Flutology Group Debuts on Capri Records
with First Date
* Flute Masters Frank Wess,
Holly Hofmann and Ali Ryerson Join Forces on Stunning Release *
The new band Flutology brings a dazzling
freshness of conception and execution to the traditional role of the jazz flute
on their debut album First Date
(Capri Records, August 26). With world-class flutists Frank Wess, Holly Hofmann and Ali
Ryerson in the front line, First Date
is an exciting summit meeting in the studio that makes for compulsory
listening.
A major figure in the history of jazz flute and a perennial
favorite in both the Down Beat Critics and Readers polls, Frank Wess stays at the top of his game all through First Date. Also performing at a breathtakingly high
level of artistry are Hofmann and Ryerson, both lauded as “Rising Stars” in the
recently released 2003 Down Beat Critics poll.
First Date had its beginnings in a club
engagement late last year by the Ray Brown Quartet at Birdland
in New York City. Hofmann and Flutology pianist Mike Wofford
were part of the late great bass player’s band and they invited their confrere
Ryerson to play on a set. Frank Wess was in the
audience and friendly, casual talk among the flute players between sets led to
the serious idea of forming a triple flute-band to be named Flutology.
Before long, the three, plus Wofford, bassist Peter Washington and legendary drummer Ben Riley, rehearsed and entered the
Big Apple studio to record First Date. Capri producer Tom Burns recalls, “Everything was flawless at the rehearsal,
which is a rarity, and the session went like that also. Most of the tunes were
done in either one or two takes. Jazz au natural!”
The members
of Flutology seem to possess all manner of
spontaneous magical powers. “Be Bop,” the Charlie Parker and Benny Harris
classic now intelligently rearranged by Wofford, is a
celebration of the famous jazz style with Wess taking
the first solo with characteristic aplomb before giving way to the typically
melodious sonorities of Ryerson’s flute. Ryerson, in turn, defers to the
ever-bluesy strains of Hofmann’s instrument and then the luminaries trade
fours. The three suggest a big band flute section. Ali gets to the heart of trumpet great Lee
Morgan’s “Ceora” in a solo that leads to an easeful
display of Wofford’s distinctive playing followed by
a splendid example of Hoffman’s creative imagination. All
the choruses of stirring flute playing from the three add up perfectly on the Wess composed and arranged “Sumpin’
Went Wrong,” where outstanding drummer Riley and Wofford
also get to stretch unerringly. “Rainsville,” a more introspective piece from
late studio pianist Don Grolnick, is another feast of
flute, with Ryerson, Hofmann and Weiss stepping in the limelight respectively; Wofford is responsible for the wonderful arrangement.
The uptempo “This I Dig of You,” a piece by hard-bop giant Hank
Mobley, is played with flat-out conviction by all parties, with excellent
bassist Washington getting a feature spot in which to show that his gift for
improvisation is at the same high level as his band members. Ryerson is
featured on Wess’s “Pretty Is,” her lines on alto
flute then “C” flute unfolding with a precision and a quiet exuberance that is
sustained in solos from first Wofford then
Washington. Take special note of the great sound Wess
gets playing bass flute on “Pretty Is.” “Equal Parts,” based on the changes of
John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” is pushed forward by Hofmann and Wess, their crisp, lively playing reflecting both
sensitivity and strength. The golden
Thad Jones ballad “A Child is Born” is indeed a thing of beauty in the
musicians’ reverential yet unstuffy treatment, while the song “Flutopia,” composed and arranged by acclaimed West Coast
pianist Bill Cunliffe, is full of swinging momentum,
at once musically sophisticated and immediately appealing. Here and throughout
the album the band sounds so in synch, so easeful at collectively swinging,
you’d swear they’d been working together for years.
With the release of First
Date and with select festival, flute convention and club appearances, Flutology is poised to take their rightful place as one of
leading jazz ensembles anywhere. Says Ryerson, “Holly and I have been friends for a lot of years, have talked about
this kind of project for years, and now it’s happening. Life is better than
good.”
Frank Wess is a true jazz master. After
the first fledging efforts of Wayman Carver and Harry
Klee in the ‘30s and ‘40s respectively, he almost
single-handedly legitimized the flute as a swinging jazz instrument with the
Count Basie Orchestra beginning in 1953. (About the
same time Herbie Mann and Bud Shank started getting
noticed, too.) The tenor sax-playing alumni of the Billy Eckstine
and Lucky Millinder bands made prominent use of the
flute in solos with the Basie juggernaut for more
than a decade. He delved into bebop with stunning success on vibes master Milt
Jackson’s great 1956 LP Opus de Jazz
and as an in-demand freelancer in New York City. Going strong for decades now, Wess has made memorable contributions to Clark Terry’s big
band, to the New York Jazz Quartet, to Dameronia
(Philly Joe Jones’s Tadd Dameron
tribute band of the ‘80s), and to collaborations with, among other notables,
former Basie band colleague Frank Foster. Wess’s large discography, his earliest feature sides were
cut for Savoy, include many gems. His exceptional flute graces, to name just
two, Entre Nous (Concord
Jazz, 1991) and Surprise! Surprise! (Chiaroscuro, 1995).
Ali Ryerson’s star is high in the jazz firmament,
soaring even higher with Flutology. Raised in a
family of talented jazz musicians, she studied classical flute performance at
the prestigious Hartt Schol
of Music in Connecticut in the ‘70s while maintaining a special fondness for
the jazz of Miles Davis and Bill Evans. After her studies, which also included
mentoring with such flute experts as Julius Baker of the New York Philharmonic,
Ryerson established herself as a premier jazz musician in both New York City
and Belgium. She’s performed in the finest Big Apple jazz rooms, such as Birdland, Sweet Basil and Bradley’s, and she has showcased
her vast talent at prominent jazz festivals in the States and Europe. Some of
the notables with whom Ryerson has performed are Dr. Billy Taylor, Kenny
Barron, Stephane Grappelli, Roy Haynes and Wess. She and guitarist Joe Beck have toured the world and
recorded two albums together as the well-received duo ALTO. Ryerson has been recording since the mid-‘80s
on American labels like Concord Jazz and Red Baron and on several Belgian
labels. Just this year, she made impressive contributions to Broadway…Music from West Side Story
(Stanza). Not least, Ryerson is involved
in jazz education, fronting well-received Ali Ryerson Flute Master Classes
around the country.
Holly Hofmann, currently residing in San
Diego when not touring, began her studies of the flute in earnest as a young
girl in the Cleveland area, studying with the first flutist of the Cleveland
Orchestra, Maurice Sharp. Her deep interest in the flute continued at the Interlochen Arts Academy and through her undergraduate
college years at the Cleveland Institute of Music and then through graduate
school at the University of Northern Colorado. While proficient in both the
classical and jazz genres, she has gained international notice for her work in
jazz with the likes of Kenny Barron, Slide Hampton, Cedar Walton, Jane Monheit, and Wess. A career
highlight, Hofmann traveled throughout the United States and Europe in the band
led by string bass maestro Ray Brown in the last two years of his life. She
also has worked as a duo with ace pianist Bill Cunliffe.
As a recording artist, Hofmann has made her mark with a number of fine albums,
the most recent of which is Live at Birdland (Azica) with Brown.
Among her ever-growing legion of fans is the renowned saxophonist Phil Woods,
who says, “Along with Hubert Laws, Holly is frankly the best jazz flute player
today.”
The
Flutology rhythm section is stellar. Ben Riley was Thelonious
Monk’s drummer for several years, to mention one highlight in his magnificent
resume, and Peter Washington is
internationally recognized as one of the best bass players alive for his
extensive live and studio work. Mike Wofford also has impeccable credentials, his recording
career dating back to the mid-‘60s and his service as pianist and musical
director to Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald worth special mention.
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