IPO
Recordings is pleased to announce
that Eddie Daniels & Roger Kellaway's
recording "Duke at the Roadhouse Live
in Santa Fe" (IPO IPOC1024) has been
awarded the Grand Prix de
l'Académie du Jazz .
The
award recognizes the best record of
the year in France.
Photo
Eddie Daniels & François Lacharme
(President of the Jazz Academy)
Photo by Philippe Marchin
Links to coverage in the French press
Le Monde
French Daily Liberation
Culturejazz
&
About Duke at the Roadhouse
A pair of undisputable Jazz masters
taking on a slice of Duke Ellington’s
unparalleled repertoire for artistic
interpretation is in itself a formula
for greatness. But when those
masters are men like
clarinetist/tenor saxophonist Eddie
Daniels and pianist Roger Kellaway,
that’s simply not enough of a
challenge. So for their third
IPO duet recording Duke at the
Roadhouse: Live in Santa Fe,
these two brilliant collaborators
have selected five of Duke’ most
popular compositions (and two more
heavily associated with him) as a
springboard for unique exploration.
And what better way to pay tribute to
a man like Ellington.
Simply concentrating orchestral
works into a duo format is a most
formidable challenge. And
adding a third voice to the
proceedings in the outstanding
cellist James Holland on four pieces
is a stroke of genius that adds as
wholly different orchestral timbre.
But apart from that, serious thought
and focus has gone into each
selection, providing an angle of
perspective to the Ellington canon
that is truly arresting.
Anyone familiar with the histories of
these two artists would not be
surprised. Coming to age during
the incredibly fertile period of the
1960s, both men matured in that era’s
environment of unlimited exploration,
best expressed with a foundation of
solid roots in the tradition.
On this wonderful recording, a broad
palette of Jazz expression is on full
display, but never losing sight of
the central mantra of Duke
Ellington’s imperative – It Don’t
Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That
Swing!
The album was recorded live at a
benefit concert in New Mexico for a
group called “Santa Fe Center for
Therapeutic Riding” which utilizes
horses to help young people with
disabilities. Performing in the
beautiful Lensic Theater, the
visceral audience response that can
be heard after (and sometimes during)
each track clearly demonstrates how
the music created the spontaneous and
intimate aura of a club.
Daniels focuses primarily on the
clarinet, an appropriate choice; not
only considering the importance of
that voice in Duke’s music and the
long history of amazing clarinetists
- like Barney Bigard, Jimmy Hamilton,
Russell Procope and so many others -
but also because Eddie has his own
reputation of being one of Jazz’
greatest clarinetists. Kellaway
is one of the extremely rare pianists
– along with the late Jaki Byard –
who can demonstrate the entire
history of Jazz piano within any four
bars, moving from barrelhouse and
stride elements into explosive Cecil
Taylor-like chord clusters in an eye
blink, without ever departing from
the essence of the musical context.
The sheer virtuosity on this
recording is astonishing, but in the
greatest tradition of Jazz, only
there to serve the music, not the
ego.
From the opening track, I’m
Beginning To See The Light, a
breathtaking tour de force that
embraces so many elements of Jazz
expression – abstraction, sheer
swing, juxtaposition of unison and
counterpoint, complexity,
spontaneity, trading 4s, 8s and
choruses – the jubilation is in full
display. This is followed by a
total contrast in one of Duke’s
oldest classics, Creole Love Call.
Dulcet clarinet over a bluesy
barrelhouse is interspersed with a
free-time airiness in this splendid
offering.
The addition of cellist James
Holland on four tracks exponentially
alters the atmosphere, essentially
cubing the energy not just adding
another voice. All of his parts
are written by Kellaway (Roger has
been highly acclaimed for his earlier
Cello Quartets), but Holland’s feel
for Jazz is fully apparent and most
essential for the music. With
his presence, Perdido – a
piece that is too often tossed off
playfully – is treated with a
stunning arrangement that is highly
dramatic, with an episodic
chamber-like exposition. One of
Duke’s most beautiful pieces In A
Sentimental Mood becomes a
chamber suite, launched by a
tension-building rolling rhythm
stoked by Latin-grooved ostinato
piano and transforming through a vast
array of palpable textures and moods.
Another early Ellington gem, Mood
Indigo receives a daring and
unusual treatment, an intricately and
lovingly structured blend of
clarinet, cello and piano that glides
around the theme in bits and pieces,
only stating it fully in the closing
moments of this highly evocative
rendition.
In a Mellow Tone finds Daniels
equally formidable on tenor,
soulfully stating the theme alongside
the plaintive cello.
Unaccompanied tenor and piano solos
sometimes fragment the time into
delightful abstractions, but never
losing Duke’s “mellow” intent.
Eddie’s tenor also highlights another
beautiful ballad, Sophisticated
Lady, opening with a solo
excursion that teases the beautiful
melody before Roger joins in for an
extremely soulful portrait of Duke’s
elegant Lady, which deftly shifts
back and forth between deep blues and
evocative balladry.
Daniels and Kellaway each contributed
one original apiece dedicated to
Duke. Eddie’s Duke at the
Roadhouse is a swirling unison
theme featuring outstanding
back-to-back solos in straightforward
fashion. Roger’s Duke in
Ojai’s descending pattern
initially calls to mind Coltrane’s
Giant Steps and is an ideal
vehicle for superb interplay by the
two longtime collaborators who truly
enjoy playing music together.
This
exceptional album closes with a
fascinating rendition of It Don’t
Mean a Thing. Highly
impressionistic, with an almost
Baroque approach it settles into a
deeply hewn groove that clearly
adheres to the title.
This is a marvelous album that
offers a most singular interpretation
of Ellingtonia.
http://www.eddiedanielsclarinet.net
http://rogerkellaway.com
Label Website:
http://www.iporecordings.com
IPO is distributed by
Allegro Media Group, Portland, OR.
IPO Media Contact
Jim Eigo Jazz Promo Services
jim@jazzpromoservices.com