Jimmy Halperin - Joy and Gravitas

Nate Dorward · October-6th-2004, 11:46 PM

Damned odd disc, though not without interest. Halperin's a student of Warne Marsh's,*** & appeared on one of Marsh's Criss Cross dates; he also did a duo album with Sal Mosca that is I gather highly regarded by fans of the Tristano style. So it's really strange to see him on CIMP with the label faves Dominic Duval & Jay Rosen; the repertoire is mostly familiar standards ("Naima", "My Funny Valentine", "Night in Tunisia"), with one original & a cover of Hendrix's "Spanish Castle Magic" (one wonders if this was prompted by Mark Turner's cover on Fly, though I'm not sure when the latter was released). Anyway, Halperin keeps throughout to a strained, acrid tone that homes in on false notes as frequently as possible & is always on the edge of breaking up into distortion (& often does); he blasts through the tunes, often disregarding changes in favour of finger-twiddling patterns (fragmentary downwards runs, repeated like trills). Duval & Rosen do OK though Rosen's too loud on a few tunes (in particular, the opening of Shorter's "Witch Hunt"). I'm still not sure what I make of it all--it's like a maverick, disheveled appropriation of Coltrane & Shorter's legacies. The tunes which really work, I think, are the Hendrix cover, "Night in Tunisia", & a remarkable "Naima". The rest I'm still thinking about. I guess you can slot this in among other examples of the post-Tristano clan getting involved with free musics--Connie Crothers' appearance at the Vision Fest, Liz Gorrill's recent oddball work, &c. Not sure what to make of this!

***see below

Derek Taylor · October-7th-2004, 10:14 AM

I dig this disc, & Halperin as a player, a lot. His other trio disc CYCLE-LOGICAL (on Cadence Jazz) is a keeper too, though in a more subtle vein than this admittedly incongruous sounding set. I think that’s what I like most about it, the feeling of disparate styles colliding irreverently. The fit is sometimes ramshackle, but I think it’s always intentional. Halperin ruffles his approach into a more combative one & Duval/Rosen respond in kind, but I never get the feeling of genuine animosity, in fact just the opposite- these guys are having a blast fucking with the conventions of the standards. The left-field rundown of “Spanish Castle Magic” is a hoot too, reminds me of a Spaceways, Inc. performance as far as vibe, but Halperin could school Vandermark in a cutting contest. My favorite cut is “Tunisia” & Rosen’s raucous paeans to Buhaina in his breaks.

relyles · October-7th-2004, 04:33 PM

I thought Cycle Logical was excellent, but I am hesitant to hear Halperin in this setting. From what I have heard of Duval and Rosen I would not expect them to be the most compatible rhythm section for Halperin's somewhat analytical/logical improvising style. Nate's thoughts seem to confirm this. I would be interested to read more impressions of this one.

Nate Dorward · October-7th-2004, 06:23 PM

I wouldn't say Halperin's "analytical" on this one--he actually sounds like the wild card!

Nate Dorward · October-27th-2004, 02:29 PM

An addendum: Halperin just wrote me to correct the misinformation that he was Marsh's student. He studied with Tristano, then after Tristano's death with Sal Mosca.

Not sure where I got the info--could have sworn it was direct from the album liner notes but on doublechecking I see not. Probably some factoid gleaned from the web.

Clay Fink · February-27th-2005, 09:22 AM

I just picked this one up and really love it. Halperin has a very aggressive, almost scorching approach in his playing and his arrangements. He manages to do something fresh with "A Night In Tunisia". This trio version of the tune is quite different from the trio version by Sonny Rollins on the Vanguard recording (one of my faves, BTW). The trio roars through it. I thing Rosen really shines on this recording. Duval is fine as well but, as seems usual for CIMPs, not emphasized in the mix. Halperin's sound on tenor is more like Frank Wright's than Warne Marsh's which is quite a surprise. I need to go back to Marsh's "Back Home" and see if their are any hints of this intensity in Halperin's playing with Marsh. His Soprano playing is excellent and he does a very interesting version of Shorter's "Nightwatch". Halperin deserves to be heard a lot more.

Nate Dorward · February-27th-2005, 12:21 PM

Glad you liked this one. It's a strange one, but an interesting one. The formal writeup I eventually did is at Bagatellen--

http://www.bagatellen.com/archives/row/000680.html

Clay Fink · February-27th-2005, 07:07 PM

Thank's Nate. I liked that thread.

I listened to "Back Home". Halperin sounds like a different player on that one. Maybe he just let himself go with Duval and Rosen. What's his playing like on the CJR CD?

Derek Taylor · February-27th-2005, 10:25 PM

Fink, CYCLE-LOGICAL, Halperin’s CJR, is a lot closer to his work on BACK HOME than the freer leanings of the CIMP. It’s a good ‘un featuring his trio from a few years back with Don Messina (b) and Bill Chattin (d), tackling tunes Marsh style with lots of interpolations & loose-limbed improv.

Halperin’s also heard to good effect on a recent quintet disc by bassist Thomas Winter Andersen OUT FROM A COOL STORAGE (TWA). Trumpet & guitar join bass & drums as his foils. Neither disc has any soprano.

I’m with you, he’s definitely a talent deserving of far wider circulation/appreciation.

Clay Fink · February-28th-2005, 10:40 AM

I listened to the version of 317 E 32ND on “Cycle Logic” and they take at an interestingly slow tempo. I really like this guy. I'm also on a Warne Marsh binge and have REALLY been digging into all this stuff. I was sort of mystified at all the acclaim that Marsh has received and was a little puzzled by his work on his Atlantic sessions in the Mosaic box. At some point in listening to that session I realized that this guy (at least at that point) was a master of understatement and his skill and innovations could easily slip by. He really played like nobody else. While I can hear the influence of Lester Young Marsh was really his own man. His style was a bit more boisterous later in his career, but just as compelling. After spending a lot of time digging his work with Tristano (the 1952 Toronto concert and “Continuity” on Jazz Records are pretty good recordings) and his work on Revelation, Nessa and Criss Cross, I keep coming back to “Ne Plus Ultra” as his masterwork. When’s Hat going to get that one back into circulation. There are apparently some unreleased takes from that session as well. Someone write Werner.

I picked up the novel “Out of Nowhere”. While it needed a lot of editing (and had the feel of a vanity press issue) it had its moments. I’ve got “An Unsung Cat” on order. That’s been given some decent comments here and there. Anyone read it?

Derek: Where's that Andersen available at?

Clay Fink · February-28th-2005, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clay Fink

I listened to the version of 317 E 32ND on “Cycle Logic” and they take at an interestingly slow tempo. I really like this guy. I'm also on a Warne Marsh binge and have REALLY been digging into all this stuff. I was sort of mystified at all the acclaim that Marsh has received and was a little puzzled by his work on his Atlantic sessions in the Mosaic box. At some point in listening to that session I realized that this guy (at least at that point) was a master of understatement and his skill and innovations could easily slip by. He really played like nobody else. While I can hear the influence of Lester Young Marsh was really his own man. His style was a bit more boisterous later in his career, but just as compelling. After spending a lot of time digging his work with Tristano (the 1952 Toronto concert and “Continuity” on Jazz Records are pretty good recordings) and his work on Revelation, Nessa and Criss Cross, I keep coming back to “Ne Plus Ultra” as his masterwork. When’s Hat going to get that one back into circulation. There are apparently some unreleased takes from that session as well. Someone write Werner.

I picked up the novel “Out of Nowhere”. While it needed a lot of editing (and had the feel of a vanity press issue) it had its moments. I’ve got “An Unsung Cat” on order. That’s been given some decent comments here and there. Anyone read it?

Derek: Where's that Andersen available at?

Boy. My avatar is starting to scare me.

Nate Dorward · February-28th-2005, 11:04 AM

Coincidentally Mosca's Thing-a-Majig just turned up in the mail today--no Halperin, but it's the same group Mosca & Halperin play with. Pretty remarkable stuff, too--halfway between Thelonious Monk & Tristano.

Derek Taylor · February-28th-2005, 11:58 AM

Fink, their opening stroll through “Everything Happens to Me” (one of my fave standards) unfolds at a disarmingly drowsy pace too.

Not sure about the best way to order the Andersen (& misspelled his middle name; it’s Winther). He has a website: http://www.twandersen.com/ with audio samples & order form. It might be available thru Cadence too. If you dig Halperin it’s worth your time.

I recently acquired copies of Marsh’s duos with Red Mitchell and the two Copenhagen dates (quartet & trio)- all on Storyville- and agree about the near limitless understated appeal of his improvising talent. Here’s hoping a new Peter Pfister-scrubbed edition of NE PLUS ULTRA w/ extra material hits the racks sooner rather than later.

Nate, what label is that Mosca on?

Nate Dorward · February-28th-2005, 01:58 PM

Zinnia.

bluenote71 · March-14th-2005, 11:03 PM

Dear Fans,

You'll have to take my word for it, but Im Warne's youngest kid, Jason. Before I begin, I want to thank you all for being fans of my father's music, and thanks to the online jazz community, the good word on my father comtinues to spread.

Clay had asked about the book, "Unsung Cat", and Id like you all read this review of it, if you will, before you continue reading my entry:

http://www.jazzreview.com/bookdetails.cfm?ID=106

Now im not going to criticize, nor defend Saffords book; if I wanted a book that said everything I wanted people to know about my father Id write it myslelf. Safford interviewed me for the book, sent me a free copy when he finished writing it, and that was it. What I am going to do is give my two cents about what the above reviewer and perhaps other have pulled from it.

Lennie never had a stragle hold on anyones career. He did take his approach seriously, and expected his students to do as he asked, but not to play in a fashion that he dictated. His ultimate goal was to get students to pull from themselves as much as they could creatively and with compitance. However, he recognized when students had their own thing going, as was the case with his one time student, Bill Evans, and would let them go out of creative respect (his words to Bill were along the lines of, "You really dont need me.")
He was also not he mystery guru that people have made him out to be. Outside of the usual complexities that come with being creative, he really had a very direct approach towards everything, including how to deal with any of life's problems. I've also listened to recorded tapes of him talking with one of his long time students which revealed he had quite the sense of humor. The shrowd of mystery come from the fact that he withdrew from the club scene because he had seen all it had to give and began to think that it placed alcohol above music. Ultimately, Id like to think that he just took his craft very seriously and didnt want to make time for what he felt was nonsense, and that he was very down to earth.
In regards to my father, you'll find some negative things about him in the book that are without a doubt, true. But some things Id like to again give my opinion on: My father wasn't racist. My middle name is Parker, after his friend, Bird. And again, my father wouldnt let Lennie or anyone dictate his career, and he kept playing in Tristano like fashion because he loved Lennie and his teaching, and didnt think any other approach mattered. (In fact, he felt that Lennie was one of the only piano players worth playing with.)
I just have to feel that the review I pasted here is reflective of a mentalilty that the "truth" about some of our greatest has be the negative things that some of these people suffered from, which is why many people dont think about Bird without thinking about him being addicted to herion, or Jaco without him being curlled up in an ally somwhere, suffering from mental illness.
These dilemas are all things they suffered from, never the things that defined them, especially in the eyes of their loved ones.

Hope this wasnt too heavy of a first entry. And again, thanks to all of pops fans. Especailly the young ones who have been inspired by him. The compliments they have said about my dad to me have given me a joy beyond words. Questions are more than welcome

Thanks,

Jason Parker Marsh

Clay Fink · March-15th-2005, 10:20 AM

Jason,

Thanks for posting. I really love your father's work. I think the review makes too much of the Tristano connection. While Tristano was one of the major (or THE major) influences on Marsh's playing, Marsh left Tristano's circle in 1955 or so when he moved back to LA, and in his subsequent work he really defined his own unique conception.

From what I can tell in the book, Warne Marsh wasn't racist (and I don't think Lennie was either). It's just that the issue of race in jazz is pretty complex. Seems like that everytime somebody wades into that debate they come out scarred.

What do you think of the novel "Out Of Nowhere"? It came accross to me as almost a vanity press issue. It was not without merit, but it really needed some editing. A compeling story about an interesting guy that could be the seed of a great novel. I think that book fell short. The bio is a much, much better book.

relyles · March-15th-2005, 02:14 PM

An Unsung Cat is one of my favorite biographies of a jazz musician that I have read.

bluenote71 · March-16th-2005, 12:09 AM

Clay and relyles, thanks for the compliments.

I just think that the books are different; one a dense biography and the other more of a creative effort. There are things that I like and dislike about both books, but having had more direct contact with Marcus Cornelious, I can tell you he is a carring fellow who has had my families best interest at heart before and after writting the book and truly loved pop's playing. That's not to say Safford doesn't care. But I think he was more interested in the jazz history side of things.

My family feels more personally content with "Out of Nowhere" (at least that's what Ive gathered). Not that we have anyting strong against Safford.

Unfortuntately, I can't give that good of a quality literary critique and I apologize for it. My only thoughts on the books that I can give you are personal ones for reasons I'm sure you can imagine.

p.s. I'm currenlty living and working in the Land of the Rising Sun. The respect and knowledge they have for jazz here, including for my father is ubelievable.

Steve Reynolds · March-16th-2005, 06:57 AM

thank you for your posts, Jason

I hear the love for your father when you used the word pops. I had a very good friend who served some time in the service with your father and his memeories of the time spent were very warm indeed. No one ever played the music the way that Warne Marsh did, No one.

as far as people defining Charlie Parker (aor anyone else) as a heroin addict - he had a disease - the disease of addiction - long before anyone knew it was a disease - and many people today still do not understand that long before Parker died from this insidious disease that he no longer had any choice whether to stick a needle in his body - and long before anyone knew there was a way to deal with it successfully.

thank god that today people have found a way to deal with it through something that many people to this day do not know exists.

peace and blessings