Sophisticate

Marcus Shelby - Sophisticate

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CD Details

Artist: Marcus Shelby
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1998-10-13
Music Label: Noir Records
Soundtracks:

The Sophisticate I
20th And Mission
Time To Fall In Love Again
The Joylovers
Dance Of The Mission Babies
Marlon's Getaway
Anais Petit
The Sophisticate II

Music reviews of Sophisticate

Music Review: Impecable form though lacking greatly in content.
Rating: 2 Stars

Musician and author, Bill Cole writes in his biography of John Coltrane, "In music the course has been to investigate the structural manifestations of jazz and put importance on THAT far exceeding its worth and to call THAT scolarship. 'In structural [mode analysis], where form is held to determine content, its value is inflated beyond all reason, with the result that an analysis of how a thing is shaped or done is virtually now regarded as supplying the key to essence of its being...'" (page 51) This consideration posited by Cole holds a great deal of relevance to "The Sophisticate" released by The Marcus Shelby Trio. The eight compositions (incidentally sub-titled in French so as to assume worldly affectation) in this recording are based on a short story by Yimi Tong. The narrative is contained within the insert and depicts a brief chain of encounters between characters too similar to those one would come across in a story by the great crime novelist, Jim Thompson. Like the narrative, the music is written and interpreted in a "style" as dictated by a traditionalist's perspective and loyally adheres to the conventional jazz formulas required by the neo-classicists to legitimize the authenticity of musical works. More often than not, the players sound more preoccupied with the idea of "reading from the same page" (and meeting the criteria OF that page) than with the idea of engaging each other directly. It's almost as though the musicians trust what they are reading on the paper more than what they are hearing from each other. As a result the groups efforts sound self-concious in their execution. (Contrary to popular belief, such self-conciousness IS NOT synonymous with selectivity or judiciousness.) The capacity of the trio's membership is immediately apparent. Each is obviously disciplined, proficient both individually and as a group to handle any situation, or so one would suspect. And yet, the first question to come to mind concerning this recording is why would such dexterous musicians feel compelled to negotiate each piece so conservatively? One factor that is indigenous to any great work can be measured by the degree the artist is challenged by the task at hand AND by the degree others are challnged by the result of his actions in undertaking such a task. Intrinsic to the architecture of challenge are two components which rely on and perpetually compliment each other: that of risk (of failure) and that of oppertunity (for achievement.) This trinity is guaged by level of difficulty of the task undertaken. This is particularly immediate to the situation of the jazz musician as an improvisor, in that his situation demands that he spontaneously compose music that complies with the structure (harmonic, melodic, tonal or otherwise) of the piece. If the improvisor is to convey any meaning in his playing then any allegiance towards convention MUST be severed. As with any true "hero", the improvisor reveals his valor by the degree he upholds his obligations, obligations that he must DELIBERATELY JEOPARDIZE in order to prove his sincerety of intention and integrity of commitment. It is this "risk factor" to which the jazz tradition owes a great deal of its reputation as a compelling art form. When taking these matters into account concerning "The Sophisticate" I must conclude that the players give too much credence to the praxis assessed in Cole's quotation and because of this, fall short of their musical potential. The group can't seem to manage to wean themselves from a comfortable level. Each participant fulfills his obligations with comparable facility and prowess. If you think they make it sound easy, that would be because IT IS. In other words, the material poses LITTLE TO NO DIFFICULTY to the participants. The compositions are structurally sound, logically "safe", reasonably habitable and unremarkably beautiful. The concept of the narrative lends to this project some evidence of attempted intellectualism, yet this is not enough to countervail the absence of the existential from the work. The definitive requires more than a forensically accurate run of chord progressions. Leroi Jones probably stated it best when he wrote, "A bad solo, no matter how WELL it is played is STILL a bad solo." If we liken this group to Shelly's Dr. Frankenstien, we would observe the re-animation of a very appealing corpse (which easily prsonifies the neo-classicists' aesthetic) sewn, sutured and restored to its original, ANATOMICAL grandeur. The result, however, leaves us with nothing more than another pretty face incabable of telling us anything we haven't heard before. What I mean to say is that this effort is less a creative one than it is a re-creative one. This recording is not comparable to anything like Ellington's "Money Jungle", Mingus' "Black Saint and the Sinner Lady", Rollins' "Live at the Village Vanguard", or Coletrane's "Giant Steps." You've absolutely nothing to fear from this session. It won't make any of your relatives uncomfortable nor will it change your life in any drastic way, but it will suffice quite appropriately as accompiniment to any semi-formal dinner, wedding reception or television commercial for a luxery sedan.

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