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DVD - Savion Glover - Fours


GA Russell

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This looks great! I hope I will be sent a copy.

For Immediate Release Please

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Jam # 1 McCoy Tyner

Jam # 2 Eddie Palmieri

Jam # 3 Roy Haynes

Jam # 4 Jack DeJohnette

FOURS ON HALF NOTE AVAILABLE IN STORES AND ONLINE NOW!

NEW YORK, November 19, 2012 - Universally regarded as the best tap dancer on Earth (though only 39 years old, at this writing), Tony Award-winner SAVION GLOVER showcases his musical side by jamming with jazz royalty. Over the course of an hour-long DVD featuring interview footage and 4 separate jams - one each with McCOY TYNER, EDDIE PALMIERI, ROY HAYNES AND JACK DEJOHNETTE - Savion spars tirelessly, treating viewers to a clinic on rhythmic improvisation. It is a remarkably athletic performance in which he shifts from soloist to accompanist and back, challenging and reacting to his mentors with a searching, spiritual demeanor emblematic of jazz's greatest instrumentalists. The DVD is an eyeful. He illuminates the sheer joy of dance while reaffirming his own quest for creative sublimity.

Savion invited four Mt. Rushmore figures to an evening jam; he proves himself one of them.

CAPTURED LIVE AT THE BLUE NOTE

PATIENCE HIGGINS - SAXOPHONE

MARCUS STRICKLAND - SAXOPHONE

KURT FAUSSETTE - PIANO

ANDY McCLOUD - BASS

BRIAN GRICE - DRUMS

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  • 2 weeks later...

I received this on Saturday, and played one track per night since then. I've got nothing like this in my collection, and that alone might be enough for you to ask for this for Christmas.

None of the tracks are given titles in the liner notes.

The first track was McCoy Tyner. I found that song to be the most enjoyable. However, not to argue with David but..., I found that Glover didn't contribute anything to the music. I think it would have been just as enjoyable without him.

The second track was Eddie Palmieri. It was a simple latin groove, and Glover's dancing on this one was the highlight of the disc for me. He showed great chops perfectly appropriate to the music.

The third track was Roy Haynes. Glover was great providing a counter-balance to Haynes, but unfortunately I found the song to be boring.

The final track was a duet with Jack DeJohnette. No music, just rhythm; more like an intellectual exercise. If there had been great music to go with it, I would call Glover's dancing a tour de force here. But twenty minutes of rhythm with no music is too much for me.

Glover pronounced his name DeJoh-NAY. Is that correct?

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No music, just rhythm; more like an intellectual exercise.

Ok, let me be less...whatever this time - I'm not sure I understand what is meant by this, could you elaborate, please?

I've come to really appreciate tap dancing as a "free-standing" art, and have pretty much always viewed drumming as such. That's why I'm asking. To me, rhythm IS music. Although, it is refreshing to hear rhythm and dancing referred to as "intellectual". Usually it's quite the opposite!

No matter, this looks like it might be kind of a next-gen No Maps On My Taps or something, in which case, I am intrigued.

Edited by JSngry
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LOL!!! Jim, I just knew that you would say that rhythm is music! Well, no need to get into an argument about that issue, but I like a melody along with my rhythm, thank you.

I say "intellectual" because the twenty minutes didn't swing like Count Basie pat your foot music. No one in the audience was smiling.

By the way, I should have mentioned that all four tracks are tap numbers. There are no soft shoes or sawdust efforts.

During the first three tracks I marvelled at Glover's stamina, although that's how he makes his living so you would expect it. But for the fourth track, the upper half of his t-shirt was drenched in perspiration. So he was clearly working out.

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Nah, not looking for an argument, just trying to get a better insight into what you meant, that's all. This release is of interest to me, so that's why.

What I'd also like your feedback on, now that I have a better idea of your own POV, is do you think that the dancing and/or the musicians are having to compromise what they ordinarily do on their own, or does it seem to you like they fit together fine, each doing what they already do? I could see that one going either way, actually, since only Palmieri and (a young) Haynes have had ongoing experiences playing explicitly functional dance music. But they all swing on their own, and a lot of people feel the swing in ways besides dancing. So, yeah, could go either way, that one.

Again, not looking for an argument, just an impression. I value your opinion on this, since you've seen the DVD and know the work of all concerned. Even though I probably have a different opinion than you about the rhythm/music/melody thing (I have a different opinion than a lot of people about that, it seems), I'm also a huge fan of Venn diagrams, if you know what I mean. :) Recognizing the differences doesn't mean that the overlaps ceases to exist!

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I found he was very sympatico with both Palmieri and DeJohnette, even though the styles were very different.

He seemed to be less engaged with Haynes than the other two, but that is not to say that there was no empathy between the two of them. As I recall, the Haynes track involved a fair amount of repetition, as if they didn't have enough ideas to cover the fifteen minutes. I will have to watch that again with that in mind to see if that is the case.

I felt that Glover was at a loss as to what to do with McCoy. There was a drummer on that track (Brian Grice), and he seemed sufficient. Perhaps if there were no drummer, Glover's work would have seemed to be a greater contribution.

One other idea: It occurs to me that the proof in the pudding will be how often I want to listen to this, not just sit down in front of the TV to watch it.

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Man, Savion with Roy and Jack in separate improvisations seems enough to warrant a buy for me at some point. I'm surprised GA that you feel both men and Savion seemed at opposites. Both were tap dancers at some point but Roy's rhythms are so tap dance like, an extension of his body.

Edited by CJ Shearn
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Man, Savion with Roy and Jack in separate improvisations seems enough to warrant a buy for me at some point. I'm surprised GA that you feel both men and Savion seemed at opposites. Both were tap dancers at some point but Roy's rhythms are so tap dance like, an extension of his body.

I'd be interested in seeing it given the musicians involved. One of the memories that I will always carry with me is watching Roy Haynes tap dancing during a concert a few months ago. I had a seat in the front row across from his drums for the second set; it was so inspiring to watch him play, dance and work the audience from a few feet away. He was talking about his early career and said, "I never thought that I'd live this long, and I never thought that I'd be this loose!" I wonder if Louis Hayes has a dance background, because his drumming definitely has a dancing quality.

When I saw Geri Allen performing with a tap dancer, I thought that it didn't add much to the music and was visually distracting. When I heard the same group on record, I enjoyed it more, but I'd rather have a more traditional percussionist.

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