Jodie Christian

[Chuck Nessa]

I had many personal interactions with the fine human named Jodie Christian. He was always kind, gentle and very musical. I had the privilege of recording him with Ira Sullivan and Wilbur Campbell in 1977.

In 1980 (I think) I received a phone call from Andrew Hill. He hadn’t been home in over a decade but was in Chicago to visit his ailing mother. We had never met but he said he wanted to see some old friends and hear some music and thought I would be a good guide. I asked which musicians he wanted to see/hear and he responded with Von Freeman and Jodie Christian. We went to the Enterprise Lounge to see Von but he was in Europe and E. Parker McDougal was playing with a quartet. We stayed for a set and chatted with E. Parker and band for a while. Next I drove to Roberts Show Lounge to hear the Jodie Christian Trio. I was privileged to sit for a couple of hours and hear these 2 old friends laugh and talk about musicians and situations foreign to me. I wish a recording of this encounter existed so I could refresh myself.

The next morning Andrew called again, this time to thank me for the “wonderful evening” and to tell me his mother passed while we were out and about. He was happy to have been with a friend.

Edit to make sure the last sentence referred to Jodie, not me.

Edited February 13, 2012 by Chuck Nessa

[BeBop]

I never met him, but heard him a few times in concert. And he showed up on a bunch of records I enjoyed. So thanks and reast peacefully.

[Free For All]

This is the one I played on:

I also performed with Jodie at the Red Sea festival (with most of the players from this recording). That was an amazing trip. Jodie was a great friend. I'm so sorry he's gone, but I'm grateful I had the opportunity to know and play with him.

[Dave James]

One of the unsung heroes. As tasteful a pianist as you're like to encounter. Of course, I didn't know him personally, but from reading the recollections here of those who did, he seems to have been as good a human being as he was a musician. That's a nice combination. RIP.

[rpklich]

I heard him live many times. He was for a while one of the house pianists Joe Segal used at the Jazz Showcase. I also liked his playing with the quartet he had with vibist Emmanuel Cranshaw. Larry Kart's right, he was a great guy.

[Larry Kart]

I'll never forget a 1986 Jazz Showcase gig he had with Lee Konitz, Steve Rodby, and Wilbur Campbell. If Lee ever had a trio with him that responded more wholeheartedly to his needs, I never heard it, and Jodie was at the core of what was happening.

[1986]

While jazz is supposed to be an improviser’s art--“the sound of surprise” as critic Whitney Balliett once put it--not that many jazz musicians really improvise. Instead they work their way through familiar formulas and offer up their favorite licks, all of which can be satisfying at times. But then one encounters the music of alto saxophonist Lee Konitz and realizes how surprising genuine improvisation can be.

Performing through Sunday at the Jazz Showcase, Konitz began Friday night’s first set with a tender but rather tentative version of “Star Eyes.” A testing of motifs, his solo brought to mind an article Konitz recently wrote in which he described the ten levels of paraphrase a musician must pass through on his way from a song’s original melody to a genuinely new variation upon it. So on “Star Eyes,” Konitz seemed content to rest at level two or three, perhaps because that allowed his rhythm section to work its way into his conception of the music. And that proved to be a wise choice--not only because pianist Jodie Christian, bassist Steve Rodby, and drummer Wilbur Campbell began to interact with Konitz as though they could read his mind, but also because the next three tunes were sublime.

First came “Invitation,” within which Konitz found a groove that is his alone--a kind of muttered-out gracefulness that seemed at first to be built upon the scattered rhythms of ordinary speech or the scuffling pace of a stroll down the street. But larger patterns soon began to take shape, and finally the whole solo stood revealed as a single unit, an event that had coalesced right in front of one’s eyes. “Body and Soul” was next, taken at an unusual ambling tempo and marked by two Konitz choruses that started at about level eight and stayed right on that track. Here the lyricism was bold and openly songful; and with that to deal with, Konitz’s partners rose to the challenge. Stirred by the ceaseless linearity of Konitz’s playing, Christian offered up a blend of tenderness and strength that matched anything one had ever heard from this gifted player. Rodby found a similarly exalted groove, and Campbell stitched things together with accents of hair-trigger sensitivity.

Then, before a brief version of “The Theme,” there was “Stella By Starlight,” which had to be an example of Konitz at level ten. At once omnipresent and just out of reach, the melody of “Stella” gave birth to a seemingly endless string of variations, each of which was perfect in itself and each of which gave new meaning to what had come just before. Improvisation par excellence, this was group improvisation as well--for by this time the sharing of ideas was the norm, with each note and phrase being surrounded by so much space that the players seemed able to fully contemplate the music they made while remaining caught up in the act of producing it.

[Mark Stryker]

Always enjoyed hearing Jodie -- a true individual, and, really, there's no higher praise in jazz. Met him only once and recall him as soft-spoken, warm, a man at peace with himself and the world.

(Coda: some exceptional writing in Larry's review above, especially this about Konitz: First came “Invitation,” within which Konitz found a groove that is his alone--a kind of muttered-out gracefulness that seemed at first to be built upon the scattered rhythms of ordinary speech or the scuffling pace of a stroll down the street. But larger patterns soon began to take shape, and finally the whole solo stood revealed as a single unit, an event that had coalesced right in front of one’s eyes.)

Edited February 14, 2012 by Mark Stryker

[AllenLowe]

I've said it before but I'll say it again - Larry is one of a handful of jazz critics who have made the form into an art -

Edited February 14, 2012 by AllenLowe

[johnlitweiler]

I've said it before but I'll say it again - Larry is one of a handful of jazz critics who have made the form into an art -

Amen.

[Peter Friedman]

A fine jazz piano player. I particularly like this CD.

Jodie Christian Trio - Blues Holiday - Steeplechase 31337

W. Eddie de Haas & Wilbur Campbell

[johnlitweiler]

Here's another portrait of Jodie Christian, by Lloyd Sachs: http://jazzespress.com/2012/02/14/celebrating-jodie/

BTW that album, Jodie Christian / Experience, is really lovely.

[Chuck Nessa]

Thanks for the link John.

[fasstrack]

I seem to remember owning an Ira Sullivan LP (I'm pretty sure he was the leader) with Jodie Christian and Wilbur Campbell. Anyone know what it is called? Or am I all wet? Sorry to say that's all I know of Mr. Christian. I gather I missed a lot.

[B. Clugston]

I seem to remember owning an Ira Sullivan LP (I'm pretty sure he was the leader) with Jodie Christian and Wilbur Campbell. Anyone know what it is called? Or am I all wet? Sorry to say that's all I know of Mr. Christian. I gather I missed a lot.

He turns up on a few Ira Sullivan albums, including Nicky's Tune on Delmark. Happened to find it last week and have been really enjoying.

[Chuck Nessa]

I seem to remember owning an Ira Sullivan LP (I'm pretty sure he was the leader) with Jodie Christian and Wilbur Campbell. Anyone know what it is called? Or am I all wet? Sorry to say that's all I know of Mr. Christian. I gather I missed a lot.

It could be this one, which I produced:

[Hardbopjazz]

Wow. Another one gone. R.I.P. Jodie.

The music will remain forever.