The Rise and Fall of the Third Stream - Joe Zawinul

Feb

25

The Rise and Fall of the Third Stream - Joe Zawinul

≡ Category: Free Jazz, Highly Recommended, Post Bop, Reviews, Soul Jazz |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING

Rating:

Actually, this reissue by Rhino records includes not only The Rise and Fall of the Third Stream but also Zawinul’s release Money In The Pocket.

As you would expect from the title, The Rise and Fall of the Third Stream is an attempt to fuse ideas from classical music with jazz, but perhaps surprisingly, the compositions are written not by Joe Zawinul, but instead by avant guarde composer/tenor saxophonist William Fischer, and in one case by Friedrich Gulda, a conductor for the Eurojazz Orchestra.

Interestingly, the compositions aren’t all that unconventional.

On the opener, Baptismal, there is a through-composed section, followed by a modal section with some tasty voicings from a string section, followed by free improv using the materials of the modal section, finishing with another through composed section. On this track, Zawinul sounds like a less energetic version of 70’s era McCoy Tyner, which is not in any way a putdown. Soloists Fischer and Jimmy Owens on trumpet acquit themselves well. Their playing may not be spellbinding, but it is always intelligent. Special mention should go to bassist Richard Davis, who chops up the time in interesting ways. As always, he has a beautiful, gutsy sound. The entire band listens to each other intently, instantly reacting from input from the others. Nice track.

On The Soul Of A Village — Part 1, I think Zawinul is playing the strings inside the piano to get a droning effect, occasionally inserting melodies in the upper register. Viola and muted trumpet twine around each other in this rubato introduction, played in the Mixolydian mode, meaning that the 7th note of the scale is flatted. As the tune continues with The Soul Of A Village — Part 2, Zawinul switches to electric piano, with the mode staying the same and the meter switching to a straight 4/4. Zawinul solos throughout, using blues based riffs with occasional digressions into altered harmony, while Jimmy Owens’ muted trumpet plays simple accompanying lines and the violas and cellos play composed riffs, both staying within the mode.

So, there you have the basic strategy. Some through composed materials and a lot of free improvisation. Free improvisation is especially demanding on musicians because it requires them to organize their ideas independently of any overarching structure, which essential means composing in free time. Not only that, they have to be fluid and quick enough to respond to ideas from other band members. It’s essentially group composing in real time. The musicians pull it off beautifully.

Up until now, I haven’t mentioned the drumming because there are two drummers, Roy McCurdy and Freddie Watts, and I have no way of knowing who is playing on which track. In a general way, I can say that the drumming is up to the high standards set by the rest of the musicians.

The quality falls off a bit with Lord, Lord, Lord, an agreeably shaggy gospel piece, but The Rise and Fall of the Third Stream is still a very enjoyable outing by Joe Zawinul, recorded a mere three years before the radically different music of Weather Report.

If that were all there was to this compact disc, I would be thrilled, but it also includes the 1965 release Money In The Pocket.

Money In The Pocket has a different group of musicians. Zawinul borrowed his boss Cannonball Adderly’s rhythm section of Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on drums for this recording.

Money In The Pocket is more in the mode of Cannonball Adderly’s R&B based boogie music, with some standards and post-bop thrown in.

The title tune was penned by Zawinul himself and is a typical boogaloo tune. I guess Zawinul was really into that stuff at the time. After all, he did write Mercy, Mercy Mercy. There’s nothing special going on here, but it’s pleasant enough. Solo turns are taken by Clifford Jordan on tenor, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, and Zawinul on keys.

Joe Henderson’s semi-standard If is up next. I love the twisty stop start time of the head. The solos are taken on a blues form at medium up tempo. Zawinul has a tasty, concise solo. Joe Henderson’s tenor trades fours with Pepper Adams on baritone sax, which I wasn’t expecting, but it’s a nice touch.

Zawinul takes time out for an unaccompanied ballad on My One And Only Love. As good as Zawinul is, he improved quite a bit in later years. On those rare occasions when he’d play acoustic piano on Weather Report releases, you’ll notice he plays much more cleanly and his time is razor sharp. If you don’t believe me, check out his solo sometime on Havona, off of the Weather Report release Heavy Weather. Another minor complaint — it sounds as if Zawinul got his piano from the corner bar. The sound is tinny and slightly out of tune, which is not really his fault, I guess.

Hah! I never realized that Zawinul wrote the standard Midnight Mood. It’s a medium tempo waltz. I never much liked it, but it’s not awful or anything. As could be expected from a band with these musicians, it’s a perfectly competent performance.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

On The Rise and Fall of the Third Stream, you get an excellent variety of third stream music, R&B, standards, mainstream jazz waltzes, blues, modal tunes, and post bop, all performed with a high degree of professionalism at the very least, and approaching an inspired level at times.

I’m personally grateful to Rhino for making this music available. It’s a lot of fun to hear what Joe Zawinul was up to before he started Weather Report. If I were you, I’d hurry up and snap up The Rise and Fall of the Third Stream. These titles were obscure to start with and I can’t imagine they’ll be re-released again.