Dale Fielder's Space

DFQ~Dale Fielder Quartet

Plays

The Music

Of Pepper Adams

Clarion Jazz CJ8707

Dale Fielder-alto, tenor & baritone sax

Jane Getz-piano; Edwin Livingston-bass

Thomas White Drums

Rue Serpente / Enchilada Baby / Boss Allegro /

Lovers Of Their Time / I Carry Your Heart /

Bossa Nouveau / Baubles, Bangles & Beads /

Now In Our Lives / Frugal Apathy / Dimensions

Total Time 71:12

For his new CD project, Dale Fielder chose to explore the music of the man who inspired him to play the baritone sax, one Park “Pepper” Adams III.  DFQ~Dale Fielder Quartet plays The Music Of Pepper Adams is 12^th in a series of recordings that began in 1993 for saxophonist/composer Dale Fielder.  It is his first recording since his 2005 top-twenty CD, Baritone Sunride.   

In a 10 tune set that lasts for a generous hour and eleven plus minutes, Fielder has chosen seven Pepper Adams compositions that were personal favorites of Pepper Adams.  They were among Adams’ last and were what he considered as his best work, just before his death in 1986 at the age of 55.  The seven  compositions were culled from Adams’ Reflectory, The Master and Adams’ Effect sessions.  Fielder included the standard, “Baubles, Bangles and Beads”, because they are also associated with Adams and recorded on his very first album in 1957.  However the sleepers of the entire CD may very well be Fielder’s 2 originals, “Frugal Apathy” a very interesting 6/8 Afro-Cuban composition that certainly sets the baritone sax in new territory; and the complex closer “Dimensions” where upon listening to how hard Fielder and Getz can swing, one realizes the power of the element of swing in jazz.  Combined with a touch of innovation, it can be a really beautiful thing.  Here Fielder swings mightily and creatively in the lower register of the baritone.  This solo alone certainly makes the case for Fielder being among jazz’s current top baritone saxophonists.

In his jazz review of Fielder’s live recorded performance that yielded this new CD, jazz writer and baritone sax aficionado Skoot Larson,  (www.skootsjazz.com/jazz_reviews), commented on the parallels between Adams and Fielder: “While Dale Fielder is passionate about the legacy of Pepper Adams, he could never be  accused of being an imitator. Pepper Adams played with a hard, brittle edge to his tone as he roared through the changes. Dale displays a similar facility as he moves across the horn’s spectrum top-to-bottom, but Fielder has a less harsh sound, all his own, that polishes the edges and brings new beauty to Pepper’s works.  Fielder also adds more depth to Adams by performing on the other saxophones in his arsenal.”

All the usual suspects are here with Fielder as they have for the last 12 years.  The legendary ex-Mingus Workshop pianist, Jane Getz‘s playing here confirms why she too is consistently considered an important pianist in jazz.  She is the real deal.  What she has accomplished in her piano style is to make all her own another unheard side of the Bud Powell  influence, the only influence she lists when asked.  Getz touches the piano in a way similar to jazz greats Hank Jones and Tommy Flanagan, two other pianists directly influenced by Bud Powell and are personal favorites of Ms. Getz.  The ubiquitous and always tasteful percussionist Thomas White locks down the rhythms on the drums in a multi-directional manner with his usual aplomb.  A new face is on bass, Edwin Livingston who has been with the quartet for just over a year now.  His playing and soloing skills performed here are sure to impress.

When asked to describe the CD, Fielder laughingly called it “The New West Coast Cool”.  It is certainly one of the most listenable records this writer has heard recently.  All and all this is a CD that combines depth and passionate playing along with surprising  accessibility.  Highly Recommended.

---Leslie Colrane

For further information please contact:

CLARION JAZZ

Le Montrose Suite Hotel

900 Hammond Street, Suite 434

West Hollywood, CA 90069

(310) 927-2699

www.clarionjazz.com

Also Available from Clarion Jazz:

Dale Fielder Quartet - Baritone Sunride – CJ 80412

Dale Fielder Group/Force - Suite: Clarity – CJ80401

Dale Fielder Group/Force - Howling Monk  – CJ80303 

Dale Fielder

Interview (Excerpt)

July 2007

By Leslie Colrane

Saxophonist/composer Dale Fielder’s new CD, DFQ~Dale Fielder Quartet plays The Music Of Pepper Adams (Clarion Jazz CJ80707), is 12^th in a series of recordings that began in 1993.  It is his first recording since his 2005 release, Baritone Sunride (Clarion Jazz CJ80412).  In a 10 tune set that lasts for a generous hour and eleven plus minutes, Fielder chose to explore the music of the man who inspired him to play the baritone sax, one Park “Pepper” Adams III. Recorded June 9^th of 2007 and speedily released on July 25th, I got together with Dale Fielder just before the eve of his CD release performance at The Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles to discuss his latest recording.

Leslie Colrane:  I was privileged to be present at the taping of your new recording.  I know you had some trepidation about recording another live CD.

Dale Fielder:  Yeah, as with any artist struggling for recognition and to be able to continue working, you never want to experience a negative response to a recording.  The jazz radio and critical community tend to frown on live recordings, and justifiably . . . especially in jazz radio as live recording quality can be variable and a badly recorded CD can be untranslatable for radio.  But I’m a jazz artist who has to play and after years of watching and experiencing this, I’m convinced that our best playing does come before a live audience.  It’s like Sonny Rollins says, that he considers live performance as the only genuine jazz experience.  And the dynamics on an emotional level and other levels as well are certainly different than the studio performance.  There is more of a sense of immediacy in the front of an audience of listeners and also a sense of danger without the safety net of the studio that helps you find the focus that spurs a higher level of creativity.  So this is why I tend to not mind going with the live performance because there’s a higher percentage of a successful performance.  The only thing that could really prevent it is a bad recording of it.  So it is crucial that it be as well recorded as possible.

Leslie Colrane:  How is it that you decided to record the music of Pepper Adams?

Dale Fielder:  It was just the natural process of what I was doing musically . . . especially so since I decided to pick back up with the baritone sax in 2002.  It brought me back to my initial fascination with the sound of Pepper Adams when I first consciously made the determination to be a musician when I was a kid about 10 years old.  My first heroes of any sort where of 3: Sonny Rollins and the sound of the tenor sax, Jackie McLean and the sound of the alto sax, and Pepper Adams because I also loved the sound of the baritone sax the way he played it.  I first started to play that way in high school from 7 to 12^th grade as I enjoyed the new Selmer Mark VI baritone sax the school provided for my use for 6 years.  So when I bought my new bari in 2002, I simply picked up where I left off all those years, which of course brought me back to a reexamination of Pepper Adams.  I really wanted to know more about the man and all his music and began a study process of him and his work.  This CD is a documentation of what I learned from him and an expression of love and respect I have for the man and his music.  You know, even before I picked back up with the baritone in 2002, Pepper was an influence on me in all the earlier years as an alto and tenor player.  In listening to him, I often imagined that this would be pretty close to how Charlie Parker would sound had he continued to live on.  Pepper was among the great improvisers in jazz.  But he was also a great composer and was the perfect example of the composer/improviser perfectly relating what he does improvisationally to his compositions. I wanted to not only bring attention to him as our greatest baritone saxophonist, but also to his compositions.  This is why I also played the other saxes because I wanted people to hear how beautiful Pepper’s melodies are on some of these tunes that I think get lost or unappreciated played in the lower register of the baritone sax.

Leslie Colrane:  How would you describe the music on your new CD?

Dale Fielder:  Hhmm? I’d probably call it “The New West Coast Cool!” (laughs) You know what I mean?  Listen to the beginning of Jane’s solo on “Rue Serpente!” How more cool can you be than that? But seriously, what I believe I’m trying to say is just a testament to Pepper Adams’ writing.  The music is kind of moody.  (The music) sets a vibe, you know?  Tunes like “Rue Serpente”, “I Carry Your Heart” and the ballads.  Pepper’s tunes always create a vibe, a sense of intimacy.  I think this is what has always been meant by so-called “Cool Jazz” which to me means music with the right balance of being laid back and being intense in the same space.  Which in a way is like life.  Well, true music always mirrors life.  In life you never get “one or the other” or “black or white”.  You get “both/and” and everything in between, kitchen sink included, you know?  So to be so-called “cool”, we have to learn how to handle or resolve differences or different energies so to speak and still remain ourselves.  But I know, I’m digressing.  So, hey . . . you got this new “Chill Jazz” phenomenon?  So you can say the music is “Chill Jazz with just a touch of intensity” (laughs).  Anything that might help us get more work ‘cause the “Chill Jazz” cats are really working! 

BARITONE SUNRIDE
DFQ-Dale Fielder Quartet

Dale Fielder Interview
August 29, 2004
By Leslie Colrane

2004 was a busy year for saxophonist/composer Dale Fielder. The year saw the release of three new recordings: Suite: Clarity , the spiritual and jazz CD A Divine Union, and now his latest, Baritone Sunride.Fielder's career progress can be closely followed through his recordings on Clarion Jazz starting with 1993's Free Flow and 1995's Know Thyself. He first attracted national attention with 1996's Top Ten CD, Dear Sir: Tribute To Wayne Shorter. Other notable recordings were his first suite for the Cadence Jazz label, Ocean Of Love And Mercy with an all-star Nonet and the two DFQ recordings on the BluePort label Short Forms and Romance Serenade. And then there was 2001's The Hipster. However it was his first recording for 2004, Suite: Clarity, an extended work in five movements with two interludes and a prelude performed non-stop for 60 plus minutes, in front of a live audience, that was his most impressive and important work to date. The ambitious work set the jazz world on notice that here was an important new jazz composer. Baritone Sunride is Fielder's eleventh recording in an eleven year span. While not being his first recording with the baritone sax, (that distinction goes to the Howling Monk double CD) Baritone Sunrideis Fielder's first all-baritone sax recording and promises to immediately place him among the front ranks of the best baritone saxophonists performing today. Previously known as a singularly talented multi-saxophonist, Fielder has eschewed his soprano, alto and tenor saxophones and has been showing up at gigs with one horn only: his baritone saxophone. We got together with Dale Fielder recently to talk about his change to the baritone saxophone and his new CD, Baritone Sunride.

 Leslie Colrane: What brought about your decision to play the baritone sax exclusively of your other saxophones?

Dale Fielder: Well, I'd say it's because I have much love for the baritone sax. Such passion for it! An almost obsession if you will, one that's healthy mind you. And simply because it's "Fun" with a capital F. It's the most fun I've ever had musically in a long time. Now is as good as any time for me to explore this passion for the baritone. And to do that, for me, means to play only the baritone sax . . . for a while. It's going to take that for me to master it, and to accomplish what I want. The reason why there are few great baritone players throughout history is because most baritone players double on other horns. And the only dominant baritone saxophonists throughout the history of this music played only the baritone, Harry Carney, Pepper Adams, Hamiett Bluiett, (Gerry) Mulligan and (Serge) Chaloff. Taming this behemoth to make it sound like something ain't no joke! And the baritone is still one of the few undiscovered territories left in jazz. Just go to the record store and see how few recordings there are of baritone saxophonists. My friend guitarist Eric Johnson and I were just talking about the fact that the baritone has always been an "acquired taste". And I'm catching hell from everyone when I show up at gigs only with the baritone, you know? It's like: "Where's the alto?" (is a comment) I'm hearing consistently. People are upset that I don't have my alto or tenor which is what they came to hear me play. People in general are pretty much death on the baritone until I play and I hear, "Oh I didn't know a baritone could sound like that!" So part of my mission is to bring the baritone back to prominence with the other saxes. To pickup and continue what Pepper Adams and others who came before me were doing, you see? Now back to your question, regarding the other horns? I figure maybe in about a year or so or even earlier if I choose, I'll pick back up with the other horns. When I feel to . . . I've done similar things as this in the past. Like when we did the all tenor CD Dear Sir:Tribute To Wayne Shorter back in '96. I had played tenor exclusively for so long, from '95 into '97 and no alto whatsoever, that basically I had become known primarily as a tenor player and people were surprised when I started bringing out the alto and played it so well because it, not the tenor, is my primary instrument. Now in regards to the baritone, keep in mind that for me, it's coming home to one of the first musical loves in my life because I played bari from 7 th to 12 th grade when I was a kid. But since high school, I have been playing all the others now for 20 plus years without any baritone until now. I finally had the fortune to get a brand new one in 2002 and it was like coming back to a long lost friend. Here was my true voice. A voice I hadn't heard for over 20 years! When I first pulled the horn out the case and tried it up at the store Stein On Vine, the owner Gary Chen-Stein said: "Damn you sound just like Pepper Adams!" That's how I hear baritone. It made me reflect on the fact that Pepper Adams was among the first 3 jazz musicians I ever heard and liked when I was 6 years old. The other 2 being Sonny Rollins and Jackie McLean. So that sound stayed with me all those years. Also after playing it for a while, it seemed that all the lines I had played before on alto and tenor suddenly sounded good. Even the most simplest lines like eight note lines started to sound really good! Where on alto and tenor they don't sound like anything at all, you see? This is because on baritone, your notes have more weight. Plus the airflow makes you put your whole being into the horn in a way that's different from the others. The bari has a buzz the other saxophones don't. Buzzin' all the time! 100% of the time. And then there's the range of the baritone! Extending up to the alto sax's low register gives it a range not unlike the cello.

L.C. : What can you tell us about your new CD: Baritone Sunride?

D.F. : Well, my recordings are basically snapshots of where I am at musically at the time. I'm a writer, so my recordings are like clearing houses for the material I've been writing and playing on gigs. Baritone Sunride is a collection of original jazz compositions the band has currently been playing on gigs, along with a few rare-played jazz standards from the classic composers. In addition, my overarching intent with Baritone Sunride was to honor 3 great baritone saxophonists, Pepper Adams, Charles Davis and Nick Brignola, and their inspiration and influence on my baritone saxophone playing and to demonstrate what I've learned from each. I did this with the non original compositions on the CD. A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody by Irving Berlin was associated with Nick Brignola. In fact we use his altered changes to the tune. The arrangement on Lover was something Pepper Adams would do with up tempo tunes: --the meter changes and trades with the drums. And of course Muezzin' is an early Pepper Adams' composition. He was a fine and uniquely gifted writer and is my primary influence on baritone. The arrangement on End Of A Love Affair is something Charles Davis did with a different composition on a recent recording. I heard his record with Kenny Dorham: Jazz Contemporary, –the "white record" on the Time label, at an early age -just a few years after it came out in the early 60s. Where he be poppin' those low B-flat notes at the bottom of the horn. It made everybody who liked baritone go nuts! Me included! And his sense of swing! His approach was another baritone alternative to Pepper Adams' for me early on.

L.C. : DFQ-the Dale Fielder Quartet is an institution that has been around now for over ten years. Such longevity is rare in this business. Would you comment on DFQ and the members of your band?

D.F. : Certainly! The Dale Fielder Quartet will celebrate it's tenth year January 1 st 2005 . We played our first gig together New Year's day 1995. That was when Jane Getz joined us. The only personnel change was when Trevor Ware joined us in 1999 for our original bassist Bill Markus, who joined me in forming in our avant garde group Luminous Monolith. Our first CD, Clarion Jazz's second double disc release, Meditations On The Fertile Crescent,will be forthcoming at some point in 2005. Jane coming into the quartet was the big factor for us both. We compliment each other very well: --a perfect foil for each other. I attribute this to the fact that we both feel the same way about music, and jazz in particular. Her primary influence is Bud Powell, mine is Charles Parker. We both aren't afraid of being traditionalists in the sense that in the new millennium this seems to be a bad word. Our influences and sources of inspiration are pretty direct. When you hear Jane play bop or a standard, it sounds completely authentic, relevant yet up to date and of the present time. Not standing still in time sounding dated, you see? Even though we are coming from sources in the 1940's and '50s, we have still learned from everything that has happened since in the music. You hear McCoy Tyner and Tommy Flanagan in Jane's playing, Coltrane in mine. There's a certain magic that happens when Jane and I play together and we've been smart enough to explore this and let it develop for all these years. It's still fun for us after all these years. Not to leave Trevor Ware and Thomas White out, they feel the same way. We all are not afraid of the word jazz and relish each opportunity to perform it together. The passion and dedication each member of this band has is beyond any words I can say except the word "love". We really love what we are doing together. It doesn't happen quite in the same way when we play with anyone else. We naturally create a very ego-less and supportive musical environment for each other every time we play. And because of this, there is a tremendous amount of love, respect and esteem we hold for each other that has been enjoyed for ten years and hopefully many more to come.

CD Review - Baritone Sunride/Dale Fielder Quartet
Category: Music