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| Scott Robinson sporting his reed hat Tenormore |
It’s satisfying to see the multi-instrumentalist Scott
Robinson receiving increasing recognition for his artful and often adventurous playing.
His versatility and proficiency on a variety of over three hundred instruments
in his curated personal instrument cache is nothing short of a herculean achievement.
His collection includes a battery of multi-sized and keyed woodwinds, an array
of brass horns and an assortment of musical oddities. Some of the
rarest are his contrabass saxophone (reportedly only one of twenty playable units
in existence), his bass Marimba and his extraterrestrial sounding Theremin. Despite
his notoriety of having the curiosity of a mad scientist, Scott is an expert
who can deploy any number of breath and tonal techniques to serve his musical muse.
His expertise on the woodwinds has kept
him most in demand by other musical composers and big band arrangers. Like any indispensable
musician whose presence is crucial to the whole sound, he anchors the woodwind
group in such estimable big bands as the notable Maria Schneider Orchestra, The
Mingus Big Band, The Vanguard Big Band and even had an appearance with the Sun
Rah Arkestra to name a few. Let’s face it, Robinson is one of those players that
define the concept of being a virtuoso.
In recent years, Robinson has often been sought after for
his impressive ability on the baritone saxophone but make no mistake it is the tenor
saxophone that is this man’s first musical love. Just to make the point, Robinson came out
recently with an album that exclusively features his work on his vintage circa
1924 silver Conn tenor. The album titled Tenormore, is a joyful
collection of five adventurous Robinson compositions, four standards that are brilliantly
imagined and one Americana-styled ballad by bassist Martin Wind. Besides his
compatriot Wind on bass, Robinson is ably joined by the accomplished pianist Helen
Sung on piano and B3 organ, longtime associate and journeyman drummer Dennis Mackrel
and on one song joined by his classically trained wife Sharon on flute.
It opens with a soulful a version of Lennon-McCartney’s “And
I Love Her,” deliciously played with feeling by an artist who admits “I’m not a
Beatles fan.” A four-note melody was stuck in his mind before he discovered it
was from this Beatles song. Like being given a sign from his psyche, Robinson became
determined to capture his thoughts on this music. At the end of a long session, after all the
other musicians had left, Robinson recorded the song in one take. He played it
unaccompanied, squeezing every expression possible from his, by then, split
reed. Robinson’s take is a re imagination of this 1964 song in a way that elevates the once pop tune into an expressive declaration
of earnest love.
Robinson’s compositions include a probing, eleven-bar blues
titled “Tenor Eleven” where the tenor man’s effortless facility on his horn is
apparent. He guides us through an improvisational path around the changes, the
path is sometimes daring, unpredictable, but like a competent shepherd he never
loses those who trust his lead. Near the coda, Robinson’s declaratory saxophone
stirs a brief but excited give and take exchange with drummer Mackrel, whose intuitive
trap work makes him Robinson’s perfect foil.
Standards worth exploring are Scott’s emotive, slow-paced version
of “Put on a Happy Face,” from the Broadway and film show Bye Bye Birdie.
Scott’s distinctively slow and baleful approach
chooses to project the sentiment of the composition from the place of sadness.
His playing is heartfelt and simply exquisite.
“The Good Life,” originally sung by Tony Bennett in 1963, opens
with an adventurous improvisational section that doesn’t give away the tune’s identity.
Robinson loves keeping the audience in the dark until Scott’s sensitive saxophone
introduces the melody. Wind’s solo on
bass is an exceptionally artful addition.
Hoagy Carmichael’s “The Nearness of You” was first released
in 1938, but here Robinson’s modern approach opens it with a funky bass line by
Wind and some soulful modulating B3 work by Sung and some back beat trap work by
Mackrel. Scott’s saxophone is soulful at
times gritty but always joyful and inspired.
“Morning Star” is a happy, fluid, swinger that Robinson
wrote for his wife Sharon as a Valentine’s gift. Pianist Sung’s keyboard work
on this is beautiful and exceptionally buoyant, as Wind’s bass walks with authority
and a bit of attitude. Robinson’s saxophone is distinctive and flawless.
“Tenor Twelve” is an F blues that Robinson originally
released in 1988 on his album Winds of Change. Like the mad scientist never
satisfied with stasis, he is always looking to improve his creations and so Robinson
rewrote this tune for this date and by his inkling, made it better. With an
exceptionally beautiful and swinging piano solo, Sung makes it clear that she
is a pianist whose sensitivity and technique are not to be ignored. Like the
inside works of a precision
timepiece, this rhythm team of Wind and Mackrel percolates
never losing a beat.
Martin Wind’s soulful “Rainy River” is introduced by Sung’s gospel
inspired B3. Robinson explores the emotional depths of this revival-like
composition with his breathy attack that captures his vintage saxophone’s
beautiful depth of tone. He restricts himself to the melody, no improvising here,
but he extracts the music’s emotional sentiment utilizing the instruments full
range and soars into the higher register for effect.
“The Weaver” is composition
dedicated to Robinson’s father David. It starts with a recording from his
father reading one of his poems at Scott and Sharon’s wedding back in 2001.
Sharon attended Boston Conservatory and is a classically trained flautist.
Scott followed his own jazz muse at Berklee. Here the song is both a description of the poem’s
theme as well as a woven mixture of two musical themes and thus the name “The
Weaver.” Scott’s saxophone weaves
beautifully with Sharon’s flute as the music follows a five, seven, five
pattern that mimics the syllabic structure of a haiku. Scott’s ability to aurally
notate his intellectual intentions so precisely is a delight. Wind’s strong
bass line is structural to the song.
“Tenormore” is the title of the album and the final cut on
the cd. A complex piece that has rhythmically challenging changes that could easily
astound other less qualified band-mates. Listen
carefully to Robinson’s precise intonation, uncanny ability to utilize the full
register of the instrument flawlessly and to send the listener to uncharted territories, sometimes on the fly! Sung’s feverish piano explorations are
equally impressive. Wind and Mackrel adapt
to Scott’s inspired direction, never losing their rhythmic anchor, no matter
how far out the adventurer takes the show. This group is a well-oiled machine
that is up to any challenge this master throws their way, what a fitting present as this man recently reached his sixtieth birthday. Happy Birthday Scott!!!
Footnote:
Back in 2010, Scott and I had an exchange over my contention
that some jazz was more accessible than others and consequently accessibility might lead to expanding the audience to jazz. His take was that adventurous music could be just as accessible to anyone who was open enough to give it a serious listen. I have come to agree with him as this album Tenormore surely
confirms. You can read that conversation by clicking here.
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