The King Of All Instruments (Hot Cup Records)
Charles Evans
Released February 2009
DownBeat Five-Star Review
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nb3NEetEbZVJPbGYubFh6T_WXIXYbIClE
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/4C74GgQYexuesjRwn3GXSo?si=UwkgDZNWRiSl8aymV1GbHQ
About:
Charles Evans is an American baritone saxophonist based in New York, who specializes in chromatic improvisation/composition and traditional jazz. Evans has been a member of the New York City creative music community since 2002, when he moved to the city after graduation from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He then went on to earn a Master’s in Jazz Performance from Queens College, as well as NYS teacher certification. He has studied with David Liebman, Julian Sparacino, Jim Buckley, the late Bill Zaccagni, Chris Farr, Ron Kerber, John Swana, and Antonio Hart.
Charles has received rave reviews with seven albums as a leader, including an all-baritone multi-layered record entitled, The King of All Instruments, which received a 5 star review in Downbeat Magazine. He has also been included in both the Critics’ and Readers’ polls in the aforementioned magazine, in both the Rising Star and Baritone Saxophone categories. Charles received “Best New Release 2010 – Honorable Mention,” in All About Jazz magazine. He has written three extended compositions entitled Subliminal Leaps, On Beauty, and Mortality and Sentiment, for collaboration with his mentor, David Liebman. Evans has been steadfast in his commitment to non-compromising music.
The baritonist has worked diligently to broaden the expressive range of his instrument, with specific care towards the difficult altissimo register as well as the application of chromatic improvisation/composition on the big horn. Musical projects include a chromatic/improvisational quartet with his mentor David Liebman, Ron Stabinsky, and Tony Marino; micro-tonal bebop in The Language Of with Peter Evans, Moppa Elliott, and Jan Roth, (It Needs It, No Relation) introspective duos with Neil Shah (Live at St. Stephens,) Erik Dutko (Ballads,) and Ron Stabinsky; and straight-ahead jazz with a former prized student, David Jimenez.
Evans has been steadfast in his commitment to non-compromising music. To solve the obvious financial burden, he started a highly successful high school band program in Queens, NY. He places his teaching on equal footing with his artistic pursuits, and has learned that sharing his passion is just as meaningful as expressing personal music.
“Charles Evans has really done something special with the big horn going beyond the normal vernacular to create a truly unique soundscape. The writing, the playing and the concept itself are all beyond the norm. This is the bari sax as it has never been heard.”
Dave Liebman
Track Listing:
1. On Tone Yet? Pt. 1 (Mover’s Mood for Annie) 3:55
2. On Tone Yet? Pt. 2 3:39
3. On Tone Yet? Pt. 3 1:14
4. Junie, Pt. 1: The Father (For Clarence Evans) 3:16
5. Junie, Pt. 2: The Friend (For Clarence Evans) 4:42
6.It’s the Right Toe, Bro (For David Liebman) 9:40
7. A Deya in the Life of a Mulligan 9:07
8. Mother and Others (For Genevieve Evans and Jennifer and Jim) 8:11
9. What Would of Ives (For Bill Zaccagni) 7:37
Personnel:
Charles Evans: baritone saxophone
Recorded June, 2007 – March, 2008, at Astoria, New York, NY
Engineering and Mixing: Charles Evans
Mastering: Seth Foster
Review:
There is evidently a lot at stake here for Charles Evans, musically and emotionally, evidenced by heart-on-sleeve liner notes penned by the baritone saxist, paying tribute to his father, Clarence, and mentor David Liebman.
The amusing chutzpah of the title comes as no surprise given its release on Moppa Elliot’s label (of Mostly Other People Do The Killing), but this is no macho ego trip. The disc opens unexpectedly with a polyphonous lullaby, multi-tracked baritones hamonizing against each other in the pleasant mid range of the instrument. What immediately registers is, indeed, Evans’ respect for his instrument. “On Tone Yet? Part 1” is more restless. As one suddenly irascible bari line goes off, ending in a squawk, it is picked up by a plaintive third voice, vented notes recalling effects at the beginning of Stravinsky’s “Rite Of Spring.” Unpredictable use of silences and bent notes here. The fugue-like, slightly ominous beginning to “The Friend” includes low-register motifs with long-note counter-harmonies in all registers; tinges of Balkan music mix in from a central bari track that threads its way through a thicket of arching tonality.
“It’s The Right Toe, Bro” gets down to business with multiphonics and initially offers respite from overdubbing, revealing what is possible using split-tone techniques rather than layered tracks. When another bari layer does enter, it sounds shockingly like a patch from an Arp synth, or some electronic device, rather than a horn. One of Evans’ Siamese baris does some bludgeoning throat singing at the rear while upfront a more tempered, notey improvisation occurs, but it doesn’t meander mechanically. Evans seeks effective contrasts and linear interest and lingers upon a folksy melodic idea that the other voices seem happy to concur with. My highest marks are for originality and audacity, but there is a more profound inner communion here.
Michael Jackson (DownBeat)
