Liner
Notes |
In
the event that somebody someday writes a history of Chicago’s creative
music renaissance, that researcher will find Jeb Bishop’s sonic
fingerprints all over the joint. Since flinging himself into the
scene early in 1993, Bishop has secured a crucial place in the music’s
ecosystem, moving steadily and dedicatedly from ubiquitous supportive
sideman to loader and instigator. Jeb Bishop Trio is the
36-year-old’s debut at the helm of a band, a declaration of independence
and as a bold a statement as anyone could need of the presence of
his muse. But even seem from outside the trajectory of the trombonist’s
blooming career, the record is no less than an opening volley by
one of the city’s most exciting, fully-developed working units.
Bishop
hails from Raleigh, North Carolina. His initial residency in Chicago
came in the early ’80s, as a student at Northwestern University,
where he studied classical trombone. After two years, he returned
to Raleigh, where he picked up electric bass and started playing
punk rock, at the same time dipping his ’bone into jazz. A period
studying philosophy in Belgium gave Bishop an opportunity to hear
a panoply of European and American musicians; while there, he met
Garrett List and visited the trombonist’s free improvisation class
at the conservatory in Liège. After returning to North Carolina
in ’85, he began playing guitar and concentrated his energies on
the rockier end of his interests. As a grad student in philosophy
(in Belgium, Tucson and Chicago), Bishop’s musical activity died
down — "apart from some self-taught classical guitar and a noisy
rock band in Tucson" — and he went cold turkey from trombone from
August ’89 to January ’93. But once he settled in Chicago, Bishop
was smitten with the budding new music he encountered in his adopted
home, and quickly became a member of the "punk-jazz" ensemble the
Flying Luttenbachers, established contact with keystone reed-player
Ken Vandermark, and set course for a fresh life in free music.
The
impetus for starting his own trio came as a direct result of working
with bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Tim Mulvenna in Vandermark’s
group the Vandermark 5; in that ongoing ensemble, Bishop doubles
on trombone and electric guitar. Inspired by Vandermark’s music
and the dynamite rhythm section, he heard the potential for a somewhat
different bag. "I wanted something with more open, with more space,"
Bishop reports. "With Ken’s music, the blowing space is constrained
by the overall form, which is usually pretty complicated. I wanted
something that would let everyone stretch out, including me. And
to have the interest of the music come from seeing how we deal with
that space." This challenge is met head-on in this context, with
ample room provided for extrapolation and improvisation. Themes
offer a modest amount of germinal material; the musicians connect
the dots and invent in the open areas.
But
Bishop’s charts are also one of the most wondrous features of this
disc. Terse, direct, tough, memorable jazz tunes — the swagger
of "Duress Duress," tender moments like the ember-and-ashes glow
of "Nomads," the sporty gear-shifting of "Cryptic Remark," a few
strategically placed swinging sections built for speed, as well
as morphing zones that slip out of time like the opening to "When
I Was." Modularity and sectional construction hearken to Mingus,
infused with an airy, winsome quality and an unmistakable sense
of conviction and assurance. All of which spotlights the collective
imagination and abilities of this particular threesome. And his
is more than a more rhythm section; it’s a partnership, everyone
pulling his own weight, looking for openings and making the best
of opportunities.
"With
a trio it’s really minimal, but the possibilities are enormous,"
Bishop suggests. "It’s this inexhaustible format. I wanted to see
what I could do with that as a writer, dealing with the space but
also offering enough variety in the writing to keep it interesting."
In fact, although the trombone trio is theoretically as versatile
and potent as the classical tenor sax trio, only a few brave trombonists
have ventured forth to front the unconventional lineup. "It’s an
instrument that works well in combination with other horns," Bishop
hypothesizes. "Maybe trombone players have focused on that — it
obviously hasn’t been thought of as being as much out-front as saxophone,
trumpet, etc. But it has such possibilities, especially timbrally,
that it’s perfect as a front-line instrument."
That
was, truth be told, Bishop’s hidden agenda in forming the trio:
he wanted to push himself as a player, to take the strides he’d
made as a sideman, collectivist and ad hoc improviser (the latter
clearly audible on his new 98 Duets, meetings with Mats Gustafsson,
Josh Abrams, Hamid Drake, Wadada Leo Smith, Fred Lonberg-Holm and
Vandermark, out on Wobbly Rail) and put them to a different kind
of test. No doubt a player is on the line in a special way putting
their name on the marquee, particularly as the sole "melody" instrument.
Nowhere to run to, baby, no place to hide. But once again Bishop’s
confident as hell, surfacing the giddiness, earthen-tone and inherent
elation in the very bubble and spurt of slide trombone — recollection
of early ’bone’s buoyancy and incipient experimentation of pioneer
tailgaters — and building on the sly, omnidirectional sound of
today’s Chicago.
- John Corbett, Chicago, November 1998
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