One For All: Big George

The world has changed dramatically since the end of the 20th century, the time period when the jazz collective One for All began to forge their stamp on the history of hard bop. Using the club Augie's on New York's upper west side as their stomping grounds, the group would make their debut recording at the beginning of 1987. The Broadway club would eventually become home of Smoke, one of the gems of the city's jazz scene and continued purveyor of the kind of music that One For All considers prime fodder.

To put this era into perspective, let's consider some of the more intriguing highlights of the year of One For All's maiden voyage. Bill Clinton would be starting his second presidential term as the year kicked off. The DVD would make its debut as a new video format in the United States even while James Cameron's Titanic would be hitting the big screen in its American debut. Furthermore, in what would become an endemic sign of the times, the iconic firm F.W. Woolworth closed its doors after 117 years in business. Fast forward some 27 years and it would be difficult to fully ascertain just how different the world is these days both in terms of the music and the ways human beings choose to interact. To say that the individual members of One For All have traveled disparate and divergent paths over the years would be somewhat of an understatement. Lest we forget the major sea change brought forth by the pandemic, occurring between the October 2015 sessions that produced The Third Decade and those in the fall of 2022 that yielded the album at hand.

Weighing in on the desire for the group to renew its efforts, Steve Davis stated, "It was definitely overdue and with this group it's like riding a bike. Once you know how to do it, you just get on and ride again. There's so much musical history in the bank with that group of musicians that it always feels good to play together. There's always going to be that great deep feeling for the music."

The strong desire to make a reunion happen can at times be no match for the logistical trials involved with juggling so many individual schedules. "This band has always been a challenge schedule-wise," explained Jim Rotondi. "There were a couple of missteps before we were able to get things to line up." David Hazeltine added, "We're really talking about a commitment of six days and to get all of us on the same page for six days in a row is tough."

With seven years between albums in and of itself being reason enough to celebrate a group reunion, an added windfall would come in the addition of renowned saxophonist George Coleman to the fold. "We didn't know until really the last minute that George was going to play on the date," Rotondi explained. Davis further added, "It's such a great tribute to Coleman. Everybody in the band has known him for some 30 years and he has always been supportive of the One For All cast. I think it was long overdue and just the perfect time to do this." As for Eric Alexander, he quipped, "I thought it was spectacular. His appearance makes it a little different from one of our typical dates because we crafted some head arrangements in the studio around what he was doing. That is a component that hasn't really been shown on our recordings thus far."

As Hazeltine hinted to prior, the production plan utilized by Smoke Sessions producers Paul Stache and Damon Smith usually involves a band working their new material at the club for four nights, followed by a day off and a subsequent day in the studio. For various and sundried reasons, things would take a different route this time around. "We went into the studio with no rehearsal and never having played these tunes before, explained Hazeltine. "We were looking at the material for the first time." Totally unfazed by this fact, Alexander added, "That's typical of how we roll. We get to the studio and things get tweaked in the spur of the moment. We've made enough recordings that we trust each other fully."

Eric Alexander's opening ruse, "Chainsaw," sounds unlike anything else the band has previously offered with some thorny passages that appear way more challenging than its composer admits to. "It's just a straight ahead four all the way," Alexander clarified. "The guys came up with some interesting ideas in the studio that were not what I had envisioned or expected to hear, but I really liked how it turned out." Over the course of solos from Rotondi, Alexander, Davis, and Hazeltine, the groove shifts between funk and straight ahead swing.

While Alexander seems to be all business in his advanced storytelling during his time in the spotlight, his sly sense of humor embodies the title and its backstory. "Because of the two-note pattern in the melody, I wanted it to be a two-syllable title. While I was sitting in my living room thinking of a title, AMC was running a retrospective on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It occurred to me that 'chainsaw' would fit the bill. I have played it quite a few times live and it does get a response from the audience. They are either amused, horrified, intrigued, or possibly all three."

A sunny bossa beat ushered in by Joe Farnsworth opens "In the Lead," quickly giving way to a swinging tempo that allows all the horns and composer David Hazeltine a chance to take a few choruses. "That one is dedicated to the leaders of our band, the horns," said the pianist. "I consider that horn section to be the best currently, and certainly one of the best in history. I can't think of three guys who played better together other than maybe Curtis Fuller, Wayne Shorter, and Freddie Hubbard."

Hazeltine establishes the groove on Davis' "Edgerly" with a riff consisting of four chords ascending and then descending, thus supporting the leading line. Farnsworth also uses repeated motifs when telling his story in a fine display just prior to the reprise of the opening head. "Edgerly is actually the name of a street in Boston right around the corner from the Berklee College of Music where I've been teaching for the last two years," Davis explained. "It's in an area that I like to call a beehive, with musicians walking around and generally just a lot of activity. There were moments in the session that had a little bit of an edge to them as well. I think the band in our best moments has a bit of an edge. I thought the title was appropriate then on two different levels."

With a melody that somewhat recalls Oliver Nelson's "Yearnin,'" Rotondi's "Oscar Winner" is the first of three tracks to feature George Coleman on tenor saxophone. One of the few remaining jazz legends on the planet, Coleman's incendiary and adventurous display speaks to his vitality even at the ripe young age of 88. With typical modesty, Rotondi calls this one "nothing really complicated." He would add, "We needed a blues and I ended up being the lucky guy to step up to the task. I always do mock ups or sequences on my computer to hear how things sound after writing them. After finishing this one, I thought it sounded like something the Oscar Peterson trio might play."

The other two pieces that include Coleman are part and parcel of the type of things Coleman does regularly in the clubs. The Victor Young and Ned Washington chestnut "My Foolish Heart" was first introduced in the 1949 film of the same name. "Steve and I did the horn parts together. I sat at the piano and figured out the notes and he wrote everything down," stated Rotondi. Hank Mobley's "This I Dig of You" is probably the most familiar number from the saxophonist's popular 1960 Blue Note album Soul Station. Coleman makes it his own with a driving and singular statement that might be the highlight of the entire session.

"Cove Island Breeze" strikes a sunny pose with an opening line that circles back on itself to wrap up the melody and properly launch the soloists. At first, composer Steve Davis was at a loss for a title, but soon the tune's looping melody reminded him of the beach path that he and his wife favored during the solitary days of the pandemic. "There are actually three city beaches within the city limits of Stamford," Davis enthused. "Our favorite quickly became Cove Island because it's a very beautiful place so close to home. The tune has that same kind of wistful, breezy swing."

Rounding out a diverse program, there would be the need for yet another ballad statement, Hoagy Carmichael's venerable "The Nearness of You" fitting the bill. Since its debut in 1938, this chestnut of popular songs has been performed by countless artists of all genres from Frank Sinatra to Norah Jones. Davis takes the lead, with Rotondi voicing the bridge. Alexander gets the longest statement and speaks volumes with his burnished tone and sagacious use of space.

By contrast, "Lemo" serves as homage to the celebrated hard bopper Lee Morgan and is all confidence and swagger, not unlike its namesake. In composing the piece, Rotondi explained, "I thought of all those really hip tunes that Lee wrote for record dates. He seemed to have a completely limitless source and imagination for coming up with hip melodies and voicings, not to mention the way he incorporated the rhythm section. Harold Mabern even told me that sometimes he would write down those great tunes in the car on the way to the session."

At the end of the day, mutual respect goes a long way in determining the successful results of group endeavors. In the case of One For All, delight and camaraderie abounds. "We get to play a mere handful of dates together in a year," Hazeltine said, "but you wouldn't know it listening to us because it's such a tight group." Alexander called the band "one of the musical joys of my life." Rotondi confirmed, "We all just want to continue the whole tradition of Smoke, the venue and the label." But perhaps, Davis summed it up best. "As the great Larry Willis would say, we have many choruses yet to play together."

Comments