Dream Book

Some background

All of the titles (with the exception of Old Eyes), were inspired by paintings and drawings, from Helen Douglas, who also graciously provided the cover art: Dance of the Reasons Why, Beyond the Truth/Lies, Moffet’s Motif, Old Eyes, Caught in the Moment, And Then Red, and Celebration.

In August of 1998,1 was invited to do a series of performances at the Knitting Factory which included an evening with Dominic Duval’s String Ensemble (heard on Cadence Jazz Records 1097), an evening of solos, this set of duets, a quartet and as a guest with a wonderful band called Straylight. Fortunately and thankfully, Bob Rusch and Dominic arranged for the recording of these duets. I had decided to feature a different instrumental voice and setting for each night, with alto sax and pocket trumpet selected for the duet. From that moment, the inspiration for the performance was Ornette Coleman.

The Dream Book - Cadence Jazz

The duo setting seems to be multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee’s performance mode of choice recently, and the reasons become self-evident when you listen to recordings like Zebulon (w/bassist Michael Bisio) and Grand Marquis (w/percussionist Johnny McLellan). On those discs, the intimacy of the duo situation brings out the best in McPhee’s playing, and this recording—captured live at the Knitting Factory with bassist Dominic Duval — only reinforces and extends that claim.

While the music is certainly strong enough to speak for itself, an interesting conceptual twist adds to the disc’s intrigue: all of the pieces are dedicated to Ornette Coleman and his close collaborators. According to McPhee, the idea "is a tribute to Mr. Coleman’s inspiration as a musician, composer and visionary, in a modest attempt to, as Jackie McLean once said, "Give them their flowers while they’re here". That said, the disc’s opening piece sets the standard for McPhee and Duval’s tributary mode. Dedicated to Dewey Redman, "Dance of the Reasons Why" begins with McPhee weaving languid alto threads, picking up locomotion as Duval (exclusively playing Hutchins bass) balances on the cusp of swing and intensity. From there the two musicians travel through a melodic "Lonely Woman"-like melancholy, an inside-out aching blues and a free-form shout session before returning to the moody stretching upon which they began. Other outstanding tracks include: "Moffett’s Motif" (for Charles Moffett), which features McPhee’s pocket trumpet scattering notes about the aural canvas; McPhee’s classic composition "Old Eyes" (for Ornette Coleman), a life-affirming dirge played with remarkable sensitivity; and "And Then Red" (for Scott LaFaro), where McPhee’s initially stringent tone switches to heavy vibrato in order to mesh with Duval’s modal chord-weighted drone. The brief "Celebration" that closes the disc is dedicated to perhaps the closest of Coleman’s partners—Don Cherry—and finds McPhee alone on pocket trumpet, turning a simple sustained melody into a profound simultaneity of joy and sadness.

McPhee and Duval’s tribute underscores the importance of Ornette Coleman’s development of new musical ideas, a fact that—though it’s been acknowledged—still remains underappreciated in the context of Western musical history. But another fact that shouldn’t be neglected is that this is one of McPhee and Duval’s best recordings to date—offering Mr. Coleman his flowers in full and resplendent bloom.

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