Mark Masters Ensemble

Sam Rivers 100 and Dance, Eternal Spirits, Dance!

 Capri

Two elements are common to these two albums. Both are arranged and conducted by Mark Masters for a 14 -17-piece ensemble of musicians, and the principal soloist on each is tenor saxophonist Billy Harper. Sam Rivers 100 explores the avant-garde woodwind master’s Blue Note years during his centennial year 2023, while Dance, Eternal Spiritis, Dance! explores the living legend and octogenarian tenorist Harper’s works.

Sam Rivers 100

 This project grew out of a series of performances in late 2023 to celebrate Rivers’ centennial, much of it focused on Rivers’ 1964 classic debut, Fuchsia Swing Song, six tracks that now comprise the bulk of the eleven. The idea for arranging Rivers stems from almost 20 years ago when Masters brought a then-early ‘80s Rivers and his trio to Claremont McKenna College as part of a series produced by the American Jazz Institute. Peter Josyph, a filmmaker among many other talents, wrote the liners and made the point that when listening to Rivers’ music, especially from Fuchsia Swing Song, he feels as if he came in late. Rivers begins blowing with his fiery solos before stating the head. (Some pieces have little head at all) Masters had the challenge of finding risk-taking, improvising musicians comfortable enough to play in an ensemble of fourteen. Thus, the pace is brought down, but the arrangements remain complex and sharp. Although Harper is presented as the featured soloist, he solos on only five of these eleven pieces, as some pieces have as many as seven soloists and some as few as two in the ensemble of four saxophonists, four trumpets, and three trombonists.

Harper is, however, the first soloist on the opening “Fuchsia Swing Song,” a hard hitter that also features turns from pianist Jeff Colella, tenorist Jerry Pinter, and drummer Kendall Kay. On Rivers’ best-known tune, “Beatrice,” Harper exhibits his robust tone on the ballad, joined by Tom Luer on baritone sax as the only additional soloist. On “Point of Many Returns,” another well-known piece, Harper takes the final of three solos. Masters comments that the piece was just a head with no real tonal center, forcing him to invent a structure, allocate chord changes, and transform it into a blues. He also says that “Downstairs Upstairs Blues” was the only real blues on all Rivers’ Blue Note records. Accordingly, Harper and trumpeter Mike Cottone shine on that one where Masters added a repeating saxophone refrain of only four notes.

“Helix” from Dimensions and Extensions (recorded in 1967 but not released until 1986) is another free improvisation where Masters magically transformed it into a big band arrangement with solos from altoist Nicole McCabe, trombonist Dave Woodley, bassist Chris Colangelo, and Pinter. Commenting on the rhythm section, Masters instructed them to play with the utmost interactivity of a quartet record.  While Masters points to the usual convention of having the trumpets solo last of the three horn groups, he flips that on the standout “Paean” where trumpeters Nathan Kay and Tim Hagans precede the solos of Harper and drummer Kay. The album is so gorgeously and imaginatively arranged, and yes, it swings!

Dance, Eternal Spirits, Dance!

 The relationship of Masters and Harper traces to 35 years ago when Masters invited Harper to appear on his 1990 debut, Priestess, along with MIngus tombonist Jimmy Knepper. That album, like these, was also released on Tom Burns’ Denver-based Capri Records.

 Harper’s album differs in many ways: the music is culled from a nearly a 30 year span from 1972 to 2000, the music is very melodic, non-formulaic, but carefully constructed versus the free improvisation of Rivers’ material, Harper fittingly solos on all eight pieces, and the ensemble expands to 17 with some players common to both albums. Importantly, the pianist here is Francesca Tanksley, who has been collaborating with Harper for over 35 years.

Opener “Was It Here…Is It There” is a minor key, boisterous tune from Harper’s 1999 , Soul of an Angel. Harper solos aggressively, exhibiting his penchant for the lower register, steel strength tone, and an occasional knifing on off-beat 8ths. Careful listening may evoke Coltrane’s “Mr. P.C.” “The One Who Makes the Rain Stop” is a mid-tempo minor key burner, this time set in ¾ from 1997’s If Our Hearts Could Only See. Harper again is quite engaging, soaring above the ensemble along with a stirring solo from Tanksley, his pianist since 1981.”Croquet Ballet” was a major hit for Harper, released on Black Saint in 1975. Here trumpeter Tim Hagans, who appeared only on select tracks on the Rivers album, plays throughout this album with an especially fiery turn on this tune followed by Harper as Master’ ensemble strikes the bop-bop, bop-pop declarative finale. The beautiful ballad “If One Could Only See,” also from If Our Hearts Could Only See, has a blend of woodwinds with Pinter on alto flute, Brian Walsh on bass clarinet, and, of course, Harper on tenor sending up a lovely ensemble sequence before Tanksley, Pinter, and Harper step forward.

The title track, from Black Saint, takes a mid-tempo in 4/4 with short choruses before a louder out chorus with Harper, Francesa, and Hagans making statements. “The Seventh Day,” also from Our Hearts Could Only See, rockets into orbit with Harper and Hagans going all out. “Insight,’ from Knowledge of Self (1978) is alternately flowing and snappy with the spotlight on Harper, Kirsten Edkins, and Pinter all on tenor, with Tanksley taking the final bow.  The closer is “Credence” from Soul of an Angel, a mid-tempo tune in ¾ that ends the album rather gently as opposed to blaringly. We hear from Harper, trumpeter Aaron Janik, and perhaps most impressively from trombonist Ido Meshulan.

Both are not staid, conventional big band albums by any means. These pieces offer stunning harmonics, aggressive and inventive soloing and maybe, best of all, a huge dose of one the great tenors of the past several decades, Billy Harper.

Jim Hynes

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