Home » Jazz Articles » Extended Analysis » Will Vinson: Four Forty One
Will Vinson: Four Forty One
Kurt Rosenwinkel
guitarb.1970
Chris Potter
saxophone, tenorb.1971
Kurt Elling
vocalsb.1967
Orlando le Fleming
bassb.1976
Lage Lund
guitarOn his newest outing, coincidentally his debut recording for UK-based Whirlwind recordings, he broadens his explorations even further and delivers his most ambitious record to date. Vinson confirms: "It took me a year and a half to record, and then another year to actually put the album out. It's been the longest process it's ever taken me to get a record finished." Featuring five different pianists, each a contemporary heavyweight on the instrument, as well as five different sets of rhythm sections, the conceptual scope of Four Forty One evidently entails a complicated process—compositionally, arrangement-wise as well as just simply in regard to making a schedule. The focus of the endeavor lies mainly on the piano: "I've always been a frustrated pianist at heart. But for whatever reason, I play the saxophone (laughs). As a result of working in a city that is packed with great talent, I've come into contact with these five pianists, who to me represent the pinnacle of current jazz pianists (even though of course there's plenty other pianists with claim to that title). To me this album is supposed to capture these musicians, their instrument and where the instrument is in the world today. It's impressive to see what can be achieved on it when played by some of the heavyweights in the world" Compositionally the album moves through a large diversity of structures, colors and approaches— each aspect seeming adapted to or specifically chosen for the respective musicians. The wide range stylistically of the material at hand can be considered like a summary of the different music Vinson has worked on over the duration of his career: "I started recording this album a few months after my 40th birthday and became very aware of the passing of time and of how long it takes to conceptualize a project and then move on to the realization of the same. I think it's fair to say that with this album I was creating a retrospective in real time. You can also see it as a sort of compilation."
It's safe to say that Vinson makes no empty promises when it comes to the quality of the pianomen at hand: Next to
Sullivan Fortner
pianob.1986
Tigran Hamasyan
piano
Gerald Clayton
piano
Fred Hersch
pianob.1955
Gonzalo Rubalcaba
pianob.1963
Will Vinson was kind enough to take a couple of minutes to talk with All About Jazz and briefly touch upon each track on the album individually:
Sullivan Fortner
Vinson original "Boogaloo" kicks things off with a joyous spirit at heart. Fortner's hands sweep across the keys performing swift arpeggios and grabbing lush chords while the saxophone delivers the melody with poignancy. Fortner doesn't hide how comfortable he feels in this musical environment and only rarely defies the sweet harmonies with dissonance.Will Vinson: Although I had met Sullivan [Fortner] before, we'd never played together. So, we were getting to know each other while recording this music. A really fun experience. In fact, the bonus tune on this record ("Milestones") was recorded completely spontaneously and captures us getting to know each other very authentically. Immediately after our last take of "Boogaloo" I started playing "Milestones." At this point we hadn't discussed it. I didn't even know whether he knew the tune. You can kind of hear him coming in on this recording, thinking "ok, I know this tune" and then finding his way around it and just being his phenomenal self. That's the freshest moment I've ever put on a record. I thought to myself that if I wanted to do something like that with anyone it would be with Sullivan, because his command over the entire history of the instrument is so deep and vast. It was a joy. On "Boogaloo" he brings in this gospel direction and it has a very natural and clear vibe. It almost sounds like he wrote the tune, not me. I deliberately chose this song for him to play, as well as "Love Letters."
"Love Letters" sees
Matt Brewer
bassb.1983
Obed Calvaire
drumsWV: Even when exhibiting the modern side of his [Fortner] playing you hear the history of music in it too. That's why I chose this old standard with a slightly reimagined modern rhythmic element for him. I knew that he'd be all over it. And he was (laughs).
Tigran Hamasyan
Tigran Hamsyan's unique sense for melody with roots in the folkloric music of his Armenian heritage is a prominent aspect of his playing and shines through on the Vinson original "Banal Street." Rhythmically enveloping the saxophone, Hamasyan seamlessly shifts chordal and melodic duties from his left to his right hand and back again.WV: When Tigran and I were playing together with
Ari Hoenig
drumsb.1973
This time around
Matt Penman
bass
Billy Hart
drumsb.1940
Keith Jarrett
pianob.1945
WV: For the quartet track with Tigran I decided to go with something a bit freer, which I've often shied away from in the past. As soon as I opted for Keith Jarrett's "Oasis" it dawned on me that
Billy Hart
drumsb.1940
Sure enough, the quartet delivers a thought-provoking interpretation of the tune with Hart's interrupted ride and snare strokes tickling the sparse chord stabs out of Hamasyan's fingers. Vinson's vision of the piece is denser than the original and captures much tension throughout.
Gerald Clayton
So much confidence and imagination are exuded straight from the get-go of the eight-and-a-half-minute duo arrangement of "I am James Bond." The composition, initially featured on Vinson's 2010 record The World (Through My Shoes)(Nineteen Eight Records), is composed of an extensive structure and reveals a striking melodic arc, giving Clayton plenty of space to elaborate different harmonic concepts over and use a variety of different techniques. Saxophone and piano increasingly grow together, twisting and wrapping phrases around each other, creating intense momentum. In light of this great chemistry it's hard to believe that the two had never paired up together before this date.WV: My feelings for Gerald's playing aren't dissimilar to how I feel about Sullivan's. The tradition is always on his fingertips. He's someone who's been famous for his abilities from a very young age but has the maturity and openness to constantly develop and change as a player, which you can't say for everyone who's achieved a certain level of fame or reputation. The dozen times I've heard him play over the past ten years felt like going on a journey with him. I admire that. Right before deciding what to do and who to do it with on this record I saw Gerald perform with the
Peter Bernstein
guitarb.1967
Lage Lund
guitar"Cherry Time," another Vinson original, represents one of the more laid-back group recordings on the record and finds Matt Brewer returning on bass while Clarence Penn joins behind the drum stool. Clayton's soloing is mostly chordal and provocative in its syncopated nature. The rest of the band answer to him with swagger and coolness.
Fred Hersch
WV: Having Fred Hersch play "Work" was intentional on a special level. For one thing he's obviously a great interpreter of
Thelonious Monk
piano1917 - 1982
One of the few standout interpreters of Monk, little could go wrong on this duo collaboration between Hersch and Vinson. Hersch digs deep into the keys and channels Monk's changes with spicy sarcasm and a driven demeanor. The energy the two are able to capture is at the same time youthful and sophisticated, bringing a new freshness to a classic.
Rick Rosato
bass, acousticb.1988
Jochen Rueckert
drumsb.1975
Kenny Wheeler
flugelhorn1930 - 2014
WV: The difficulty with an album where you're only playing two compositions with each musician is that you want to get everything out of the respective person, but that doesn't necessarily lead to a well-structured set of music because you may end up just covering much of the same ground with different people. So, in order to get some more variety on to the record I wanted to have Fred Hersch play this composition which is probably the closest thing to a ballad on the record. Kenny Wheeler and Fred Hersch were friends and I definitely associate Fred Hersch with that very lyrical school of playing.
One of the most intimately set quartet renditions on the album, "KW" finds Hersch harmonizing the progressions with impressionistic pentatonic language while the saxophone takes on a delicately smooth tone to meditative rhythmic backing. The special transparency of the recording is on prominent display when Rosato's bass lines are able to assert themselves through the midst of a dense harmonic downward movement performed on sax and piano.
Gonzalo Rubalcaba
The final heavy weight featured on the album makes a graceful entrance on the Vinson original "The Way to You." A deep connection between Rubalcaba and Vinson is fast apparent and introduces a new flavor to the album—one that isn't defined be the excitement of getting to know each other but rather reveals the comfortableness of having known one another and building on that existing relationship. Rubalcaba embraces the keys with a soft touch and sparse yet very conscious melodic ornamentations.WV: Gonzalo is the one of these five pianists who I've played with the most, by far. We first played together in 2009 with his Quintet in Birdland and then I toured with him a bit that year before a couple of years later he asked me to join him on his record Suite Caminos (5Passion, 2015). We've collaborated much over the years and he's also featured on my record Perfectly Out of Place (5Passion, 2016). I can't really add much to what the conductor Simon Rattle once said, describing Gonzalo as "the most gifted pianist on the planet." I find it really hard to argue with that. Even though there isn't necessarily such a thing as a single greatest, what he can get out of the instrument in any genre is something I've never heard from anybody else. That's why I felt that one of the tracks that he'd be on deserved a little bit more complexity. I wanted to get some of the crazy lines that he tends to play out of him. But at the same time, I also wanted to play with him on something much sparser, something that allows you to really hear the full impact of his gorgeous sound. Ergo "The Way to You."
The promised crazy lines and increased complexity follows straight on the heels of "The Way to You."
Eric Harland
drumsb.1976
Dave Holland
bassb.1946
Lionel Loueke
guitarb.1973
Larry Grenadier
bass, acousticb.1966
Asking these many collaborators to join forces on one album is a tricky endeavor that could have gone wrong for several reasons. The concept however pays off and then some. Each individual is able to add to the respective composition and lift it to a higher level without undermining Vinson's overall vision. The result is an exceptional collection of originals and standards that set the bar very high. For with Four Fourty One Will Vinson not only delivers one of his most ambitious outings to date, but moreover arguably one of his best. ">
Track Listing
Boogaloo; Love Letters; Banal Street; Oasis; I Am James Bond; Cherry Time; Work; KW; The Way to You; That Happened; Milestones.
Personnel
Will Vinson
saxophone, altoWill Vinson: saxophones; Sullivan Fortner: piano (1,2,11); Tigran Hamasyan: piano (2,4); Gerald Clayton: piano (5,6); Fred Hersch: piano (7,8); Gonzalo Rubalcaba: piano (9,10); Matt Brewer: bass (2,6); Matt Penman: bass (4); Rick Rosato: bass (8); Larry Grenadier: bass (10); Obed Calvaire: drums (2); Billy Hart: drums (4); Clarence Penn: drums (6); Jochen Rueckert: drums (8); Eric Harland: drums (10).
Album information
Title: Four Forty One | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Whirlwind Recordings
Tags
Will Vinson
Extended Analysis
Friedrich Kunzmann
Four Forty One
Whirlwind Recordings
Kurt Rosenwinkel
Chris Potter
Kurt Elling
Orlando le Fleming
Lage Lund
Sullivan Fortner
Tigran Hamasyan
Gerald Clayton
Fred Hersch
Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Matt Brewer
Obed Calvaire
ari hoenig
Matt Penman
Billy Hart
Keith Jarrett
Peter Bernstein
Thelonious Monk
Rick Rosato
Jochen Rückert
Kenny Wheeler
Eric Harland
Dave Holland
Lionel Loueke
Larry Grenadier
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