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 | Herbie SpanierAnthology Volume IILabel: Justin Time | Jazz | March 12, 1995Format UPC Order # Unit Price |
Credits Brian Barley saxophone (on tracks 06 and 07) Charlie Biddle bass (on tracks 06 and 07) Alex Dean saxophone (on tracks 01, 02 and 03) Bob Erlendson piano (on tracks 01, 02 and 03) Dave Field bass (on tracks 01, 02 and 03) Sadik Hakim piano (on tracks 04, 05, 06 and 07) Roland Haynes bass (on tracks 04 and 05) Michel Lambert drums (on tracks 01, 02 and 03) Keith 'Spike' McKendry drums (on tracks 04 and 05) Claude Ranger drums (on tracks 06 and 07) Herbie Spanier cornet, flugelhorn and trumpet Production Credits | TracksNo Title Duration Excerpts 04 Casterwaggy Cantelboose 00:11:45 05 Chemise Pour L'Église 00:14:36 06 Waltz No. 2 00:11:56 07 Summertime 00:10:02 Liner NotesJazz improvisation has been likened to flying by the seat of your pants. At its best it's an exhilarating or even nail biting (or thumb chewing?) experience. Herbie Spanier is in the top echelon of jazz improvisers. His permutations are indeed (in the words of author Whitney Balliett) "the sound of surprise."My first knowledge of the existence of a Herbert Charles Anthony Spanier came in the form of a photograph that appeared on page 15 of the January 27,1950 issue of "Down Beat" magazine. Under the caption "Ready", it depicted Herbie replete with trumpet, beret and bebop bow tie below it read in part: "Regina, Sask, - Hope he's kidding, but in any case, this is Herbert Charles Anthony Spanier (no relation to Muggsy ) above. Herbie and some other boys from Regina and Winnipeg put on a jazz concert here not too long ago, a traditional affair that opened with "Perdido" and ended with "How High the Moon"...." Herbie had just turned twenty-one. He was born in Cupar, Sask. on Christmas Day, December 25,1928. The family, of Austrian descent, was a musical one (his dad played fiddle). By the age of four Herbie gravitated to music and tried a number of instruments. At 13 he began playing bugle in the Sea Cadets, the first step towards a career in which he would evolve into one of the great jazz trumpeters, a world class musician. I first heard him in 1953. He was playing dance music with the Toronto-based Benny Louis band at Belmont Park, an amusement park in the Cartierville area of the island of Montreal and Paul Bley presented him as the feature attraction at the Chez Parée in one of the "Jazz Workshop's concert series. " Another particularly memorable event (for me) that involved Herbie occurred on April 26,1959. I was at the Little Vienna Restaurant on Stanley Street listening to Herbie's quartet. The Benny Goodman band was in town playing the Forum and two members of that band came by to sit in with Herbie, reedmen Herb Geller and Pepper Adams. This was my first meeting with the latter, and the beginning of a life long friendship. I remember Pepper telling Herbie that he had played with his brother Muggsy in Chicago. In March 1950, Herbie moved east to Toronto where he worked with people like Trump Davidson and Benny Winestone before joining Benny Louis. He's had along musical association with Paul Bley dating back to that Chez Parée concert of June 21, 1953. In 1954 Herbie moved to New York where he worked with Art Phipps and the late AI Levitt in Bley's quartet at spots like Copa city, and Birdland. They also played a Carnegie Hall concert and during this period Spanier also worked with the big bands of Hal McIntyre and Claude Thornhill. He settled in Montreal in 1955 and then traveled to L.A. to replace Anthony Ortega in Paul Bley's group at the Hilicrest where both Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry were in attendance. He and Bley (with percussionist Geordie McDonald) recently recorded for Justin Time. Some of Spanier's important associations over the years have been with the Steve Garrick big band here and, in Toronto, Nimmons'n' Nine plus Six. He's featured on that band's Juno Award winning "Atlantic Suite." Here, in 1961, he recorded "African Waltz" with its composer Galt MacDermot. The session took place in the home of Ann Savage (a famed painter), Galt's aunt. Herbie brought his infant son Raven with him and I got the job of minding the baby while his dad recorded in the next room, just a curtain away. Raven was the first of three sons. Their mother was a wonderful person, the late Gina Spanier (née Gould) a former member of the Emanon Jazz Society. The two younger brother, Crane and Calder have also gravitated to music. This second volume of the Herbie Spanier Anthology consists of three sessions, two from 1969 and one from 1994. The first '69 session was recorded in Montreal with Brian Barley, tenor/soprano, Sadik Hakim, piano, Charlie Biddle, bass and Claude Ranger, drums (Waltz No. 2 and Summertime) that year's other session (Casterwaggy Cantleboose and Chemise pour I'Eglise) was done in Quebec City with Hakim, Roland Haynes, bass and Keith "Spike" Mckendry, drums. The '94 session has Alex Dean, alto/soprano, Bob Erlendson, piano, Dave Field, bass and Michel Lambert, drums. (Lament, Dimensions in Blue and Song for Marlene). All these sidemen have had (each in their own way) important roles in the colourful mosaic that makes up this country's jazz panorama. Barley was born in Sarnia, Ontario and died in Toronto on June 8, 1971 at the age of 28. He was an important part of the jazz scene here in the late '60s and was one of the finest musicians in Canada's jazz history. Pianist Hakim was born Argonne Thornton in Duluth Minn. on July 15,1919, he died in NYC on June 20,1983. He had two important musical stays in Montreal. In the late 40's he was a member of the Louis Metcalf International Band at the Cafe St. Michel and in the late 60s played here with people like Thad Jones, Pepper Adams, Bob Rudd, Nelson Symonds and Charlie Biddle. He recorded and/or played with Ben Webster, Charlie Parker Lester Young ("Jumpin' with Symphony Sid" is his) and Buddy Tate. Charlie Biddle was born in Philadelphia on July 28,1926 and, since his arrival here over 40 years ago, has been an important catalyst on the scene, almost single-handedly keeping the music before an audience. Claude Ranger, who now resides on Canada's West Coast, was born in Montreal on February 3, 1941. Another world-class musician, Ranger lights a fire every time he plays. Roland Haynes, an American who lived here in the 1960s later went on to play with drummer Shelly Manne's group. He appears on that group's "Alive in London" a 1970 Contemporary label release recorded at Ronnie Scoff's. He also played some piano. "Spike" McKendry grew up musically in Cornwall, Ontario and had played with Lennie Tristano in Toronto before settling in Montreal in the 60s. Here he played with Spanier, Hakim and Errol's older brother, pianist Linton Garner. McKendry now resides in Toronto and is pretty much out of music as a player. Toronto based Alex Dean is a much in demand reedman. Heard here on tenor and soprano saxophones, he also plays alto sax, oboe, clarinet and bass clarinet. He's recorded under his own name and with both Bernie Senensky and AI Henderson. Veterans Erlendson and Field both hail from Alberta. The pianist is from Banff and has worked with the Thompson brothers, tenorman Don and bassist Lloyd as well as with Rob McConnell. He was an influence on the late Lenny Breau, a legendary guitarist. Field is from Edmonton and worked in Vancouver with pianist Don Thompson and Ian McDougall before settling in Toronto in the 70s. He's been heard there with Greg Walters, Phil Nimmons, Claude Ranger and Ron Allen. Michel Lambert is one of the most in demand of young Canadian drummers. He's recorded with quitarist Reg Schwager, with his wife, singer Jeannette (Schwager) Lambert, and the Dave Young /Phil Dwyer Quartet whose "Fables and Dreams" was a1993 Juno award winner. Spanier arranged all the material appearing here and composed all but "Summertime," which was written by DuBose Heyward and George Gershwin. Spanier, at age 66, is still one of the great jazz improvisers. Don't let any chance to hear him slip by. Len Dobbin Columnist "Jazz Report / Historian and author Jazz Recollections (a book in progress). |
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