Tenor saxophone duels can become tedious affairs, with one player trying to honk, blast and wail more aggressively than the other. But when two master tenorists hold the floor, each intent on making music rather than noise, the results can be more profoundly expressive than either could achieve alone.
Certainly that was the case Tuesday at the Jazz Showcase, where septuagenarians Frank Wess and Teddy Edwards represented a nearly ideal two-reed front line. Backed by pianist Willie Pickens’ trio, Wess and Edwards produced extraordinarily well-crafted work.
Though each is associated with a different school of jazz–Wess with Count Basie-style Kansas City swing, Edwards with West Coast bebop and post-bop– the two have more in common than listeners might assume. The blues phrasing that is so pronounced in Wess’ work has undercurrents in all facets of bebop, including Edwards’ sleekly polished form. And the emotional intensity of Edwards’ work, which gives lie to the oft-repeated cliches about “laid back” California jazz, is amplified by Wess’ more extroverted, exuberant playing.
Yet the two master reedists are different enough from one another to keep matters interesting. When they play in unison they nearly conjure the muscular strength of an entire reed section. Without pushing for high volume or particularly hard-driving rhythm, they attain a sound that is huge but not shrill, tough but not bombastic.
For at least one listener’s tastes, Wess and Edwards could have played nothing but duets all night without tiring the ear.
In classic bebop tunes, they threw off ferociously syncopated lines in about as authoritative a performance style as one might hope to hear. Younger musicians spend years searching for the rhythmic accents, placement of pauses and colloquial phrasings that Wess and Edwards dispatched seemingly with ease.
Each reedist showed considerable strengths in solos, as well. Edwards’ perfectly manicured lines, crisply articulated rhythms and nearly vibrato-less tone were answered by Wess’ more freewheeling manner and gritty timbre.
For the most part, Wess and Edwards drew energy from the propulsive work of the rhythm section, with pianist Pickens’ fortissimo attacks supported by Marlene Rosenberg’s nimble bass playing and Robert Shy’s back-to-the-basics drum work. Only in an Edwards original, “April Loves,” did the rhythm players falter, applying hard-swing rhythm to a tune intended as a genteel bossa nova.
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Frank Wess and Teddy Edwards, with the Willie Pickens Trio, play through Sunday at the Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand Ave. Phone 312-670-BIRD.
