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| July 25: Drummer Eric McPherson's Double Bass Quartet via Giant Step Arts Ann Braithwaite When your godfather was legendary bassist Richard Davis and family friends included drummers Max Roach, Michael Carvin, Charles Moffett and Freddie Waits, it's no surprise that Eric McPherson gravitated towards music. And if your mentors were saxophonist Jackie McLean and pianist Andrew Hill, McPherson attaining status as one of the preeminent drummers of his generation became almost preordained. McLean, who worked with a host of legends behind the kit, called McPherson his favorite drummer. Nearly 20 years after his first album and extensive work with peers and masters, McPherson returns as a leader with an ambitious new release. Double Bass Quartet continues the long lineage of multi-bass recordings with two of the best, John Hébert and Ben Street, both of whom have long experience with the leader. Filling out the group is one of the rising stars of jazz, Cuban pianist David Virelles. Says McPherson: "I've known Ben for almost 20 to 30 years now. We have a great rapport. I felt like he and John would complement each other conceptually. And David is one of the few piano players out here today that I have a nice rapport with and his rhythmic sensibility is off the charts, so he's very comfortable in a number of different settings." The music was recorded with and without an audience at Hunter College's Ida K. Lang Recital Hall. Virelles says, "Eric is part of a lineage of percussion that reflects depth, tradition and continual evolution, with him being one of the people spearheading development and innovation on the drums. Working with Eric has been both a profound lesson in musicianship and humility. We have shared the stage on many occasions and in different formats (one being as a duo). Playing with him is always joyful and an outstanding experience. He is the ultimate musician." Using two basses in jazz goes all the way back to Duke Ellington in the '40s and continued over the decades with Don Shirley, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders and Andrew Hill. "Two basses is just a texture that I like, " says McPherson, "especially when the musicians are playing together in such a way and I'm playing off of each of them. It creates a nice tonal palette and from a rhythmic standpoint opens up some options as far as how you want to convey the time." Though not planned as such, Double Bass Quartet can be heard partially as a tribute to Hill, whose last group before his 2007 death was a trio with McPherson and Hébert. Included are two Hill compositions, "Ode to Von", which had both Davis and Eddie Khan on bass in 1963, and the late '90s piece "Ashes". "Andrew Hill, I feel fortunate to have been able to work with him, " says McPherson. "As far as them being his tunes, it was more coincidental than anything else. It was more to bring some material that we could all come together on, that everybody had a familiarity with, that we could implement this two-bass structure using these songs just as a template to basically explore that that dynamic." The album also has music by three other iconic and iconoclastic pianists in Stanley Cowell ("Illusion Suite"), Thelonious Monk ("Skippy") and Jaki Byard ("Cinco y Quatro"). This too was happenstance, chosen because McPherson felt it was music "that we could come together on and create something with. And I feel like the songs that we did use, they're not necessarily tunes that you hear every day. So I like that you see what can happen with these in this context." On the other end of the spectrum is "Darn That Dream", the standard now revitalized with the fresh instrumentation. "For me, at the end of the day, it's all just music, you know?, " says McPherson. "They're all just templates that we're going to bring to life, however it is that we want." Filling out the date are three originals, one each by Hébert and Virelles—"tunes I've been able to play with both of them, presenting some interesting possibilities, just to see what would happen with them, in this setting with the two basses"—and McPherson's simply titled "Solo Drum" about which he says, "rhythm is melody as well, you know? So, for this particular project, that is my compositional offering." Double Bass Quartet is replete with depth, subtlety and variety. It starts with the jab and left hook of probing "Ode to Von" and moody ooze of Hébert's "Blind Pig". The paired basses open up the swing of "Illusion Suite" and "Skippy" while "Darn That Dream" and Virelles' "Transmission" float along very different currents. And the sparseness of "Ashes" is contrasted by the bubbling rhythms of "Cinco y Quatro". In the middle of it all is McPherson alone in a six-minute master class of invention and focus. McPherson is excited about the band and the music they made collectively. "Ultimately, we're all working together off of whichever vehicle that we're using at that given time. I had a lot of trust in those guys' musicianship to bring what they think is best, for what's happening, so they're listening and playing off of each other very nicely so there's different things happening." Double Bass Quartet is the latest entry in Giant Step's new series Modern Masters and New Horizons. Specially curated by trumpeter Jason Palmer and drummer Nasheet Waits, the series features artists who have helped shape the modern jazz landscape along with rising voices doing the same for the next generation. Artists currently slated to contribute include saxophonists Neta Raanan and Edward Pérez/Michael Thomas. Giant Step Arts Founded by Jimmy and Dena Katz in January 2018, Giant Step Arts is an innovative, artist-focused non-profit organization dedicated to commissioning and showcasing the work of some of modern jazz's most innovative artists. In an era where it is increasingly difficult for musicians to earn a living, Giant Step Arts offers artists the creative and financial resources to create bold music free of commercial pressure and with total control of their artistic projects. For the musicians it chooses to work with, by invitation only, Giant Step Arts: • presents premiere performances • records these performances for independent release • provides the artists with digital downloads and CDs to sell; artists retain complete ownership of their masters • provides the artists with photos for promotional use • provides PR support for the recordings Katz says: "Giant Step Arts exists to aid musicians in realizing their artistic dreams. It does not sell music and artists retain full rights to their music. We work tirelessly to raise funds with the goal of helping more musicians." Jimmy Katz Through his award-winning photography with wife Dena Katz and his esteemed work as a recording engineer, Katz has spent nearly 30 years helping to shape the way audiences see and hear jazz musicians. Katz has been part of more than 600 recording projects—many historic—and has photographed more than 200 magazine covers. Whether taken in the studio, in the clubs, on the streets or in the musicians' homes, his photographs offer intimate portraits of the artists at work and in repose and capture the collaborative and improvisatory process of jazz itself. Recipient of the Jazz Journalists Association award for jazz photography in both 2006 and 2011, Katz's work has been exhibited in Germany, Italy and Japan. Among the world-renowned artists he has photographed are Sonny Rollins, Keith Jarrett, Ornette Coleman, Freddie Hubbard, Roy Haynes, Cassandra Wilson, Ray Charles, Dave Brubeck, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, John Zorn, Pat Metheny, and Dizzy Gillespie. His recording credits include such artists as David S. Ware, Joe Lovano, Harold Mabern, William Parker, Benny Golson, Chris Potter, Mark Turner, George Coleman and Jason Palmer, among others. ERIC MCPHERSON – DOUBLE BASS QUARTET Giant Step Arts – GSA 18 – Recorded July 2022 Release date July 25, 2025 write your comments about the article :: © 2025 Jazz News :: home page |