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."
From L to R
is Ricardo Rodriguez, Terreon Gully, Joe Locke, Robert Rodriguez
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,
www.mostlymarimba.com, 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 also proudly endorses his own Signature Series of
Mallets, "The Joe Locke Series", by Mike Balter,
www.mikebalter.com
Joe Locke -
Love Is A Pendulum / All
compositions by Joe Locke
1. Variation
On Wisdom
2. Love Is The Tide
3. Love Is A Planchette
4. Love Is A Pendulum
5.
Love Is Letting Go
6. Love Is Perpetual Motion
7. For Jesse Mountain
8. Last
Ditch Wisdom 9. Embrace
UPCOMING
TOUR DATES:
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
(Joe Locke
with Eddie Palmieri Group)
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)
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