BERT TURETZKY / MIKE WOFFORD
Transition & Transformation
Nine Winds
NWCD 0242
Labels mean almost nothing when it comes to improvised music. And this
excellent CD of "outside" chamber jazz demonstrates this without
question.
To the casual jazz fan, journeyman pianist Mike Wofford may have made
his mark as music director for Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan or as
sideman with mainstreamers like drummer Shelly Manne and saxophonists
Teddy Edwards and Bud Shank. Bassist Bertram Turetzky, senior professor
of music at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) on the other hand,
is usually found on the so-called legit side of the fence as the most
frequently recorded contrabass soloist in America. An academic, Turetzky,
whose master classes have been referred to as "life-altering",
also wrote The Contemporary Contrabass, which is regarded as a classic
in the field.
Yet, with this disc, these veteran Californians have created an object
lesson of what a duo session plus should sound like without fanfare, speechifying
or someone dubbing them Young Lions or POMO Downtowners. As for the title,
"plus" makes clear that on a few of the compositions, the two
are joined by the bassist's UCSD confrere, trombonist George Lewis, vocalist
Kristin Korb, and three cellists.
The main performers' skill is such that they can turn Oscar Pettiford's
hoary bop anthem "Tamalpais" into a delicate concertino with
Wofford adding a light dusting of whole notes to the tune and Turetzky
providing the subterranean bowed counterpoint. As a student of jazz history,
it's likely he who arranged the unique treatment of that tune, Charles
Mingus' "Eclipse" -- with its suitably sorceress-like vocal
from Korb -- and the two Thelonious Monk compositions.
To examine one -- at the beginning of "Mysterioso," as Lewis
explores the insides of his horn and the bassist and pianist seem to be
picking at random notes, it appears as if this will merely be an abstract
exercise. Glacially the theme finally emerges from the piano, and is then
amplified by the trombonist's slide plus a patchwork quilt of arco bass
embellishments.
It's the improvised dialogues that define this disc however. Wofford may
be a mainstreamer but he has also performed Morton Feldman's solo piano
music and, at this point, Turetzky's many sessions of pure improv flow
like water under his bass bridge. Some have been in the company of multi-reedist
Vinny Golia, including the exceptional Trignition (Nine Winds NWCD 0221),
where expatriate free bassist Barre Phillips joins the fray.
On this disc, however the five "short subjects" are so concise
that they merely allow you to note the formidable technique that enlightens
your ear canal. "Slow Movement" and "A Heated Discussion"
on the other hand are more palatable propositions. Working with Lewis'
vocalized horn, muted and not, on the first tune, Wofford scurries both
inside and outside the piano, while Turetzky moves from strummed notes
to echoed arco tones. The later title is a misnomer since the pianist's
fingers seem to be happily leaping over the keyboard as the bassist changes
tempo a few times, using his bow not only to string along a basso counter
melody but also to beat a few extra sounds out of the instrument. A heated
embrace may have been a more appropriate appellation.
Tying up loose ends, note that the cellists don't make much of an impression.
They're probably on "Eclipse," but elsewhere anything they may
have produced could easily be ascribed to Turetzky's fingers.
To sum up, labels are better for telling you the name of the record company
than to describe the work of multi faceted musicians like these.
-- Ken Waxman
Track Listing: 1. A major Decision; 2. Tamalpais; 3. A Heated Discussion;
4. Eclipse^; 5. Mysterioso*; 6. Short Subject I; 7. Short Subject II;
8. Short Subject III; 9. Ugly Beauty; 10. Paper Trail; 11. TRT; 12. Slow
Movement*; 13. Vocalese
Personnel:
George Lewis, trombone*; Mike Wofford, piano; Bertram Turetzky, bass;
Glen Campbell, Mary Lindblom, Lorie Kirkell, cellos; Kristin Korb, vocals^