Fountain Of Youth (Dreyfus Jazz)
Roy Haynes
Released February 2004
Grammy Nominee Best Jazz Instrumental Album 2005
YouTube:
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About:
Roy Haynes may be 81 years old, but in body and spirit he is very much a young man. Ask any jazz lover: Haynes’s drumming is as dynamic and challenging today as it has ever been. Not for nothing did the Jazz Journalists Association choose to award Haynes its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in June 2006. This comes on top of countless honors and accolades, including induction into the Downbeat magazine Hall of Fame in 2004, as well as Grammy nominations for Haynes’s Dreyfus albums Fountain of Youth (2004) and Birds of a Feather (2001).
Now Haynes and the Fountain of Youth quartet are back with a new release, titled Whereas. Featuring Jaleel Shaw on alto sax, Robert Rodriguez on piano and John Sullivan on bass, the album was recorded at the Artists’ Quarter in St. Paul, Minnesota over the course of three nights in January 2006. Chris Coleman, Mayor of St. Paul, MN, officially declared the weekend of January 20 – 22 the “Roy Haynes Weekend”. The recording documents the no-holds-barred interaction of one of the last true “apprenticeship” bands in jazz. In the grand tradition of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Haynes’s quartet is a proving ground for young, up-and-coming musicians with the talent and fortitude to go head-to-head, night after night, with this unstoppable octogenarian. On Whereas, Haynes and his cohorts display an extraordinary cohesion and improvisational fire as they draw upon some of the leader’s best-loved repertoire, including Chick Corea’s “Like This,” Pat Metheny’s “James” and Thelonious Monk’s “Bemsha Swing,” as well as barnstorming post-bop classics such as John Coltrane’s “Mr. P.C.”, Joe Henderson’s “Inner Urge” and Charlie Parker’s “Segment.” The harmonic sophistication and melodic clarity of Rodriguez’s piano, the linear propulsion and drive of Shaw’s horn, the depth and solidity of Sullivan’s bass, the wholly unpredictable nuances of Haynes’s drumming—all add up to a thrilling and memorable hour-plus, highlighting the Fountain of Youth quartet at its revelatory best.
Track Listing:
1. Greensleeves (Traditional) 8:20
2. Twinkle Trinkle (Thelonious Monk) 5:55
3. Summer Night (Al Dubin / Harry Warren) 7:55
4. Ask Me Now (Thelonious Monk) 8:55
5. Butch and Butch (Oliver Nelson) 4:50
6. Inner Trust (Dave Kikoski) 10:53
7. Green Chimneys (Thelonious Monk) 8:08
8. Remember (Irving Berlin) 6:12
9. Question & Answer (Pat Metheny) 10:16
Personnel:
Roy Haynes: drums
Martin Bejerano: piano
Marcus Strickland: tenor and soprano saxophone, bass clarinet
John Sullivan: bass
Recorded December 4 – 5, 2002, at Birdland, New York, NY
Produced by Roy Haynes and Doug Yoel
Recorded by David Ruffo
Mastered by Alan Silverman
Photography by Jimmy Katz
Design: Christopher Kornmann
Review:
As he nears his 80th year, Roy Haynes is more than an astonishing fountain of youth; he is one of the true wonders of the jazz world. The master drummer, whose experience includes tenures with Lester Young, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, among many others, was unfortunately under-recorded for much of his career, but that sad state of affairs has been recently remedied with a series of excellent recordings for the French Dreyfus Jazz label, this latest one being perhaps the best, most representative documentation of his increasingly important role as a leader.
Recorded live at New York’s Birdland in December of 2002, Fountain of Youth
features Haynes with his young working quartet of saxophonist Marcus
Strickland, pianist Martin Be Jerano and bassist John Sullivan and is as
rewarding for the mature, developed playing demonstrated by the sidemen,
belying their youth, as it is amazing for the energy and exuberance displayed
by the drummer at this stage of his life.
Strickland is stunning, starting things off with a striking bass clarinet
introduction to an attractive new arrangement of “Greensleeves” before
switching to soprano saxophone, the horn on which he is increasingly receiving
deserved recognition as the premiere player of his generation—the combined
result of his exceptional technical facility and a beautiful sound that is
often more reminiscent of the exotic lyricism of Yusef Lateef than of his more
frequently cited models, John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter. He is similarly
smooth on his other straight horn features, three staples of the Haynes
playbook: the seductive “Summer Night,” pianist Dave Kikoski’s dramatic “Inner
Trust,” and Pat Metheny’s moving “Question and Answer.”
Fountain of Youth features the saxophonist’s tenor on the disc’s other five selections, Irving Berlin’s “Remember” and four well known compositions from the jazz repertory: Oliver Nelson’s “Butch and Butch” (from the classic The Blues and The Abstract Truth, on which the drummer was featured) and three by Thelonious Monk—two rhythmic burners, “Trinkle Tinkle” and “Green Chimneys,” and the date’s one ballad, the beautiful “Ask Me Now.” Haynes’ drumming is joyous throughout and offers each selection a unique perspective, filled with emotional interjections from a performer who’s seen it all and knows how to show it.
Russ Musto (All About Jazz)
