The thorny conflict between art and commerce is fact of life for most modern jazz musicians, but few have been pricked by its barbs so acutely as saxophonist Branford Marsalis.
Hailed as a “crossover phenom” in the ’80s because of his tenure with Sting’s band, a few movie appearances and his ability to hop from straight-ahead jazz to pop-rock to classical, the early ’90s found him on The Tonight Show, trying to play the role of the “hip, yet lovable” sidekick to Jay Leno.
Needless to say, it didn’t work out, and since departing Leno-land, Branford seems to have forsaken any illusions about celebrity at the expense of creativity. He’s boldly followed his muse, releasing intrepid trio outing The Dark Keys in 1996, followed in 1997 by Music Evolution, a sophomore expansion on his jazz/hip-hop project, Buckshot LeFonque. On last year’s Requiem, despite the mid-session death of his old friend and pianist Kenny Kirkland, Branford’s horn emanated increased fire, eloquence and dexterity.
His latest “face-off” with the world of commerce involved his record label, Columbia, where he functioned as “creative consultant,” signing new artists and producing a number of recordings. In this capacity, he opened doors for cutting-edge artists like free-jazz saxophonist David S. Ware and Branford’s longtime drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts, and produced two superb David Sánchez records, but it turned out to be a short-lived gig. What happened?
“Nothing really,” Branford said in a recent phone interview. “(The label’s) priorities are different than mine. My priority is to make music, their priority is to sell records, and we couldn’t find a middle ground on that.”
Does this reflect his doubts about the future of jazz on Columbia and other major labels?
“I don’t know,” he replied. “It really depends on the people in charge of the company. All you need is one person with enough musical conviction and belief that recording jazz in its truest form is the right thing to do. If you don’t have that it’s fairly difficult, unless you’re willing to make certain compromises. And if I wanted to compromise why would I fucking play jazz? Art is one of the few places in the world where you don’t have to compromise. It’s just that you have to be willing, and this is the part I think we have been lax in, to accept the consequences of your decision. I think it’s ridiculous to say, ‘We’re going to play great, forward-thinking jazz and fuck the audience for not being hip enough to know where we’re coming from.’ Once you make a decision to make a certain kind of music, you’re going to lose the people, and that’s okay with me. Because I feel, more so now than ever, that that’s why I’m here. God put me here to play music that’s challenging for me, and it was just a matter of time before I became mature enough to understand that and respect what that means.”
Still, looking back, Branford expressed no regrets about his work for Columbia. “Every record I worked on there I approached with the same love for the music. And whether it was David Ware or Tain or [pianist] Joey Calderazzo or [R&B vocalist] Frank McComb, I’m proud of every record. And David Sánchez, I’m especially proud of him, because, being from Puerto Rico, he could have just sat in the whole Latin jazz mode and been the king of that format, but he really pushes the music in a way that is unexpected for Latin artists, and I’m very proud of him.
“One of the criticisms I got at Columbia was that I hired all of my friends. As though it were my fault my friends are bad motherfuckers. Like, I have friends that are not very good musicians, but I didn’t sign them, you know? Tain tried to get his own record for eight years and he was met with ridicule and cynicism… And then he puts out one of the better records in jazz last year… It’s not my fault that other people are deaf. Yeah, I’m proud of all the guys, you know, like David Ware, he has continued to play his music [without compromising]. After his first record, somebody in the company said, ‘Can you get him to just play one song that people know?’ He says, ‘Okay,’ and he plays ‘The Way We Were,’ and he just takes the shit totally out (Branford imitates a sax being overblown to bits), and it was fucking brilliant, man. And they [the label people] are sitting there. Where’s the melody? So I had to sing it for them. I’m like, ‘There you go, ‘The Way We Were,’ you know that right?’”
On Contemporary Jazz, his own recently released CD on Columbia, Branford fearlessly embraces his own mandate to challenge himself artistically, but his gift for touching, soulful melodies is more prevalent than ever. Moreover, his quartet–composed of Tain, Calderazzo and bassist Eric Revis–is firing on all cylinders, cohesively navigating rhythmically diverse terrain with storming, fluid intensity.
“This record is what Requiem would have been had Kenny (Kirkland) lived, and we had the time to expand the music and get inside of the songs,” Branford said.
In fact, the new record includes “Elysium,” a haunting song also on Requiem, but the newer version is longer and far more intense and elaborate. There’s also the exquisitely mournful “Requiem,” which is really the title track missing from the last album.
Branford said he is proud of Contemporary Jazz, unlike Requiem, which he felt was incomplete, and called the first four songs, “In The Crease,” “Requiem,” “Elysium” and “Cheek To Cheek,” his favorites.
“They’re just the best examples of what we do,” he said. “Like on ‘Requiem,’ the ability to evoke feelings of loneliness and isolation in a song, which is something you don’t hear very often. Most people try to play happy music, even jazz musicians, because the whole state of being a jazz musician is under siege, just like being any musician, because of the advanced wave of populism in this country right now. So you have record companies debating how to sell more jazz records, and the only way is to play non-jazz music and call it jazz. Jazz musicians are trying to figure out what the people like, you know, doing tribute records, and everybody’s trying to play user-friendly music, and that’s just not something I’m interested in right now. If I was going to play user-friendly music I would have gotten a pop band together.”
This Month
In October, we can look forward to the record release party for Scotty Hill’s French Market Jazz Band at Donna’s on the 27th. The album, Making Market, was actually recorded 18 years ago at Ultrasonic Studios, making it “like fine old wine that’s been bottled up,” says Hill.
Indeed, this release is long overdue, considering the all-star cast, which includes David Torkanowsky (keys), Herlin Riley (drums), Erving Charles, Jr. (electric bass) and David Lastie (tenor sax) – not to mention trombonist Hill, a New Orleans stalwart who has over the years played with the Dukes of Dixieland, Danny Barker, Ellis Marsalis, Ella Fitzgerald, Tommy Flanagan, Wallace Davenport, Louis Prima, Dr. John and many others.
Of special note, Riley’s mother, Betty Ann Lastie, plays piano and provides powerful blues-belting vocals on “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.” Guy Vial sings on “The Second Line” and “Outskirts of Town,” and the tap-dancing of Oliver “Pork Chop” Anderson is heard during “Fidgety Feet.”
Songs like “Bogalusa Strut” and “Just A Little While To Stay Here” keep the material grounded in its traditional roots, with joyous sections of ensemble improvisation, but Riley’s crisp, inventive drumming and Charles’ “pocket” electric bass grooves maintain an eclectic, fresh perspective. “Making Market,” for example, is propelled by Torkanowsky’s funky organ and has a Meters “Hey Pocky Way” feel. Hill says he hopes to get many of the original players to show up at Donnas on the 27th.
In addition, the UNO Fall Sandbar Jazz Series is under way, with jazz every Wednesday evening from 8-11 p.m. on UNO’s campus. Saxophonist John Ellis will lead a student band on October 4th, and then he’ll play Snug Harbor the following night. Ellis, a former UNO Jazz Studies student himself, now lives in New York, but he has maintained close ties with New Orleans, as his appearances on recent recordings by Jason Marsalis and Roland Guerin attest. In October, Ellis is scheduled to record a new CD for Fresh Sound Records with Guerin, Marsalis and pianist Aaron Goldberg.
