Many years ago, my local Barnes and Noble got in a raft
of remaindered Concord Records CDs (back then, Concord was a first-rate indie
jazz label, not today’s corporate conglomerate). I scooped up a bunch based on the Concord brand
and artist name recognition―and then let them submerge into the
Great Unplayed Pile. I was rooting around in that ever-growing mass recently and
ran across Sunburst, a date led by Walter
Norris. In my recollection, Norris was an esteemed pianist of a rather austere
bent, considered willing to move out of the mainstream in his playing. The
album featured Joe Henderson on tenor―a good sign, and I hadn’t remembered
that. Time to look into Norris a bit more.
He had an interesting career. Originally from Arkansas, he
eventually moved to the West Coast and played on Something Else!, Ornette Coleman’s first album, so “willing to move
out of the mainstream” was right, at least for 1958. He then spent several
years in New York as musical director of the Playboy Club. In 1974, he joined
the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis big band. According to his Wikipedia entry, he had
a brief and frightening experience with Charles Mingus in 1976 and then moved
to Germany, where he taught and gigged until his death in 2011. (Note: I saw
Mingus and his Jazz Workshop on several occasions and can attest that he was indeed
a formidable presence. The trumpeter Clarence [Gene] Shaw had an experience
similar to Norris’s, as I recall.) In the 1990s, Norris signed with Concord, one
of the products of which was Sunburst.
Now to the music. It’s really excellent. Most of the tunes
are standards of one sort or another (Stella
By Starlight, What’s New, Naima) or Norris originals (the title
track, Never Should It End, Rose Petals). Especially in their
introductions, Norris and Henderson both like to take the Lee Konitz approach
of not going straight into the melody line, which freshens up the standards. The high point of the album for me is Naima, a gorgeous, soaring rendition that
evokes the spirit of Trane without imitation. Bird is an off-kilter tribute to another jazz genius, with fresh
ideas aplenty. (Note to readers: the composition is listed as by Charlie Parker
but I can’t decide whether it’s one composition or a compilation of Bird phrases.
It’s not on YouTube, but can any ornithologist who owns or can find Sunburst clue me in?) Larry Grenadier supplies solid backing and some fine solos on bass, and Mike Hyman keeps things going nicely on drums.
All in all, Sunburst
is a fine recording that pays back even more with repeated listening. I could find only a couple of tracks on YouTube, but I’d really advise hunting
down the whole thing, or any other Walter Norris recoding you run across.
Here's Sunburst:
And What's New.
