The musicians of Fluid Motion, a project of bay area trombonist David Manson, explore structure and freedom in a sound that has garnered notice on the national jazz scene.
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[Publicity photos]
Sam Rivers
Jonathan Powell
David Manson
“Fluid Motion,” with the Sam Rivers Trio, David Manson and Jonathan Powell,
A little validation goes a long way. That's particularly true for a jazz musician working and teaching in the Tampa Bay area, well away from more vital, supportive art-music scenes in the Northeast.
And it's not every day that a bay area musician gets a pat on the shoulder from esteemed jazz critic Nat Hentoff, the author, novelist and Village Voice columnist who also was an editor at jazz bible Down Beat and a staffer at the New Yorker.
But lightning struck not long ago for David Manson, a trombonist, composer and St. Petersburg College professor, who sent a copy of his latest CD, Fluid Motion, to Hentoff. The writer listened to the eclectic mix of jazz and free-leaning music featuring Manson, legendary saxophonist Sam Rivers and trumpet wunderkind Jonathan Powell. Hentoff liked what he heard.
"I was very surprised when I came into my office and found his voice on my answering machine," Manson said. "He really likes Jonathan's playing."
Hentoff's enthusiasm for the CD, recorded last year at the Springs Theater in the Sulphur Springs area of Tampa and released independently, also surfaced in a column in Jazz Times, one of the country's largest and most influential jazz magazines.
"Powell's crackling range and the electricity of his imagination reminded me of the first time that I heard Lee Morgan and Clifford Brown," Hentoff wrote.
Hentoff's rave is the kind of critical support that Powell, 21, a former Pinellas County resident based in New York, could use as a letter of introduction.
Fluid Motion (its release is being celebrated with a concert Tuesday night at the Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg) has its roots in music Manson began writing about six years ago. At the time, his avant-jazz group SHIM included Powell. Manson got to know the Orlando-based Rivers, 79, by playing in the saxophonist's RivBea Orchestra; their friendship goes back about a decade. Rivers' trio, with bassist Doug Mathews and drummer Anthony Cole, had also played several concerts in the bay area EMIT series, which features new and experimental music and is organized by Manson.
"When I was writing this music, I was thinking already of putting this group together with Sam's trio," Manson said. "I was trying to write a little bit closer to the jazz world, rather than being just experimental or free. I wanted to take these guys who can play outside very, very well and put them a little closer to the jazz circle and see what happens. Usually, projects work the other way, with mainstream players trying to push to the outside.
"I think it's more like modern jazz and post-bop. I wouldn't really say it's avant jazz. If someone likes (trumpeter) Dave Douglas and some of the projects he's worked on, especially the larger bands, then they'll like what we do. If you like (Charles) Mingus, if you like early Ornette Coleman, certainly it would appeal to you."
Manson, also known locally for his work with Brazilian-oriented group O Som Do Jazz and Frank Zappa repertoire band Bogus Pomp, organized three Orlando rehearsals for the Fluid Motion musicians. The Tampa recording, under the guidance of producer/engineer John Stephan, took one afternoon, with no more than two takes for each of eight pieces. The music was recorded live, as is usual with acoustic jazz.
"I could prehear what the group would sound like in my mind," Manson said. "I sent them music in advance, and a midi (synthesizer) realization. They immediately got it, which was not a surprise."
Rivers, a two-time Grammy nominee now recording previously unreleased big-band compositions, said he was encouraged by the players' immediate musical chemistry.
"It felt good because we played well together," he said from his home in Orlando. "The music is very interesting and very different. (Manson's) composing is very original. You can only do this when you have musicians that are in the (jazz) tradition. We have both areas covered: the traditional and the free. That was the intention, to expose all the sides of the musicians."
Manson concurred. "That combination of structure and freedom helps a lot," he said. "Sometimes with pure improvisation, you can lose your audience. It can be horrible. Some free improv can just be terribly self-indulgent, but with players who have self-control, it can be wonderful. And when you can add structure in there, it's kind of a life raft."
