It's a truism that a jazz musician's sound is an expression of his (or her) character. One of the signal traits of Phil Woods' music is its pugnaciousness. At its best, Woods' music is full of defiance and self-assertion. It jousts and struts and sticks out its chin. But don't confuse Woods' pugnacity with outright hostility or rancor. Woods' music could soar across the entire musical spectrum. He could just as easily play heart-melting ballads as he could burning bop.
My favorite Phil Woods story is in bassist Bill Crow's hilarious and insightful recollections of the Benny Goodman band tour of the Soviet Union in 1962, "To Russia Without Love." As the tour progressed, the entire band grew tired of Goodman's unbearable egotism, his miserliness, and his jealousy toward other band members who drew big ovations from audiences. In one revealing anecdote, Crow explains:
"Our hotel in Sochi, the Primorskaya, faced the Black Sea. Each room had a small balcony. On our second night there, a party developed after the concert in the room occupied by Jimmy Knepper and Jerry Dodgion. The door to their balcony stood open to the warm night air. Phil Woods began holding forth on the deficiencies he perceived in Benny's character and personality. He improvised freely on his theme for some time, with a supporting response of amens from the chorus.
Phil conceals a romantic soul with a cocky hell-for-leather exterior. A musician with great ears, a daring imagination and complete command of his instrument, he is not a man who tends to mince words. At the climax of his diatribe, Phil stepped out onto the balcony, stretched his arms toward the sea, and in a voice made stentorian with vodka, declaimed,'F--K YOU, KING!'
On the floor below, Benny had stepped out on his own balcony for a breath of air. He heard everything."Just like that revealing story, Woods' album from the 1970 Frankfurt Jazz Festival puts the pugnacious force of his character on full display. It also reveals the astounding musical capabilities of the band he'd assembled, the European Rhythm Machine. In the album's liner notes, Woods notes that he was unsure about the way that his band was going to be received by the Frankfurt audience. Most of the bands performing at the festival were German free jazz groups. Initially, they'd planned to record their set; now he was less certain. But once the music begins, the quartet sounds like they have something to prove. They take no prisoners. Woods remarked, "after the first five minutes or so of 'Freedom Jazz Dance,' I suddenly realized that it was going to be one of those evening where everything works. And, after the first free connecting link to 'Ode to Jean-Louis,' I knew that everybody else felt the same way." The music is passionate and furious and burning.
This band also slays the notion that European rhythm sections were incapable of swinging -- because these guys swing hard! English pianist Gordon Beck, French bassist Henri Texier, and Swiss drummer Daniel Humair would all go on to make a lasting impact on jazz.
More Phil Woods (both with and without the ERM)
Woods continued to perform with the ERM until he ended his expat sojourn and returned to the U.S. in 1972. Here are a few of my favorites that Woods made during the decade:
- Phil Woods and his European Rhythm Machine (Pierre Cardin/Inner City, 1970)
- Musique du bois (Muse/32 Jazz, 1974) [with Jaki Byard, Richard Davis and Alan Dawson]
- Floresta Canto (RCA, 1975) [with the Chris Gunning Orchestra]
- Live from the Show Boat (RCA, 1977) [with the Phil Woods Six]
- Song for Sisyphus (Gryphon/RCA/Paddle Wheel, 1978)
More European Rhythm Machine
The ERM made an excellent trio record (sans Phil Woods) in Italy in 1972. Initially released on the Italian Dire label, it has been reissued by Art of Life. Featuring Beck, Humair, and a different bassist, Ron Mathewson, it's simply titled Jazz Trio.
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