Jazz Anniversary: June 2, 1964 @ Paris "Tanya" by Dexter Gordon

"Tanya" by Dexter Gordon, Donald Byrd, Kenny Drew, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen & Art Taylor recorded on June 2, 1964 at CBS Studios, Paris for Blue Note (One Flight Up)

This is an unexpectedly brilliant masterpiece. While Dexter Gordon is often associated with a bold and cheerful hard-bop tenor saxophone style, this work is the complete opposite, filled with the tension of the cutting-edge modal jazz of that time. As for Gordon's French recordings, the following album featuring the founding father of modern jazz, pianist Bud Powell, and drummer Kenny Clarke is famous, but this work was recorded about 11 months later at the same CBS Studios in Paris for the Blue Note label.

The accompanying members were completely replaced from the previous work, featuring his long-time ally Kenny Drew on piano, and the newly recruited 18-year-old prodigy Danish bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. They were joined by Donald Byrd on trumpet, who had also moved to Europe like Gordon at the time, and Art Taylor on drums, forming a quintet.

Although the performance is composed of authentic American hard-boppers with the exception of Pedersen, one can hear a modal harmony and vitality that might lead a listener to mistake it for the cutting-edge Wayne Shorter Quintet of that time. Gordon is no stranger to modal jazz, having participated in the May 28, 1962, debut leader album "Takin' Off" by the now-legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, but it is rare to hear him pursue this style so deeply in his own work during this period. Perhaps the participation of Byrd, one of Hancock's mentors, had an influence. If you are interested in the Shorter quintet work featuring Hancock from the same year, please take a look here.

Even so, why is it so serious, in contrast to the cheerful previous work? Looking at the historical background, in the first half of 1964, the Beatles made their first landing in the United States in February, causing a seismic shift in the music industry, including jazz. The Civil Rights Act, which abolished racial discrimination—a factor that led the African American musicians participating here to move to Europe—was enacted on July 2, one month after this recording. Perhaps there was anxiety, frustration, or anger on the other side of the Atlantic regarding the rapidly changing situation surrounding jazz musicians or the long-awaited bill that was struggling to pass through Congress. Ten days after this recording, Hancock recorded one of the greatest modal jazz masterpieces, which is also a performance by a quartet filled with tension.

The highlight of this album is the 18-minute opening track "Tanya," composed by Byrd, where the dynamism of the usually understated Art Taylor shines through as his drums are pushed to the forefront. Although Taylor has appeared on numerous masterpieces, he is often a reliable, steady player who keeps his dynamics in check, so honestly, there are not many works where he leaves a lasting impression. However, in this performance, you can enjoy a rare side of Taylor, who inspires the other members with his unbridled, energetic, and bouncing drumming. Was it Gordon's intention as a leader, or perhaps an idea from the composer Byrd, who had a long history of performing with Taylor? Or was it inspired by the bold and majestic bass of the young, European-bred Pedersen, who brought a new sensibility to the rhythm section? Or did it arise naturally from the chemical reaction between these players? The versatile tension-filled playing of Drew, who acts as a supporting player, is also thoughtful and wonderful if you listen closely, but I think you can enjoy this performance in a different way by entrusting your ears to Taylor's drums. The drums seem to increase in dynamism as time and development progress, perhaps because the drumming during Byrd's solo is more heated than the drumming behind Gordon's initial solo.

Acoustically, Taylor is positioned on the right with the composer, trumpeter Byrd, while the bassist Pedersen and Gordon are on the opposite left, and Drew sits in the center, bridging the left and right.

Regarding why Taylor was requested for so many recordings, drummer Kunio Tanaka offers the observation: "Perhaps he was an easy drummer for recording engineers to handle... A drummer who doesn't know where to crescendo might be fun for the listener, but for the staff on-site, it's a thrilling and overwhelming experience." (Source: Jazz Hihyo No. 79 "Bass & Drums + Percussion")

If that is true, does it mean that the engineer of this work, who captured that dynamism in a Blue Note style in Europe, was excellent? That engineer was Jacques Lubin, a Frenchman who also had a track record of working on projects for artists like Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell. The previous work, "Our Man In Paris," was also recorded at the same CBS Studio in Paris, but the recording engineer was someone else, Claude Ermelin, who took a flat, raw recording approach, and the difference in sound quality reflects the individuality of the engineers.

While contemporaries like Philly Joe Jones and Elvin Jones, who were even more dynamic, unpredictable, and harder to capture than Taylor, were recorded with such precision that you can fully enjoy their heavy hitting on audio equipment, it is hard to imagine that Taylor was "sealed" due to recording convenience. Even if there were difficulties with the recording technology of the time, it seems more reasonable to think that it was either the intention of the leader or producer, or due to Taylor's steady, reliable, and low-risk playing style, which ensured he always got the job done.

Taylor leveraged the human relationships he built by being hired by numerous musicians to compile a book titled "Notes and Tones." It is a collection of interviews conducted in the 60s and 70s with various major Black jazz musicians about music, the music industry, and the situation of Black people, as part of his efforts to establish the status of Black people.

As for the content, he asks the master Miles Davis how to choose a drummer (below), asks about the meaning of the word "Jazz" and the origin of "Be-Bop," and asks drummers common questions about drum tuning. Each provides unique answers, making it a compelling read. I suspect that the success of the interviews and the frank comments elicited are a testament to the trust and popularity Taylor cultivated.

In this interview, Miles talks about how he reluctantly made Philly Joe Jones, the embodiment of swing, change his cymbal technique, and how he prompted the genius Tony Williams to use the bass drum and hi-hat, conveying his obsession with drums. Philly mentions in the interview that he moved from Philadelphia after being told by the two giants of modern jazz drumming, Art Blakey and Max Roach, that he should come to New York (he took the nickname "Philly" from Philadelphia in honor of the pioneer drummer "Papa" Jo Jones), and Tony Williams lists this Taylor in addition to these three and Miles's previous band member Jimmy Cobb as drummers who influenced him. There are many discoveries to be made when reading through it. I would also like to know his views on Taylor, but since he is the one conducting the interviews, unfortunately, there is no information about his own playing style.

In those interviews, he asked multiple musicians the question, "What do you think about the word jazz?" There were various reactions, views, and ways of taking it, and since they are spoken in easy-to-understand language, I have included some excerpts from the original text as they are interesting.

There are various interpretations, ranging from capturing one's entire way of life to viewing it as a form of music, but Blakey's statement, "No America, no jazz," is quite apt, much like "No Music, No Life."

Incidentally, a professor in a foreign language department in the U.S. published a 193-page report in 2015 on academic research into the etymology of the word "jazz."

The conclusion rejects the theories often cited as influential, such as the black slang "jasm" (energy), the French "jaser" (to chatter), "jasmine" (the jasmine perfume supposedly worn by prostitutes in Storyville, New Orleans), and the "intercourse" theory mentioned by Kenny Clarke in an interview with Taylor. Instead, it concludes that the word first appeared publicly in an article in the San Francisco Bulletin on March 3, 1913, by reporter "Scoop" Gleeson regarding a San Francisco Seals baseball game. It first appeared meaning that a player's information was "jazz" (nonsense), and three days later, it shifted to a positive meaning of "energy," "pep," or "enthusiasm," bringing a turnaround to the team's then-lackluster performance. By 1915, it was adopted as a term for music and became established thereafter. Incidentally, the Seals are one of the origins of the current San Francisco Giants mascot, "Lou Seal."

While I respect the 25 years of academic research based on literature, the background of the word "jazz" first appearing in West Coast baseball articles, the reasons why the meaning of the word changed drastically in a short period, and considerations linked to music are not touched upon. Personally, I would like to respect the unconventional and diverse views on "jazz" as told by jazz musicians themselves.

Now, the title of this album, "One Flight Up," is said to mean "the second floor," derived from the sequence of moving from one landing to the next. When put that way, it makes sense that there is a staircase on the far right of the album cover. I tried to find the location where this album cover was shot, but the only fact I could confirm was that it was taken by Francis Wolff, the famous photographer who made a great contribution to the Blue Note label. Since a photo of Gordon in the same attire is included in the inner sleeve of this album with the notation "June 1964" (below), if we assume it was taken in Paris at the same time, the residential-looking building in the background appears to be a typical apartment building often seen in Paris.

And the song title I picked up this time, "Tanya," seems to be a Russian female name. In the lyrics by Kurt Elling, who covered this song as a vocal piece, it is treated as a woman's name. There, you can enjoy not only Elling's unique vocal flourishes and scat singing, but also the performance of Paul Wertico, who played for many years in the Pat Metheny Group and plays dynamic, crisp drums as if in homage to Taylor. One of Wertico's interview articles mentioned Taylor's aforementioned book, so there might be some connection to how this song was chosen for the album as a co-producer. The conversational lyrics mention the names of Dexter, Elvin, and Herbie.

Finally, please listen to "One Flight Down," which is included in the masterpiece by Norah Jones, who is scheduled to perform in Japan this September, which is the opposite of this album's title, "One Flight Up."

If you are interested in Gordon, please also take a look at this article.

Please click here for an introductory article on works featuring Taylor, a professional who steadily fulfills his assigned role, as a sideman on masterpieces.

Taylor's leader works from his later years are also worth listening to.

Please have a wonderful time with "Jazz."