Buddy Tate - Body And Soul (1975/2018) [DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC]

Buddy Tate was one of the most relaxed, humorous and amenable of musicians, with a personal style that was glowingly reflected in the supple and occasionally gently mocking elegance of his saxophone playing. Like many of the lyrical and romantic jazz performers of his era, Tate could perform miniature miracles with minimal materials. Shuffling a handful of soft, buttery notes and mingling them with a textural repertoire of intimately whispering intonations, was one of the most agreeable experiences in postwar jazz. But Tate could also be an exciting, hard-swinging player too, and his control of the horn in its upper register predated many of the technical advances in saxophone playing that were made by the modernists in hard bop and the avantgarde.

Tunes such as Stompin’ At The Savoy forms the very back bone of the jazz library and provides ideal common ground for men of differing ages and styles. Here the “call and response” quality of the team is well handled by the two principals before Montoliu is first off the mark with four choruses of brilliant piano. Tete’s phrases are Monk-like and have an astringency which is unusual to hear in a tune such as this. When Buddy enters Tete drops out, leaving just Stief and Nørregård to provide the rhythmic support, but the pianist returns at the end of the tenor saxist’s first chorus and provides ideal support for the rest of the solo. Tate’s solo is pure musical architecture, building carefully and impressively to a climax, bearing down harder on the offbeat and occasionally employing the Lester Young trick of achieving two densities of sound on the same note by alternative fingering (the so called “open and shut” effect). Any saxophonist especially a tenor saxophonist, who plays a Body And Soul is almost bound to make some kind of reference to the classic Coleman Hawkins version. Here Buddy Tate sets the outline of the melody against Bo Stief’s strong bass support, then in choruses two and three the tune takes on a new quality with Tete Montoliu’s very individual approach. In his first chorus he doubles the tempo (or halves the time values of the notes) during the middle-eight, and again throughout his second chorus. A passing quotation from Bewitched leads him out of his solo as he makes way for Buddy who exhibits superb instrumental control. Body And Soul is a song which lends itself to making references to other tunes and Buddy does not fail to take the chance of reminding us of a number of other melodies before he reaches the final notes of his coda. Buddy’s Blues runs to 31 choruses (taken at about 45 bars to the minute); Montoliu is the first soloist employing a bouncing, swinging style and plenty of fast runs in the treble half of the keyboard. Finn Ziegler is a violin soloist with an individual approach for he tends to phrase like a horn player; where other violinists use the instrument’s capability of producing long, unbroken lines Finn adds impact to his work with occasional short, attacking clusters of notes. After the violin solo Buddy comes up to the microphone for a functional blues vocal (he has worked and recorded with blues singers, notably Victoria Spivey) which acts as a prelude to a long and memorable tenor solo. In his sixth chorus he gains rhythmic support from the audience, clapping on the offbeat, then in his last chorus he holds a note against an Earl Hines-like tremolo from Montoliu. In A Mellow Tone is another well-tried and popular number from the jazz tradition. After the theme statement Ziegler is the first soloist and his three violin choruses act as a prelude to a solo of great intensity from Montoliu. After a couple of choruses with the rest of the rhythm section Tete signals bass and drums to remain tacit while he builds up a feeling of tension on his own. He uses his left hand to play a walking bass line, decorating this with right hand inventions; after three choruses of this he receives deserved applause from the audience as he hands over to Stief. Bo is a very experienced soloist and rhythm player and worked for a time with Don Cherry and Gato Barbieri in a truly “international” group. Buddy Tate sounds very satisfied with what has gone before when he comes on to take the final solo; like Tete he knows when to increase the pressure and carries the audience along with him. The final I Surrender Dear is very much a showcase for the two principals. This comprises just two choruses, the first of which is played alone and completely out of tempo by Montoliu who uses rich, multi-noted runs in the treble. When the rhythm section meshes into ballad tempo, at around 23 bars to the minute, Buddy enters and plays a gorgeous paraphrase of the melody, never moving too far from the tune “as written” and allowing every member of the audience to follow the outline of his inventions. In fact this is probably the secret of Buddy’s success as a soloist over the years; never once does he forget the importance of the audience or the need to create tuneful improvisations. You can add to that the fact that this tall, genial man also happens to be one of the most likable and considerate musicians in jazz.

Tracklist:

01 - Stompin' At The Savoy
02 - Body And Soul
03 - Buddy's Blues
04 - In A Mellow Tone
05 - I Surrender Dear

Recorded on September 23, 1975 at La Fontaine, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Musicians:
Buddy Tate - tenor sax & vocal on "3"
Finn Ziegler - violin on "3 & 4"
Tete Montoliu - piano
Bo Stief - bass
Svend Eric Nørregård - drums

This album contains high-resolution digital transfers of material originating from an analogue master source.
2xHD Mastering: René Laflamme. 2xHD Executive Producer: André Perry.


Thanks to the Original customer!