Colem@n Hawkins -- Desafinado -- 1963 -- Impulse -- Bit 320
Personnel :
Coleman Hawkins Tenor Saxophone
Barry Galbraith Guitar
Howard Collins Guitar
Major Holley Bass
Eddie Locke Drums
Willie Rodriguez Percussion
Tommy Flanagan Claves
Notes :
One of the great albatrosses around the neck of the recording industry has been the forced recording of ill-conceived “novelty” recordings. As far back as recorded music goes, artists have been forced, cajoled, and manipulated into making recordings that some marketing genius decided would “cash in” on a fad or hot idea. Often, the music called for in these projects is completely different from what the artist usually played; more often than not, these projects turned out to be failures, artistically and financially.
It was with such an expectation that I picked up Desafinado (Subtitled - Coleman Hawkins Plays Bossa Nova & Jazz Samba.) In reaction to the immense popularity of this “new” music (samba) brought to the United States by Stan Getz and Antonio Carlos Jobim, record executives everywhere scrambled to record as many bossa nova projects as possible. In great demand were recordings by well known artists....artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and of course, Stan Getz. In the fall of 1962, it was decided that jazz legend and father of the jazz tenor saxophone, Coleman Hawkins, would record an album of bossa nova tunes.
While this marriage of artist and material would seem dubious at best, the results proved truly sublime. Hawkins had no history with the bossa nova, and had played very little in that style. While a great backing band was organized for the recording date, no rehearsals were held before the day of the actual recording. Yet, despite this lack of practice, the music produced for this album ranks not only as some of the finest samba music ever produced, but as some of best work, regardless of style, of Hawkins' long and distinguished career. Hawkins desplayed an amazing grasp of the subtle nuances of samba music, understanding just where to add or take away from the basic melodiy to put his own special stamp on these songs.
The album opens with the samba standard title, “Desafinado,” which Hawkins floats through, gliding along the melody playfully, turning and caressing it, making it his own. Throughout the album, Hawkins moves easily through the tender parts of the samba tunes, yet occasionally flashes glimpses of his trademark tenor aggresssion, never allowing the listener to gorget whose in charge. Guitar duo Barry Galbraith and Howard Collins propel and support the tunes, and even take the occasional solo such as on “O Pato (The Duck).” Pianist Tommy Flanagan gives up the ivories for the claves, and proves quite adept. Flanagan, along with percussionist Willie Rodriguez, drummer Eddie Locke and bassist Major Holly from a rhythm syndicate that would hold its own on any corner in Rio de Janeiro.
Even with the outstanding treatments of classic samba tunes like “One Note Samba” and “An Embrace To Bonfa,” the highlight of this album is definitely the seemingly out-of-place “I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover.” After an introductory groove laid down by Flanagan and Holley, Hawkins swims in carrying the familiar melody above the current, before diving down into the swirling treatment he puts on this traditional favorite. Perhaps it is only fitting for such a seemingly out of place selection to shine the brightest over this most unlikely of masterpieces.
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About:
NOVI were the first to make a break-through in the tradition of Polish vocal groups, a tradition which goes back to the very popular singers in the thirties - The Dan Choir. It was then a great stride forward as Polish jazz vocalists had been lagging behind in comparison with our instrumental music. Elsewhere, in the world there was then consistent progress in this field. New groups were being formed - the phenomenal American Lambert-Hendricks-Ross Trio, the French Les Double Six group and many others. In modern jazz, human voices began playing the parts of instruments, giving rise to a new school of "instrumental" singing. This kind of singing calls for special qualifications. The performer must be simultaneously a vocalist, instrumentalist and jazzman capable of playing improvised parts. Now the NOVI band can do all these things. The members of the band are educated musicians who have graduated from the Warsaw Advanced Music School: Ewa Wanat - violinist; Janusz Mych - flutist; Waldemar Parzynski - sound supervisor and percussionist; their leader, Bernard Kawka - violinist. They are all real jazzmen.
Their name NOVI (the new ones) has a special meaning for them. It not only suggests something new, but is made up of the initials of the English words New Original Vocal Instruments. And this is so indeed. The NOVI use their voices like instruments. They can give the monosyllables of their vocalises any sound and articulation they wish. NOVI's biography is short and brilliant. In late 1964 a young graduate of the Warsaw Conservatory, Bernard Kawka, fascinated by the music of Bill Evans, whom he had met in Scandinavia, decided to devote himself to jazz. In the Conservatory he found others who shared his enthusiasm for this music. This led to the formation of the band. They considered that the best way of expressing their jazz ideas would be to use their own voices. At first they appeared only on the radio, becoming very popular with listeners. Then they took part in the annual international festival Jazz Jamboree in Warsaw in 1965 and since that time have been appearing at similar events both at home and abroad. They sang in Switzerland where they won first prize at a jazz festival, they appeared at Bled in Yugoslavia and in many other countries. They have co-operated with leading Polish jazz musicians: Andrzej Trzaskowski, Krzysztof Komeda, Adam Matyszkowicz and others.
The NOVI called their first record "Bossa-Nova". This should not be taken literally. It reflects only the general climate of the record on which the NOVI display the whole range of their possibilities. Only in some pieces is the theme introduced in the form of a bossa-nova and then followed by standard swing improvisations, big-band riffs or swing tutti.
The group is accompanied by instrumental sets ranging from double-bass with percussion, the full section, flute, vibraphone, to a group of string instruments. The band is made up of jazz musicians: Andrzej Matyszkowicz, piano; Janusz Kozlowski, double-bass, Janusz Sidorenko, guitar and Jerzy Bartz, percussion.
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