I met Wayne Horvitz in the early 80s in New York. He was one of the first people I met there. Loved his conception and his approach to music. One of my favorite composers too.
Then right afterwards I saw Marty play with the George Russell Big Band at the Vanguard. Really wanted to play with him. We met, and the rest is history.
I saw Ray Anderson play in Toronto with Anthony Braxton, before I knew anything about him. I was like, "this trombone player is crazy good!" Ten years later when we started playing together I remembered it was him that night! Ray put together a great band, the "Pocket Brass" I was lucky to be in for years, with the late, great Lew Soloff. Miss Lou.
Finally, I was standing on stage at the Detroit Jazz festival waiting to have soundcheck. Standing there was Carla Bley, one of my heroes. I started to introduce myself and she cut me off and said, "Oh, we know who you are. We hate you." Skip a beat and then, "Your music is too good." Big laugh. And for me, Carla Bley saying my music was good, well...then Steve sauntered up. We had a nice chat and I said, "would you play with me sometime" - which you should never ask by the way - and I could tell Steve's "yes" was sincere. I called him for this band and it was a wonderful 5 years or so we toured the world together. Something like dream for me.
So here's Bump, the classic version. Killing it in Bremen, exactly 22 years from today. Just another stop along the way.
credits
released May 6, 2021
Recorded in Bremen, Germany, May 6, 1999
Ray Anderson - trombone
Marty Ehrlich - tenor saxophone
Wayne Horvitz - piano
Steve Swallow - bass
Bobby Previte - drums
supported by 29 fans who also own “Bump: the definitive concert - 1”
This is a wonderful album! Dave Douglas is one of my heroes. He's more than a great musician. He has a vision for the music and a feeling for putting together a group which is unique. So, beside Joey Baron (another heavyweight and one of my absolute favourite drummers) he invited some young cats to this session. They play just great and make sure that this music sounds totally fresh, whilst at the same time being deeply rooted in the jazz tradition. Florian Arbenz
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