Flutology
Capri/74060-2
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- Holly Hofmann - c flute
- Mike Wofford - piano
Frank Wess - c flute & bass flute
Ali Ryerson - c flute & alto flute
Peter Washington - bass
Ben Riley - drums
Preview a song in it's entirety!
Click the highlighted track to play the music.
- be bop
- ceora
- sumpn' went wrong
- rainesville
- this i dig of you
- pretty is
- equal parts
- a child is born
- flutopia
Review
Ann Braithwaite
Flutology Group Debuts on Capri Records with First Date
* Flute Masters Frank Wess, Holly Hofmann and Ali Ryerson Join Forces on Stunning Release *
T
he new band Flutology brings a dazzling freshness of conception and execution
to the traditional role of the jazz flute on their debut album First
Date (Capri Records, August 26). With world-class flutists Frank
Wess, Holly Hofmann and Ali Ryerson in
the front line, First Date is an exciting summit meeting in the
studio that makes for compulsory listening.
A major figure in the history of jazz flute and a perennial favorite in both the Down Beat Critics and Readers polls, Frank Wess stays at the top of his game all through First Date. Also performing at a breathtakingly high level of artistry are Hofmann and Ryerson, both lauded as “Rising Stars” in the recently released 2003 Down Beat Critics poll.
First Date had its beginnings in a club engagement late last year by the Ray Brown Quartet at Birdland in New York City. Hofmann and Flutology pianist Mike Wofford were part of the late great bass player’s band and they invited their confrere Ryerson to play on a set. Frank Wess was in the audience and friendly, casual talk among the flute players between sets led to the serious idea of forming a triple flute-band to be named Flutology. Before long, the three, plus Wofford, bassist Peter Washington and legendary drummer Ben Riley, rehearsed and entered the Big Apple studio to record First Date. Capri producer Tom Burns recalls, “Everything was flawless at the rehearsal, which is a rarity, and the session went like that also. Most of the tunes were done in either one or two takes. Jazz au natural!”
The members of Flutology seem to possess all manner of spontaneous magical powers. “Be Bop,” the Charlie Parker and Benny Harris classic now intelligently rearranged by Wofford, is a celebration of the famous jazz style with Wess taking the first solo with characteristic aplomb before giving way to the typically melodious sonorities of Ryerson’s flute. Ryerson, in turn, defers to the ever-bluesy strains of Hofmann’s instrument and then the luminaries trade fours. The three suggest a big band flute section. Ali gets to the heart of trumpet great Lee Morgan’s “Ceora” in a solo that leads to an easeful display of Wofford’s distinctive playing followed by a splendid example of Hoffman’s creative imagination. All the choruses of stirring flute playing from the three add up perfectly on the Wess composed and arranged “Sumpin’ Went Wrong,” where outstanding drummer Riley and Wofford also get to stretch unerringly. “Rainsville,” a more introspective piece from late studio pianist Don Grolnick, is another feast of flute, with Ryerson, Hofmann and Weiss stepping in the limelight respectively; Wofford is responsible for the wonderful arrangement.
The uptempo “This I Dig of You,” a piece by hard-bop giant Hank Mobley, is played with flat-out conviction by all parties, with excellent bassist Washington getting a feature spot in which to show that his gift for improvisation is at the same high level as his band members. Ryerson is featured on Wess’s “Pretty Is,” her lines on alto flute then “C” flute unfolding with a precision and a quiet exuberance that is sustained in solos from first Wofford then Washington. Take special note of the great sound Wess gets playing bass flute on “Pretty Is.” “Equal Parts,” based on the changes of John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” is pushed forward by Hofmann and Wess, their crisp, lively playing reflecting both sensitivity and strength. The golden Thad Jones ballad “A Child is Born” is indeed a thing of beauty in the musicians’ reverential yet unstuffy treatment, while the song “Flutopia,” composed and arranged by acclaimed West Coast pianist Bill Cunliffe, is full of swinging momentum, at once musically sophisticated and immediately appealing. Here and throughout the album the band sounds so in synch, so easeful at collectively swinging, you’d swear they’d been working together for years.
With the release of First Date and with select festival, flute convention and club appearances, Flutology is poised to take their rightful place as one of leading jazz ensembles anywhere. Says Ryerson, “Holly and I have been friends for a lot of years, have talked about this kind of project for years, and now it’s happening. Life is better than good.”
FLUTOLOGY BIOS
Frank Wess is a true jazz master. After the first fledging efforts of Wayman Carver and Harry Klee in the ‘30s and ‘40s respectively, he almost single-handedly legitimized the flute as a swinging jazz instrument with the Count Basie Orchestra beginning in 1953. (About the same time Herbie Mann and Bud Shank started getting noticed, too.) The tenor sax-playing alumni of the Billy Eckstine and Lucky Millinder bands made prominent use of the flute in solos with the Basie juggernaut for more than a decade. He delved into bebop with stunning success on vibes master Milt Jackson’s great 1956 LP Opus de Jazz and as an in-demand freelancer in New York City. Going strong for decades now, Wess has made memorable contributions to Clark Terry’s big band, to the New York Jazz Quartet, to Dameronia (Philly Joe Jones’s Tadd Dameron tribute band of the ‘80s), and to collaborations with, among other notables, former Basie band colleague Frank Foster. Wess’s large discography, his earliest feature sides were cut for Savoy, include many gems. His exceptional flute graces, to name just two, Entre Nous (Concord Jazz, 1991) and Surprise! Surprise! (Chiaroscuro, 1995).
Ali Ryerson’s star is high in the jazz firmament, soaring even higher with Flutology. Raised in a family of talented jazz musicians, she studied classical flute performance at the prestigious Hartt Schol of Music in Connecticut in the ‘70s while maintaining a special fondness for the jazz of Miles Davis and Bill Evans. After her studies, which also included mentoring with such flute experts as Julius Baker of the New York Philharmonic, Ryerson established herself as a premier jazz musician in both New York City and Belgium. She’s performed in the finest Big Apple jazz rooms, such as Birdland, Sweet Basil and Bradley’s, and she has showcased her vast talent at prominent jazz festivals in the States and Europe. Some of the notables with whom Ryerson has performed are Dr. Billy Taylor, Kenny Barron, Stephane Grappelli, Roy Haynes and Wess. She and guitarist Joe Beck have toured the world and recorded two albums together as the well-received duo ALTO. Ryerson has been recording since the mid-‘80s on American labels like Concord Jazz and Red Baron and on several Belgian labels. Just this year, she made impressive contributions to Broadway…Music from West Side Story (Stanza). Not least, Ryerson is involved in jazz education, fronting well-received Ali Ryerson Flute Master Classes around the country.
Holly Hofmann, currently residing in San Diego when not touring, began her studies of the flute in earnest as a young girl in the Cleveland area, studying with the first flutist of the Cleveland Orchestra, Maurice Sharp. Her deep interest in the flute continued at the Interlochen Arts Academy and through her undergraduate college years at the Cleveland Institute of Music and then through graduate school at the University of Northern Colorado. While proficient in both the classical and jazz genres, she has gained international notice for her work in jazz with the likes of Kenny Barron, Slide Hampton, Cedar Walton, Jane Monheit, and Wess. A career highlight, Hofmann traveled throughout the United States and Europe in the band led by string bass maestro Ray Brown in the last two years of his life. She also has worked as a duo with ace pianist Bill Cunliffe. As a recording artist, Hofmann has made her mark with a number of fine albums, the most recent of which is Live at Birdland (Azica) with Brown. Among her ever-growing legion of fans is the renowned saxophonist Phil Woods, who says, “Along with Hubert Laws, Holly is frankly the best jazz flute player today.”
The Flutology rhythm section is stellar. Ben Riley was Thelonious Monk’s drummer for several years, to mention one highlight in his magnificent resume, and Peter Washington is internationally recognized as one of the best bass players alive for his extensive live and studio work. Mike Wofford also has impeccable credentials, his recording career dating back to the mid-‘60s and his service as pianist and musical director to Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald worth special mention.
