MAO LEGENDARY ALBUMS | PHILLY JOE JONES: TRAILWAYS EXPRESS
In the Legendary Albums series, the Modern Art Orchestra performs material from albums of particular significance to jazz history. The concerts are not only a tribute to jazz legends and their works - the workshop behind the Legendary Albums is also a process of development. The musicians of the MAO study and internalise all of the current album material, leaving the musical structures and instrumentation intact for the performances. As improvisation and soloistic expression are essential components of the jazz language, the musicians naturally perform improvised solos at the concerts. Thanks to the respect for original compositions and orchestrations and the improvisations of musicians of the quality that the Modern Art Orchestra is known for, the Legendary Albums bring listeners into contact with the tradition of jazz masterpieces and guarantee a fresh musical experience. In the autumn season, the orchestra will commemorate two centenaries, while the other two evenings will bring back memorable collaborations.
Schedule
For Philly Joe Jones (1923-1985), the other centenary celebrant in the series, it would be easier to list who he didn't play with among the major be-bop and modern jazz figures than who he did, from Miles Davis and Bill Evans to Archie Shepp and Sun Ra. His prestige was immense from a young age, because he drummed with the same fire as he did with atomic clock precision, so that today almost every drummer is taught how to accompany, not just solo. But it is on this album that we can enjoy his improvisations, which has been released in various editions under the titles Mo Joe and Gone, Gone, Gone, a total of seventeen times.
Jones has lived in Europe for a few years, has taught, but has mainly joined the American touring acts here. He finally gathered a band of local forces around him in London in 1968, but several of them were far from luminous geniuses, notably saxophonist Pete King and trumpeter (and school-age flugelhorn player) Kenny Wheeler. Although the latter quickly became a brilliant composer-producer of avant-garde aspirations, what we hear here is a pruned, tweaked be-bop. It's also testament to the fact that British jazz was world-class even when everyone was singing Lennon and McCartney. Though the brothers played together as teenagers, trombonist Chris Pyne and pianist Mike Pyne earned their fame separately, here they're back together again. Tenor Harold McNair also added much to the authentic sound, but his flute solo (Here's That Rainy Day) is particularly memorable. The repertoire also includes compositions by Gershwin and Tadd Dameron, Jones' first famous bandleader, and the title piece is a Davis paraphrase of the harmony line from Two Bass Hit. The four wind players will also play an important role in the tuttis and solos, but this evening the boss will be László Csízi
Opus Jazz Club
Adventurous European jazz and great Hungarian cuisine in the heart of Budapest
