Joe Locke is a musician's musician, an artist for the ages,
a man who has been gracing stages and studios with his immense talent, and
uplifting spirit, since he was fifteen. Locke is a man who has gathered no moss
as he evolved into a communicator, a conceptualist, a composer, and a modern
virtuoso who defies categorization, creating music with small groups to
symphony orchestras, and with artists as diverse as Cecil Taylor and The
Beastie Boys. Derk Richardson said of Locke in The San Francisco Bay Guardian
that, "not only has he mastered an instrument that has catapulted only a
handful of players to the forefront of modern jazz - but he has done so in a
way that transcends mere technique and establishes him as a unique and
adventurous musical voice." With more than thirty acclaimed recordings to
his credit, it is no wonder The Times (London, U.K.) proclaimed that,
"there seems little doubt that Locke, with his ability to play cool and
funky, heady and relaxed, is set to become the pre-eminent vibraphonist in
jazz." Joe Locke's new recording, Love Is A Pendulum (available on the
Motema Music imprint on May 26, 2015), is just over an hour in length, but has
taken a lifetime to make, as it encompasses all of Locke's joys and sorrows,
and utilizes all of his slings and arrows.
Love Is A Pendulum is an arresting collection of all
original music, the centerpiece of which is a five movement suite, based on a
poem by the writer and musician Barbara Sfraga (from her Subway Series work), a
multi-dimensional artist who Locke has long admired. Locke explains further,
"each verse begins with a metaphor describing love - its properties and
tendencies - and how (possibly) to navigate them. As is so often the case in my
composing process, the genesis of a musical idea comes from words, whether it
be a novel, a poem, or even a simple phrase uttered in a certain way. I feel
that Love Is A Pendulum is my best work thus far and I am eternally grateful to
Barbara for the inspiration her poem has provided."
This recording is the most personal, most compositional and
most emotive work of Locke's career, and it features a hand-picked cast of
outstanding musicians that bring Locke's vision to life in spectacular fashion:
special guests Rosario Giuliani, Donny McCaslin (saxes), Paul Bollenback
(guitar), Victor Provost (steel pan) and Theo Bleckmann (voice), with Locke's
core working quartet, featuring Robert Rodriguez (piano), Terreon Gully (drums
and co-producer) & Ricardo Rodriguez (basses). Locke commented in the liner
notes about the musicians featured on Love Is A Pendulum, "as tightly
composed as much of this music is, it would not have risen off the page without
the creative contributions of the musicians here. Robert, Terreon and Ricky,
the core of this group, have been hugely important to the realization of this
project. Working together with a great natural chemistry, they sculpted the
shape of each piece into something beyond what I had imagined. Their ability to
deal with the written material while at the same time injecting it with soul
and spontaneity was (and continues to be) remarkable. I'm also grateful that
all of my first choices were available (with a bit of juggling!) to be guests
on Love Is A Pendulum."
Variation On Wisdom is a through-composed chamber piece and
a re-working of the material from "Last Ditch Wisdom" (track #7). On
Love Is The Tide, "I wanted to convey the surging power described in this
particular verse of the poem. There are a lot of shifting rhythms occurring,
but its essence is the Blues," said Locke. Love Is A Planchette (featuring
Theo Bleckmann) depicts the movement of a planchette as it moves across a ouija
board. This melody is beautiful and gentle rather than spooky, as it,
"describes the light touch we must keep on love in order for it to move us
from one place to another," explained Locke. Love Is A Pendulum was the
first movement Locke composed for the suite. As with the movement of a
pendulum, the band goes back and forth between the sections of this
composition. Played as a rubato ballad, Love Is Letting Go is a meditation on
love's eternal nature. "For the beginning of Love Is Perpetual Motion I
wanted a wide open canvas for the two saxophones to have a conversation,
interspersed with written material. The main melody of the piece does not occur
until after the 4:20 mark, where it emerges from 3/4 time into a 9/4 clave,
followed by vibes/pan trading and a piano solo before a restatement of the
melody," explained Locke. For Jesse Mountain is dedicated to Locke's
nephew Jesse. "Big man, big heart," said Locke. Last Ditch Wisdom
speaks for itself - "NYC hardball, start to finish." The album concludes
with the lovely ballad, Embrace, a composition based on George Gershwin's
"Embraceable You", and conceived by Locke as a vehicle for Victor
Provost. Pianist Robert Rodriguez's lyrical ride, on top of Gully's creative
groove, concludes the recording on a consonant note.
Joe Locke is widely considered to be one of the major voices
of his instrument. Long known to be a soloist capable of stunning physical
power and broad emotional range, it was not until the last decade that he emerged
as the composer, bandleader and conceptualist that he is considered today.
This is in no small part due to his recent solo projects,
notably the three distinct albums he has released since joining Motema Music in
2011, which display his immense stylistic versatility and ability to create
artistic depth in a variety of contexts: Signing (2012, the long awaited
follow-up studio album of Live In Seattle), Wish Upon A Star (2012, Locke's
first ever symphonic project, featuring Locke's Quartet with the Symphony
Orchestra of Lincoln, Nebraska), and Lay Down My Heart (2013, jazz radio
chart's #1 Blues & Ballads album). Locke's latest Motéma release, Love Is A
Pendulum is already being hailed the most important work of his career. Other
notable recordings in Locke's extensive discography (more than thirty albums as
a leader) include, Four Walls of Freedom (Sirocco), a six movement suite
featuring the late tenor saxophonist Bob Berg; Live in Seattle (Origin) by The
Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Group, which won the 2006 Ear Shot award for Concert
of the Year, and his eloquent and vibrant quartet, Force Of Four (Origin).
Locke has won numerous awards and polls, including the 2006,
2008 and 2009 "Mallet Player of the Year" award from the Jazz
Journalists Association, and the 2013 Hot House NYC Jazz Awards for best Vibes
Player. He is active as a clinician and educator in the United States and
Europe and has been the International Vibraphone Consultant at the Royal
Academy of Music, London, on a visiting basis since 2008, holding the title of
Honorary Associate of The Royal Academy of Music since 2013. Locke endorses
Malletech instruments, and Love Is A Pendulum is the first recording to feature
the innovative OmegaVibe (also endorsed by Stefon Harris, Tony Miceli and
Warren Wolf).
Joe Locke - Love Is A Pendulum
All compositions by Joe Locke
UPCOMING TOUR DATES:
April 11 - Fayetteville, AR, Walton Arts Center
April 12 - Columbia, MO, Murry's
April 18 - Kansas City, MO, The Gem Theater
April 24 - Germantown, NY, Jazz Workshop at Germantown High
School
April 25 - Germantown, NY, Central House Historic Hotel
CD RELEASE CELEBRATION:
May 29-30 - Cape May, NJ, Exit 0 International Jazz Festival
June 3 - Ocean Grove, NJ, Leigh Howard Stevens 36th Summer
Marimba Sem.
CD RELEASE CELEBRATION:
June 8 - Burlington, VT, Discover Jazz Festival
CD RELEASE CELEBRATION:
June 9 & 10 - NYC, The Jazz Standard
June 13 & 14 - Hollywood, CA, The Hollywood Bowl
CD RELEASE CELEBRATION:
June 22 - Rochester, NY,
Xerox Rochester Int'l Jazz Festival
July 10-12 - NYC, Smoke Jazz Club - special guest with the
Jim Rotondi Group
July 30 - NYC, 92nd Street Y - Swing Into Summer Series
(Joe Locke performing with Bill Charlap)
No comments:
Post a Comment