Jazz From Lincoln Center

by Joshua Jackson

(c) & (p) 2000 Murray Street Productions and Jazz at Lincoln Center, all rights reserved

1) Music: "Alone Together" (Schwartz-Dietz) from 4/13

2) Vox: Cyrus Chestnut

"In duo, I think the idea is that two people get together and trade ideas and try to as best as possible understand each others’ concept. Get to a common ground a common groove, find it wherever it is. Get there."

WHEN PIANIST CYRUS CHESTNUT AND BASSIST REGINALD VEAL PLAY MUSIC TOGETHER, IT’S NOT SURPRISING THAT THEY’RE ABLE TO FIND COMMON GROUND. THEY’RE BOTH ROOTED IN GOSPEL MUSIC, AND FIND INSPIRATION IN THELONIOUS MONK’S BEBOP AND STEVIE WONDER’S POPULAR SONGS.

THEIR DEPENDABLE, FLEXIBLE STYLES HAVE MADE THEM FAVORITES IN THE RHYTHM SECTION. BUT THEY’VE NEVER BEEN ON THE FRONT LINE TOGETHER. AT THE STANLEY KAPLAN PENTHOUSE, IT’S A "DUET ON THE HUDSON" WITH CYRUS CHESTNUT AND REGINALD VEAL. THIS IS JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I’M ED BRADLEY.

PLAYING A STANDARD IS ALWAYS A GOOD START FOR A NEW COLLABORATION. THIS ONE HAS BEEN A FAVORITE OF JAZZ MUSICIANS ATTRACTED TO ITS SWIFT CHORD CHANGES AND DURABLE MELODY. NOW, CYRUS CHESTNUT AND REGINALD VEAL TAKE IT INTO THEIR OWN HANDS.

HERE’S THE RODGERS AND HART CLASSIC - "LOVER."

5) Music: "Lover" (Rodgers/Hart) from 4/13 concert [5:11]

"LOVER," CYRUS CHESTNUT AT THE PIANO AND REGINALD VEAL ON BASS.

7) Music (under): Paul Barbarin and his New Orleans Jazz – "The Second Line"

THOUGH REGINALD VEAL WAS BORN IN CHICAGO, HE GREW UP IN THE CRESCENT CITY OF NEW ORLEANS. AS A CHILD, HE EXPERIMENTED WITH PIANO, DRUMS, AND TROMBONE - BEFORE CHOOSING THE BASS. IN HIGH SCHOOL HE STUDIED WITH ELLIS MARSALIS AND LATER WITH ALVIN BATISTE BEFORE HE HIT THE ROAD AS A FULL TIME MUSICIAN.

9) Music: Wynton Marsalis Citi Movements with Veal

IN THE MID-80s, WYNTON MARSALIS HIRED VEAL TO PLAY BASS IN HIS SEPTET. FOR OVER FIVE YEARS, HE ANCHORED THE GROUP’S RHYTHM SECTION, GAINING A REPUTATION AS A STALWART COMPANION TO DRUMMER HERLIN RILEY.

11) Vox: Herlin Riley

//I always knew that every night he came to play, he came to swing, and it was always going to be a lot of creativity going on." // "I think the septet // allowed him the freedom // to explore different avenues of his playing// and to just be as creative as he possibly could// I think it was a great time for him and for the rest of us to develop.

WHILE REGINALD VEAL IS AN ACCOMPLISHED BASS PLAYER WITHIN AN ENSEMBLE, HE’S ALSO TRIED HIS HAND AT COMPOSING. THIS NEXT TUNE SHOWS THE INFLUENCE OF THELONIOUS MONK’S OFF-KILTER MELODIES AND EVEN USES THE FANCIFUL THEME FROM "TRINKLE TINKLE." REGINALD VEAL AND CYRUS CHESTNUT PLAY "M.T."

13) Music: "M.T." (Veal) from 4/13 concert [6:59]

REGINALD VEAL’S "M.T.," WITH VEAL ON BASS AND CYRUS CHESTNUT AT THE PIANO.

15) Music under: "In the Garden" (Trad.) from Chestnut’s Earth Stories

CYRUS CHESTNUT’S FATHER INTRODUCED HIM TO THE FAMILY PIANO AT THE AGE OF FIVE. AT SEVEN, HE WAS PLAYING FOR BALTIMORE’S CALVARY STAR BAPTIST CHURCH.

IN 1985, CHESTNUT GOT HIS DEGREE FROM BOSTON’S BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC AND WADED INTO THE THICK OF THE JAZZ SCENE, RECORDING WITH TERENCE BLANCHARD AND DONALD HARRISON, THEN TOURING WITH THE LATE SINGER BETTY CARTER. CARTER’S BAND WAS CONSIDERED A "GRADUATE SCHOOL" FOR MANY YOUNG MUSICIANS.

17) Music under: "Dip Bag" (Carter) from It’s Not About the Melody

18) Vox: Cyrus Chestnut

"She kind of said, you have a foundation, that’s great. Leave it there, let’s move somewhere else. It’s time for you to move forward. This music does not sit still it’s always moving forward. There’s something new. Don’t play anything for me I’ve already heard that before. Play something for me that I’ve never heard. I want you to think, I don’t want you going on automatic. I want you to take chances, I want you to get out there write music."

CHESTNUT DID JUST THAT. HE WENT ON TO FORM HIS OWN BANDS, MAKE RECORDINGS AND COMPOSE. HIS TUNES RUN THE GAMUT, FROM BOUNCY ROMPS TO QUIET DEVOTIONS. THIS NEXT ONE IS A SUBTLE, DANCING BALLAD THAT BORROWS ITS FORM FROM THE STANDARD BLUES.

FROM THE STANLEY KAPLAN PENTHOUSE, HERE’S CYRUS CHESTNUT’S "TWELVE BAR BALLAD."

20) Music: "Twelve Bar Ballad" (Chestnut) 4/13 or 4/14 [5:08 or 5:54]

"TWELVE BAR BALLAD," FEATURING CYRUS CHESTNUT ON PIANO AND REGINALD VEAL BEHIND THE BASS.

THIS IS JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I’M ED BRADLEY.

22) Vox: Cyrus Chestnut

"I try to take advantage of every moment of composition. I write at the piano, I write on the subway, on the plane the motel room, wherever."

CYRUS CHESTNUT KNOWS THAT THE MOMENT OF INSPIRATION CAN HAPPEN AT ANY TIME. BUT SOMETIMES, THE NEED TO CREATE COMES IN THE MOST UNUSUAL PLACES.

"So I’m sittin on the train and thinkin I gotta write something….I’m on the Number Two train coming from E. 225^th Street going down to 42^nd Street. I’m seeing all different people coming from all different walks of life. And I was really getting into it. And the idea boop doop de de doop. It came to me."

BASSIST REGINALD VEAL

26) Vox: Reginald Veal

"And he brought it to the rehearsal and said look, let’s try this tune. We got some copies made and went over it….It really describes just the whole thing that was going on at that time. He’s on the train you hear the tracks, jugadu jugadu jugadu the people and everything. City Life, New York City."

FROM THE STANLEY KAPLAN PENTHOUSE, CYRUS CHESTNUT AND

REGINALD VEAL BRING US A SLICE OF "CITY LIFE."

28) Music: "City Life" (Chestnut) from 4/13 [8:58]

CYRUS CHESTNUT’S COMPOSITION "CITY LIFE," WITH CHESTNUT AT THE PIANO AND REGINALD VEAL ON BASS.

30) Music under: "Blues in the Closet" from 4/13 concert

SUPPORT FOR JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER COMES FROM N-P-R AND ITS MEMBER STATIONS, WHOSE CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE THE LILA WALLACE READERS DIGEST FUND, SEEKING TO ENRICH COMMUNITY LIFE THROUGH SUPPORT OF EDUCATION, THE ARTS AND CULTURE.

TO SEE THE SCRIPT OF THIS PROGRAM OR FIND OUT MORE ABOUT CYRUS CHESTNUT AND REGINALD VEAL, CLICK TO WWW.JAZZRADIO.ORG. SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO RADIO@JAZZATLINCOLNCENTER.ORG, OR WRITE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER, NEW YORK CITY 10023.

YOU’RE LISTENING TO JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I’M ED BRADLEY.

(:10 id break)

32) Vox: Reginald Veal

I think the musicians of today all we have is those that went before us and played…//you have to deal with the past. But you also have to deal with the present. And to bring everything you have to the table and to try to make that a part of you and your music that you play…."

TODAY’S HARD-WORKING MUSICIANS LIKE REGINALD VEAL AND CYRUS CHESTNUT HAVE A CENTURY OF JAZZ MUSIC TO DRAW FROM. VEAL’S THROATY BASS NOTES CITE THE DURABLE BOTTOM LINES OF BASSIST PAUL CHAMBERS AND THE SING-ALONG STYLE OF SLAM STEWART. CHESTNUT’S KEYBOARD CASCADES OFTEN REFLECT THE DYNAMIC VIRTUOSITY OF ART TATUM, BUT IN THIS TUNE HE PAYS HOMAGE TO TOMMY FLANAGAN’S LYRIC STYLE.

HERE’S "FATHER FLANAGAN."

34) Music: "Father Flanagan" (Chestnut) from 4/14 concert [8:39]

CYRUS CHESNUT’S "FATHER FLANAGAN," WITH CHESTNUT AT THE PIANO AND REGINALD VEAL ON BASS.

36) Music under: "Sir Duke" from Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life

CHESTNUT AND VEAL GREW UP IN THE 1970’S; THE ERA OF ROCK N’ ROLL, DISCO, AND FUNK. JAZZ WAS LARGELY RELEGATED TO A FRINGE AUDIENCE. IT WAS MUCH EASIER TO FIND ARETHA FRANKLIN, JAMES BROWN, AND STEVIE WONDER ON THE RADIO THAN TO HEAR BILLIE HOLIDAY OR COUNT BASIE. NATURALLY, THESE BUDDING MUSICIANS ABSORBED ALL THE SOUNDS AROUND THEM.

WRITER LOLIS ERIC ELIE GREW UP IN THE SAME GENERATION.

38) Vox: Lolis Eric Elie

"Well, one of the differences between their generation and the generation of Miles Davis// and those guys is that when we went to high school,//they’re playing Stevie Wonder’s music and Earth, Wind, and Fire’s music. So that music has a kind a romance for people born in the Sixties, and so it has a kind of meaning that makes it appropriate for them to play."

SO IT’S NOT SURPRISING THAT VEAL AND CHESTNUT WOULD CHOOSE A STEVIE WONDER TUNE FOR A JAZZ EXCURSION. FROM THE STANLEY KAPLAN PENTHOUSE, THIS IS WONDER’S "I WISH."

40) Music: "I Wish" (S. Wonder) from 4/13 concert [7:20]

STEVIE WONDER’S "I WISH," FEATURING CYRUS CHESTNUT AT PIANO AND REGINALD VEAL ON BASS.

42) Music under: "Modern Day Jazz" from Courtney Pine’s Underground

CYRUS CHESTNUT AND REGINALD VEAL ARE STILL EXPLORING HOW JAZZ CAN MESH WITH OTHER KINDS OF MUSIC. VEAL LAID THE GROOVES ON BRANFORD MARSALIS’ JAZZ AND RAP PROJECT "BUCKSHOT LEFONQUE." MORE RECENTLY, BOTH APPEARED ON SAXOPHONIST COURTNEY PINE’S EXPERIMENTS WITH JAZZ AND TECHNO BEATS.

THOUGH THEIR CURIOSITY OFTEN LEADS THEM INTO UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY, CHESTNUT AND VEAL CAN ALWAYS RETURN TO THEIR ROOTS IN GOSPEL MUSIC. THIS MELODY IN PARTICULAR HAS BEEN A STAPLE AT CHURCHES AND CAMPFIRES, AND FROM POLITICAL RALLIES TO THE STREETS OF NEW ORLEANS.

REGINALD VEAL

44) Vox: Reginald Veal

…It’s a fun tune and that’s one of the tunes that really is special for me. Because growing up in New Orleans having the brass bands and stuff like that. We would play those kinds of songs like that. We would take like the spiritual songs "Just a Closer Walk with Thee", "Down By the Riverside" and play it in that style except put a total party happy groove on it.

THIS IS "DOWN BY THE (HUDSON) RIVERSIDE."

46) Music: "Down By the Riverside" (trad) 2^nd version from 4/13 concert [8:18]

"DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE" – A DUET ON THE HUDSON - CYRUS CHESTNUT AT THE PIANO AND REGINALD VEAL ON BASS.

IN THIS CONCERT, VEAL AND CHESTNUT HAVE SHOWN OFF BOTH THEIR SOLID TECHNIQUE AND THEIR DEEP KNOWLEDGE OF JAZZ HISTORY. REGARDLESS OF THE STYLE, CHESTNUT’S SKILLS ARE ALWAYS IN HIGH DEMAND, WHILE VEAL’S GROOVE CAN POWER ANY ENSEMBLE. WITH THEIR FIRST DUET PERFORMANCE, THEY’VE SEALED A MUSICAL FRIENDSHIP.

JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER IS PRODUCED BY JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER AND MURRAY STREET ENTERPRISE NEW YORK. THIS PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN BY ASSOCIATE PRODUCER JOSHUA JACKSON AND EDITED BY LAUREN KRENZEL. OUR OTHER ASSOCIATE PRODUCER IS AVE CARRILLO. SENIOR PRODUCER IS STEVE RATHE.

THE RECORDINGS WERE MADE BY EDWARD HABER AND MICHAEL DeMARK, WITH DIGITAL POST PRODUCTION BY DAVID GOREN AT STEVEN ERICKSON’S.

THE PRODUCTION TEAM INCLUDES GWENDOLYN DEAN AND PETER ZANGER.

THANKS TO CHRISTA TETER, SUSAN RADIN, TRACEY SCHUTTY, THE RADIO FOUNDATION, AND THE STAFF AT THE STANLEY H. KAPLAN PENTHOUSE.

THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR OF JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER IS ROB GIBSON. THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR IS WYNTON MARSALIS.

I’M ED BRADLEY. THIS IS N-P-R, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO.