concert. On first hearing, its record was really exciting, though later critical listening reduced the emotional temperature to manageable levels. It ain't perfect, but it's very good. RON SALMON