Bill Mays: cd, dvd, live performance reviews

Ted O’Reilly, February 2005 Wholenote Jazz Reviews Pt. 1

This ‘equal members’ trio recording shows the spontaneous side of its very professional musicians. These fine players all have many associations which are more formal (such as Mays’ own trio, Swainson with George Shearing, Clarke with Jim Hall) but this live recoding at Toronto’s Montreal Bistro & Jazz Club captures them tossing ideas back and forth, jousting, trying to hit the high hard one in the pure joy of challenge-jazz. Each player listens and contributes, ready to go where the music itself leads.

In this sort of contributory music, the actual compositions played are of less value than what is done to them, but there’s a lot of ground covered here: originals by Mays (the exuberant Bick’s Bag written for retired guitarist Ed Bickert and once recorded by those two) and Swainson (Paradigm, quiet and thoughtful); standards like Laura, On The Trail (featuring Swainson) and even Paul Simon’s I Do It For Your Love. Jazz tunes are Bean And The Boys by Coleman Hawkins; Frank Rosolino’s waltz Blue Daniel; and the session’s wrap-up Hallucinations, Bud Powell’s bebop burner.

The music is well-recorded and naturally balanced but, having spent many a night at the Montreal Bistro, it seems to me that more than a little post-production enhancement has happened when it comes to the audience response, as it sounds like an attentive, enthusiastic 400 or so WHOOPEE fans are there. So, if you don’t mind that many folks in your listening room, be sure to invite Mays, Swainson and Clarke. They make a special trio.

One of the great mysteries of a working band is that some nights are better than others. The factors that contribute to such a state may be myriad and yet elusive, depending as much on the band as the audience. It may be that the bartender is having a good night and every Rusty Nail served is smoky and perfect. Or maybe it is payday for a majority of the patrons. Whatever the causes, when that perfect storm hits, you don’t want to be anywhere else but that room. Bick’s Bag by the trio of Bill Mays (piano), Neil Swainson (bass) and Terry Clarke (drums) captures a night when everything was going right. From the opening gospel style stomp of the title track to the wry and lovely hush cast by Paul Simon’s “I Do It For Your Love” the band is in the pocket, obviously prodded on by their own fine efforts. The crystal clear quality of the recording also features an enthusiastic audience at the Montreal bistro and Jazz Club, not shy about showing their approval and inserting themselves into the performances. It is our good fortune that such a night was pinned down on tape before it could fragment and float away in only the memories of those in the club that night.

Here’s delightful music, a tribute to retired guitarist Ed Bickert, a frequent collaborator of pianist Mays.The Montreal Bistro audience is noisily appreciative from the first notes of the funkily swinging title tune to the last at a session recorded on the final night of a week’s gig there two Falls ago. There are languorous examinations of standards (“Laura”) and newer pop classics (Paul Simon’s “I Do It For Your Love”) and Mays shows he still can bop at reckless pace with the best (Bud Powell’s “Hallucinations”).Overall the music is relaxed and sophisticated, bass Swainson and drummer Clarke meshing comfortably as the versatile, authoritative Mays charts this pleasing journey. The audience keeps cheering, notably for the bounce and energy the trio puts into the Coleman Hawkins “Bean And The Boys” and the cleverly countrified “On The Trail.” GC

As the former musical director for Sarah Vaughan, Bill Mays' preparation as a leader is well documented. Prior to working with Vaughan, Bill spent time with Bud Shank, Bobby Shew, Gerry Mulligan, Ron Carter, Sonny Stitt and numerous others. With the wide and varied experience Mays has acquired over the years, the natural order of things suggested he would record as a leader as well. Since 1982, Bill Mays has recorded numerous albums with a high degree of acclaim. He continues to do so in 2003 with his second release entitled 'Going Home' on the Palmetto Record Label. Listening to this stellar trio of musicians consisting of Mays, bassist Martin Wind and drummer Matt Wilson brings to bear one of the reasons why jazz is America's only original art form.

'Going Home' is a dedication to three dynamic musicians who have made their home going jazz passage: drummer Shelly Manne, bassist Red Mitchell and pianist Jimmy Rowles, all of whom have had a tremendous impact on Bill Mays' life. The CD is also indicative of the different homes he has lived in throughout his life. His humble beginnings in Los Angeles, the home he made with his wife Judy, the camaraderie he has found in his trio, his apartment in New York, as well as the country home he maintains in Shohola, Pennsylvania. The overall theme of 'Going Home' is quite compelling, inasmuch as the recording highlights Bill's prolific skills as a composer and arranger. The CD is filled with thoughtful nuances of rhythmic bop oriented improvised jazz. There are also melodic references to everything that is near and dear to Bill's emotional side, especially the very first track entitled "Judy" and the Cole Porter staple "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To". These two songs, along with nine additional cuts are the essence of Bill Mays 'Going Home'. Much of what has been done throughout the CD has been filled with a myriad of influences, including the track entitled "Going Home", which provides a unique jazz spin on Dvorak's classical composition 'New World Symphony'. In every sense of the word we call improvised jazz, Bill Mays carries his listeners into a realm of creativity that is bold, empathetic and melodically enticing.

When one examines Bill Mays' testament to the ideologies of jazz, it is well worth the effort of experiencing everything he has accomplished as a solo leader. In doing so, the influences of Earl "Fatha" Hines, Wynton Kelly, Art Tatum, Bill Evans, Horace Silver and Jimmy Rowles are definitely heard throughout 'Going Home'. These musicians helped shape the course of events leading to a career in jazz. Throughout the world of avid admirers and jazz connoisseurs, Bill Mays has become known as an innovator and major contributor. His keyboard talents have been highly touted and utilized on numerous soundtracks as well: including 'Shaft 2', 'Sleepless in Seattle', 'Being John Malkovich' and the blockbuster movie hit '.' To put Bill Mays' career in perspective, jazz in all of its flavors continues to be a better place in history because he exists. With the onslaught of forces hoping to diminish the importance of America's music, recordings such as 'Going Home' will make their jobs all the harder.

The songs selected or composed by Mays all have a home theme. It’s no accident that the perky tribute to his wife, Judy, is immediately followed by an enthusiastic interpretation of Cole Porter’s You’d Be So Nice To Come Home to. Mays introduces the first song gradually, backed by Wilson’s hand drumming, as if to give listeners instrumental impressions of the many facets of his obviously delightful wife’s character. It’s no wonder he’ s enthusiastic to return home to her after enduring the headaches of the life as a touring musician. Mays’ tense On The Road, his reflective Shoho Love Song and the gorgeous In Her Arms also merit high praise.

A découvrir au festival Jazz Middelheim, le dimanche 17 août.

To discover at the Jazz Festival of Middelheim, on Sunday, August 17th.

Bill Mays’ new disc is dedicated to the memories of Jimmy Rowles, Red Mitchell and Shelly Manne, and the spirit of its dedicatees is audible in the CD’s engaging mix of sweetness and sly-dog mischief. The programme is linked by the theme of home, domesticity and return. Predictably enough “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” makes an appearance (though one could hardly have predicted how fresh the trio make it sound), and there’s the Dvorak piece that also lends the disc its title, but the rest of the setlist is very unfamiliar. The theme of Jimmy Rowles’ “Nosey Neighbours” emerges in a wry, sidewise fashion, and the piece is shot through with Rowles’ characteristic wisdom and humour. Much the same droll minimalism turns up in the delightful “Judy,” one of Mays’ own compositions. The pianist’s friend Jurg Sommer wrote “Shohola Song” as a tribute to the Mays family’s favourite rural retreat in Pennsylvania: the pianist’s improvisation is so direct an extension of the melody it’s as if he’s telling the listener, “Yes, it really is a lovely place, and a lovely tune: you’ll understand if I don’t need to add much more.” Nor need he have.

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