Roberto Magris’ Journey to the Heart of Hard Bop

C. Michael Bailey

Senior Contributor since 1997

...wants to know if Gene Harris is playing "Summertime" in Heaven...

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Published: July 29, 2012

Italian pianist and composer Roberto Magris Roberto Magris
b.1959
piano has carved his name in jazz stone over the past decade with recordings like Check-In (Black Saint, 2005), Il Bello Del Jazz (Black Saint, 2006) and Current Views (Black Saint, 2010) with his ensemble Europlane, and Kansas City Bound (Pami, 2009) and Mating Call (JMood, 2010) (which foreshadows the hard bop of pianist Tadd Dameron Tadd Dameron
1917 - 1965
arranger ) with his various other groups. He is a sturdy mainstream pianist with impressive chops, both instrumentally and compositionally.

Magris was coaxed into a couple of fine hard bop recording sessions that promise further volumes to be released. That is good news. It is a good thing he has sturdy mainstream chops, he needed them as the repertoire is demanding and suffers lesser players poorly.

Roberto Magris Quintet
Morgan Rewind: A Tribute to Lee Morgan Vol. 1
J-Mood Records
2012

In his book Hard Bop: Jazz and Black Music 1955-1965 (Oxford University Press, 1993), author David Rosenthal, in the chapter "The Power of Badness," defines the hipster slang word "bad" as trumpeter Lee Morgan Lee Morgan
1938 - 1972
trumpet . More specifically, Lee Morgan as he solos on "Caribbean Fire Dance" on saxophonist Joe Henderson's 1966 Mode for Joe (Blue Note). The same could be said for Morgan's contribution to the hard bop anthem "Moanin'" as heard on Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers' 1958 Blue Note recording of the same title. Morgan possessed a certain malice or danger and at the same time was capable of composing lasting melodies like "Ceora" and "Search for a New Land."

Magris plays piano foil to these myriad faces of Morgan, with trumpeter Brandon Lee Brandon Lee
b.1983
trumpet in the role of the principle. Alto saxophonist Logan Richardson Logan Richardson
provides that mandatory reed so important to this classic hard bop quintet. Richardson waxes abstract in his solo on Morgan's minor key blues "Party Time," from The Procrastinator (Blue Note, 1967), a sound much more in keeping with the angularity of Search for a New Land (Blue Note, 1964). Magris solos more forthrightly but no less boldly. Brandon Lee does Morgan's memory proud, blowing open bell, full bore. This was always the nature of Morgan's music. It is visceral and organic, rising from the fertile humus of bebop morphing into hard bop and soul jazz. Magris captures this transition in his ease of swing even when he swings hard.

Magris' original "Lee-Too" (one of two in the disc) pushes the Morgan- fueled hard bop idiom to the edge of completeness, rocking with a call and response cadence that is relentless. The other original, "Lee Morganized," showcases Magris' grasp on Morgan's legacy, featuring a complex and propulsive head and changes over which solos are spun. That Margris covers Morgan chestnuts like "Desert Moonlight," "Hocus Pocus" and "Mr. Kenyatta" is the rich gravy of a lifetime of music making. Magris give Morgan a proper dressing up, driving home the point that it was not all Dizzy Gillespie Dizzy Gillespie
1917 - 1993
trumpet and Miles Davis Miles Davis
1926 - 1991
trumpet .

Roberto Magris Trio
One Night in With Hope and More...Vol. 1
J-Mood Records
2012

Stylistically, Morgan Rewind: A Tribute to Lee Morgan Vol. 1 was a great success, executed with panache and swing. Magris' next project followed the same rich vein of hard bop, this time concentrating on some of the lesser-known masters of the genre, specifically pianists Elmo Hope Elmo Hope
1923 - 1967
piano , Tadd Dameron, Barry Harris Barry Harris
b.1929
piano , Andrew Hill Andrew Hill
1937 - 2007
piano and Mal Waldron Mal Waldron
1926 - 2002
piano .

The first delight of One Night in With Hope and More...Vol. 1 is one not even aural, it is visual, the cover. It finds Magris sitting in a deck chair, in suit and tie, a smart, straw porkpie on his head, looking at the score to Elmo Hope's "Happy Hour." Obviously a rave-up of the LP cover of Hope's Elmo Hope Quintet (Blue Note, 1954). The interior photo of Magris' disc is more faithful to the Hope original, a cat replacing Hope's dog. This cover sets the tone for the theme of Magris' recording, that is a focus on some of the lesser known heroes of hard bop, that brand of jazz on the East Coast that evolved in reaction to "cool school" and hyper-arranged West Coast jazz.

Hope (1923 -1967) was an undervalued devotee to bebop and hard bop pianism. He lived and performed on both coasts, recording a scant six LPs as a leader, though he recorded widely as a sideman. His style is often compared to that of Herbie Nichols Herbie Nichols
1919 - 1963
piano or Sonny Clark Sonny Clark
1931 - 1963
piano and typically relied less on the blues than other, more carefully composed harmonic structures. Magris open his disc with Hope's "Happy Hour," from The Elmo Hope Trio (Blue Note, 1953). Magris captures Hope's infectious swing and clever harmonization. The pianist then addresses Tadd Dameron's beautiful bop ballad, "If You Could See Me Now." Dameron was responsible for many of the hard bop jazz standards, including "Mating Call," "Good Bait" and "Our Delight."