One Night at the Kitano Some live jazz albums transport the listener. If you shut your eyes, you can picture the dim lights of the candles on the tables, the clinking sound of ice cubes falling into glass tumblers... you might even find yourself looking around for someone to take your drink order. One Night at The Kitano makes you feel like you are out at the midtown jazz spot. That's not to say that it won't appeal to seasoned jazz veterans. Musical complexity and inventiveness abound, especially on the Levy original "Reversible You," which (as the title suggests) applies some structural adjustments to a familiar standard to superb effect. The set consists of six Levy compositions, as well as one standard: a ten-minute rendition of Billy Strayhorn's "A Flower is a Lovesome Thing," with the leader and Mays at their most inspired. The disc's opening number, "A Great Week," pays tribute to an engagement Levy once played with the late John Hicks. The loving homage offers a lively, up-tempo celebration of the pianist's legacy, with excellent support from Mays. The rest of the program features a number of mid-tempo swingers that afford plenty of solo time for the featured players. Levy's tenor doesn't recall the gruff aggressiveness of a Dexter Gordon or a Ben Webster, being more akin to that of Stan Getz. He's able to navigate the high register and achieve a mellow, romantic tone that, at times, makes you think he's switched over to alto.
Evans Explorations Explorations (Riverside, 1961) is one of two landmark studio recordings from the Bill Evans trio that, through chordal voicings, a classically-based style and egalitarian instrumental interplay, moved the jazz piano trio toward impressionism and away from a rhythmic approach. It still sounds amazingly contemporary and the task that tenor saxophonist Jed Levy has set for himself in his explorations of a piece of the Evans digest using his tenor trio is a daunting one. Levy succeeds remarkably well through his own impressionistic gentle touch, Francois Moutin's up-in-the-mix yet perceptively sensitive bass and the drumming of Evans grad Eliot Zigmund. While a non-traditional bop-ish treatment of the classic "Blue in Green" starts things off and a swinging interpretation of the standard "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" closes things out, this trio thrives when it is painting with broader sonic brush strokes. This is witnessed on a touching depiction of "Laurie" and a melodiously moving "Re: Person I Knew." Moutin and Levy are a superb pairing on these tunes and remain true to this music with neither overpowering nor assertive one-upmanship. They blend harmoniously, as in the wonderfully open "Interplay" that serves as an unfettered forum for improvisation and opportune time for Levy to switch to flute. Likewise, the arco bass/tenor doubling that opens "Twelve Tone Tune" captures that beautiful dreamy quality that helped define the Evans trio. These qualities are also apparent on "Very Early" and "Time Remembered," the latter's spaciousness benefiting from Levy's tenor and flute playing. "Jazz Samba," given a fairly fiery treatment courtesy of Zigmund and Moutin's rhythm, and "The Dolphin," portrayed in a traditional breezy manner that again has Moutin sharing center stage, round things out and are representative of Evans' Latin stylings. This is a unique depiction of Evans' songbook.
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Jazz with Bob Parlocha
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By THE NEW YORK TIMES JED LEVY QUARTET (Wednesday) Mr. Levy, a saxophonist working convincingly in the jazz mainstream, leads a group with Mark Soskin on piano, Ugonna Okegwo on bass and Billy Drummond on drums. At 8 and 9:45 p.m., Kitano Hotel, 66 Park Avenue, at 38th Street, Manhattan, (212) 885-7119, kitano.com; no cover. (Chinen) |
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From the Montreal Mirror
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On an Up and Coming Album... One of the great pleasures of living in the midst of the New York jazz scene is the chance to discover the excellence of largely unheralded players - even those who've been working around town for a decade or two. Saxophonist Jed Levy, born in 1958 and New Jersey-raised, is just such a guy. Although I recall hearing him on records in the mid-Eighties - and then seeing him sitting in at the Knickerbocker in Greenwich Village some months later - it's only lately dawned on me what a superb all-round musician this man is. Although Levy's arsenal includes a half dozen reed instruments - the better to handle various studio and theater assignments coming his way - he's chosen to focus his primary attention on tenor. Mind you, since his 1979 arrival in New York, following a period of study at Berklee in Boston, Jed hasn't been all that short of work. He's played with a whole passel of organists (Jack McDuff, Groove Holmes, Shirley Scott and Don Patterson, to name just four); filled chairs in the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and the Chico O'Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra; gigged with the likes of Tom Harrell, Jack Walrath, Junior Mance and Curtis Fuller; cooperated on musical projects with bassist Ron McClure and Headhunters drummer Mike Clark; appeared at festivals and clubs in Europe and Japan, as well as at most of the major Manhattan jazz venues; and recorded as a sideman with Jaki Byard (an early mentor), guitarist Peter Leitch, trombonist Steve Davis, trumpeter Eddie Henderson and pianist Don Friedman. In addition, there are four fine CDs in print under Jed's own name, all on the Steeplechase label. For the most recent of these, called Mood Ellington, the saxophonist chose trumpeter Walrath as his frontline partner and recruited an ultra-tight, super-inventive rhythm section: Bill Mays on piano, Martin Wind as bassist and Jeff Brillinger playing drums. Better yet, he settled on a repertoire of ducal tunes that have rarely been covered by other artists - enchantments like "Ad Lib on Nippon" and "Circle of Fourths." The Levy CD I'm most excited about, though, is one you can't have heard yet because it hasn't even been issued. Two weeks ago, I was present at a Levy recording session in a Lower East Side studio during which a quartet - this time including pianist George Colligan, bassist Ugonna Okegwo and drummer Billy Drummond - worked their way expertly through nine tunes in under five hours. One was "How Am I To Know?" Another was based on the first movement of a Hindemith clarinet concerto. The remaining seven were Levy originals - each a little gem of a piece, harmonically rich and rhythmically varied. Frankly, I've often found it hard to maintain interest all the way through any album that's nothing but tenor-plus-rhythm, track after another. This time, though, the combination of clever tunes plus fluid, imaginative and swinging tenor playing reminds me of the pleasure I've always found in Hank Mobley albums. Steeplechase honcho Nils Winther, who produced this session as one of several during his annual New York visit, seemed as delighted with the proceedings as I was. In fact, he had little to do but sit in the control room and smile. The quartet had already mastered the material at two prior rehearsals. You can hear the results some months from now, on a future Steeplechase release.
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Some players seem to enjoy the adventure of not knowing with whom they are going to play with next, while others would rather develop the interpersonal communication that can only come with time. Since jazz is, at its core, an improvisational art, playing in the moment is the ideal, with different kinds of music requiring different musical reflexes. Jed Levy, as demonstrated on the most attractive Gateway, lives in the mainstream world, but one that is filled with unexpected twists and turns while bringing together musicians who had never played together as a quartet. However, the interpersonal chemistry which one might think would be lacking is more than balanced by the extremely high level of musicianship present at the session. What is clear from the music is that these players really listen to each other and are so quick of musical thought that they have more than enough time to negotiate the detours in the road while reacting to what is happening around them. Levy's tunes cannot be called adventurous, but neither are they totally predictable. Odd phrase lengths abound, as do changes in meter, but they never sound overtly shocking for their own sake. In the notes, Levy actually speaks of his compositions as representing the natural outcome of what he is hearing at the moment and not any artificial constructs. As the tunes of Gateway each flow by, the record's pacing moves from the up tunes through ballads and back. Jazz that has that warm comfort level, which comes from recognizable structures, exists simultaneously with the excitement of players who are so facile that they can play around within Levy's music. This facility comes at a price however, since everyone makes it sound so easy. Someone who looks to jazz for the shock of the new or who wants to listen in the moment as the players play in that moment will not find it here. But, then again, that is not what Gateway is about, which is simply to present good music and to play it honestly and directly.
From Bagatellen.com Half a century of hindsight has applied an erosive effect to the pianoless trio's proving-ground luster. Rollins hit an immediate home run with his epochal Vanguard stand, but these days professional saxophonists take to the instrumentation like ducks to water. As such, Jed Levy's ability to improvise inventively in the absence of conventional chordal accompaniment isn't likely to raise any eyebrows or coax any wide smiles, at least initially. Where the format still carries cachet is in how a leader chooses to personalize the relative freedom. Levy has a long history collaborating with keyboardists on record, dating back to formative sideman work as a member of Jaki Byard's Apollo Stompers. He puts spin on the session by centering attention on tunes that fall within the orbit of Bill Evans, while simultaneously dropping the pianist/composer's instrument from the equation. Drummer Eliot Zigmund has a direct connection to the Evans ensemble lineage having served a four year stint in the late-70s. Bassist Francois Moutin fingers his lightly amplified strings in an adroit active style reminiscent of another Evans alum, Eddie Gomez. Solo space for both men proves plentiful as the set runs the songbook spectrum from well known line drives like the opening "Blue in Green" to left field pop flies like "Re: Person I Knew". Levy's smooth phrasing often mirrors Evans' genteel keyboard touch and there's a Getzian glide to his constructions on the two samba numbers. Another pair of pieces serves as features for his feather-toned flute. Zigmund and Moutin keep the interplay vibrant and proactive without resorting to obvious aggression. As with celebrated label mates Rich Perry and Ari Ambrose, Levy's technical skills are hardly assailable. About the only areas of minor complaint are the occasions where wishful thinking for more grit and spark in the leader's spooling lines arise. Sometimes there's just a bit too much spit shine on the improvisations. Then again, that choice of controlled delivery and demeanor once again jibes with the storied mien of the dedicatee. |
Jed Levy is a veteran of the Manhattan jazz scene, having recorded with the late Jaki Byard's Apollo Stompers , Don Friedman , and Peter Leitch , in addition to leading his own sessions, most of which have been issued by the Danish label Steeplechase. On this 2007 studio date, the lyrical tenor saxophonist explores ten songs written or recorded by the late pianist Bill Evans , recruiting former Evans drummer Eliot Zigmund and bassist François Moutin . Levy is very conscious of the use of space and the interaction of Evans ' trios, though by omitting a piano, the saxophonist gives himself a lot more freedom. Right out of the gate, he kicks off with a very breezy take of the usually Impressionistic "Blue in Green," sailing over his pulsing rhythm section. Levy takes a bit more of a traditional approach to the perky waltz "Very Early," showcasing both sidemen with Zigmund 's crisp brushwork keeping things light. The trio navigates Evans ' challenging "Twelve Tone Tune" with ease, while the deliberate setting of "RE: Person I Knew" features the group's most intimate playing of the date. Levy switches to flute for two pieces, including the haunting ballad "Time Remembered" (in which he also overdubs tenor) and the intricate "Interplay," both of which are masterful. Highly recommended!
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Tenorist/flutist Jed Levy's Mood Ellington can be both admired and enjoyed for its imaginative reworkings of some lesser-known Duke Ellington compositions, all performed with skill and affection by a stellar quintet. The only well-known tune among them is "Mood Indigo," and it receives an appealing reharmonization. The rest of the well-balanced program consists of relatively unfamiliar pieces such as "Action in Alexandria," "Circle of Fourths" and "Dancers in Love." Although pianist Bill Mays does occasionally inject a few Dukeisms, such as the brief stride passages in "New World A-Comin'" and a few Duke-like runs in other spots, but for the most part the improvisations are the kind soloists would play in more conventional contexts--though are all of the first order. Levy possesses an attractive tone and overall approach more like those of Joe Henderson or Joe Lovano than of many of his Coltrane-oriented contemporaries, and trumpeter Jack Walrath projects a personal style nearly devoid of cliches. Drummer Jeff Brillinger and bassist Martin Wind play their roles expertly. |
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| Bob's Top 25 New Releases | Jazz With Bob Parlocha March 20, 2003 1 JED LEVY ROUND & ROUND STEEPLECHASE |
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All that jazz New York City saxophonist Jed Levy teams up with Asheville jazz musicians for May 19 concert at Performing Arts Center in Waynesville By Michael Beadle New York City has long enjoyed a reputation as a melting pot of music -- especially when it comes to the jazz scene. In the last decade or so, Western North Carolina has been building on that same theme, mixing its rich old-time and lively bluegrass traditions along with an emerging Latino and South American sound and a healthy alternative rock scene. Jazz too is enjoying more exposure in Western North Carolina thanks to organizations like the Asheville-based Jazz Composers Forum, which has been helping to bring more jazz performers to local and regional venues. Last year, the Asheville Poetry Review devoted its entire edition to jazz essays and poems celebrating the art form. Jazz fans can groove on over to the Performing Arts Center in Waynesville when the Jed Levy Quartet swings into town Saturday, May 19. The group features New York City saxophonist and composer Jed Levy along with Bill Gerhardt on piano, Mike Holstein on bass, and Jeff Brillanger on drums. Gerhardt and Holstein are well known jazz artists who are founders of the Jazz Composers Forum in Asheville. Both are members of the New York-based band, CoTangent. That group has a pair of CDs, Stained Glass, and Thrive. They performed in Waynesville in 2006 with jazz trumpeter, Ingrid Jensen. Brillanger, meanwhile, has performed with Levy on four albums, including Mood Ellington and Round and Round. Gerhardt, who first met Levy back in the early '90s and has recorded albums with him, continues to be impressed with Levy's range of versatility, his work as a sideman, and now his leadership as a composer and band leader. "He's played with everybody," Gerhardt said. Levy has played alongside top-notch names across the musical spectrum from the Cab Calloway orchestra to the Temptations and Four Tops to Chico O'Farill's Afro Cuban Orchestra. In addition to performing as a tenor and soprano saxophonist and flute player, he also composes. Since graduating in 1980 from the New England Conservatory, Levy has been playing in quartets, orchestras and various groups throughout the country as well as festivals in New York City, Chicago, Montreal, Ottawa, and overseas in France and Portugal. A fixture in the New York City jazz scene for nearly three decades, Levy has also taught music at the prestigious Berklee College of Music and Columbia University. As a SteepleChase recording artist, Levy has been featured on five albums where he's been the band leader -- most recently with Gateway -- as well as more than a dozen other albums where he's been a sideman or band member. Expect to hear a lot of Jed Levy music compositions for the Waynesville concert, Gerhardt said. When it comes to working with Levy, you know you're dealing with a consummate creative professional. "Jed has a very clear vision as a leader and as a composer," Gerhardt added. Jazz allows a performer to start with a framework and improvise, Gerhardt explained, and that sense of surprise, the understanding that no song is ever played the same way twice, is the thrill he looks for in music. It's not about showing off technical abilities. It's about giving in to the music. "Take the music to new places," Gerhardt says, calling to mind a jazz mantra. And while it's great to perform in front of a packed house of jazz aficionados, Gerhardt says it can be more fun to play in front of a crowd of people who don't necessarily know what jazz is. "They don't have as many preconceived notions of what it should sound like," Gerhardt said. The pianist learned that first-hand while playing mountain villages in Spain years ago. No stranger to Western North Carolina, Jed Levy and his band toured the region back in 2003 when the Asheville-based Jazz Composers Forum set up performances and workshops at Appalachian State University, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Asheville and Claxton Elementary School in Asheville. This time around, Levy and his band aren't doing workshops, but they are playing venues in Boone, Blowing Rock, Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Asheville. The Waynesville gig will be the Levy Quartet's last date on the North Carolina tour.
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Born August 12th 1958 in Bryn Mawr (Penn), Jed Levy has been a very discreet but nonetheless interesting saxophonist. He has played in many different contexts and his playing draws as much on the music of Joe Henderson as that of Ben Webster or Warne Marsh. A very rich musical biography features collaborations with Jaki Byard, Jack McDuff, Don Patterson, Cedar Walton, Tom Harrell, Peter Leitch, Arturo O'Farrill, John Hicks, Ron McClure, Billy Hart, Rufus Reid... Tempted by abstract modernism as well as hard-core tradition, he displays a fluent sensitivity and comes out as a somewhat elusive but consistently attractive personality with a real musical purpose. Jazz Hot : What was your family like? Jed Levy : My father was in the air force so we moved around a lot and we lived in Austin, Texas, Washington D.C. and eventually Martinsville (NJ), so I'm basically a New-Yorker. Neither of my parents are in music but both my brother and I are professional musicians, Todd is the principal clarinettist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. My folks were very good at exposing us to a lot of different kinds of music. My mother was an artist and it kind of helped. I had some Jewish Saturday school but it didn't last very long because my family were not religious at all. I didn't even get as far as bar-mitsva! (laughs) How did you discover jazz? Who were your first influences? At the time I was coming up in New Jersey, it was not an easy thing to do although they had a kind of stage band that I started in 5th grade. But this was the mid-70's and there wasn't much jazz around, the root music I mean. Eventually I think I just discovered Miles Davis and I got to listen to everybody that played with him, Cannonball Adderley, Coltrane, Bill Evans... I had some private lessons, I played guitar because I was listening to rock and roll. Then I started to get serious, working gigs when I was 13. One person that was very influential was Paul Jeffrey. I met him at a clinic and started taking lessons with him. Then I went to New England Conservatory and my second big influence was Jaki Byard. I started playing with him every week in a club and I made my first records with him for Soul Note and a Japanese label. Jaki Byard is old and new at the same time. His music led me to Ellington's music and to older styles. I discovered it was possible to play in the tradition, or in many traditions and still play with your own voice. He could play like anybody but he had his own vocabulary. It was great to be around such a complete genius. What was it like at the New England Conservatory? We were being exposed to many different things at the conservatory. There was the International Composers' Meeting were all this new music was promoted. It wasn't jazz, it was European concert music or whatever you want to call it but I got to hear a lot of that. George Russell was there, Jimmy Giuffre, Miroslav Vitous I got to play with. And there was Joe Allard, a very famous classical teacher-he was not a jazz musician but he influenced a lot of people as far as the mechanics of the saxophone is concerned. He taught Eric Dolphy, Mike Brecker, Eddie Daniels... even Coltrane came a couple of times to his studio with Dolphy. The fundamentals of music are all the same. To play jazz, one has to look at things in a compositional way, in a theoretical way and also in a more soulful way, blues way. But you have to know your instrument-it's like an artist's palette so the more colors you can put on your palette the more detailed you can be in your painting. That's what I learnt at the conservatory. It's just a means to an end. And the end for me should be really to tell a story, that's what I strive for. Saxophone is an instrument where great technical advances have been made but it shouldn't be the paragon that one displays as a saxophone player. I think I've grown up enough to realize that concept. Who are your reference points? I think I've listened to everybody-I have hundreds of thousands of records. My favourites change from period to period. Right now I listen to a lot of Ben Webster, Lucky Thompson, Frank Strozier, Paul Gonsalvez, Coleman Hawkins... I don't sit there and try to learn every note, I just let it wash into me and absorb the feeling of their music. I was lucky that I got to play contexts where those sounds were usable. In a lot of the music today, you don't get to play that. But you should check out everything, from Ben Webster to Chostakovitch's string quartets. Have you always tried to develop as a leader? I've always written music. Although business-wise, recognition-wise and even self-confidence wise, I wasn't thinking «I need to be a leader». But writing music and seeing what the result was when played by good musicians led me to front bands. After Jaki Byard, I moved to New York and I worked with Jack McDuff, I was on the road with him for a while. That led to other organ gigs, I spent a year with Don Patterson who was one of the most wonderful musicians I've ever played with, he was a beautiful cat, John Swana was in the band. I played a lot with Lonnie Smith during that period. I played a lot with Jack Walrath, Mike Clark, Josh Roseman, Paul Jackson-I wrote some music for the new Headhunters records. Tell us more about the spirit of the organ combos... It was great. With Jack McDuff, it was all about playing the blues-understanding and feeling the blues. Don's approach was wider and looser, it was more like a bebop band. We had a vibe right away, even before we played together. He made me feel so comfortable and welcome on the bandstand. He would do anything he could to make you sound your best. for anybody who's seriously interested in jazz organ, he's really at the top of the list. Lonnie Smith was really taking things elsewhere with multiple keyboards and it was gorgeous. What's your personal approach as a leader? I'm trying to internalize everything that I've had the opportunity to play and be around and allow to ferment in me then what comes out comes out. On Round and Round, there's certainly an Afro-Cuban influence, Brazilian because I've been playing with those guys. It's certainly in the tradition but also with a feeling that it's in real time and it's about what's happening right now. How do you account for jazz being sidetracked from its own circuit? It has to do with the people who run the festivals. They're trying to keep people interested-these are large audiences who might relate to other styles than jazz. But pop acts in the 60's that were so influenced by jazz no longer can sell the numbers that a pop act is supposed to require today and they don't belong in a jazz festival. I like that things are eclectic. It's always hard to say that this is jazz or not. For instance, I wouldn't say that Dr. John is jazz although I like his music and it comes from the same cauldron as jazz. But also I think that many people who play in the mainstream style have not taken the time to build a personal music in a lot of cases. They are wonderful musicians, their craft is fantastic but maybe the audience already has Freddie Hubbard's records. Try and understand what I'm saying-it's a very complicated issue for musicians, promoters and for the audience. Everybody should dig deep in themselves and look for a personal presentation-whatever they're coming up with an people will like it or not. What's good music like for you? I like music that has a feeling, that makes my body feel good, that's a personal statement, that I can tell is a sincere statement. When I hear someone like Arthur Blythe- I don't aspire to playing like that but I love listening to him because it's real art. It's pure. It's him. The same goes for Ben Webster-when he plays a melody, that's all you need to hear. Nobody has said it more eloquently than he has. It comes from his heart. Forget it, it erases everything, it's so profound!
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Saxophonist and flutist Jed Levy is an A-1 reed artist, as he's aptly demonstrated with bands led by harmonica player-vibist Hendrik Meurkens and bassist Ron McClure, and as a leader. Levy -- whose latest solid CD is "Gateway" (Steeplechase), which boasts many top-rate originals -- enjoys both the jazz mainstream, and its more open edges, giving his work a welcome breadth. Levy joins three other front-rank players -- pianist Tomoko Ohno, bassist Bill Crow and drummer Nick Scheuble -- when he appears Friday, 7:30 to 11:30 p.m., at the Cornerstone Cafe & Bistro
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Older Reviews From the Corriere Dealla Sera, Milano - November 30, 2006
Penguin Guide to Jazz On CD "Sleight of Hand" ***(*):
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