For his third CD as a leader, Perfect Strangers, Coolman pursued a strategy probably unprecedented for an artist of his stature, soliciting compositions from unknown composers. Seven of those tunes, penned by composers ranging in age from 17 to 67, made the cut. They were tweaked and given the full-band treatment by the bassist and his blue-chip collaborators—saxophonist Eric Alexander, trumpeter Brian Lynch, pianist Jim McNeely, and drummer John Riley.
Where did the concept for Perfect Strangers come from?I have been coming in touch with people of college age that are showing considerable talent as composers. I was curious to see what kind of music was out there. What are people writing— not necessarily what are all the established people writing, but what about all those people that are out there all over the world? Wouldn’t it be great to provide them with a substantial group of New York veterans to write for specifically? My personal bread and butter in terms of repertoire has been American standard songs and bebopera music. I thought this would give me an opportunity to go outside of my comfort zone. My main motivation was to challenge myself, to make myself deal with the unexpected, to deal with the unpredictable, and just to see what aspects of my own musicianship I would have to bring to the table to address whatever might come my way.
It’s certainly not a bass-dominant recording.It’s a showcase for original compositions, but it’s also about demonstrating these truly amazing gifts jazz musicians have to interpret music and turn it into something special. The compositions themselves had their merits, but without these highly skilled guys that I hired to play with me, they wouldn’t have sounded the same. It wasn’t important for me to take a bunch of solos in order to demonstrate that.
You’ve written a transcription book titled The Bass Tradition and an instructional book called The Bottom Line. Do you feel connected to the jazz bass tradition?Certain bass players, like Ray Brown and Jimmy Blanton, just reached out and grabbed me and inspired me. They served as role models. The real reason I wrote The Bass Tradition was that I once mentioned Oscar Pettiford in a workshop I was doing, and this young man raised his hand and said, ‘Oscar Pettiford is my mailman.’ That was the only Oscar Pettiford he had ever heard of. I transcribed these solos as a way to introduce people to some of these masters, and maybe lead them to pursue their own discovery a little more actively.
CAN BE HEARD ON
Todd Coolman, Perfect Strangers [ArtistShare, 2008]; James Moody and Hank Jones Quartet, Our Delight [IPO, 2008]; Rob Schneiderman, Glass Enclosure [Reservoir, 2008]; Pete Malinverni, Joyful! [ArtistShare, 2007]; Gerald Wilson Orchestra, Monterey Moods [Mack Avenue, 2007]
CURRENTLY SPINNING
Various recordings by Rosa Passos, Ahmad Jamal, Shirley Horn, Louis Armstrong, Edgar Meyer, Glenn Gould, Red Mitchell, Ben Webster, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
GEAR
Bass Circa-1840 French-made u-size Paul Claudot upright, purchased in 1974 from David Horine at the Bass Viol Shop in Cincinnati; French-style Horst-Schicker bow; medium-gauge Pirastro Evah Pirazzi strings and a David Gage Realist pickup
Rig Walter Woods two-channel head with Euphonic or Epifani 1x10 cabinets