tooter Posted June 30, 2004 Report Share Posted June 30, 2004 I have just been reading the thread on the bass clarinet again - it led to all sorts of interesting things. But I can't imagine that there are nearly so many, if any, examples of improvised jazz solos on the bassoon. I've always thought the sound attractive so why is the instrument so little in evidence? Stan Getz was I believe an accomplished Bassoon player - did he record any jazz solos on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted June 30, 2004 Report Share Posted June 30, 2004 (edited) I don't know about Getz on bassoon, but a couple other players come to mind. On his album, "The Blues, That's Me," Illinois Jacquet plays bassoon on a nice version of "'Round Midnight." Currently, there's a guy named Michael Rabinowitz who is a terrific bassoon player. He's done several albums in recent years. "Bassoon in Orbit" is a quartet date with Joe Fonda on bass, Grisha Alexiev on drums, and Diana Herold on vibes. Another disc, "Gabrielle's Balloon," has got him with John Hicks, Ira Coleman, and Steve Johns. Great playing on both, though I prefer the lighter sound of the ensemble on the Orbit album. Edited June 30, 2004 by Hank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Fitzgerald Posted June 30, 2004 Report Share Posted June 30, 2004 The instrument is a bitch to play. It's also very expensive and delicate and it's not easy to hear in a typical jazz setup. That's probably why you don't find more. Ray Pizzi Mike Rabinowitz Garvin Bushell Illinois Jacquet Frank Tiberi Flip Phillips Makanda Ken McIntyre Yusef Lateef Karen Borca James Jacson from the Sun Ra band Daniel Smith Paul Hanson Hanson runs this site: http://www.jazzbassoon.com/ A search for bassoon jazz on groups.google.com will give you much to go on. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mule Posted June 30, 2004 Report Share Posted June 30, 2004 Jacquet also plays bassoon on "Caravan" from his album THE KING. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzman4133 Posted June 30, 2004 Report Share Posted June 30, 2004 (edited) Hello Tooter............................... No better examples of jazz bassoon can be found than those of Erroll Buddle with the Australian Jazz Quartet. He's also made some albums on his own. Edited June 30, 2004 by jazzman4133 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 The instrument is a bitch to play. It's also very expensive and delicate and it's not easy to hear in a typical jazz setup. That's probably why you don't find more. .. James Jacson from the Sun Ra band I don't have John Szwed's book handy, but I seem to recall a hilarious passage where Jacson describes playing a bassoon in front of a French audience and freaking out because the French invented the bassoon. Anybody want to transcribe it for our reading pleasure? Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Nelson Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 The first bassoon-led jazz LP has to be Stuart McKay's 1955 RCA release, 'Reap the Wild Winds'. It's one of those very early RCA gatefold jazz albums with a nice laminated slick on the front (LJM-1021) and recorded in New York's Nola studios. The four woodwinds are joined by a French horn, piano, guitar, bass, drums and occasional voice(s). The entire music program is beyond classification. Recorded July 22, 23 and August 3, 1954, it preceeds Gunther Schuller's 'Third Stream' theory and most other 'chamber jazz' efforts. RCA launched its 'Jazz Workshop' series two years later in '56, featuring McKusick, Byers, Carisi, Russell, etc. Think of four NYC classical longhairs getting loose on their reeds during a break from their orchestra gigs. This was a one-shot that shouldn't exist. And the way the band sings 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' in constantly shifting meters is the very essence of 'oddball'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Lightning Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 Illinois Jacquet recorded a lovely version of 'Round Midnight on a bassoon on his album The Blues: That's Me! Michael Rabinowitz specializes on the bassoon. I don't know of any other Jazz musicians whose sole axe is the Bassoon. Try and sample both his CDs. Both has some excellent moments: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Fitzgerald Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 Several of the artists I mentioned are bassoon specialists, at least as much as Rabinowitz, who has also recorded occasionally on bass clarinet. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Lightning Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 Several of the artists I mentioned are bassoon specialists, at least as much as Rabinowitz, who has also recorded occasionally on bass clarinet. Mike Thanks for the info, Mike. I dodn't know that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ariceffron Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 can you please specifify re: the yusef lateef lp w/ basoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maren Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 Karen Borca The number of full-time bassoonists who've played free jazz at the highest level can be counted on the fingers of one hand -- maybe one finger. Outside of Karen Borca, it's difficult to name another (Makanda Ken McIntyre played bassoon occasionally, but it was not his best instrument). The dearth of jazz bassoonists is hardly surprising, given the difficulty of the horn; it may seem like an elongated oboe, but the bassoon is actually an instrument with a sometimes puzzling technique all its own. Borca is best known for her work as a member of the Cecil Taylor Unit. Her husband, the late alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, happened to be Taylor's most enduring musical partner, but the excellence of Borca's playing made questions of nepotism irrelevant. Borca has an impressive facility; she plays with the litheness and imagination of a first-rate free jazz saxophonist. Besides her work with Taylor, Borca also played in Lyons' bands until his death in 1986. In subsequent years she became a fixture on New York's Lower East Side free jazz scene, playing in bands with bassist William Parker, saxophonist Marco Eneidi, and drummer Jackson Krall (all, it should be noted, Taylor sidemen at one point or another). Borca has also led her own band, most notably at a Lyons tribute concert during the 1998 Vision Festival in New York City. ~ Chris Kelsey, All Music Guide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maren Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 (edited) Leslie Ross is a bassoonist who's mostly played "free-improv" -- if you know New York, you know Roulette is the venue for her. Plus the occasional Eugene Chadbourne recording. Given the need to make a living , in the last decade she has pretty much devoted herself to building/repairing bassoons (Ross Bassoons, workshop photos). Edited July 1, 2004 by maren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooter Posted July 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 A magnificent tally of excellent leads here - thank you all! - and loads of intriguing detail too. And to think I expected no more than one or two - I should have known. If only I could now snap my fingers an all the appropriate albums would instantly appear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 In his 'fake' stage announcements on the Candid set Mingus presents Mingus, Mingus announces a slew of intruments for Dolphy, including bassoon. Is there any evidence that Dolphy ever did record on bassoon? Bertrand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 There's also Hosea Taylor, featured on Bassoon on 'True Colors', a bonus track on the CD issue of Freddie Hubbard's Blue Note session 'Blue Spirits'. Very much a mixed bag and something of an experimental track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooter Posted July 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 There's also Hosea Taylor, featured on Bassoon on 'True Colors', a bonus track on the CD issue of Freddie Hubbard's Blue Note session 'Blue Spirits'. Very much a mixed bag and something of an experimental track. I've only got the LP of [blue Spirits] so no bonus tracks unfortunately. Was there another bonus track The Melting Pot on the CD too? But maybe no jazz solo from Hosea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.A.W. Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 Karen Borca Seconded! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrdlu Posted July 2, 2004 Report Share Posted July 2, 2004 I agree with you, Jazzman, about Erroll Buddle. I lived in Australia for awhile, and regularly saw him on TV in a band led by Don Burrows. I used to have a Buddle LP where he played a version of "Love Is A Simple Thing" on the bassoon. He sure is a master of that awkward instrument. His main horn, of course, is the tenor, but he also plays the oboe very well. Aric, an LP on which Lateef plays the bassoon is the Impulse album "Jazz Around The World", not on CD unless the Japanese have briefly put one out. He is pictured with his various horns on the cover. I don't recall ever seeing any other album on which he plays the bassoon. The oboe, yes, but not the bassoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted July 3, 2004 Report Share Posted July 3, 2004 There's also Hosea Taylor, featured on Bassoon on 'True Colors', a bonus track on the CD issue of Freddie Hubbard's Blue Note session 'Blue Spirits'. Very much a mixed bag and something of an experimental track. I've only got the LP of [blue Spirits] so no bonus tracks unfortunately. Was there another bonus track The Melting Pot on the CD too? But maybe no jazz solo from Hosea? Tooter - yes, 'The Melting Pot' is the second track on the CD. Hosea plays alto lead only on this one but has no solo (also no bassoon solo on the other track). As you say, neither of these are on the original NY USA LP. One of my favourite of the BN Hubbards ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooter Posted July 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Tooter - yes, 'The Melting Pot' is the second track on the CD. Hosea plays alto lead only on this one but has no solo (also no bassoon solo on the other track). As you say, neither of these are on the original NY USA LP. One of my favourite of the BN Hubbards ! Mine too. Along with [Here to Stay] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKE BBB Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 JANET GRICE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKE BBB Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Frankie Trumbauer occasionally played some bassoon: -with Ray Miller´s Orchestra: "Nobody Knows What A Red Head Mama Can Do" (Brunswick 2778) where he takes the first solo on bassoon -" 'Tain't So, Honey, 'Tain't So", "High water" and "Chloe" (1928) Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. Trumbauer plays bassoon, though I must check it to see if he soloed. -"Running Ragged (Bamboozlin´ the basson)" Joe Venuti's Blue Four (1929, Okeh). Trumbauer plays bassoon and C-melody sax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cannonball-addict Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Frank Tiberi played some badass bassoon on Woody Herman records in the 80s and he still leads Woody's ghost band. He is a professor of winds at Berklee. Unique tenor sound too. -m Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Karen Borca's playing is simply awesome on the dates included in the Jimmy Lyons boxed set. That's my only acquaintance with her, but I'm looking forward to more. In that context and with her technique, the bassoon has an arresting sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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