“The focal point of the group is Lou Marini...he gives the band most of its
colors and shadings and provides it with a strongly melodic lead voice...Mr
Marini moves through these various in whatever style he happens to find
himself.”
~ John S. Wilson, NEW YORK TIMES
"LOU'S BLUES" LINER NOTES
The following is a reprint of the liner notes from the “Lou's Blues” CD, written
by Grammy Award winning arranger / composer Bob Belden:
What can you say about an artist whose musicianship is so defined, so well
tuned and focused that one may find two or three others on the planet who
have the same breadth of experience and imagination. What can you say
about someone who, when they are involved in the performance process, are
100% directed to the positive results of the efforts, whether it be a jazz
recording or a television commercial, a concert with James Taylor or a jazz
club gig with Joe Beck or a CD devoted to his own music It’s all the same.
100% musicianship. 100% taste. 100% honesty. Have I said enough. Now who
is it that I’m talking about. Lou Marini, Jr., the son of Lou Marini, Sr. Lou
Marini, Jr. is a one-of-a-kind person, a bon vivant, a renaissance man, a
connoisseur of the finer things in life; good food, good friends and good
music. Lou Marini, Jr. lives in Manhattan’s elegant Upper West Side, a
neighborhood that is the last refuge for the sophisticated bohemian. Miles
Davis lived ten blocks away
Lou, Jr. was born in Charleston, SC, in 1945 (while his dad was in the Navy).
But Lou eventually ended up in Ohio, where he studied with his father, an
accomplished musician. (Note: a disclaimer. I too studied with Lou, Sr.). Lou,
Jr (from this point on I will refer to him as ‘Lou’) made his way to North Texas
State University in 1963 and studied clarinet as well as played, at first alto
and then tenor sax (as well as all of the flute family and clarinets) in the Lab
Band Program. By the end of his senior year, Lou had reached the highest
levels of performance at the school and he began composing for the famous
One O’Clock Lab Band. To understand what this means in today’s language,
Lou had to now assimilate the library of the One O’Clock band as a soloist
and as a composer, and the mountain top of that endeavor was indeed lofty.
Lou was exposed to compositions and arrangements by Bill Holman, Bill
Russo, Oliver Nelson, Thad Jones, Billy Byers, Nelson Riddle and on top of that
were the amazing writers at the school, Marius ‘Butch’ Nordal, Dee Barton
and Bill Stapleton just to name a few. His arrangement of Eddie Harris’s
“Freedom Jazz Dance” set Lou far apart from his peers in the ability to expand
the orchestration possibilities with that arrangement. It was of Straussian
proportion, so difficult that it is rarely played by any band at NTSU. The
arrangement was an amalgam of all of his influences that he had at the time,
but fleshed out in an entirely fresh and exciting way. During the 1960’s, there
was much debate about what was called free (or avant guard) music. By the
late sixties, a lot of free music elements were incorporated into rock music.
Now, it is commonplace, but Lou took the ideas expressed by Don Ellis and
made them his own, while still in college. Because of this distillation of
sources and an applied to composing, you will hear in this recording all of
those influences weaved into one expressive voice. Lou also has the
advantage having a distinct solo voice on all three saxophones (soprano, alto
and tenor) as well as a tasteful style on flute and with that personal touch he
is able to wrap his ‘orchestral voice’ around his ‘instrumental voice’, with
beautiful results.
After leaving NTSU, Lou played with Doc Severinson and Blood Sweat And
Tears before settling down in Manhattan. Lou became overnight one of the in
demand players on the scene, both in the studios and in the clubs. His long
association with the Saturday Night Live band led to his being cast as “Blue
Lou” in “The Blue Brothers”. But underneath the veneer of this Hollywood
attachment, was the Blue Brother’s Band, and primarily, Duck Dunn and Steve
Cropper. Dunn and Cropper were charter members of Booker T. and the
MG’s., the definition of saxophone soul music in the sixties. Lou had become
a member of the Texas Tenor club from his years playing around the state
and it was natural for his soul-lo style to fit into the context of the movie and
band. It was the sound of that band that gives the funk on this CD a spicier
flavor, not cliche, but honest. So now add this soulful tinge to his orchestral
leanings and his instrumental prowess and this CD is what you will hear.
There is a silent tip to Oliver Nelson in the way Lou put together the sound
palate for “Lou’s Blues”. As Oliver did with “Stolen Moments”, Lou distilled the
elegance of Miles Davis’s “So What”, a modal blues of sorts, and crafted a new
modal blues of his own. After a short blast of an introduction, Lou plays the
melody with just the bass and drums, echoing Coltrane’s vibe. The band
enters with the second appearance of the melody, with strong trombone
counter lines, and just as the momentum builds up, a strong accents leads
into an impressive solo by bassist Robert Dickson. At the end of the bass solo
(with a beautiful background behind the soloist) an ensemble figure
announces the guitar solo by Tom Wolfe. He plays a beautiful solo, filled with
bursts of eighth note joy (dig the trumpet backgrounds behind his second
chorus). After the guitar, Lou comes in full force on tenor, playing a whole lot
of soul and a whole lot of finesse. The ensemble chorus is strong and let’s
drummer fill in before there is an octave ensemble that builds and builds
until it reaches the penultimate moment and then, Lou reappears silently,
subtly, as if this music had been this quiet all along. The flutes and muted
trumpets vamp out behind Lou to end the piece.
“Looking With New Eyes” was written by Lou in 1972 and was instantly made
a classic by it’s inclusion for many years into NTSU lab band concerts. The
trombone soli even became the audition material for trombone sections at
the school. The melody, played by the flutes and flugelhorn, is pop flavored
with a light bossa nova beat, and with its use of major seventh chords creates
a happy, carefree ambiance. But when the trombones enter with their famous
break (imitating a funk rhythm section) things begin to heat up. The sax
section counters with some lines straight out of Thad Jones. After the
ensemble climax Lou (on soprano sax) and Bo Berry (trumpet) duet over
groove changes leading up to an exciting band climax with a repeat of the
funk melody compressed into one chorus. The composition ends with a
reprise of the bossa nova melody, ending in rubato. This composition and
arrangement reflects Lou’s ability to create exciting, new music that
embraces rock and the most advanced ideas of jazz music.
“Hip Pickles” is a composition that interchanges free jazz intro and rock
music effortlessly. The melody is played by screaming trumpets and a
Clapton-ized guitar. After the exposition of the melody, Lou and guitarist
Tom Wolfe duet against a hard rock groove. The guitar comps and solos
behind Lou, pushing his saxophone to challenge the electric guitar. The
control of the soprano sax demonstrated by Lou is virtuosic, and his forays
into the extreme register are handled with skill and taste. After the solos
reach their natural climax, the melody is repeated with screaming trumpets
and screaming guitar (this is a totally unique sound in ensemble writing
today) setting up a hot guitar solo. The melody reappears again, one more
time, before ending together (in octaves). A strong chart and a strong band to
play it.
“Odalisk” begins in a somber mode, with the melody being played sotto voce.
Soon, the percussion enters in clave as the melody continues until settling
into a mysterious latin beat, with Lou’s soprano singing over the band. The
composition moves into darker terrain and then, suddenly, a moment over
‘implied rubato’ (the use of bell-chord orchestration) shifts the music into a
slinky, soulful minor groove. Lou takes over on tenor, and solos against a
lush synth background (and a funky guitar rhythm pattern to guide the beat).
Lou’s solo is filled with passion and his tone is so dynamic, his phrases often
tailing off into air. As the melody returns, Lou uses it as an point of reference
to continue soloing. Again, abruptly, the band shifts gears into a quasi-
rubato section (distinguished by tight voicings in the upper brass and winds).
The last section is a re-orchestration the melody (bringing to mind Gil Evans
mid fifties work) using muted trumpets and flutes against a static piano
accompaniment. The piece ends with a freely improvised moment, and fades
into the atmosphere.
The late Weldon Irvine composed the funk instrumental standard “Mr. Clean”,
made famous by Freddie Hubbard. Lou approaches the song literally, using
the tune as a vehicle to get funky. His soprano dances around the groove and
in between the keyboards and guitar. The arrangement really shows how
strong the Magic City Jazz orchestra really is, tackling the intense ensembles.
The lead trumpet player Chris Gordon deserves credit for keeping the feel all
the way through the chart, and caps off the performance with some
stunningly effective high note work.
Lou finally brings out his flute for “Song For John”, and after his monologue, a
mix of quiet and muted trumpet state the melody. The composition is exotic
in flavor, and the orchestration is very soft and delicate, allowing for the
intricacies of Lou’s harmonic language to be highlighted. The ensemble
phrases that launch Lou into his soprano sax solo spot are beautiful and
heavy at the same time, establishing a mood of restraint and delicacy that
comes to fruition with a surprisingly unexpected ending.
There is an air of optimism and beauty that envelopes “Dangerous Cargo”.
The composition also demonstrates the total command of the arrangers
language by Lou Marini. The exposed melody is developed slowly and
carefully until a small ensemble passage sets up a romantic excursion by
pianist Ray Reach. Halfway through the pianists solo, the rhythm section
shifts into a double time samba, that leads into another short ensemble
passage that transitions to Lou’s tenor solo. Lou floats over the changes and
creates new melodies from one phrase to another. As the band shifts into
double time Lou takes off in a flurry of ideas that express the urgency of the
arrangement. It is one of the best compositions for modern jazz ensembles
that has surfaced in recent years. Hats off to the band for being able to
conceptualize the difficult twists and turns that Lou presented to them. The
piece ends in mirror form, with the orchestration being recapitulated,
dissolving to a bare minimum of flute, guitar and drums, and then, in a burst
of emotion, big ensemble chords with a touch of Lou’s flute on top.
We back to the blues with “Rena/Country”. The chart showcases the band’s
fluid swing feel and tight sound. The arrangement features Bo Berry on
trumpet, who shows that he’s not afraid to play the blues, sounding at times
like Blue Mitchell. The rhythm section of Ray Reach on piano, Robert Dickson
on bass and Steve Sample on drums really dig in. The ensembles behind the
soloists are swinging, and not in the way. The transition passages between
the trumpet solo and the next section again features the ensemble pushing
really hard to set up a round of chorus’s by Neil McLean on tenor sax, and
Dave Amaral on tenor sax. After the tenor’s finish their battle, there is a
killing ensemble that shows just how strong the trumpet section. The band
ends up ending strong, and then after a pause, and a sonic alteration, a real
old style jump blues (“Country”) is stomped off. Lou switches to alto for this
one. This is the sound of real rhythm and blues, bringing to mind Eddie
‘Cleanhead’ Vinson. The ensemble break reminds one of “What I Say” in it’s
intention, and sets off two trombonist’s battling it out for a chorus. Then the
band immediately starts into the melody done at a frantic tempo and
bringing to mind Armstrong’s band of the thirties. To top it off, there is a
fake ending. Very creative.
This CD represents not only the music on the mind of Lou Marini, Jr. but also
the collaborative efforts of The Magic City Jazz Orchestra, the co-producer
Ray Reach, and the great engineering by Eric and Eugene Bates. The sound is
as clear as if Rudy Van Gelder had recorded it. It should. It has to live up to
the standards set by Lou Marini, Jr. And it truly lives up to those standards.
And then some. Enjoy....
~ Bob Belden
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