STRING ALONG IN JAZZ

“The violin is a wonderful instrument. If a person plays the violin – well, nothing can compare to it for sweetness and purity. There is no substitute. Strings create a special atmosphere, and this atmosphere makes me feel better, and makes me play my horn (tenor sax) better, too”

With several notable exceptions, jazz with strings attached, can often appear to be synonymous with diluting or sweetening the music so as to become more attractive to a broader audience However, in the right hands of the right arrangers and players, new life can result from inventive creators like Ralph Burns, Billy Strayhorn, Robert Farnon, Eddie Sauter, Joe Lipman, Alan Broadbent, Richard Hayman, Russell Garcia, and Randy Sandke to name a few. In the early stages of the genre, we saw hints from the likes of Bix Beiderbecke, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Duke Ellington. In recent times (2022), there has been a resurgence in this conceptual way of thinking with new releases by such artists like Canada’s Cory Weeds and Phil Dwyer with ” What Is There To Say?” (Cellar 20 2021), Dave Stryker Qt. _”As We Were” (Srikezone 2022), Ryan Oliver Qt. With Strings (Cellar 2021), and Fred Hersch with The Crosby Street String Qt. on his new album, “Breath By Breath” (Palmetto 2022). Hersch summed it nicely on belf of all arrangers in this world by stating, “I wanted to give the strings fun things to play, and not just make them play footballs (whole notes) and backgrounds If you hear the strings all the time, you don’t hear them anymore. He desired for them to possess meaning, and not simply throwing them into certain places. It is intriguing to hear the strings and the piano “alternate passages; other times, they mirror each other in texture and articulation. At one point, the strings even provide harmonic background for a bass solo in lieu of the piano.” (Downbeat-February 2022-page 35 by Gary Fukushima and Fred Hersch. As long as other noteworthy jazz artists like Wayne Shorter and Terence Blanchard are even creating jazz operas, and other people like Steve Slagle, Joe Locke, and Alan Broadbent synthesize their efforts with symphonies and string sections, there will be no limits to what might be in store for the worlds of classical jazz audiences in the 21st century.

ESSENTIAL JAZZ ALBUMS WITH STRINGS

1. Charlie Parker With Strings (78rpm Verve 1949)
2. Ben Webster With Strings (Verve 1954)
3. Harry Carney With Strings (Verve 1955)
4. Stan Getz with Eddie Sauter-Focus (Verve 1961)
5. Clifford Brown With Strings (Mercury 1955)
6. Wes Montgomery-In The Wee Small Hours (Universal 1967)
7. Cannonball Adderley and Strings (Emarcy 1986)
8. Count Basie-String Along With Basie (Roulette 1959)
9. Stan Getz With Strings – Cool Velvet with Russell Garcia (Verve)
10. Scott Hamilton With Strings & Alan Broadbent (Concord 1993)
11. Marian McPartland with Strings & Alan Broadbent – Silent Pool (Concord 1997)
12. Ruby Braff and Strings (Arbors 1999 & 1978)
13. Bucky Pizzarelli with Ed Laub-Renaissance (Arbors 2015)
14. Randy Sandke-Trumpet After Dark-Jazz In A Meditative Mood (Mystic Trumpet 2005)
15. J.J. Johnson & Robert Farnon – Tangence (Verve 1995)