Audacity. It's a word that seems ideally suited to the bold
and intrepid bassist Buster Williams. Whether supplying eminently tasteful but
strong-as-steel backing for singers like Nancy Wilson and Sarah Vaughan, or
venturing into uncharted new territory as a member of Herbie Hancock's
groundbreaking Mwandishi band, Williams' playing has always evidenced that
fearless willingness to leap without hesitation into the unknown.
With his new recording, Audacity, Williams marks another
chapter in that ongoing history. Due out June 15 via Smoke Sessions Records,
the album finds Williams stepping into the studio as a leader for the first
time since 2004's Griot Liberte, leading his long-running all-star quartet
Something More with saxophonist Steve Wilson, pianist George Colligan and
drummer Lenny White. Conceived as the legendary bassist celebrated the
milestone of his 75th birthday, Audacity is a mission statement for an artist
turning a new corner with the experience of three-quarters of a century behind
him.
"You've got to have audacity to do what we do,"
Williams says of the title. "You have to have audacity to even want to do
what we do, to even imagine that it's all going to work. I was looking for a
word that could encapsulate all of my feelings and concepts and, at this moment
in time, Audacity is the description of my life."
Turning 75 compelled Williams to re-enter the recording
studio after a decade-long hiatus caused in large part by the seismic shifts in
the record industry since the dawn of the new millennium. He was also driven by
the continuing evolution of his long-running band, which had developed a fiery
and wide-ranging sound that Williams felt needed to be captured. The release of
Audacity, he says, will launch him on a new trajectory.
"You could say it's a new beginning," he explains.
"It's certainly a new dimension or a new phase of my existence. There's a
new excitement about what I'm doing. I don't take one note for granted, so I
have to really feel that I have something to say or something to offer. Put all
that together and I thought that now was the right time."
In his liner notes, Colligan points to the versatility and
artistry displayed by Something More. "We have the ability to play with
maturity, with restraint when necessary. But we can also play with the abandon
expected from musicians in their 20s. There is a wide variety of tempos,
dynamics, moods, and textures in this music. This is not a soundbite. It's a
sound journey... Regardless of whether we are swinging hard, or playing a waltz,
or a sensitive ballad, or something with a Latin tinge, we sound like a
band."
It's rare in this day and age that a band gets the
opportunity to develop such a collective voice over the span of a decade and a
half. Any observer who pays any degree of attention to the modern jazz
landscape will recognize that all four members of Something More are in-demand
players in a wide variety of settings. Besides leading his own ensemble
Wilsonian's Grain, Wilson has toured and recorded in recent years with the
likes of Chick Corea, the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, and drummer Lewis
Nash. Colligan will be releasing his 28th album as a leader in 2018, on top of
playing regularly with jazz greats like Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane and
Cassandra Wilson. Renowned for his time with the pioneering fusion group Return
To Forever, White has also served notable tenures with Stanley Clarke, Geri
Allen and Larry Coryell.
The collaboration of Buster Williams and Lenny White is
notable in its own right, having anchored not only each other's bands but
groups led by Wallace Roney, Cyrus Chestnut, and a number of others. "It's
been magical," Williams says of his partnership with the drummer.
"When I play with Lenny, I have no real concerns. Whatever he does, the
pulse, the beat, the time is always going to be there. It's 99% pure. I'm free
to explore and to do different things that I may not be able to do with other
people, and he's free to do the same. And bottom line, it just swings."
That interlocking swing and sense of endless possibilities
is evident throughout Audacity, not least on the burly post-bop burner of a
title tune, which spurs a sharp, probing solo from Colligan and a daring
display of grooving elasticity from the leader. But it's also there straight
out of the gate on the opener "Where Giants Dwell," which wastes no
time tearing into Williams' monumental theme before Wilson launches into a
ferocious saxophone run. The tune's title was inspired by a trip the quartet
took through the Austrian Alps, where the grand, snow-capped vistas led
Williams to reflect on the giants who have mentored and inspired him throughout
his estimable career.
A gripping journey in and of itself, "Song of the
Outcasts" is a nod to the Eastern European gypsies whose boundary-free,
nomadic lifestyles and music have inspired Williams. Both the lullaby-like lilt
of "Ariana Anai" and the tender "Briana" were written with
Williams' granddaughters in mind, his adoration of the girls evident in the
moving sentiment of the two pieces. The anthemic "Triumph" boasts the
kind of quiet audacity necessary to win small victories over what Williams
calls "the vicissitudes of daily living."
In addition to his own compositions, Williams urged each of
his bandmates to contribute new tunes for the session. Wilson is represented by
"Sisko," a muscular swinger that weaves his sinuous alto over a
roiling, surging groove. Colligan's "Lost on 4th Avenue," with its
declamatory opening bass solo, relates the feeling of wandering through a
mysterious urban landscape in a raptly narrative fashion, while White's
"Stumblin'" is a joyous romp that draws fleet, agile expression from
all four players.
All together, Audacity could serve to define the word
itself, thrilling in Williams' insistence on pushing boldly forward. "If I
only do what I know," he says, "that's like holding a nickel tightly
in my fist: I won't lose that nickel, but I'll never have a dime. I'm always
looking for something beyond what I know, what I can comprehend and what I understand."
"Audacity" was produced by Paul Stache and Damon
Smith and recorded
live in Brooklyn, New York at Systems Two and mixed to
½" analog tape
using a Studer mastering deck. Available in audiophile HD
format.
Buster Williams · Audacity
Smoke Sessions Records · Release Date: June 15, 2018
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