A Fond Farewell: Woody Shaw - "Imagination"
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Woody Shaw • Imagination • 1988 • Muse Records
Recorded June 24, 1987 at Van Gelder Recording Studio, New Jersey
The Tracks:
A1. If I Were A Bell
A2. Imagination
A3. Dat Dere
B1. You and The Night and The Music
B2. Stormy Weather
B3. Steve’s Blues
The Players:
Woody Shaw - Trumpet
Kirk Lightsey - Piano
Steve Turre - Trombone
Ray Drummond - Bass
Carl Allen - Drums
The Selection:
The Music:
Flipping through my Woody Shaw vinyl the other day I decided to throw on Imagination, one of the lesser spun of my Shaw LPs, a 1988 release on Muse Records which was his ninth and final recording for a label he had worked with over a period of nearly fifteen years. It would, sadly, also be his final studio recording before he passed away the following year from poor health (his death was a bit more complicated and a lot more tragic, you can read more about it here). No need to listen to the record with any sadness though, instead it’s a time to relish in the sound of an elder master of his craft revisiting some well known standards with the sublime genius he had spent a lifetime perfecting.
Not a bad tune among the bunch, but the standout tracks for me are the title ballad, the swinging take on Bobby Timmons’ classic “Dat Dere” (which never fails to remind me what a forgotten talent Timmons was at both the piano and as a composer - the cat wrote Art Blakey’s “Moanin’” for goodness sake) and the hot take on the standard “You and The Night and The Music.” Shaw’s playing on this session is not as inventive or explorative as on earlier records - his health no doubt being a big reason - but it still shines bright: the directness and clarity of his tone combined with an almost heartbreaking gentleness is always a joy and wonder to behold.
The musicians on board are all top-notch, especially Steve Turre on the trombone, a bandmate and friend of Shaw’s since 1973, who is a true master of his instrument. The interplay between the two is fantastic, especially on “You and The Night and The Music” where they trade off licks with the boldness of two cats who intimately know each other’s musical inclinations. As Turre says in the liner notes, the entire album was recorded in a single afternoon with only one or two takes per track following a short rehearsal. “We’re all old friends, we’ve all worked together before, so this session was a free and easy date, like for fun,” he says and you can hear this plainly on the closing number “Steve’s Blues” - the only original tune on the record - which bursts with an emotion and joy that only comes from four old friends playing straight up classic jazz music at a time when most of the world could care less.
Over his career, Shaw definitely made more critically lauded albums, more complex albums and more well known albums, but the things about genius is that it knows no limits, and even when it’s close to it’s end it can still bring pure joy. Shaw may not have be in possession of all the chops he had in his youth when he recorded Imagination, but if it’s great classic jazz music you’re after you’ll be hard pressed to find a better late-period jazz record than this one.
The Vinyl:
This pressing of Imagination on Muse is the one and only time it was released on vinyl, not surprising for a late 1980s straight-up jazz release, as it’s hard to imagine it was flying off the record store shelves. In addition to the blue label, it was also released as a white label promo, which would have been stamped as a Promotional Copy and not for sale on the cover. It is a digital recording, a mark of pride in 1988, but not so much for the modern day vintage vinyl enthusiast.
Because of the era it was released, there aren’t tons of copies floating around out there, but they are out there to be found and should be able to be had at a decent price ($10-$25 range seems reasonable for a nice copy). The record was later re-released on compact disc on the 32 Jazz label, with a far inferior cover, and for whatever reason this is the artwork it is offered up with today on the streaming services, where it is readily available to be discovered by a new generation of jazz fans.
The Video:
Here is a super cool video of Steve Turre on the old late-night show “NIght Music” hosted by David Sanborn and Jools Holland, which aired on Sunday nights and featured all kinds of non-mainstream music, including lots of jazz. In this impressive clip, Turre sets down his trombone and plays All Blues only using sea shells. Skeptical? Just check it out, it’s pure jazz music through and through.
