Listening, Party For Two: 'Air Raid'

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

L-R: Jackie McLean, Grachan Moncur III and Lee Morgan at the November 1963 recording sessions for Evolution. Photo Credit: Francis Wolff/Mosaic Images, LLC

My boss readily admits that she doesn't know a whole lot about jazz. But she lets me write all this nonsense on the Internet, so I'm not complaining. And at least she's willing to learn. So every week, she and I get together to listen to and Instant Message about a different great jazz song.

Inspired by Steve Lehman's new album, which he says is partially inspired by Jackie McLean's work with Bobby Hutcherson (see his interview on WBGO's The Checkout), I pulled one of the recordings which Lehman cites as influential. Here's a track from Evolution, an album at least nominally led by Grachan Moncur III. In listening, we also wish the trombonist a happy 72nd birthday today.

"Air Raid" from Grachan Moncur III, Evolution. Grachan Moncur III, trombone; Lee Morgan, trumpet; Jackie McLean, alto sax; Bobby Hutcherson, vibraphone; Bob Cranshaw, bass; Tony Williams, drums. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Nov. 21, 1963.

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Boss Lady: I'm not used to hearing such extended trombone solos
me: It's not just the trombone either
Boss Lady: Trumpet!
me: That'd be Lee Morgan -- who isn't really known for playing like this
Morgan is a superb hard bop player, who runs over a set of chord changes like nobody's business -- and he kills it here too
But he's not used to playing in this sort of context, this sort of ... well, how would you describe it?
Boss Lady: I would describe it as a free form conversation between powerful, idiosyncratic voices. Within the soundscape of this music, the voices seem lonely and like they're searching or railing against something. I imagine a novel with a blurb: "lonely man railing against the evil of the modernity."
me: Uhh, lay off the absinthe?
Well, there's probably something to that
Everybody does get a long time to take an uptempo solo, based on really just one pedal point, if you can find any harmonic center to it at all -- gives it that lonely, searching effect, I find
Furthermore there's definitely something to your "free form" characterization -- this was 1963, after all
Boss Lady: And musicians were tossing the formal templates for jazz out the window?
No more dance music folks?
me: Well, a few years ago, Ornette Coleman had just arrived on the scene, and the jazz press was buzzing with this "new thing"
And musicians were either turned off or intrigued by his free form jazz concept (and Cecil Taylor's too)
John Coltrane, for one
So Jackie McLean and Grachan Moncur, who worked together frequently during this time (there are several other records with similar personnel)
They started experimenting with what they were hearing out there -- in their own ways
Boss Lady: Was there a lot of resistance to it?
me: What do you mean by that?
Boss Lady: I mean, did the experimentation by musicians scare record executives?
me: That's a good question
It certainly scared some musicians, but certain labels like Blue Note (where this is from) and Impulse! heard some really interesting things going on
And their willingness to record this music helped establish their cherished reputation today
But back to the music: do you like it?
Boss Lady: It certainly doesn't sound "scary" today. One of the things I like about this is that the musicians have created a rich, engrossing soundscape. You can get lost in it. But at the same time, it's a world full of twists and turns to follow and actively engage in. Each instrument is a distinct personality to follow and get to know. Is that too abstract?
me: Not at all -- I think the musicians would have loved to be identified as distinct personalities ... I mean, you can hear Jackie McLean's sharp saxophone a mile away
And perhaps the reason it doesn't sound scary today is because these sorts of innovations were adopted widely
It's no squawking into a mouthpiece, but it was "out" for its time ...
And it came from proficient bebop players ... which isn't particularly unlike today's young music-school grads, who start experimenting with what they hear around them once they hit the real world
Boss Lady: I say, bring it on. I enjoy closing my eyes, putting my feet on the pile of resumes in my office and thinking about the meaning of our essential loneliness in the universe. But you're too young for that kind of thing.
me: I'll have whatever she's having

7:15 PM ET | 06- 3-2009 | permalink

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