May 7, 2020

Ichi-Ban

Ronnie Mathews

https://youtu.be/tsKda9UChzw

A pretty under-the-radar pianist
Ronnie Mathews was born, lived, and died in Brooklyn
Another product of the Manhattan School of Music (he studied there from 55 to 58)
Still a student, he began playing with some big time bands
He put out his debut album on Prestige, recorded in 63
Killer lineup
Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Albert “Tootie” Heath on drums
Mostly originals
Including this one
He said it “was inspired by the sound of the bassist warming up. I love to hear the bassist tuning up. When it began to take shape, I realized it had an oriental sound, so I called it ichi-ban”
I like the melody / solo structure
Don’t ask me to explain it
T-pot?
He sided for Max Roach, Art Blakey, tons of greats
But didn’t put out another album as leader until 1975
And it was done IN Japan
I cant find info on his time there
But of course he revisits ichi-ban
Faster this time
This one sounds as mid-70s as the original sounds early 60s
https://youtu.be/lRxl8cQ8K08
On that album, he also trades in the acoustic for an electric (Rhodes, presumably) on a couple cuts
Like I said, 70s
Eg a version of Bonfa’s Manha de Carnaval (carnival morning):
https://youtu.be/HfgqZ4sxLKc
He was a mainstay in the local NY jazz scene
Though never saw much fame outside it
Still, you’ll find some him alongside more well-known musicians on records from the 60s through the 90s
Mathews was known for skilled and creative interpretations of Monk
And played with his son T.S. Monk (a drummer) throughout the 90s
Had a contribution on the soundtrack to Spike’s Mo Better Blues
His composition Jean Marie (there’s a version on that 75 Japan date) was dedicated to his then-wife
Unfortunately not on YouTube
In his own version
Many others have performed it
He died of cancer in 08
The next time you enjoy listening to the bass man tune up (you do, don’t you?), pour one out for Ronnie
Correction: couldn’t find any info on his time in Japan because…he wasn’t there.
“Trip to the Orient” a purely musical voyage
Recorded in NY, where he always was
But issued only in Japan on East Wind

-I’m giving Ronnie another listen
His solo on Ichi ban is killlliiinnn
Just put him on for Ben and he was loving it
Horn ostinatos over the piano solo with the snare rim shot on the 2 of each bar?! Let’s gooooo
Ben had never heard of him either
So congrats: you just schooled a cat who has recorded an album at the same Van Gelder studio as Ichiban was
https://open.spotify.com/album/3Bt3VAo23GqdYx3dqLh33p?si=yLglTgVVRW6LGIba8EminQ
-“Horn ostinatos over the piano solo with the snare rim shot on the 2 of each bar?! Let’s gooooo”
This is not the kind of info you’re getting in the daily doses!
I had to Google ostinato ?
-From the Italian “sustained”. In jazz it would be more accurate to call it a vamp
-Cool
Are you talking about starting at 2:01?
-Precisely
2:01 is where it begins
And it is the shit for sure. Criminally underused
-Those “vamps” (I guess I would have called them hits or stabs) give it a very swinging soul jazz vibe
-Totally agree
Makes it swing super hard
Gives the whole tune a ton of momentum
-But vamping doesn’t have to fast right? I learned that word in connection to Miles. Wasn’t an emphasis on vamping (though often of a much slower sort) part of what gave modal jazz its uniqueness. I want to say kind of blue was written more as a collection of vamps than as other albums had been written, melodies with stricter head arrangements…
-It’s funny, cuz the melody sounds spiritual, the solo pretty traditional, but then that section (the brass cuts in, drops out, and comes back again before the final melody) is straight funky hard bop. You can see that he fit in with Blakey and Roach and why they would dig his writing
That’s what I was clumsily trying to get at with “I like the melody / solo structure”
-Yeah vamp is kind of a loose term. It def doesn’t apply any particular tempo: you can vamp over a ballad no problem. Kind of Blue def has a vampy feel to it.  The “melody” of So What is basically just a vamp: bass plays the line then rhythm section hits back in a call and response kind of vamp