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President’s Message By Ronald B. Weber, MD
Over the years, I have returned to the theme that Bill Evans reinvented the jazz piano trio, not so much because of a change in his playing per se, but because of a changed dynamic particularly with the bassist, but also the drummer. The all too brief association between Evans and bassist Scott LaFaro with drummer Paul Motian (1959-61) jolted the traditional format because Evans, LaFaro, and Motian created a three-level counterpoint (piano, bass, and drums), hand-in-glove coalition that produced unprecedented creative balance by playing off the others’ immense strengths. But I want to focus on the bass. Actually, what made this trio unorthodox were Scott LaFaro’s extraordinary gifts. Prior to LaFaro, most bassists were so steeped in their role as timekeepers for the band that their solos continued to keep that steady time. This was the so-called “walking bass,” mastered by many great players, then enhanced dramatically by Jimmy Blanton in Duke Ellington’s orchestra (1939-41), then Oscar Pettiford. But Scott LaFaro was even more of a virtuoso, and like Charles Mingus and Red Mitchell, LaFaro’s astounding technical mastery, pulling the strings with two and three fingers, instead of just one, was never more than a tool to express his avant-garde ideas. He often played contrapuntal dialogues with Bill Evans, implying the pulse, but not necessarily playing time explicitly. It was this conversational role of the bass and the coloration of rhythm that made the Bill Evans Trio not merely unique, but revolutionary. Bill and Scotty’s time conception, and their melodic and harmonic explorations opened new territory for improvisational ensembles from that time forth. Scott LaFaro began his music studies somewhat casually in elementary school with piano lessons, as his violinist father did not want to force music on him and sister Helene. In seventh grade, Scotty switched to bass clarinet and tenor saxophone to fill a need in the junior high and high school bands in his hometown of Geneva, New York. He showed considerable talent. However, at Ithaca College he added the double bass to his arsenal (a string instrument was required study for music majors). While immersing himself in music, especially that of contemporary non-jazz composers like Bartok and Milhaud, Scotty became even more obsessed with mastery of the bass. Scotty had the mixed blessing of perfect pitch and also a highly trained ear. He maniacally practiced from that point and for the remainder of his life. He expressed regret that his father did not steer him to the bass earlier. Who knows what he could have accomplished? The jazz life beckoned early and LaFaro left college in his sophomore year to join the Buddy Morrow Orchestra for a year as a bassist. He left the band in order to play with Chet Baker and Hampton Hawes in Los Angeles, but later found his way back to the East Coast with Victor Feldman and Stan Getz. By 1959 he had joined Bill Evans and also was playing dates with the radical, free saxophonist, Ornette Coleman. Scotty’s penchant for the upper register, plucking the underside of the strings for greater volume (in the era before bass pickups and amplifiers), and his extraordinary facility on the instrument, easily executing twisting glissandos and double stops, made everyone comment that Scott seemed to be playing the bass as if it were a large guitar. I was one of those people. I saw him with both Bill Evans and Ornette. Scotty was continuously improvising, and not just on his solos. It was with LaFaro that Bill Evans devised his theory of “simultaneous composition,” thus forever changing the role of the bass in jazz. Tragically, Scott LaFaro was killed in an auto accident at age 25, having played the bass for less than seven years but influencing every major bassist to succeed him, such as Eddie Gomez, Charlie Haden, Dave Holland, and Stanley Clarke. Bill Evans was so distraught by his death that he made no public appearances for nearly a year. It is no coincidence that the bassists who followed in the trio were very much influenced by Scott. For those unfamiliar with Scott LaFaro, or even Bill Evans, I highly recommend the 3-CD set by Bill Evans, The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings - 1961, a brilliant reissue, and an expanded and enhanced version of Bill Evans’ variously named Village Vanguard collections and Waltz for Debby, all recorded on June 25, 1961, 10 days before Scott LaFaro perished. Recently, sister Helene LaFaro-Fernandez lovingly wrote Jade Visions – The Life and Music of Scott LaFaro (University of North Texas Press).
Funding for South Florida JAZZ is provided in part by a grant from the Broward County Board of County |
