Peggy Stern Z Octet Finding inspiration in the
physical surroundings of her current hometown of Austin, Texas, and drawing
upon what jazz critic Harvey Pekar called her "fertile imagination"
as a pianist, composer, and arranger, Peggy Stern has recorded the deepest and
most personal album of her distinguished career, Z Octet. Comprised of several
of her most poignant compositions, the recording shapes them into a cohesive
work of great beauty, color, and tender emotion. Stern's Estrella Productions
will release the CD on July 8.
At once bold
and subdued, shimmering and shadowy, Z Octet is neither jazz nor classical,
bridging those genres in a way that recalls Maria Schneider's efforts with her
larger ensemble. "I like that it doesn't really fit into any genre,"
says Stern, who has never let generic expectations color her approach to the
music or the way she plays the piano.
On the new
CD, recorded at Greenhaven Studio in Austin, pianist Stern is joined by an
unusual blend of players, including clarinetist Su Terry, featured with Stern
on The Art of the Duo (2010); flutist Alex Coke, a seasoned avant-gardist;
trombonist Alex Heitlinger, a gifted and widely experienced young player and
composer; and Ilia Delarosa, a cello virtuoso from the Dominican Republic. The
CD also features bassist Richard Mikel and drummer Wayne Salzmann, as well as vocal
harmonies on two tracks by the leader and Austin favorite Suzi Stern (no
relation).
Ranging from
"The Elephants' Tango," a gently swaggering tango named after the
Elephant Room, an Austin club, to "Phille," a rich, choral-style
piece written after the death of Stern's mother, Z Octet covers a wide range of
emotions and styles. While Z Octet is a suite, with a trajectory and atmosphere
all its own, each piece within it radiates its own particular qualities.
Native
Philadelphian Peggy Stern began playing classical piano at an early age,
acquiring her Bachelor's Degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester,
New York in 1968, and then her Master's in 1970 from the New England
Conservatory of Music in Boston.
Stern moved
in the early 1970s to San Francisco, where she learned to improvise and
expanded her musical horizons. One of her first jobs in town was with the
popular Latin dance band SuperCombo, the hardcore Cuban rhythm section of which
toughened her approach to salsa montunos, six nights a week for two years. She
also played in the Latin-rock big band Azteca, the R&B band Cat's Cradle
(which she co-founded with Linda Tillery), and jazz trumpeter Eddie Henderson's
group.
After moving
to New York, she added to her Latin resume by playing in legendary
percussionist Machito's legacy band and performed jazz in varied settings.
Heading to
Seattle in the early '80s, Stern thrived in a music community that was more
amenable to outsiders and non-conforming styles than New York. "I have
consistently found that the West Coast is more open to new musical ideas,"
she says.
In Seattle,
where she lived for eight years, Stern played with such local heroes as Julian
Priester, Gary Peacock, and Jay Clayton and was an assistant professor for six
years at the Cornish College of the Arts. Her first album, City Hawk (1985), a
collection of originals save for Dave Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet
Way," featured her on piano and synthesizer.
In 1988, she
recorded the solo album Aliyah, a collection of Jewish tunes (one that neatly
paired up with her earlier release, Christmas Collection). Two years later, she
was back in New York, where, when not teaching upstate at SUNY-Purchase, she
immersed herself in the downtown scene. She played with a formidable number of
first-rate artists, including Lee Konitz, with whom she recorded such albums as
Lunasea (1992), much of which she composed.
Peggy Stern She co-led a quartet with a very
different saxophonist, singular avant-gardist Thomas Chapin, a collaboration
documented on The Fuchsia (1997). "Free jazz is my favorite thing to
play," says Stern, who was good friends with Chapin when his life was
tragically cut short by leukemia in 1998.
Her other
'90s recordings include the trio effort, Pleiades, which teamed her with rising
bassist Ben Allison and drummer Jeff Williams; The Jobim Collection, a duo
album with Konitz; another trio work, Room Enough, consisting largely of jazz
standards and featuring Harvie S and Jeff Williams; and her first large
ensemble recording, Actual Size, a kind of precursor to Z Octet featuring such
stalwarts as trumpeter Ron Horton and trombonist Art Baron. In 2006 her
Estrella Trio released a self-titled CD.
Stern, who
has also extensively performed, recorded, and taught in Europe, relocated to
Austin in 2013 in order to be close to her married daughter Sarka and her two
grandchildren. Moving to Texas, Stern quips, was "a little like moving to
the moon," but Peggy has adapted by playing everything from modern jazz to
salsa to western swing. She also added a popular jazz venue to the scene -- her
living room aka Salon Peggy -- and a gorgeous new CD to her discography.
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