October 17, 2014
All That Jazz #5
Coleman Hawkins - "Body and Soul"After ATJ#4 was posted last Friday, The Other Brother sent the following comment: "In the past I've tried to develop my appreciation for jazz - maybe it was your influence or I thought I should. However, I haven't really gotten to the point where I seek it out to listen. That may be largely due to my general lack of musicality. I appreciate these posts you are doing, since they're giving me some insight into what's going on in the music. Maybe a future post could be the three standards a neophyte should listen to in order to get a taste of what makes jazz compelling - that may be a tall order!"
Before I could formulate a reply, I received an email from Brother Orrin reminding me that Saturday (October 11) was the 75th anniversary of perhaps the greatest recording in the history of jazz (and, if not the greatest, certainly near the top of anyone's short list): Coleman Hawkins's majestic "Body and Soul." And with that, I had my example for Stephen...not 3 standards, but a few versions of one great standard tune that should give him a taste (indeed, a veritable feast) of what makes jazz compelling.
Before jumping into Hawkins and the other examples, I want to note that any art form can and should be "compelling" to (enjoyed by) those with little knowledge of its practitioners, styles, history, technical aspects, etc. This is particularly true of jazz, which started as a popular music. Something about a performance should grab you: the beat and rhythm, the melody, the sound of the instruments, or the emotions it triggers. Despite everything I've learned and heard over more than 40 years of listening to jazz, I'm still drawn first and foremost to the elements that grabbed me as a kid, the infectious bounce of the shuffle beat and the sound of the tenor sax. As you learn more about jazz and can make connections between styles and musicians, the more you may enjoy it, but even without that knowledge, a good tune should make you smile or tap your foot or remember a romantic evening or an unrequited love.
So, on to Hawkins and "Body and Soul." Before the late 1920's, the clarinet was the main reed instrument in jazz ensembles, and the saxophone was a novelty instrument, often relegated to marching bands, vaudeville and the circus. With the evolution of early jazz into the swing era, the sax rose to prominence, led by Coleman Hawkins. Everything we think of the sax today, its power, its swagger, its sensuality and sex appeal, traces back to Hawk. In his 1939 recording of the ballad "Body and Soul" Hawkins goes on a 3-minute excursion that is by turn tender, swinging and yearning. A remarkable piece of improvisation, his solo barely hints at the actual melody of the tune in the first notes before riding off into an amazingly coherent and emotional musical statement. Orrin sent me this very good article about Hawkins and this record that was a popular hit in its time and has become an enduring classic.
To help put Hawkins's recording of "Body and Soul" in context...and to help newbies like Stephen get a better sense of how much individual interpretation and improvisation there is in jazz...here are a few other versions of "Body and Soul," one that pre-dates Hawk's 1939 masterpiece and the others showing the state of jazz at different points over the ensuing 75 years.
Benny Goodman was already the "King of Swing" when he recording B&S with his trio (Teddy Wilson, piano; Gene Krupa drums) in 1935:
I selected this version because Goodman plays the melody fairly straight, with only minor embellishments, while Wilson is a bit more adventurous in his improvisation. Listening to this will allow you to get familiar with the tune and its harmonic underpinnings (chords).
Serge Chaloff was one of the great baritone sax players of the post-War era. Drugs and cancer took him at age 33 in 1957, but in 1955 he gave us this poignant and charming version:
In 1958, Hawk's spiritual heir, Sonny Rollins, took on the challenge of B&S with a modernist wrinkle: he recorded it without a rhythm section...no piano or bass to provide the harmonic framework or drummer to provide a steady beat. Just a man (well, for some of us, The Man) and his horn:
And, finally, something from this century, tenor man Chris Potter's performance of B&S on PBS's Jazz Legends with Ramsey Lewis television series. Although thoroughly modern in approach (folks danced to Hawk's version in 1939, this version is strictly concert music) Potter plays B&S with a big sound, range of dynamics and tone qualities, melodic continuity, harmonic ingenuity and aching tenderness that would make Hawkins proud:
Stephen - if none of these grab you, I've got nothing else...
Posted by Foos at October 17, 2014 7:00 AM
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