JM-2066-2 CHICO FREEMAN & The Fritz Pauer Trio „Essence Of Silence ” Two CDs full of good atmospheres by the great soprano and tenor sax of Chico Freeman with the excellent austrian Trio of Fritz Pauer (p) with Hans Strasser (b) and Joris Dudli (d). Mainly new compositions by Freeman and Pauer, full of easy grooving and full of nice harmonies. Jazz bekam seinen Namen, weil er aus den Herzen verschiedenster Nationen enstand. Dieses Projekt und dieses Album sind typische Beispiele dafür: Hier begegnen sich zwei Größen der Jazzmusik: Chico Freeman, als Vertreter des neuen Amerikanischen Jazz (geboren in Chicago, Illinois, USA), und Fritz Pauer (geboren in Wien, Österreich) als Vertreter des Europäischen Jazz, haben sich gefunden und vermischen bzw. verbinden auf diesem Doppelalbum in positivster Weise ihre Stile! Vor allem Eigenkompositionen der zwei Protagonisten bestimmen die feine Atmosphäre diesen Aufnahmen. Das erste musikalische Zusammentreffen dieser zwei herausragenden Persönlichkeiten fand im Juli 2007 im Wiener Jazzland statt. Nach einem weiteren Engagement ein Jahr später im selbigen Club, wuchs die Idee, die fruchtbare Zusammenarbeit zu intensivieren. Chico Freeman (Sohn des Saxophonisten Von Freeman) zählt zu den stilistisch vielfältigsten Tenorsaxofonisten und Komponisten der Gegenwart. Er war mit unzähligen Größen des Jazz auf Tour, wie Sam Rivers, Cecil McBee, Sun Ra, Elvin Jones, Don Pullen, Jack DeJohnette, McCoy Tyner, Lester Bowie, Don Cherry oder Don Pullen! Das aktuelle Fritz Pauer Trio (mit Johannes Strasser, souverän und höchst musikalisch am Bass, und Joris Dudli, sensibel swingend und groovend am Schlagzeug) wurde 1995 gegründet. Intensives Zusammenspiel voller Überra schungen, Originalität und musikalische Kraft gepaart mit höchster Virtuosität, sind nur einige Worte um die Leistung dieses Top- Trios zu beschreiben. Als eine der gefragtesten Rhythmusgruppen in Europa begleitete die Band Jazzgrößen wie Benny Golson, Johnny Griffi n, Sheila Jordan, Don Menza. Recorded and Mixed March 2-6, 2010 Musicians: Chico Freeman - Tenor and Soprano Saxes Fritz Pauer - Piano Johannes Strasser - Bass Joris Dudli - Drums Credits: Recording and Mixing Engineer - Rudi Mille Recorded & Mixed at Tom Ton Studio, Vienna, Austria www.tomton.at Mastered at Artis Studio Mastering Engineer - Rudi Mille Produced by Chico Freeman, Fritz Pauer & Johannes Strasser Photographs: Chico Freeman by Marcel Meir Fritz Pauer by Kruse Johannes Strasser by Elbs Joris Dudli by Peter Kubelk Cover photo of Chico Freeman by Vladimir Zahariev Cover design & layout: Nina Reeves (indigo design) Special thanks to: Joris Dudli Axel Melhardt & Tilly Melhardt Ilse Weinmann Staff at Jazzland Rudi Mille I was asked to play at the Vienna Jazz Festival as a special guest with whom I was told were some of the best musicians that Austria has produced. It was the Fritz Pauer Trio. I did not know Fritz Pauer or his trio at that time so I asked my agent Ilse Weinmann, who had arranged the engagement, who exactly Fritz Pauer was. She told me he was one of the best pianist/musicians she knew and she knew him from his work with the great saxophonist Johnny Griffin (a Chicago native just like me), who was also a client of hers. Needless to say I was pleased and excited to meet Fritz but not as much as when it actually happened on the first day of rehearsal at Jazzland Jazz Club in Vienna. Not only was Fritz an incredible musician, he was also one of the nicest and warmest people I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet. We became instant friends. In addition his trio, which consisted of Johannes (Hans) Strasser (bass) and Joris Dudli (drums), were also incredibly talented musicians and wonderful human beings as well. We bonded instantly and thus began our journey to the recording of this CD. The chemistry was instantaneous and undeniable. We recorded for the radio the first night and I knew I wanted to work more with these guys and to document our future journeys together. This is the first of what I hope will be many more of those documentations. Chico Freeman (saxophone) A sound not born yet. The imagination of sound can be expressed in the right place, at the right time. The gods are asking to let it be heard from your own imagination mixed with sounds for you and your brothers and sisters. Our ancestors thankfully remembered, with each note played on celestial instruments. That music which we call jazz should be named this way because it comes from deep within the heart of different nations. The spirits wanted it like this: The essence of silence. Sometime ago our trio the Fritz Pauer Trio and our guest for the Vienna Jazz Festival, Chico Freeman, met at Jazzland in Vienna. Axel Melhardt, the club owner, invited us to play for one week. After successful performances, we were invited back the following season, and successive seasons thereafter. During that time Austrian radio ORF came to the club and recorded a whole night’s performance. Our chemistry was just right. We would go through our repertoire, rehearse and create exciting, fresh and new music every night. We were very fortunate to be able to play with Chico, who brought along all his experience of rhythm, blues and free jazz, along with some of the greatest composers and piano players of today: McCoy Tyner, George Cables, Don Pullen and many others. It just so happened that we also got to play and record original compositions written by George Cables himself, as well as those by Chico. We didn’t just play the music; we dug deep inside the soul of the music for which Chico brought the original lead sheets. After listening to the radio recordings, we decided to go on tour with a partly new repertoire and added another week of recording at a studio in Vienna. Being on the road together added another element to the band: comradeship. Many thanks to our drummer, Joris Dudli, who contributed immensely by being such an excellent percussionist/ drummer and driving the band with great energy and sensitivity. Knowing of the upcoming project, I concentrated on the band’s tunes with a brand new Fazioli grand piano in my new music room: the first floor of our new house! Fritz Pauer (piano) Having had the privilege of playing bass with the Fritz Pauer Trio and performing their music over a long period of time has offered me very exciting and inspiring experiences. Among these is having had the opportunity of accompanying some of the most creative and renowned jazz artists worldwide with the Trio, during their guest performances in Vienna. Before we got together at Jazzland, I knew Chico and his music from the recording Spirit Sensitive, dating back to the 70s. I used to listen to it a lot back then because I wanted to check out bass player Cecil McBee too, who was also on the record. When we performed with Chico for the first time at Jazzland, I was immediately fascinated by his highly energetic and expressive harmony. It felt really unique and personal to me and a lot stronger than what I thought I knew from his recordings. The music we played sounded very inventive, fresh and, at the same time, non clichè - it seemed to be flowing very naturally. Right away, the trio with guest soloist turned into a real quartet. Now, some years later, I can say that playing bass with this powerful and musically adventurous group of dedicated jazz improvisers and dealing with the colourful variety of musical textures, is just absolutely inspiring and thrilling. I’m very glad and I feel privileged again to have recorded all those unique tunes of Chico, Fritz and George Cables. Johannes Strasser (bass) A word about the compositions Enchance (7:41)– The song is in 8/8 with the approach of a 6/8 feel. It begins with an intro of piano followed by piano, sax and bass, then a bass vamp interlude; sax enters on the main theme. The song goes through some time changes and interesting harmonic variations. The solos are on two different formats. The sax solos on the form of the melody “A B (bridge) A”, the piano solos on a different form with a different harmonic structure but returns to the A section signaling the end of the piano solo; the sax enters at the bridge and plays the melody thru to the last A section, repeating the theme of the intro at the end with full rhythm section. – Chico Freeman Helen’s Song (5:50) – Helen’s Song is one of my favorite George Cables compositions, this added to the fact that I am privileged to call Helen herself a friend of mine, makes the opportunity to record it even more special. I’ve played it with George on many occasions as well as in many of my own projects. This version finds Fritz playing it with great sensitivity, passion and beauty. This is one of my favorite renditions of what I believe is a classic, just like it’s namesake.– Chico Freeman The Trespasser (9:10) – we see many in our lives, some are welcome, and some are not. You decide. – Chico Freeman The Essence of Silence (5:38)– I believe that when we are alone and in complete silence is when music makes its most direct and purest journey to our being. In silence we hear music, hence, the essence of silence.– Chico Freeman. Shen Shun Song (7:08) – a song with the title borrowed from the Chinese martial art tai chi chuan. Shen meaning spirit and mental liveliness; Shun meaning to go along with, to follow and free-flowing and relaxed a song with three main attributes for a successful performance. With this tune I would like to honour McCoy Tyner and the pioneers of Modal Jazz – Fritz Pauer Will I See You in the Morning? (5:24) – This question has been asked in so many different ways but it still remains the same question. in the sentiment: Will I see you in the morning? I might leave without much warning Try and understand the reason if I go I know you believe what you want me to know You can’t stand to see me crying just because i know you’re lying when you tell me everything will be OK How come I can see with my eyes closed tight that we are over? Don’t say a word unless you mean everything you say What do u think I’m gonna do? are you afraid that I’ll see through everything I meant to you? So if I don’t see you in the morning and I leave without much warning you will understand the reason and you’ll know . . . but you must believe that I did not want to go. chico freeman/jan pulsford feb 2007 Minor Relations (5:39) – a tune simply consisting of different colours (chords) around the tonal centre of c-minor. The piano intro represents my admiration for traditional jazz piano styles, mainly the stride piano of James Pete Johnson. – Fritz Pauer Salsa con Punta (06:40) – written in two parts; the first part with a Latin flavour, the second part goes into a straight 4/4 groove (Chico added a cowbell for the overdub.) – Fritz Pauer Epikur Intro (1:25) & Main (05:38)– compositional contribution Epikur, named after the ancient Greek philosopher (Epicurus in English) with its Phrygian mode, consists of two parts: In part one I introduce the main theme con arco quasi rubato with some collective sound fields beneath; in part two the full tune in a medium up-tempo with solos by Chico, Fritz and myself is heard. The chord changes run by fairly quickly and that’s why the tune, with it’s inherent restlessness, was originally called Busy Morning. One day I woke up with the melody in my head and had to write it down immediately. – Johannes Strasser To Hear a Teardrop in the Rain (5:43) – this song was written for a very special person who left us some time ago. She will always be remembered. – Chico Freeman Dark Blue (6:59)– a blues, first heard on my cd Tales of Ellington, it was written in honor of Duke Ellington. – Chico Freeman Drum Chant (8:20) – another modal tune especially written for the artistry of our outstanding percussionist, Joris Dudli. – Fritz Pauer Angel Eyes (11:30) – this arrangement involves an ostinato bass line while the original changes and melody are played over this line. This opens up two worlds at the same time, a kind of ballad and groove in simultaneous motion. – Chico Freeman