Something else comes through to me when listening to Bud’s music over the past thirty years and that is his humility. If Bill Evans is correct and making Jazz is 2% talent and 98% hard work, then how else does one get through the hard work part of it without concentration, dedication, honesty and integrity?Īt the ripe old age of 50, by applying these qualities of mind and character, Bud Shank, already a fine musician, made himself into a great one. I would also add that other important ingredients are dedication, honesty and integrity. He went from a life of sameness and marginality, to one that involved constantly changing musical adventures and challenges.Īlthough I can’t remember the source for it, I recall Bud once stated that one of the keys to making Jazz is concentration. ĭuring this period, Bud was the living embodiment of the artist-at-work experimenting with various mediums experiencing different compositional contexts collaborating with other master artists constructing various group configurations in which to make his music. One gets the impression that he was making up for lost time as he savors the chance to make music in settings ranging from a trio comprised of himself and two keyboardists to heading up a full-blown big band with charts by Bob Florence, Mike Barone, Bob Cooper and Manny Albam. The variety of musical environments that Bud has engaged in over this period of time is amazing. Not all of these efforts worked some may have worked better than others while others, judging by the results of his first big band album under his own name in a 60+ year career, worked so well that they may have been too long in coming.īut, Helen Keller once said that “Life is a daring adventure or it is nothing.” Over the past three decades or so, it would appear that from the standpoint of making Jazz music, Bud is in complete agreement with her. And if that change wasn’t enough, how about leaving the studios, leaving the state, abandoning the flute to concentrate exclusively on alto saxophone and transforming one’s style from a cool player to a roaring hot, take-no-prisoners, be-bopper.Īt an age when many Jazz musicians may have said what they had to say and would have welcomed a chance to cloister in the studios, Bud was leaving its comforts and metaphorically “going out in the rain” in search of artistic satisfaction. What is remarkable about Bud is the courage it took to set sail in quest of more and better musical encounters at the ripe, young age of 50. Perhaps, they may reflect somewhat on a recently played gig or concert from some technical or aesthetic standpoint, but usually, most Jazz players are content to let what they’ve played in the recent past – let alone the distant past – go up into the Ether World and make a fresh start at the next opportunity to play.Īs Keith Jarrett once remarked: “The music is always there,” in the sense that some encounters with it are better than others. They are usually absorbed with how they are making their music now. The possibilities are all but limitless, as are the chances of a misstep, a choice which, though harmonically and technically sound, will break the spell, snap the thread, brings things irremediably to earth.”Įvery time I read these words by Richard Sudhalter, I think of two musicians: Bobby Hackett and Bud Shank – both master creators of melodies.Īs Doug Ramsey pointed out at the beginning of his interview with Bud which was contained in Part 1 of this piece, while Bud graciously consented to look back and discuss the music he made for Pacific Jazz in the 1950s, “looking back” is not in the nature of things for a Jazz musician. There is little opportunity to try out a given pattern in a given situation, giving it a dry run, then rejecting it and moving on to another if it fails to please ear and sensibilities. … the improviser’s decisions are extempore, made on the spot. In common with any composer, he is constantly making decisions which will determine not only the outcome of a given line but its overall effect on the sensibilities of his listeners. “The Jazz improviser … is in a very pure sense, a creator of melodies. Cerra, introduction © Copyright protected all rights reserved.
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