MY THOUGHTS ON "NEW VISTA"
by David Liebman
In 1974, while on tour in Brazil as a member of the Miles Davis Group, I
returned completely confused from an all-night hang sitting in with bands all over Rio de
Janeiro. When I told Miles that I had no idea what was going on with the music, he said
something to the effect of "It's one and three." Taking into account Miles'
cryptic manner of speaking, I interpreted this to mean that that was how he felt the
downbeats. While I hesitate to call this a "Brazilian" recording - in all
honesty, I still don't know enough about that unique juxtaposition of harmony, melody and
the drums - it does have that flavor.
For New Vista, the group's first recording with Arkadia Jazz, and
its seventh over all, I decided to invite our drummer Jamey Haddad, together with the
incredible percussionist Café, to create interesting and colorful rhythmic textures to
encompass the various compositions. As a result, the emphasis here is on the rhythm, in
particular the drums.
Trusting Jamey and Café to pull it together, this is the furthest I have
gone in this genre. After listening to the finished product, I must say that compared with
much of my recorded repertoire, there is an obvious up and joyous feeling to the music
which is certainly infectious.
- NEW VISTA — A former student (Felipe from Brazil) introduced me to
the "chorinho," a musical form played here in A-B-A-C. Offsetting non-related
ii-V chord patterns with ostinato major 7th harmonies, the melodies follow a
similar pattern, alternating between an active line for soprano sax with keyboard doubling
and a bass/guitar counter melody.
- ESTATE — Introduced to me by pianist Marc Copland, this most lyrical
of melodies received a harmonic and rhythmic reinterpretation from me.
- REAL DREAMS — As befits a master craftsman, Phil does it all here
compositionally: odd time signature, uneven bar lengths, ostinatos, chord changes, moving
as well as sing-song melodies, transitions… you name it. A wonderful and complete
composition.
- SO FAR, SO CLOSE — Inspired by Toninho Horta, Caris' beautiful
melody has a through, composed quality to it with challenging progressions to play over.
- CHRISTMAS SOCKS — With a nod to Milton Nascimento, the idea here is
one I have used previously; that is, a slight reharmonization of a common top chord tone
set in a rhythmic vamp with a chant-like melody above, in this case, going between a 6 and
7 metric scheme. The "socks", were given to me by a family friend, Jennifer
Stanley. They have green and red Christmas decorations, and I don them on that day each
year.
- BEAUTY AND THE BEAST — The first of several Disney videos adored by
my daughter, Lydia, this theme song plays when Belle and the Beast finally get it together
for a little twirl around the palace. Whenever that spot came on in the video, Lydia would
summon me to dance with her...a grand pleasure. When we saw the Broadway version, I
realized just how pretty the melody was. All that was needed for me to play it were some
colorful harmonies and textures.
- JUNGLE GLIDE — An ever-changing bass line, it moves around in meters,
but still swings its tail off (thanks, Tony) — that's offset by a quirky and catchy theme.
- ZINGARO (Portrait in Black and White) — By master composer, Antonio
Carlos Jobim, this is one of the most chromatic melodies I've encountered in the popular
music repertoire, with several distinct dissonances built into the line. Translated as
"gypsy," this is truly a haunting song.
- THE GROSS MAN — Listening to some of the dozens of tapes and
recordings we did together in the early 70s (especially when we were both playing with
Elvin Jones as well as in my 19th Street loft), I remember a great saxophonist
and spiritual brother, Steve Grossman, to whom this tune is dedicated.
ARKADIA JAZZ