Cymbal Press has released Ruminations & Reflections – The Musical Journey of Dave Liebman and Richie Beirach.NEA Jazz Master saxophonist Dave Liebman and pianist Richie Beirach have enjoyed a fifty-year friendship on and off the bandstand. They’ve performed with Miles Davis, Elvin Jones, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Freddie Hubbard, and their own bands. Ruminations & Reflections takes readers on a rollicking journey through their musical lives. Along the way, they share their views on jazz education, prominent musicians, and musical preparation. Liebman and Beirach pay tribute to their musical mentors, tour their discography, and suggest essential recordings to study. The book’s conversational style will delight students, professionals, and music lovers alike. More than just a jazz biography, Ruminations & Reflections, is a masterclass in how to improvise, jazz theory, how to listen to jazz, and the business of being a musician in today’s world. Never shy, these two friends share fascinating and revealing stories of growing into their musical selves, late night hangs with legendary musicians, and the jazz life.
“THREE AS 1” (for piano and soprano saxophone) was commissioned by Sax Open (World Saxophone Congress).
Premiered July 9th, 2015 at Le Cite de la Musique, Strasbourg, France.
The title refers to the three movements that comprise the form of the piece. The first movement involves twelve tone considerations; movement two is based on improvised piano sketches, while the final movement involves vamps and improvisational aspects dealing with intervalic constructs.
Concerning the improvisation in movement three, I have included in this text some possible chord voicings and intervallic-based lines for the performers to use as a basis for improvising. For further muscial references concerning these matters, consult my book on the use of chromaticism in a jazz context titled: “A Chromatic Approach To Jazz Harmony and Melody” (Advance/Schott Music, Mainz, Germany).
Liebman sonata for soprano sax and piano: “THREE AS 1” commissioned by the World Saxophone Congress, 2015; premiered in Strassbourg, France by Jean Charles Richard (soprano)/Eric Ferrand-N’Kaoua (piano)
“TRAJECTORY” (for Saxophone Quartet) was commissioned and recorded by the PRISM Saxophone Quartet, Inc. with support from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage; recorded on Heritage/Evolution by the Prism Saxophone Quartet, Innova (label) 2014
Contemporary jazz and classical saxophonists are more than ever attempting to fuse aspects of each idiom together. One elemental aspect of jazz is the unwritten rule not to repeat anything the same way twice (or more) in a row. Obviously I’m exaggerating, but the attempt in this piece is to find a balance between the proscribed written notes and other musical aspects meant to encourage multiple and instant variation, so that the performers can change certain elements of the so-called text as they see fit.
The four saxophones are given three notes each comprising a twelve tone row. Throughout the piece there are sections where the rhythms and expressive devices are left up to the moment for each saxophonist to vary as they like, sometimes limited to the original pitches, sometimes not. The same goes for the rhythms…there are places where rhythmical variation is left up to each player, but also there are sections where a rhythmic contour is written, but then the pitches can be varied. This is most evident in the section named “VAMP.” Sprinkled through the piece are sections of duos and trios with contrapuntal as well as chorale implications meant to offset the ongoing rhythmic and pitch choice tensions.
Compiled by one of Liebman’s protegees, saxohonist Matt Vashlishan, this is a pocket guide to he basics of saxophone playing, a kind of condensed version of Liebman’s historic treatise on the subject “Developing A Personal Saxophone Sound” (Dorn Publications). Able to be carried around easily, there is a very good review of all the required and advanced overtone exercises, considered the cornerstone of understanding saxophone principles.
This book should be seen as a method to help the artist to develop his or her own way when trying to improvise chromatically. Through the concepts and examples offered, the improviser should be able to use this material alongside already familiar tonal ideas. Specifically, the book serves as a guide for organizing chromaticism into a coherent musical statement meant to satisfy both the intellectual and emotional needs of artistic creation. The reader will be introduced to more than one way of conceiving chromatic lines and harmonies. There is nothing theoretically complex or new in the text, it is the organization of the material as well as many musical examples and transcriptions (Bach, Scriabin, Coltrane, Shorter, Hancock, Beirach, Liebman plus others) which should serve to inspire musicians to expand their usual diatonic vocabulary. This book also provides insight into the style of playing that David Liebman is known for. In addition the book contains 100 assorted solo lines and 100 chord voicings.
“To me this book is one of the most fascinating and illuminating books ever written on the subject of improvisation. The first day after I got it I practiced with it for about six hours straight. I love the way it just sort of opens up your mind to look at harmony in such varied ways. All of the musical examples are stimulating, and Dave’s essay on related topics are as elegant and insightful as anything I’ve ever read about improvised music. For musicians looking to expand their harmonic and melodic vocabularies, this is the book! Congratulations!” (Pat Metheny).
Itinerary
News
Dave Liebman places in the70th DownBeat Critics Poll
Jazz Artist of the Year
Soprano Saxophone
Jazz Group of the Year (Expansions)
Flute
Now Available
Ruminations & Reflections – The Musical Journey of Dave Liebman and Richie Beirach
A candid and fascinating exploration of the mental, psychological, and spiritual requirements towards musical mastery. ORDER HERE: https://musicsavvy.com/the-art-of-skill
For information regarding bookings, contact:
Dave Love
Listen 2 Entertainment Group
dave@listen2.com – (216) 272-1078
“THREE AS 1” (for piano and soprano saxophone) was commissioned by Sax Open (World Saxophone Congress).
