Bennie by Diane

Things are so international today and it's a wonderful thing. This fabulous charcoal drawing above is taken from a CJ photo of Bennie Maupin in Canberra. The artist is Diane Russell of Portland, Oregon, and this drawing and another of Terell Stafford were sold as fundraising for Thara Memory's American Music Program. Diane tells me students of the AMP often go on to Julliard, Berklee, etc. Apparently Thara mentored Esperanza Spalding. See links below for Diane's drawings and paintings on her website, AMP's website and a video of Esperanza performing with AMP students. Congratulations to Diane for the great fine jazz art and wonderful to meet you, if only over the Net.

Diane Russell fine art portraits

Thara Memory's American Music Program

Esperanza Spalding performs with AMP students (YouTube)

More chalk and cheese, pt.1

Freshbace was two student bands, each led by a visiting jazz luminary. The first was Bennie Maupin; the second was Joe Chindamo. I’d seen both of these musicians in workshop so I was intrigued to hear them in concert as leaders of a student band. Like some other combinations that I’ve attended at CJP, these were chalk and cheese.

Bennie’s band went first. Bennie was involved in some major movements in the late sixties and seventies - Bitches brew, On the corner, Headhunters, Mwandishi – so we could expect a more spacey presentation. We got it. Just to emphasise the approach, the concert started with a string quartet. Then into a concert of heavy grooves, touches of free or at least lengthy cacophony, string quartet intros and washes, plenty of solos including a Ponty-like jazz violin, and an end on a solid funk. The tunes were originals from Bennie’s pen. Jewel of the Lotus and Mapo were spacey ‘70s jazz from early ECM releases. Equal justice was a ballad where Bennie played a slow ostinato of long and somewhat atonal intervals on piano. The final tune was a solid jazz funk that livened up to finish the set. This is probably the era that most influenced me in jazz so I was entranced by the music. The students were playing to their best, aware but smiling, and the music was alluring and physical. I especially took note of the unusual sound of El’s electric violin, which she played with considerable authority and with those characteristic intervals due to the tuning in fifths. Daniel’s guitar solo, especially his overt cutting blues and repeated notes against the funk, was classic Kim: outlandish but convincing. Jordan dropped into slap for the funk and let loose some devastating triplet slaps. I enjoyed watching the string quartet enjoying temporary freedom from dots during several group improv passages. Nice concert and earthy and physical.

Bennie Maupin (soprano sax, piano) led a student band comprising Andy Butler (piano), Matt Handel (alto), Tom Sly (trumpet), Patrick Langdon (trombone), Daniel Kim (guitar), Henry Rasmussen (drums), Llewellyn Osborne (jazz violin) and the Childers String Quartet of Tobias Chisnall (violin), Estelita Rae (violin), Anthony de Battista (viola) and Julia Janiszewski (cello).

Cyberhalides Jazz Photos by Brian Stewart

The wisdom of experience

Another afternoon off work, another workshop. This was Bennie Maupin, multi-instrumentalist with McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Horace Silver, Roy Haynes and others.

I can’t attend his Saturday gig, so a workshop was a decent alternative. And of course it fascinating for the musicians. Hearing anecdotes of Miles as leader on Bitches Brew, of Eric Dolphy and John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. Hearing of his eminently practical approach to life and survival as a musician, even of some of his setbacks. He strongly supports reed players learning other instruments, sax and clarinet and flute, if only for survival, and taking all sorts of gigs. He recounted gigs where he was forbidden from improvising, then explained that he went to the Lower East Side to let off steam with the likes of Joe Henderson. He spoke of learning of the value of timbre from Yusef Lateef. He spoke with some eminently quotable lines. You have to keep a bass clarinet under control “like a wild horse”. He promoted self-discipline and organisation and focus in practice, but also balance in life. I was surprised to hear that “some days I don’t practice”. He quoted Miles as being a supportive leader, “Yeah, I hear ya”, and said he learnt from Miles “how to be in the moment”. I liked the line “Always be the one to say yes” in the context of the sole initial volunteer to play. Then he went on to hail the use of space in performance. He called up several student bands and played with them and asked for a group picture to remember the event. He mourned the damage to the ANU School of Music. Bennie is not young (71) but there’s no way you’d say he’s old. A nice bloke and a lovely player, from what little I heard.