So Danco Samba - Clare Fischer

 

Pensativa

So Danco Samba

Clare Fischer

A Richard Bock Production

Album Design & Photography by Woody Woodward

Audio by Richard Bock

Yamaha Piano courtesy Dave Abell Pianos

Recorded at World-Pacific Studios

World-Pacific Records 1830

1964

From the back cover: The Bossa Nova has just completed an interesting cycle on the hands of commerciality in the united states. This delicate and highly original music, as exemplified by the contributions of Brazil's Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, began to gain a coterie of enthusiasts here as early as 1962, and subsequently there were several commendable recordings of it made by jazzmen, blending an intriguing combination of improvisation with the gentle samba rhythm and melodies. Pianist Clare Fischer collaborated with Bud Shank and guitarist Joe Pass for two fine albums (PJ 58 and 64) in this time. Thereafter, however, things began to get a bit out of hand as nearly every major jazz musician and quite a few singers and rock-and-roll performers were in a sense almost forced into trying themselves (and us) with their versions of the bossa nova. I've repressed much of what happened under the name of bossa nova from mid-1963 to mid-1964, as I guess quite a few other people were doing, the result was that the word began to pass among commercial centers of th industry that this fad called bossa nova, like all fads, was grinding to a halt, so what is next. In the wide world of jukeboxville, I have no idea what is next, nut I do know this: bossa nova is an authentic evolvement of a complex and extremely subtle music which has grown our of the old music of Brazil over a long period of time. It is no more a fad than jazz or classical music are fads. You can beat it, change it, misinterpret it, making it, or try to "sell" it, but when you are finished you will find that all you were doing was trapping around on the surface of a very stable form of artistic expression. As with all such forms, if you treat it right it responds in kind and if you try to force it, it just sits there and waits for empathy. Stan Getz, Joao and Astrud Gilberto, Antonio Carlos, Jobim and now once again, Clare Fischer easily demonstrate what this empathy entails. And the result is that we are again, for a time, at least, in for some real contributions in the U. S. in the realm of the bossa nova.

The present album is, so far as I know, the first bossa nova recording to be devoted entirely to extended improvisation by a pianist, and we are fortunate indeed that this has been accomplished by the jazz man most clearly attuned to the esthetics of this Brazilian music. While I should hardly wish to detract from the great artistry which is that of Stan Getz, the tenor saxophonist widely acclaimed for his efforts in the bossa nova, at the same time it is abundantly clear to those familiar with the total musical contributions of Getz, that he merely plays himself (and the same himself) in all musical settings. It is then a fortunate coincidence that his tone color and way of playing compliment so nicely the essence of the bossa nova. Pianist Ficher on the other hand has several musical faces derived from his long study and close association with jazz, classical, and folk music of many countries. No person that I know can so completely involve himself with and become such an integral part of the art of another people, and indeed their language, customs, and very social innards, as can Clare Fischer. Thus, when he goes about the preparation of an album such as this one, it is as far from the idea of "let's go in the studio and blow a few bossas" as you could hope for. The result is a beautiful example of the music called bossa nova.

Fischer has chosen to play a program consisting of seven works by the foremost Brazilian composer of bossa nova melodies, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and three of his own compositions in the same idiom. There is a striking homogeneity in the program resulting from the fact that Fischer and Jobim exhibit a remarkable gift for creating memorable melodies. Jobim's Girl From Ipanema and Desafinado that almost all listeners have found lodged in their minds in recent months are good examples, and although less well known, I expect you'll find Clare's Ornithardy and Pensativa similarly catchy. All are in this album. Both Fischer and Jobim tend to structure their composition in forms other than the standard forms that nine-tenths of popular song material appear in. Now, while most composers can write in such less common forms easily, few have the gift of making these seem so right and increasingly attractive to the lay listener. At the same time, it is these fresh forms that attract original and provoking improvisation from the performer who has become jaded by the ordinary.

Two recent events in Clare Fischer's active musical life serve to point out the trueness of Fischer's approach to the bossa nova and latin music in general and emphasize why I feel certain if you like the bossa nova that you will have an enjoyable experience with this recording. Clare while working in the musical production for the Andy Williams television show had opportunity to meet Jobim, a guest on the program, for the first time. Jobim then went to the piano and played Fischer's Joao, complete with Clare's introduction, while singing the words Fischer had put to the tune for the Hi-Los bossa nova album! The second is perhaps not been exposed in the music press, Fischer has recently returned from a five-week tour of Argentina, where he played both jazz and latin music in concert, recorded several of his own compositions, and lectured and played before audiences in both large and small towns across northern Argentina in part under the sponsorship of the American Embassy. Because of his love for the latin countries and his fluency in Spanish, wherever he went the response to his playing and words were extremely gratifying. Clare's Argentinian producer, Walter Theirs, accompanied him on much of the tour and in part of the program narrated a short history of jazz piano while Fischer played appropriate examples of forms ranging from Ragtime to Lennie Tristano and himself. Throughout the tour Fischer found an acceptance and enthusiasm for his efforts within the bossa nova form, in the area not only of playing by of composition and arrangement, that brought him back to this country confident in the validity of continuing his efforts in this music.

Fischer's accomplishment in this recording is provided by three of the very strongest men on their respective instruments. Drummer Colin Bailey, a transplanted British lad of considerable wit and humor, has had an exceedingly active career since reaching these shores. He has worked with, among others, Victor Feldman and Miles Davis and has recorded previously with Clare. Recently he has authored a book on bass drum techniques and is considered to be one of the great new technicians of his instrument as well as one of the more sensitive performers in a variety of musical settings. Bassist Bobby West has been Clare's steady sideman for nearly two years, replacing Ralph Pena and Gary Peacock in that capacity. Simultaneously he has gained a reputation as one of the very best young bassists to appear in jazz and the studios in recent time. He has worked and recorded with Gary Burton and Larry Bunker as well as Clare Fischer and had brief to extended stints with Shelly Manne, the Gerald Wiggins trio, and Bud Shank. As for guitarist Dennis Budimir, I have, as many will know, been a leading proponent among writers of this musician's work for four years. He is a completely original jazz guitarist without peer who works beautifully her win the entirely rhythmic role called for. As a group these men from a nearly faultless rhythm section for the bossa nova. Colin' drums are light and lifting, Bobby's bass, rock solid and pulsing, and Dennis' lovely Ramirez flamenco guitar sound (the pride of his life) makes strumming, humming poetry. If Clare Fischer had failed to create memorable solos on this foundation it would have been an awful waste. No worries there, of course, as you will hear for yourself. – John William Hardy

So Danco Sambo

Desafinado

Quiet Nights

Pensativa

Carnivel

Girl From Ipanema

Ornithardy

Amor Em Paz

How Insensitive

One Note Samba