Masters in Paris
Dave Liebman and Martial Solal
Dave Liebman - saxophone, Martial Solal - piano
https://daveliebman.bandcamp.com/album/masters-in-paris
Track Listing
1. A Night In Tunisia
2. Stella By Starlight
3. In and Out
4. Night and Day
5. Small One
6. Satin Doll
7. Summertime
8. What Is This Thing Called Love
9. Coming Yesterday
Liner Notes
The breadth of the stylistic approach of legendary musicians Martial Solal and Dave Liebman is as vast as their collective résumés. Having played the jazz for seven and five decades, respectively, their ease in any musical situation allows their two styles to flow unrestrictedly when they meet.
The great pianist and saxophonist had never played together until 2016, when they came together under the impetus of Liebman’s former student Jean-Charles Richard to perform at the Sunside Jazz Club in Paris, France. Their rapport was so obvious that they were quickly booked for a few more shows. Their new recording, Masters In Paris, was one of these special events, recorded live at Radio France Studio 104 on October 29, 2016.
Solal has been acknowledged as one of France’s most revered jazz musicians. Born in Algiers, Algeria, the pianist made his recording debut with Django Reinhart and has been a prime mover in the evolution of the art in France. Liebman was born in Brooklyn and broke into the jazz world in the early 1970s as a member of Elvin Jones’s and Miles Davis’s incredible bands. Liebman has remained an important fixture in the jazz world as one of the foremost improvisers on tenor and soprano saxophone.
The duo first came together in early 2016 and shared the stage a number of times in France. Their first recording, Masters In Bordeaux (Sunnyside, 2017), was recorded on August 4, 2016 at Château Guiraud in Sauternes.
Their follow-up recording found them in Paris two months later in a concert billed as Jazz sur le Vif produced by Arnaud Merlin with Agathe Le Bail and Vincent Lecocq. The pristine audio was provided by the broadcasters of Radio France.
The recording begins with a galloping rendition of Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night In Tunisia;” the abstract reading is a fantastic example of the duo’s expressive range. Victor Young and Ned Washington’s “Stella By Starlight” is a showcase for Solal’s whimsically cheeky piano and Liebman’s warm soprano tone, while Solal’s “In and Out” is a patient ballad with some resonant tenor playing. Cole Porter’s “Night and Day” is revisited and dissected and reassembled in a myriad of ways in a long musical conversation. Liebman’s “Small One” is a lovingly played tribute to a child, as expressed tenderly by the duo.
Solal approaches Duke Ellington’s classic “Satin Doll” playfully while Liebman is more teasing. Gershwin’s “Summertime” is rendered as a bright collage and the duo revisits Porter’s “What Is This Thing Called Love,” turning the classic tune into a dizzying musical chase. The program concludes with Solal’s poignant “Coming Yesterday,” an evocative piece with flamboyant runs and rhythmic diversity.
The pairing of Martial Solal and Dave Liebman was a brilliant one. The two come from different generations and continents but meet where convivial musical exploration comes together in exemplary ways on their new Masters In Paris.
Review
LE MONDE (PARIS)
Watch out, masterpiece: sumptuous feast of the spirit, geniuses among themselves, and, essential, the audience. The youngest of the current duets : Martial Solal (piano) and Dave Liebman (soprano saxophones and tenor) at their peak, recorded live in concert (Radio France, October 29, 2016). Far from the show off and competition. Friendship, science, two cultures in common (including jazz). Only object of desire: the music itself, that they summon to sight. What astounds, in their duets, in clubs or in concert (Masters in Bordeaux, 2016), is the freshness, the art of conversation, the thoughtfulness, this inimitable way of melting performance into the unexpected.
Designated recipients of this album: great connoisseurs and amateurs of the first circle; emerging pianists; suspicious neophytes. Which ones will discover that, served at this height, «jazz» is exactly the opposite of what they believe. How? In the reinvention of the moment: from A Night in Tunisia (Gillespie) to Satin Doll (Billy Strayhorn) and Summertime (Gershwin). Pure jubilation of being, of improvisation, and of the desire to play.
Steve Futterman
THE NEW YORKER
Devotees of foreign film have heard Martial Solal even if they aren’t familiar with the brilliant jazz pianist and composer—his few original themes, brief but apposite, enliven Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 New Wave classic, “Breathless.” Solal’s contribution to cinema history, momentous though it is, is just a footnote to his remarkable seventy-plus-year career. “Masters in Paris,” the second volume of his 2016 encounter with the formidable American saxophonist Dave Liebman, is predictably stupendous—even more so when Solal’s age (eighty-nine at the time) is taken into account. Romping through a bundle of standards, the Algerian-born virtuoso displays the technical acuity and unself-conscious idiosyncrasy that have always brightened his playing, and Liebman, nineteen years Solal’s junior, demonstrates why he’s among the most respected of post-bop stylists on both his tenor and his soprano horns.
Dan Bilawsky
JAZZ TIMES
With about 160 earthly years between them at the time of this 2016 meeting, pianist Martial Solal and saxophonist Dave Liebman embody experience. And boy, do they draw from it. Over the course of this absorbing live sequel to 2017’s similarly live Masters in Bordeaux, these two musicians manage to bring logic and coherence to the odd marriage of direct thought and digression. Sometimes they’re in complete accord; at other times they’re drawn to bellicose banter, or they leave each other to ponder in solitude. But at all points, Solal and Liebman prove vital and fresh.
“A Night in Tunisia” proffers authority and provides a clearing for Solal to spin his variations. The pianist’s “In and Out” settles in as a statement of slow-drawn beauty, giving Liebman room to ruminate with his tenor. The saxophonist’s “Small One” speaks to childlike wonder in its waltzing gait and wide-eyed expressions. And the immortal “Satin Doll” leans on both Ellingtonian sentiment and the pull of the present, with Liebman’s soprano playfully singing and dancing atop Solal’s piano. Whether essaying a classic melody or bending form and language to their will, this duo never treads on worn paths or falls back on common devices. “Original,” for most, is an elusive epithet. But for Solal, now 92, and Liebman, 73, it’s a well-earned appellation.
Ken Dryden
NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD
Given the wide range of stylistic interests that French pianist Martial Solal (who turns 93 this month) and American saxophonist Dave Liebman have demonstrated during their respective decades-long careers, finding middle ground was not an issue during their duo performances together in 2016. An earlier CD from an August 2016 French concert, Masters In Bordeaux, was issued in 2017 to critical acclaim. This new CD is a Parisian concert recorded a few months later and eclipses the previous release. While they perform familiar standards and jazz favorites, including two songs that they tackled on the previous album, there is nothing predictable about their approaches to any of these songs, with their originals being an added bonus.
Spontaneity is the key element in each song. An off-center piano vamp and bristling, gutsy tenor saxophone quickly detour from the theme of “A Night In Tunisia” while creative use of space should be required listening for young virtuosi who haven’t yet learned to let their music breathe. Solal’s dissonant, inventive chords introduce the theme of “Stella By Starlight”, conveying a sense of playfulness, then Liebman makes his entrance on soprano to bring in a wistful air to contrast with the pianist’s humorous line.
Solal previously recorded his “In and Out” with Johnny Griffin; this version with Liebman on tenor proves to be even more striking, as his improvisational flights soar above the mysterious melody. Solal’s whimsical side is on full display in the rambunctious interpretation of “Night and Day”, as he hints at Bud Powell with a “Parisian Thoroughfare”-like run and myriad salutes to other bop greats without making them overly obvious. Liebman (on tenor) is up to the challenge and he revels in providing an inventive contrasting line while also adding his own amusing licks. Liebman’s easygoing waltz “Small One” is a terrific showcase for his soprano, with Solal’s unconventional supporting lines stimulating the composer to greater heights. One can only hope that other concerts featuring these two jazz masters are waiting to be prepared for release.
