Saxophonist Charlie Rouse Delivers Some Hot Jazz
The weather was frigid last night, but during tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse’s concert at Downstairs at Actors it was Le Jazz Hot.
The concert put Rouse, best know for the years he spent from 1959 to 1970 as a member of the legendary jazz pianist Thelonius Monk’s Quartet, together with a rhythm section composed of some of this area’s finest jazz musicians. It’s hard to say who played better, Rouse or the local boys.
One of the problems that besets traveling jazz solo acts is they must depend on local musicians to accompany them. Sometimes the musicians or good, and sometimes they’re bad. Last night’s players - pianist Ray Johnson, bassist Mark McCulloch and drummer Jonathan Higgins were more than good they were excellent.
Johnson, who spent 20 years as a jazz pianist in New York City before returning to his hometown of Louisville a few years ago, got things going with a driving rendition of Charlie Parker’s “Billies Bounce.” McCulloch held things together with a solid bass line and drummer Higgins poured on the steam.
When Rouse came on stage for the first number, “What is this Thing Called Love,” the air was already charged with excitement he added even more by rushing through the song’s chord changes and interjecting his own unique musical ideas. Johnson came up from behind playing like a mad man on several smoking choruses, McCulloch and Higgins followed with good solos.
And it went on like that throughout the concert on a string of Monk standards like “Bolivar Blues,” “Light Blue” and “Straight No Chaser.” Rouse would state the theme, play the first couple of choruses and then turn it over to Johnson, who would take the song apart and put it back together, being careful to throw in a few Monk-like licks of his own.
Only once, on a standard “Lover Man,” did Rouse fail to deliver. On this song the tenor star had some intonation problems that caused him to play sharp through most of the piece.
But he made up for this infraction with a fireball version of “Straight No Chaser” that showcased his jagged phrasing and gruff tone. Johnson was particularly exciting on this song, bouncing up and down as his fingers raced along the keyboard. Bassist McCulloch also played a fine solo on this tune, which gained a laugh of recognition from leader Rouse and a round of applause from the audience.
After an intermission, Rouse and the band came back with an imaginative jazz line based on the chord changes of the standard “Out of Nowhere.” By this time the saxophonist was really getting loose, biting off huge chunks of changes and molding them to fit his peculiar taste and style.
The only problem with last night’s concert was that Rouse is the third saxophonist in less than a year to be featured in concert by the Louisville Jazz Society. It would be nice to see the society bring in some jazz vocalists like Sheila Jordan, Ben Sidran or Mark Murphy. After all, diversity is what jazz is all about.
Danny O’Bryan
The Louisville Times
January 28, 1986
From the up-coming book “Derby City Jazz.”
Showing posts with label Charlie Rouse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charlie Rouse. Show all posts
Monday, February 21, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Jazz Great Charlie Rouse
Jazz Great Charlie Rouse to play Louisville
In the summer of 1964 I attended the Ohio Valley Jazz Festival at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio. The performers that night included the legendary pianist Thelonious Monk and his quartet.
Monk was in a fickle mood during the concert, occasionally jumping up from the piano and dancing around the stage while his saxophonist played with the bass and drums.
Monk’s saxophonist, Charlie Rouse was in great form, blowing chorus after chorus of strong angular jazz. Rouse’s tenor sax was a perfect complement to Monk’s unorthodox piano style. Some critics said he sounded like Monk playing saxophone.
Monday at 5:30 p.m. Louisville jazz fans will get a chance to see Rouse when he performs with the local rhythm section of pianist Ray Johnson, bassist Mark McCulloch and drummer Jonathan Higgins at the Louisville Jazz Society’s Jazz Party at Downstairs at Actors, 316 W. Main St.
Rouse, 61, was born in Washington, D.C. In 1943, he joined Billy Eckstine’s orchestra, which was one of the greatest all-star big bands in jazz history. It included such luminaries as singer Sarah Vaughn, alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.
In a telephone interview, Rouse talked about those days.
“When I was growing up there were so many places to play and there was a wealth of jazz talent. Everyone has their own individual styles and all the great jazz artists were working back then,” Rouse said.
Saxophonist Ben Webster was the first established jazz musician to befriend Rouse. Later he would be Webster’s replacement in the Duke Ellington Orchestra. But the new sounds of bebop that were being created by musicians like Parker, Gillespie and Monk were to be Rouse’s major influence.
After leaving Eckstine, Rouse joined Gillespie’s band.
“Dizzy left Eckstine about the same time I did. He formed the big band, and we did a tour down south. After that I joined a group headed by pianist Tadd Dameron featuring trumpeter Fats Navarro,” he said.
Rouse also worked with trombonist Benny Green, saxophonist and vocalist Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson and a small band led by Count Basie. But he’s probably best known for the years, from 1959 to 1970, that he spent with Monk.
“Monk was a genius. He was one of the great American composers and jazz pianists. He could get a sound out of a piano that no one else had,”
Rouse said.
He said his best years with Monk’s quartet was from 1960 to around 1968. During that time the group recorded numerous albums for Columbia Records and toured Europe on a yearly basis.
“Playing with Monk was a real challenge because you never knew what tunes he was going to do on any given night,” Rouse said.
In recent years, Rouse has been playing with Sphere, a quartet that specializes in Monk’s music.
“I’ll be playing a concert with Sphere at Purdue University the day before I perform in Louisville,” he said.
Danny O’Bryan
The Louisville Times
January 25, 1986
From the up-coming book “Derby City Jazz.”
In the summer of 1964 I attended the Ohio Valley Jazz Festival at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio. The performers that night included the legendary pianist Thelonious Monk and his quartet.
Monk was in a fickle mood during the concert, occasionally jumping up from the piano and dancing around the stage while his saxophonist played with the bass and drums.
Monk’s saxophonist, Charlie Rouse was in great form, blowing chorus after chorus of strong angular jazz. Rouse’s tenor sax was a perfect complement to Monk’s unorthodox piano style. Some critics said he sounded like Monk playing saxophone.
Monday at 5:30 p.m. Louisville jazz fans will get a chance to see Rouse when he performs with the local rhythm section of pianist Ray Johnson, bassist Mark McCulloch and drummer Jonathan Higgins at the Louisville Jazz Society’s Jazz Party at Downstairs at Actors, 316 W. Main St.
Rouse, 61, was born in Washington, D.C. In 1943, he joined Billy Eckstine’s orchestra, which was one of the greatest all-star big bands in jazz history. It included such luminaries as singer Sarah Vaughn, alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.
In a telephone interview, Rouse talked about those days.
“When I was growing up there were so many places to play and there was a wealth of jazz talent. Everyone has their own individual styles and all the great jazz artists were working back then,” Rouse said.
Saxophonist Ben Webster was the first established jazz musician to befriend Rouse. Later he would be Webster’s replacement in the Duke Ellington Orchestra. But the new sounds of bebop that were being created by musicians like Parker, Gillespie and Monk were to be Rouse’s major influence.
After leaving Eckstine, Rouse joined Gillespie’s band.
“Dizzy left Eckstine about the same time I did. He formed the big band, and we did a tour down south. After that I joined a group headed by pianist Tadd Dameron featuring trumpeter Fats Navarro,” he said.
Rouse also worked with trombonist Benny Green, saxophonist and vocalist Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson and a small band led by Count Basie. But he’s probably best known for the years, from 1959 to 1970, that he spent with Monk.
“Monk was a genius. He was one of the great American composers and jazz pianists. He could get a sound out of a piano that no one else had,”
Rouse said.
He said his best years with Monk’s quartet was from 1960 to around 1968. During that time the group recorded numerous albums for Columbia Records and toured Europe on a yearly basis.
“Playing with Monk was a real challenge because you never knew what tunes he was going to do on any given night,” Rouse said.
In recent years, Rouse has been playing with Sphere, a quartet that specializes in Monk’s music.
“I’ll be playing a concert with Sphere at Purdue University the day before I perform in Louisville,” he said.
Danny O’Bryan
The Louisville Times
January 25, 1986
From the up-coming book “Derby City Jazz.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)