The Art of Improvising

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The Art of Improvising
The Art of Improvising.jpg
Live album by Warne Marsh
Released 1974
Recorded February 17 & 24, 1959
Venue Half Note Club, NYC
Genre Jazz
Length40:55
Label Revelation
REV 22
Producer John William Hardy, Jon Horwich
Warne Marsh chronology
Warne Marsh
(1958)		The Art of Improvising
(1974)		 The Art of Improvising Volume 2
(1959)

The Art of Improvising (subtitled Solo Excerpts from 1959 Sessions at the Half Note), is a live album by saxophonist Warne Marsh recorded in 1959 and released on the Revelation label in 1974. [1] [2] Each track on The album only features part of the performance containing Marsh's solo although an album featuring twelve complete performances from these shows was released in 1994 under Kontz's name as Live at the Half Note .

Warne Marsh American tenor saxophonist

Warne Marion Marsh was an American tenor saxophonist. Born in Los Angeles, his playing first came to prominence in the 1950s as a protégé of pianist Lennie Tristano and earned attention in the 1970s as a member of Supersax.

Revelation Records was an American jazz record label based in Los Angeles, active from 1965 until the late 1980s.

<i>Live at the Half Note</i> (Lee Konitz album) album by Lee Konitz

Live at the Half Note is a live album by American jazz saxophonists Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh recorded at the Half Note in 1959 accompanied by Bill Evans, Jimmy Garrison, and Paul Motian and first released on the Verve label in 1994 as a double CD set.

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]

The Allmusic review noted "This is an odd record. ... The pianist/composer Lennie Tristano, with whom Marsh had a long relationship, evidently decided the only valuable moments from the sessions were these solos, so he simply excised everything else and presented them as self-contained pieces. For the general listener, this, of course, creates some problems. No themes are heard (though many of the pieces are standards), so the basis for the improvisation can often only be guessed at, and, obviously, any sense of wholeness is by the boards. On the other hand, Marsh's tenor playing is supple, silvery, and generally luscious ... So while the normal jazz listening experience is necessarily lacking, those who want a chance to hear Marsh in isolation (including, presumably, students of the saxophone) might find this release to be a valuable document". [3]

Track listing

  1. "Strike up the Band" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 2:30
  2. "It's You or No One" (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn) – 2:10
  3. "Subconscious-Lee" (Lee Konitz) – 1:37
  4. "You Stepped Out of a Dream" (Nacio Herb Brown, Gus Kahn) – 2:22
  5. "Scrapple from the Apple" (Charlie Parker) – 2:18
  6. "I'll Remember April" (Gene de Paul, Patricia Johnston, Don Raye) – 1:36
  7. "Back Home Again in Indiana" (James F. Hanley, Ballard MacDonald) – 1:55
  8. "Lunar Elevation" (Warne Marsh) – 2:26
  9. "A Song for You" (Marsh) – 2:11
  10. "How About You?" (Burton Lane, Ralph Freed) – 1:55
  11. "Scrapple from the Apple" (Parker) – 2:00
  12. "Blues" (Marsh) – 1:20
  13. "I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me" (Jimmy McHugh, Clarence Gaskill) – 2:21
  14. "It's You or No One" (Styne, Cahn) – 1:10
  15. "[Indian Summer" (Victor Herbert, Al Dubin) – 1:50
  16. "It's You or No One" (Styne, Cahn) – 1:10
  17. "You Stepped Out of a Dream" (Brown, Kahn) – 2:05
  18. "April, I'll Remember" (de Paul, Johnson, Raye) – 2:30
  19. " Indiana" (Hanley, MacDonald) – 2:40
  20. "Half Nelson" (Miles Davis) – 2:49

Personnel

Tenor saxophone type of saxophone

The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B♭ (while the Alto is pitched in the key of E♭), and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef, sounding an octave and a major second lower than the written pitch. Modern tenor saxophones which have a high F♯ key have a range from A♭2 to E5 (concert) and are therefore pitched one octave below the soprano saxophone. People who play the tenor saxophone are known as "tenor saxophonists", "tenor sax players", or "saxophonists".

Lee Konitz American jazz musician and composer

Lee Konitz is an American composer and alto saxophonist.

Alto saxophone type of saxophone

The alto saxophone, also referred to as the alto sax, is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s, and patented in 1846. It is pitched in E♭, and is smaller than the tenor, but larger than the soprano. The alto sax is the most common saxophone and is commonly used in concert bands, chamber music, solo repertoire, military bands, marching bands, and jazz. The fingerings of the different saxophones are all the same so a saxophone player can play any type of saxophone.

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References

  1. ↑ Godwin, M. Discography of Warne Marion Marsh accessed May 12, 2017
  2. ↑ Enciclopedia del Jazz: Warne Marsh accessed May 12, 2017
  3. 1 2 Olewnick, Brian. The Art of Improvising – Review at AllMusic . Retrieved May 16, 2017.
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