Ethan Iverson interviews Bob Cranshaw.

[Hardbopjazz]

This was a very enjoyable interview to read.

http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/interview-with-bob-cranshaw.html

[makpjazz57]

Thanks; looking forward to this. His interview with Keith Jarrett was one of the best interviews I ever read.

[Larry Kart]

Fascinating interview. Used to hear Cranshaw at sessions in Evanston in the late '50s. Didn't take a genius to figure out that he was going somewhere.

[AllenLowe]

some interesting insight into Rollins' methods; actually, some of the more interesting and revealing things I've read about Sonny.

[Hot Ptah]

I found it interesting that he does not see himself primarily as a soloist. I saw a Sonny Rollins concert in Kansas City at which pianist Stephen Scott was delayed in the St. Louis airport (which is quite possible) and missed the first set. Bob Cranshaw was called upon to fill in with bass solos, for all of Scott's missing piano solos. It was the only time I have heard Cranshaw solo at length, often.

[Larry Kart]

I found the passage about Duke Pearson not being at the piano amusing.

[JSngry]

I LOL-ed at this:

...because Sonny can do some things. Sonny can play, and he’s playing in and out of things, but it can become confusing. So, if a guy didn’t know him, he’d say, “Where the fuck are we? Where are we in this tune? Where is he?”

Sonny, the way he can play time in and out of phrases…

Sometimes I’ve heard him with other bass players or other drummers, and they were confused. You hear something; is he really in that place or is he someplace else? My thing was, because I’m really into trying to play the changes in the bottom, I usually stay where I am. I can hear him if he’s in another place. I talk about that with guys in the band, drummers especially: Sonny turned the time around. I’ve seen him turn the time around. Now, where do you go? Do you go with where he is, or do you stay where you are? Sometimes you’re in that position because he’s playing so much stuff until you’re saying, “Should I be there, or should I be there?” Usually, I’m locked down. I’m going. I’m straight ahead. If I hear something else happening, I hear it, so I can go there. If I have to jump into the next bar, or go back, I hear it. It’s coming through me.

...because I witnessed an example of that, Sonny going in between the time so much that the end result was "like" levitating in time, like you started out in one place, then went up into the air and then came back down to earth in the spot where you were supposed to be, but...how did you get there, it was not a linear path, it was like...I don't know, levitation is the best word I can think of for it.

And because I was kind of like, WHOA, WTF was THAT????? I started looking around, and I saw Cranshaw just kind of shake his head, shift his body, and get back to normal, like, ok, yeah, he just did that to us, and I look around at the people in the seats, and many of them are doing the same thing, perhaps consciously, perhaps not, who knows, but yeah, Sonny can indeed "do some things".

Also, fwiw, this was done on one of those "funk" type tunes, not on a standard, so the myth that Sonny didn't really have his heart into any of "that" stuff...that's not the right argument to have, I'd say.

[mjzee]

The last time I saw Sonny, in 2000, I remember Cranshaw laughing at some of the things Sonny was doing; he got such a kick out of it.

[sgcim]

Great interview, I'm glad he shoved OP down EI's throat.

[Head Man]

Great interview, I'm glad he shoved OP down EI's throat.

????

[Larry Kart]

Great interview, I'm glad he shoved OP down EI's throat.

????

OP = Oscar Peterson

EI = Ethan Iverson

Cranshaw is a big fan of the former; Iverson I assume is not.

[sgcim]

Great interview, I'm glad he shoved OP down EI's throat.

????

OP = Oscar Peterson

EI = Ethan Iverson

Cranshaw is a big fan of the former; Iverson I assume is not.

Yeah, I'm going back to EI's interview with Fred Hersch, where they both dismissed OP as not even worthy of comment in their odd,little version of the history of jazz piano.

I guess I can understand that after hearing EI's pitiful attempt at playing Mancini's "Charade" on Albert Heath's latest album...

[jlhoots]

Jeez - I like that Tootie CD.

[xybert]

It's funny how that works. I haven't heard enough of his stuff outside of The Bad Plus to consider myself a fan of his but i like what i've heard and i am a TBP fan and a Do The Math fan, and i admit to feeling a bit butthurt when Iverson would take pot shots at Corea (being a fan of Corea's). I know Iverson isn't a unique snowflake in terms of not being a fan of Corea's, but yeah just one of those human things where, i mean, i've been around long enough to not worry about it but i can't deny that i get a twinge when he disses Corea. It's a twinge that instantly disappears, i don't really care, i don't need for one guy i like to like another guy that i like, but...

So yeah, the point i'm trying to get to is that there's been at least a couple of interviews Iverson has done where the subject has praised Corea and i've been like "Yayeah! Suck it Iverson!" in my head cause he ain't got nothing to say!

I intend this in the lightest/only half joking-est way possible.

[AllenLowe]

Iverson is, IMHO, a terrific pianist. In his own work he actually reminds me a bit of Jaki Byard.

[sgcim]

Jeez - I like that Tootie CD.

I only heard that one tune "Charade". It sounded like Tootie used a high school student on that cut.

Maybe the rest of it is good, but EI sounded like a triad playing rocker on it.

[Ethan Iverson]

Hi there Organissimo! I appreciate the interest in DTM. When y'all link to something on my blog, I see it in my referrers, so I tend to be aware of DTM-related chatter in this forum. You cats are serious jazz fans, and I'm pleased that some of my interviews etc. are being read by serious listeners.

Obviously, my piano playing on "Charade" needn't be for everyone. I admit there are triads in that performance.

The reason I'm writing, though, is just to clear up my stance on Oscar Peterson and Chick Corea.

There are about a million words on DTM and a few of them are not positive about either of these giants, because both Peterson and Corea offer interesting jumping off points to discuss aesthetics in the music.

With Oscar, I wrote an essay (that really should be re-edited):

http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/oscar-peterson-and-miles-davis.html

Looking at this again, to me it seems clear I respect Oscar, even though I take him to task about certain ensemble issues.

I do not criticize Oscar in the Fred Hersch interview. Fred does, but not me:

http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/interview-with-fred-hersch.html

And maybe I should just make it extra clear that in all of my interviews, many opinions are voiced that are NOT mine. (Fred says you only need one Oscar record, but I'd say you need at least a couple.) It's important that I keep out of the way of the interviewees as much as possible. Sometimes I think I am still saying too much.

One point, ironically, where I do step in and "correct" a subject is with Fred on the topic of Chick Corea. I end up saying, "Despite the Akoustic band and everything else, he has something where he could show up anywhere in the world at a jam session, and not only would he play incredible, everyone else would play better too."

My harshest comments about Corea on DTM are in the overview

http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/73-90-redux.html

where I say:

While he's a phenomenally talented musician with precise time and commanding virtuosity (I enjoy listening to his youthful enthusiam on the 1967 Vanguard jam sessions, the mastery of Tones for Jones Bones and Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, and the exciting collabs with the Circle circle), after he discovered Scientology and/or fusion I am frequently turned off by something I perceive as cold or emotionally false. This is a minority opinion, of course. If Corea were less celebrated and successful I would never complain.

Recently I went through the two Joe Henderson quartet records with Corea, Mirror, Mirror and Relaxing at the Camarillo. There is a moment on the Bird blues "Camarillo" that helps explain why I wish somebody else was holding down the piano chair:

Corea shouts at Dumas

During the second chorus bassist Tony Dumas begins responding to Corea's open explorations by breaking up the time with some nice supensions. The pianist freaks out and shouts, "Dumas, walk!" (It's about at the 30 second mark of the excerpt.) Dumas immediately falls in line and the moment is lost.

I simply can't imagine any of my piano heroes on this page -- including Bill Evans -- barking at a bassist in the studio like this. Part of jazz is going with the moment, and Corea, for all his former excellence as a free jazz pianist (try "Drone" with Holland and Altschul), apparently evolved into someone who worries about always looking good and professional even while just playing a blues. Still, Paul Motian told me he loved playing with Corea for two weeks at the Blue Note this past spring, so what do I know? And, to his credit, Corea did more than anybody else in this era to get Roy Haynes high-profile gigs.

Last point: I feel comfortable targeting Corea and Oscar because they can take it. I would never trash a peer or someone struggling with their career on DTM.

And, of course, when a musician I interview praises Chick or Oscar, I never step in and argue. I know why they love Chick and Oscar. Chick and Oscar will always be canonical jazz musicians.

Thanks for reading

ei

[jlhoots]

I've seen The Bad Plus twice in the last year (Village Vanguard & The Outpost in Albuquerque).

They were great (IMHO) both times.

Looking forward to the trio of Tootie, Ethan & Ben Street in Albuquerque in July.

[Chuck Nessa]

Nice to see you joining in Ethan.

[jeffcrom]

I feel almost the same way about Corea. I love his early work. RFT, in all forms, and afterwards - well, I sometimes enjoy it, but the way I usually put it is that I don't "trust" him. I can't tell who he is after that. Which may be my problem.

My favorite vignette in the Cranshaw interview is the meeting with Milt Hinton. Milt bought him a bass case without knowing who he was and without having heard him, just because he was a bass player and needed one.

[marcello]

I loved the Fred Hersh interview:

"At the end of the two weeks, I said to Art, “I really love your playing, but if this is the rhythm section you’re going to go with, I’m afraid I’m just going to step out.” And he thought about it, and he said, “Well, who would you choose?” And I said “Let me think about it.”'

I had dinner with Fred and his trio a few years ago and as was reminiscing with him about groups I'd seen him with he told me this same story. He was surprised and flattered that Art Farmer would let him, at such a young age, pick his section mates. By the way, he's talking about Vishnu Wood and Walter Bolden.

Howard Mandel is not only a ass, but a coward, too.

[mjzee]

Uh oh, now we have to say nice things about EI!

[JSngry]

What - and who - are we to make of these triads?

[sgcim]

Hi there Organissimo! I appreciate the interest in DTM. When y'all link to something on my blog, I see it in my referrers, so I tend to be aware of DTM-related chatter in this forum. You cats are serious jazz fans, and I'm pleased that some of my interviews etc. are being read by serious listeners.

Obviously, my piano playing on "Charade" needn't be for everyone. I admit there are triads in that performance.

The reason I'm writing, though, is just to clear up my stance on Oscar Peterson and Chick Corea.

There are about a million words on DTM and a few of them are not positive about either of these giants, because both Peterson and Corea offer interesting jumping off points to discuss aesthetics in the music.

With Oscar, I wrote an essay (that really should be re-edited):

http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/oscar-peterson-and-miles-davis.html

Looking at this again, to me it seems clear I respect Oscar, even though I take him to task about certain ensemble issues.

I do not criticize Oscar in the Fred Hersch interview. Fred does, but not me:

http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/interview-with-fred-hersch.html

And maybe I should just make it extra clear that in all of my interviews, many opinions are voiced that are NOT mine. (Fred says you only need one Oscar record, but I'd say you need at least a couple.) It's important that I keep out of the way of the interviewees as much as possible. Sometimes I think I am still saying too much.

One point, ironically, where I do step in and "correct" a subject is with Fred on the topic of Chick Corea. I end up saying, "Despite the Akoustic band and everything else, he has something where he could show up anywhere in the world at a jam session, and not only would he play incredible, everyone else would play better too."

My harshest comments about Corea on DTM are in the overview

http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/73-90-redux.html

where I say:

While he's a phenomenally talented musician with precise time and commanding virtuosity (I enjoy listening to his youthful enthusiam on the 1967 Vanguard jam sessions, the mastery of Tones for Jones Bones and Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, and the exciting collabs with the Circle circle), after he discovered Scientology and/or fusion I am frequently turned off by something I perceive as cold or emotionally false. This is a minority opinion, of course. If Corea were less celebrated and successful I would never complain.

Recently I went through the two Joe Henderson quartet records with Corea, Mirror, Mirror and Relaxing at the Camarillo. There is a moment on the Bird blues "Camarillo" that helps explain why I wish somebody else was holding down the piano chair:

Corea shouts at Dumas

During the second chorus bassist Tony Dumas begins responding to Corea's open explorations by breaking up the time with some nice supensions. The pianist freaks out and shouts, "Dumas, walk!" (It's about at the 30 second mark of the excerpt.) Dumas immediately falls in line and the moment is lost.

I simply can't imagine any of my piano heroes on this page -- including Bill Evans -- barking at a bassist in the studio like this. Part of jazz is going with the moment, and Corea, for all his former excellence as a free jazz pianist (try "Drone" with Holland and Altschul), apparently evolved into someone who worries about always looking good and professional even while just playing a blues. Still, Paul Motian told me he loved playing with Corea for two weeks at the Blue Note this past spring, so what do I know? And, to his credit, Corea did more than anybody else in this era to get Roy Haynes high-profile gigs.

Last point: I feel comfortable targeting Corea and Oscar because they can take it. I would never trash a peer or someone struggling with their career on DTM.

And, of course, when a musician I interview praises Chick or Oscar, I never step in and argue. I know why they love Chick and Oscar. Chick and Oscar will always be canonical jazz musicians.

Thanks for reading

ei

I just read the Oscar Peterson article, and you obviously understand OP's playing, so I take back what I said concerning your stance on OP.

I recently read "Miles on Miles", and if one were to confront him on everything he said in his interviews, it would take years.

Miles liked to put people on.

When my personal deity, Bill Evans, was asked to join the MD group, Miles told him he would have to give a blow job to everyone in the band, if he wanted the gig.

Bill thought for a minute, and said, "I'm sorry Miles, I don't think I can do that."

Miles broke out laughing, and told BE he was just kidding.

[xybert]

Cheers Ethan. I don't think anyone needs to justify having reservations about Corea, you'd pretty much be a fool not to. He's pretty much the epitome of a soft target, though. Anyway, i don't think anyone would accuse you of being the type who indiscriminately disses other artists willy nilly.