Walter Smith III: Twio

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multikulti.com - ocena * * * *:
Pochodzący z Teksasu tenorowy saksofonista Walter Smith III, często goszczący na łamach multikulti.com prezentuje swoją nową grupę. Kontrabasista Harish Raghaven i drummer Eric Harland ze wsparciem Joshuy Redmana i Christiana McBride'a stworzyli workin' band, który może być ozdobą każdego festiwalu jazzowego.

Choć koncepcja takiego składu wydaje się być banalna, ot trio bez instrumentu harmonicznego z dodatkowym udziałem drugiego saksofonisty to nic nowego w muzyce jazzowej, jednak, aby dała ona oczekiwany efekt, fundamentem tego muzycznego zdarzenia musi być ultra-zaufanie i muzykalności, które to artyści wnoszą do projektu, wchodząc do studia, by intuicyjnie dzielić się pomysłami i pozwolić sobie na swobodę odkrywania nowych ścieżek.

Lider zespołu to postać już dobrze znana, członek wielu grup, by wymienić tylko Roy Haynes Fountain of Youth Band, Terence Blanchard Quintet, Eric Harland’s “Voyager”, Jason Moran’s In My Mind: Monk at Town Hall, Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet, Christian McBride “Situation”, Christian Scott group i Sean Jones Quintet. Ma za sobą koncertową i nagraniową współpracę z Mulgrew Millerem, Billy'm Childsem, Joe Lovano, Herbie'm Hancockiem, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terri Lynne Carrington i wieloma innymi. Recenzowaliśmy na łamach multikulti.com znakomite płyty z jego udziałem: Walter Smith III / Ambrose Akinmusire / Jason Moran / Joe Sanders / Eric Harland "III" z Criss Cross Jazz, Jan Harbeck Quartet feat. Walter Smith III "Variations in Blue" z Stunt Records i Dayna Stephens Quintet / Sextet with Walter Smith III "Reminiscent" z Criss Cross Jazz. Kompetencje lidera, podobnie jak pozostałych muzyków tego składu są niepodważalne. Jego gra jako lidera jest dojrzała i stała się pewna siebie, prowadzi zespół pewną ręką, choć jak sam mówi w wywiadach "Po prostu wysłałem Redmanowi melodię i w studio po prostu ją zagraliśmy... bez prób, niepotrzebnego zastanawiania się. I tego właśnie chciałem dla tego projektu - po prostu wspólna zabawa, zaufanie i życie, otwarta narracja bez instrumentu akordowego, określającego harmonię, rytm czy jej kierunek... Miałem pomysł na zakończenie jednej z kompozycji, ale w studio, Christian McBride zagrał to inaczej, zrobił coś innego, co okazało się idealne. Wszyscy byliśmy otwarci na ten organiczny proces tworzenia".

Z jednym wyjątkiem na płycie usłyszymy standardy jazzowe, kompozycje Monka, Jerome'a Kerna, F. Grofe, C. Fischera, Sammy'ego Faina, Wayne'a Shortera, Jimmy'ego Rowlesa, Gigi Gryce'a, i jedna Waltera Smitha III, zamykająca płytę "Contrafact", gdzie oba saksofony splatają się nawzajem w dźwiękowy gobelin, który powala efektownością, jak i wielobarwnością. McBride i Harland sekundują im po mistrzowsku, tworząc rytmiczną podstawę, na której dwaj saksofoniści na zmianę prowadzą harmoniczną narrację. Daje to słuchaczowi możliwość porównania podejścia obu saksofonistów do improwizacji, okazuje się, że poza tonem instrumentu i atakiem na dźwięk mają oni więcej podobieństw niż różnic.

"Twio" to płyta elegancka i ciepła, nie ma jednak w sobie popowych czy smooth jazzowych odwołań. To jazz z krwi i kości, przywołujący atmosferę małych, zadymionych klubów drugiej połowy ubiegłego stulecia.
autor: Mateusz Krępski
Copyright © 1996-2018 Multikulti Project. All rights reserved

Editor's info:
The joyful freedom of Ferde Grofé’s ‘On the Trail’ captures precisely the intended spirit of Walter Smith III’s new album Twio. Collaborating closely with established colleagues in double bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Eric Harland, the Texas-native, California-based tenor saxophonist & composer presents his own illuminating vision of the saxophone trio while also inviting, along the way, guest appearances by Joshua Redman (tenor saxophone) and Christian McBride (double bass).

Working and touring for the last fifteen years, playing multi-layered compositions in different configurations with artists such as Terence Blanchard, Roy Haynes, Sean Jones, Ambrose Akinmusire and with his own bands, Smith also began to revisit classic jazz songs. He elaborates: “I would try and alter tunes quite radically by rearranging, reharmonizing and altering meters to a point where I was barely playing the original song, but realized that I was confusing the point of playing the songs, so I began to interpret them more directly, as they were first meant to be played. For this album, out of around twenty recorded songs, I chose nine pieces that I have a particular relationship with and have always loved playing, including some which are maybe less frequently heard”.

While that concept appears straightforward, this recording (the saxophonist’s fifth as leader) reveals much about the ultra-confidence and musicality which these established players bring to the table, entering the studio to intuitively share ideas and discover uncharted paths. Taking sparkling dual-tenor feature ‘Contrafact’ as an illustration (crafted around ‘Like Someone in Love’, but in a five meter), Smith explains: “I simply sent Josh the melody and we showed up and played... With no rehearsal, it was just ‘OK, here we go’, and that’s what I wanted for this project – just fun and live, an open sound without a chordal instrument defining the harmony, rhythm or direction. I had ideas for endings, for example, but on once instance after I had said to Christian, “We’ll close it like this”, when we got to that point he did something different which was perfect because it helped the music feel loose. We were all receptive to that organic process”.

Here, Thelonious Monk’s ‘Ask Me Now’ waltzes and trips through “a million chord changes”, Smith ever the ebullient, characterful melodicist, then Harish Raghavan’s pacey, bass propulsion of the popular Jerome Kern ‘Showboat’ tune, ‘Nobody Else But Me’, is embellished by Harland’s coruscating percussion. Sammy Fein’s amiable ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’ becomes buoyed by McBride’s clear, strutting bass, and the evergreen groove of Wayne Shorter’s ‘Adam’s Apple’ is fascinating in fizzing drum-featured trio guise. Two duo spots offer Carl Fischer’s ‘We’ll Be Together Again’ for sax and drums (“one of the best A-sections of a song ever written”) and a blithe sax-and-bass promenade on Gigi Gryce’s ‘Social Call’. Jimmy Rowles’ ‘The Peacocks’ is bathed in luscious tenor sonorities, and that Dayna Stephens arrangement of ‘On the Trail’ is a six-minute wonder as Smith and Redman josh genially across the rhythm section.

“I was pleased that Twio ended up being so close to what I wanted it be”, enthuses Smith. “It was unlike any other recording I've done, because there was nothing for me to actually prepare other than go along to the studio, play and hang out. The point of the album is ‘community’ – normally when we tour with original music, it's hard to invite people up on the stage to join the band because they are simply unfamiliar with that particular repertoire that I or someone else in the group has written. This project represents something that everyone of all levels can relate to because it presents familiar and accessible songs that we've all grown up playing. The plan is that when we tour, I’ll use that opportunity to invite the community to come sit in, have fun, and share ideas, which I imagined this music was all about in the first place.”

All About Jazz - ocena * * * * 1/2:
The unashamedly retro cover art of Twio accurately signposts the content of this imaginative album's track selection of jazz classics and standards. The only exception to this programme is Walter Smith III's original composition "Contrafact," chordally based on "Like Someone In Love" but given a 5/4 makeover. This involves the twin tenors of Smith and guest Joshua Redman opening the number in unison and progressing to an effervescent treatment adopted throughout the choruses. The two tracks teaming-up Smith and Redman recall the pairing of Al Cohn and Zoot Sims on You 'N Me or John Coltrane and Hank Mobley on Two Tenors and sees the two saxophonists voraciously swapping licks on Ferde Grofé's "On The Trail."

The lively opener, Monk's "Ask Me Now" is indicative of Smith's feisty yet sensitive approach to the album. "We'll Be Together Again," here only accompanied by Eric Harland on drums, proves that Smith can play just as effectively in ballad mode, lovingly teasing out every last note of the melody. Wayne Shorter's "Adam's Apple" evinces a satisfyingly robust outing, with the lack of a chordal instrument proving inconsequential yet again. Jimmy Rowles's "The Peacock" is given a sombre, pensive treatment by Smith, to some extent channelling—but not copying—the original 1975 Stan Getz recording.

The humorous false start to Gigi Grye's "Social Call" gives a clue as to the atmosphere surrounding this relaxed and good natured session with Smith and guest bassist Christian McBride performing a short yet pleasing duet. Smith has worked with many leading figures in jazz including Roy Haynes, Terence Blanchard and Joe Lovano and this follow-up to 2014's Still Casual, consolidates his talent and reinforces the proposition that he now must surely rank highly amongst the finest saxophonists playing today.
by Roger Farbey

Huffington Post:
Houston born Walter Smith III is now a West Coast based, no nonsense tenor saxophonist who is amongst the leading voices on his instrument. I have been following his work since I first heard him on his Live in Paris from 2009 and later on Ambrose Akinmusire’s When the Heart Emerges Glistening from 2011. At the time he was a strong ensemble player who worked particularly well with trumpet players like Terrence Blanchard, Christian Scott, Sean Jones and Ambrose Akinmusire on a front line.

On his latest effort Twio (think of Elmer Fudd saying trio), soon to be released on February 9, 2018, his playing as a leader has matured and become more confident. He is joined on six of the nine songs on the album, by the plucky bass of Harish Raghavan and the percolating drums of Eric Harland. For the other four songs Harland remains on traps while the bass chair is taken over by the ubiquitous jazz ambassador and uber-bassist Christian McBride. On two of the songs Smith is joined by the second tenor saxophone of Joshua Redman. As the saxophonist has said in his promo materials, the songs were chosen to be more accessible and are about community and having fun. It seems with Twio he has accomplished what he set out to do.

The set starts off with a loping version of Monk’s “Ask Me Now.” Smith’s bold tenor sound starts off with Raghavan’s brash bass out front and deliberate in its steadfast march as Harland playfully, dances around the rhythm. It’s Smith’s smooth, lustrous tone that is front and center here, as he works the melody with a marvelous sense of confident mastery. His explorations, especially when he solos alone, naked with his horn with no background rhythm section for support, are marvelously free and inventive.

On the Jerome Kern standard “Nobody Else But Me” we hear some intuitive interplay between Raghavan and Smith as the freewheeling Harland mixes it up. Smith’s sax has a loose limber feel to it both within the melody line and when he delves into some quicker paced harmonic explorations, yet he always seems to maintain the core melodic line of the song when he is playing. He has a knack of keeping the listener always engaged even when he improvises.

The cowboy inspired “On the Trail” finds bassist McBride, his big round bass and his signature stutter step, double-time lines leading the drive. Harland is more in the pocket on this song and we are treated to the dual tenor saxophone line of Smith and Joshua Redman. The song brings back memories of Sonny Rollins venture into cowboy songs with his Way Out West album. While neither saxophonist has quite the same big, biting sound of Rollins, they each have their own identifiable sound and play off the other with great dexterity and purpose. After alternating the melody between them, the two saxophonists offer their own take on the melody before trading licks in a friendly exchange of ideas, a fine addition to the tradition of tenor saxophone sparring matches by the two young titans.

The C. Fischer ballad “We’ll Be Together Again” is played as a saxophone and drum duo. We hear an unusual metronomic drum entrance by Harland that has the cadence of a slow strip. Smith’s round Dexter Gordon-like tenor rings through the melody with a mellifluous warmth that is quite sensuous as Harland adds percussive accents around the slow tempo beat.

McBride and Harland return for the Sammy Fain classic “I’ll Be Seeing You.” Smith’s languorous saxophone states the melody solo before McBride’s buoyant bass and Harland’s traps enter. At about the two minutes mark the group picks up the pace and turns it into a medium tempo swinger with McBride’s bass leading the charge. A fleet fingered bass solo gets you snapping your fingers before Smith returns and restates the melody with a nuanced sensitivity that is compelling.

On Wayne Shorter’s “Adam’s Apple” bassist Raghavan returns providing a throbbing backdrop. The trio takes on a more modern feel, with Smith winding his sinewy way through the composition and finding some common ground with Harland who is given an extended solo that crackles with energy.

Perhaps the most moving performance on this album is Smith’s poignant portrayal on Jimmy Rowles “The Peacocks.” Smith correctly chooses a slow, languorous approach to this brooding song. His saxophone is beautifully nuanced and emotive as Raghavan’s bass down holds the bottom and Harland’s active traps swirl and shimmer beneath. The song has been in the repertoire of many a jazz great because of its haunting melody and it’s potential as a vehicle for expression. Here the thirty-seven-year old Smith makes it his own with a quiet confidence that is mature beyond his age.

Another perennial favorite is Gigi Gryce’s “Social Call” which starts off with Smith simply stating the melody line and playing a jaunty duet with a walking bass of McBride. Smith’s unadorned saxophone is a joy of fluidity and clarity and with McBride’s musical bass the two make wonderful music on this amusing Gryce classic.

The finale reunites the two saxophone voices of Redman and Smith in a unison chorus of Smith’s original composition “Contrafact,” a song based on “Like Someone in Love” in five meter. The two weave each other’s voices into an aural tapestry that is both willowy and colorful. McBride and Harland create a rumbling underbody over which the two saxophonists take turns finding common harmonic ground. It offers the listener a chance to compare the two saxophonists’ approach to improvising, which except for tone and attack have more similarities than differences. McBride offers a dazzling display of dexterity on his short but potent solo before the two saxophonists return to unison playing that is quite impressive in its precision.
by Ralph A. Miriello