It Only Happens Every Time, My Journey With The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band
Watching “The Jazz Loft According to W. Gene Smith,” I was amazed at how vibrant the New York City scene was back in the early 60’s and 70’s. Had I been a Jazz musician then, the list of icons and luminaries that I would have met would be jaw dropping, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker (a bit before the Jazz Loft), Milt Jackson. However, if I am being totally honest, at my skill I would have been in the saxophone section of a big band which was waning in popularity with a few notable exceptions, those being Buddy Rich and Woody Herman (I consider Duke Ellington bands an orchestra).
The thought of barely scratching the surface of my talent, be it music or film is a frustrating feeling, being so close to expressing yourself but admittedly so far away, so frustratingly far. So, let’s carry my hypothetical to the finish line, it’s the mid 1960’s and I am a reasonably accomplished musician who’s done some television work but I want to play Jazz, but have no capital to start a Quartet or Quintet. The only viable option is to join a Big Band and I have three choices, Woody Herman, Buddy Rich and to jam session that is happening at the village vanguard that I heard from other studio musicians at work. What I would choose is the jam session at the Village Vanguard, not just for my affinity for Live Jazz music but this is the beginning of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. This band breathed new air into the Big Band genre, with daring innovations, new dynamics and colors, literally things people never heard before. The only fair comparison is when Benny Goodman heard Fletcher Henderson arrangements for the first time.
Another thing you hear when you listen to Thad Jones in this context is two things, Freedom and creativity, when it comes to expressing yourself artistically one achieves one by sacrificing (or taking away) the other. That isn’t a bad thing but most of the time art is about sacrifice, for example, Herbie Nichols was forced to play in Dixieland bands because people wouldn’t play his music and he had no money to regularly pay a quartet (yes, he recorded once with a guitar player!) or a trio. Despite the fact that his musical vision was for a complete orchestra or that he stood outside of Blue Note Records for weeks until he persuaded Alfred Lion to take a chance on him and his artistic vision. Herbie had creativity but lacked the freedom to pursue his goals, while take it up to chance and the lack of opportunity available, that story could apply to a lot of genres of music. Thad Jones was in a creative rut, he was disillusioned with his work with Count Basie and felt that he was not expressing himself creatively, so he took a break and decided to find a new vehicle for his musical ideas. After, a couple of Jam sessions with other Jazz musicians and Studio musicians Thad and Mel (Lewis) realized they had more than an impromptu gig that happened they had a full-fledged band with top flight musicians. Legendary musicians like Bob Brookmeyer, Hank Jones, Pepper Adams, and Jerome Richardson, played in this band at one point, they had an all-star line-up which Thad used to its full potential.
Speaking of potential, I played Jazz for a little while, during my undergrad I studied the Tenor Saxophone after dropping the Saxophone to focus on my studies in High School. In college, I had to take a music class to fill certain requirements to graduate, so I studied applied music lessons and kept it going till my senior year of college. I felt that I had something to say, the trouble was with expressing myself through my horn, which I was able to do here and there but not consistently enough in my opinion. The first song I learned was “Chelsea’s Bridge ,” by Billy Strayhorn (Not Duke Ellington!), I fell in love with Ben Webster’s version from his “Music for Loving,” album (Fun fact, Harry Carney, the legendary Baritone Saxophone player from the Ellington orchestra is the main feature in the second album). The second song I learned was “Monk’s Mood,” the version with John Coltrane from “Thelonious Himself,” was my favorite (now my favorite is the one from “Monk at Town Hall,”) two musicians having a conversation, the bass and drum are their but they stay out of the way. That song speaks to people, which prompted me to want to speak or sing rather through my own horn, Thad speaks as well, his take on “April in Paris,” is in my top five. Fast forward a bit, I got the chance to perform in public, not a paid gig by any stretch of the imagination, but I was able to speak the way I wanted too, me and my horn in sync, lock-step and just for a moment I felt like a real musician or artist if only for a bit. Whenever I played something I tried to stay true to the composer’s original intention, so I heard a fantastic track called "“Groove Merchant," which was composed by Jerome Richardson and was a prominent vehicle used by Thad Jones/Mel Lewis orchestra, with a swinging rhythm section and an inventive reading by the brass section led by Thad.
I remember hearing the band play this song and thinking “How can I compare to that?” the thought of having to match that was very scary to me, Whenever I played it I sincerely hoped no one heard the version by Thad Jones/Mel Lewis orchestra or the version by Cedar Walton, because I couldn’t be that deep in the pocket if I tried. Even getting past the first bar of Groove Merchant showed me how far I had to go to be recognized by my idols let alone play with them or be chosen for gigs. I heard colors, joy happiness, like the joy of hearing the organ play in church before the people in the pews and choir started to sing, in fact a goal of mine is to play “Groove Merchant,” with an organ. What strikes me about the Thad Jones and Mel Lewis Orchestra is the joy and passion they had for the music comes out on damn near every record, they swing for the fences all the time, kind of like Basie’s “Atomic Recording Sessions,” everything must swing. There is no such thing as a throw away track or note, everything has a purpose kind of like the music of Bob Graettinger, that is something that audiences catch on too (or try to catch on too in the case of Graettinger) and I thought it would have taken them years to get to that point. That Goodman or Ellington level where everything you do as an orchestra or Big Band is at a masterful level, turns out that I was completely wrong.
The band hit the ground running! The latest release from Resonance records details the band at an early date that was recorded for radio broadcast. “All My Yesterdays,” was recorded in 1966 at the Village Vanguard and feature the band at its infancy, and everything swings, the crowd connects with the band and the band members are having a blast. They are playing the music they want to play without having to sacrifice or censor themselves, this document shows pure artistic expression without any concessions to commercial interest. Ironically this album has been on the scene before as an out of print bootleg sought by collectors far and wide, which was killed by the label mentioned before with full conjunction of the artists’ estates (both Thad and Mel). Hearing this album made me pine for playing the Tenor Saxophone again, a lot of things make me want to do this, like hearing Ben Webster or Johnny Hodges. However, this album made me want to play for people again, I miss that connection with an audience when they get the story you try to tell and connect with the music, and even with my limited skill I was able to achieve that. It is something I’m really proud of and something that I really miss, however, hearing Thad and Mel makes it feel a little better than it normally does. I now have something to strive for when I return to the saxophone, a new artistic milestone, have my first gig be as good as the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis orchestra.
