28 octobre 2006 (en cours)

James Peter GIUFFRE (born in Dallas, Texas, April 26, 1921) is an American jazz composer, arranger and saxophone and clarinet player (suite)

Interview, from “Jimmy Giuffre Talks and Plays” on CELP Musiques

Listen to Four Brothers, 1954

 

COLLABORATION : WEST / Teddy CHARLES, vibes and piano; Shorty ROGERS, trumpet; Jimmy GIUFFRE, tenor & baritone sax; Curtis COUNCE, bass; Shelly MANN, drums. August 31, 1953, Holliwood - LP 33T  Vinyl Prestige remastered Van GELDER « Vibraphonist Teddy Charles heads three West Coast-style sessions on this CD reissue that look a bit toward Third Stream and the avant-garde experiments of the early '60s. Although there are some swinging sections, much of the music is quite complex with difficult arrangements and some polytonality. One session has Charles (who doubles on piano) in a quartet with guitarist Jimmy Raney (those four numbers were not on the original LP) while the other originals feature trumpeter Shorty Rogers, bassist Curtis Counce, drummer Shelly Manne and sometimes Jimmy Giuffre on tenor and baritone. The music is thought-provoking if a bit cold and clinical, easier to respect than to love. » Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

 

Traditionalism revisited, Bob BROOKMEYER, 1957, Avec Jim HALL (g), Dave BAILEY (dms), Joe BENJAMIN ou Ralph PENA (ba) « Au début du fameux polar de Jean-Patrick Manchette, Le Petit Bleu De La Côte Ouest, le héros déboule sur le périphérique en écoutant du jazz West Coast. "Je sais par exemple qu'à un moment, écrit l'auteur, ce qui est diffusé est Truckin' par le quintette de Bob Brookmeyer." A l'époque de cet enregistrement, le jeune Bob hésitait encore entre le piano et le trombone à pistons, à qui il donnera plus tard sa préférence, et assumait plutôt bien que mal ce qu'il appelait sa dualité. S'inscrivant dans l'idiome du fameux premier trio de Jimmy Giuffre (période Atlantic) et soutenu par lui, il passe ainsi d'un instrument à l'autre la suite  » 33T Vinyl Japan, EMI, Liberty LLR 8890

WESTERN SUITE GIUFFRE, clarinet, baritone & tenor; Bob BROOKMEYER, trombone; Jim HALL, guitar, Atlantic, CD, Décembre 1958 « Jimmy Giuffre es un vanguardista [...] La obra de Giuffre tiene un enfoque unificado variando su forma en cada pieza. La suite es cerrada y atemporal, muy onírica e hipnótica y con diversas improvisaciones escuetas e ingeniosas. En Totsi se da entrada a un swing vivaz y enérgico y transforma progresivamente la estructura dando más importancia a la anticipación, a la separación en líneas paralelas y dejando lugar a saltos en silencio casi absoluto en forma de solos más extensos. En Blue Monk no transforman la estructura, adaptan sus ideas al desarrollo consiguiendo una personal y enigmática versión. La pieza encaja de maravilla, Giuffre conoce muy bien ese planeta único e insólito llamado Thelonious Sphere Monk. Curiosamente, el trío ha conseguido adaptar sus ideas con energía y vitalidad, características esenciales en la música de Monk. El trío muestra una dualidad compenetración-comunicación inmensa.Guiffre y Brockmeyer son los solistas y Hall ejerce de equilibrio generando tonos que van desde el contrabajo o bajo eléctrico hasta otros muchos cercanos a la guitarra (acústica, slide, etcétera). Las composiciones de Giuffre son ricas en comunicación, se comunican mediante formas escuetas y con pocos solos, lo que les permite relacionarse continuamente. La grabación es una obra maestra y una maravilla de improvisación en conjunto » Crítica realizada por Jordi García Cruz

 SEVEN PIECES  - THE JIMMY GIUFFRE 3 avec Jim HALL (g) et Red MITCHELL (b), janvier 1959, 33T Vinyl  Verve 2304 438 « Jimmy Giuffre wrote seven distinctly different pieces for this Verve LP, with guitarist Jim Hall and bassist Red Mitchell joining him. Giuffre switches off between clarinet, tenor sax, and baritone sax between pieces, all of which are spacious while never venturing so far out as to lose the listener's attention. "Happy Man" gives the appearance of being an upbeat blues, but Giuffre's free-ranging approach to exploring its theme extends far beyond that artificial boundary; his lyrical clarinet trades off with the soft playing of his session partners. Long out of print, any fan of Jimmy Giuffre's unique blend of cool jazz should snap up this record without hesitation the moment it is found » Ken Dryden, All Music Guide

 

Herb ELLIS  meets Jimmy GIUFFRE (argts), mars 1959, Verve Elite edition  « "Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre" features an all-star cast of West Coast Jazz greats -- Bud Shank and Art Pepper on alto sax, Richie Kamuca and Jimmy Giuffre on tenor sax, Jim Hall and Herb Ellis on guitar, Lou Levy on piano, Joe Mondragon on bass and Stan Levey on drums. This 1959 session was a rare, highly sought after LP and will be soon be equally scarce on CD, as this title had a limited pressing of 6500 copies. While I'm glad I purchased this soon-to-be collector's item, I have to say I was a bit disappointed in the music. Despite the fact that so many creative musicians collaborated on this session, at times the playing is rather straight-forward and uninspired. Jimmy Giuffre's arrangements, are very tight, but they are written to allow Ellis to stretch out on the tunes, and not Pepper, Shank or Hall, who only plays rhythm guitar lines. Additionally, Giuffre's arrangements don't reflect the modern, exploratory writing and playing we would find two years later, in 1961, on Giuffre's classic albums "Fusion" and "Thesis." With that being said, this is still a very good session and kudos to Verve for bringing back in print. Fans of the first edition of the Jimmy Giuffre 3, or other classic Verve dates featuring Ellis (like all those great Oscar Peterson discs), will definitely enjoy "Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre."»

 

FUSION THE JIMMY GIUFFRE 3 Avec Paul BLEY et Steve SWALLOW, 33T Vinyl Verve 2516 (cette image est celle d'un autre disque de la même époque Emphasis & Flight, Fusion est inclus dans la réédition) Listen CD2 « Leur dernière rencontre date de 1991 pour une tournée du trio, reformé à l'occasion de la parution de deux nouveaux enregistrements. Mais avant, il y avait eu ces deux autres disques (Fusion et Thesis) réalisés en... 1961. Deux galettes mythiques, longtemps introuvables, même chez les collectionneurs les plus passionnés. En trente ans, chacun des musiciens a suivi son propre itinéraire, jalonné de multiples rencontres, enrichi d'autres expériences. En trente ans, rien n'a changé. Ou tout a changé. Leur musique est rare. Précieuse. De celles que l'on prend plaisir à savourer. Lentement. Longuement. En appréciant toutes ses qualités. Celle de l'écriture. Celle de la cohésion. Celle de la complicité. Ceux qui ont aimé les concerts d'hier ne seront pas déçus : mêmes climats, même rigueur dans l'élaboration de ces merveilleuses miniatures. Cette recherche esthétique poussée jusque dans ses derniers retranchements ne doit pas être qualifiée de jazz de chambre. Pas plus que de musique intimiste. Paul Bley, Jimmy Giuffre et Steve Swallow esquisseraient plutôt une manière de force tranquille du jazz contemporain [...]. Ascétique sans être dépouillée, [la musique de Jimmy Giuffre] fourmille d'idées et de trouvailles d'écriture. Serait-elle plus proche de la musique contemporaine que du jazz ? La totale absence d'instrument rythmique ne signifie pas pour autant que le swing ne vit pas dans ces thèmes (ces pièces ?). Bien au contraire. Probablement un amateur de musique contemporaine (ou à tout le moins moderne) ne restera-t-il pas insensible à ce « trilogue » très écrit. Mais qu'importe la boîte dans laquelle on voudrait classer cette musique. Ces enregistrements font d'abord partie des disques incontournables de l'histoire du jazz et, au delà, de l'histoire de l'art en général. » Pascal KOBER, JazzHot (cette chronique est celle de la réédition CD par ECM, source)

The Train and the River, avec TOKUNAGA Kiyoshi (b) et Randy KAYE (perc), 25 avril 1975, Candid CD « Later, Jimmy hired percussionist Randy Kaye for a new trio that would include bassist Kiyoshi Tokunaga. It was Giuffre?s first group with a drummer in years. In reference to his preference for drummer-less groups Mrs. Giuffre says « My feeling was at that time some drummers were so unrelenting and they weren't all that creative in terms of what he wanted to do. He went through that little period where he felt they were intrusive. However, the things with Shelley Manne were quite good. He always managed some very tasty things. » There was a guy named Gerry McDonald who had his own record company, and he'd also done a lot of engineering where he had built certain tape recorders and what not. His wife writes for High Fidelity or one of those magazines. He formed this company called Choice, and he recorded Jimmy's trio work with Randy and Kiyoshi. Their second album for Choice, The Train and the River, looks like Giuffre might be trying to woo back some of the audience he lost with his change of direction. Instead, Jimmy uses one of his most popular compositions to reinforce his commitment to that change. The track opens with the familiar frisky theme on clarinet, Tokunaga's limber bass and Kaye's light brushwork on snare. But Giuffre drops the clarinet, takes up a free flowing tenor saxophone, and plays with a dark bluesy swagger unheard on any previous version of the tune. They invoke a similar tone on 'Elephant'. The rhythm section may anchor the tune, but Jimmy flies free. The exquisite 'Tibetan Sun' has Giuffre mellow toned on bass flute. Kaye improvises bells and cymbals, and Tokunaga drops one tone or less per measure. 'The Listening' features Giuffre on C-flute, with Tokunaga insistent on bass. 'River Chant' has Randy Kaye on drums and marimba, a great sound with Jimmy's clarinet. Jimmy gets mournful on tenor on 'The Tide is In' with sparse evocative backing from Tokunaga and Kaye. 'Tree People' opens with a finger-tangling bass riff, and Giuffre dances on flute. Back on bass flute Giuffre reverently plays and chants, 'OM' Kaye's wind chimes fit the mood. The enthusiastic 'Celebration' ends the album, and although he recorded for Improvising Artists as a band member, he wouldn't record again as a leader until 1983's Dragonfly on Soul Note.» Jimmy Giuffre : Cry Freedom, by Rex Butters