Original 1983 liner notes by Ira Gitler (1928-2019), American jazz historian and Jazz Times columnist:
Every band must have an essence—an identity of its own—in order to project its particular being to the listeners. That essence is embodied in the very sound which, at optimum, is seamlessly integrated with the ideas being expressed. That the group on the disc between these covers has achieved a personal essence is immediately evident from the first cut on Side A.
At the heart of the quartet is pianist Phil Markowitz and vibist Joe Locke. Once teacher and student at the Hochstein School in Rochester, New York (1972), but now en rapport as co-leaders. Reunited in 1981. when Locke returned to his native Rochester for a weekend, they formed a duo for a series of gigs at various New York City clubs.
I first heard them in this kernel form on a tape sent for audition to George Wein's Festival Productions Inc. where it stood out amongst a passel of grey cassettes. Two of the selections in this album—My Foolish Heart and Calypso Nouveau—were on the tape, and it is both gratifying and illuminating to hear them come alive in even bolder relief with the addition of bass master Eddie Gomez and the extremely talented and versatile drummer, Keith Copeland.
Piano and vibes are not a combination you hear every day, but there have been some precedent-setting units. The blend “has been well documented by the Modern Jazz Quartet," says Markowitz, but he and Locke have their own sounds, and sound, to contribute to contemporary jazz.
Markowitz enjoys the “melodic freedom" that playing with vibes gives him. “I'm more of a linear player," he explains. "To have another comper gives me more freedom. And as an arranger and composer, vibes-and-piano lends itself to orchestration techniques."
"The instrumentation is great for me when I am a solo voice," says Locke. "I can really stretch. Phil feeds me great chords. He understands my concept. Overall there are more possibilities than with a horn-piano quartet.”
Markowitz, Brooklyn-born (September 1952), but raised in Easthampton where he studied classical piano until he was 16, went to Rochester to attend the Eastman School as a composition major in 1970. Locke, born six years after his erstwhile mentor, played rock drums at age 7. His mother had him learn keyboard harmony, and he says he found vibes in the middle of piano and drums
Markowitz, since his return to New York in 1976, has played with Chet Baker and the Mel Lewis Orchestra. He has written for Mel's band, and his composition Sno' Peas was recorded by Bill Evans on Bill's "Affinity" album.
Locke's playing credits include the groups of Joe Romano, Byard Lancaster and Bob Moses.
Both Markowitz and Locke contribute to the group's book and complement each other here as well as they do in their playing "Phil tends to write happy." says Joe. "I write dark, moody kinds of things.”
Markowitz cites the group's individuality when he states “It's different because we're doing so many different kinds of things—straight ahead, ballads, Latin, rock-bossa and calypso.
Locke’s broodingly beautiful Restless Dreams and urgently moving Kahlid the Warrior are wrapped around a reading of My Foolish Heart that lingers languorously rich in thought and feeling.
On Side B. Markowitz unsentimentally romantic May Moon precedes Stevie Wonder's subtly Latinate love song, You And I which in turn is followed by the lifting chromaticism of Phil's Calypso Nouveau.
Markowitz sums up the group's philosophy as “a conscious effort to show the versatility of this combination. We can play a lot of styles—and swing.”
Amen. And for those who continue to ask, "Where are the good, young musicians coming from?" I anything but humbly submit this quartet "In Front Of The Silver Screen" will help increase the radius of that enlightenment by lumens manifold.
credits
released May 21, 2021
Joe Locke, Vibraphone
Phil Markowitz, piano
Eddie Gomez, bass
Keith Copeland, drums
ENGINEER: David Baker
LIVE SOUND: Dick Zicari
PRODUCERS William Coppard, Joe Locke, Phil Markowitz
Joe Locke is widely considered to be one of the major voices of the vibraphone, a soloist of stunning physical power + broad
emotional range as composer + band leader. He has won numerous awards + polls, incl. multiple JJA Mallet Player of the Year awards. He is an active educator, appointed International Vibraphone Consultant by the RAM, London w/ the title of Honorary Associate of the Academy....more
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