feature photo: Steven Laschever
The last time I sat down to write about music, it was concerning the final studio recordings of an iconic jazz musician. Here are some of the last heavenly sounds from yet another important jazz veteran whose career also stretches back to the ’60s: bass giant Mario Pavone.
A mere eleven days ago — May 15, 2021 — Pavone finally succumbed to the cancer that had stalked him for seventeen years. Less than a year prior, his twenty-three year old granddaughter had passed. Amidst all this untimely death, however, is joy, and the joy is found in music Pavone made in defiance of mortality.
Just two months ago, Pavone and his Dialect Trio (Matt Mitchell, piano; Tyshawn Sorey, drums) recorded new, original music that will in June will drop as Blue Vertical. This one has the added treat of trumpet player Dave Ballou joining the trio (Ballou also handled the arrangements). Earlier this year, Pavone recorded a set of numbers in the more straight-ahead format fronting an entirely different quartet. Both that upcoming album Isabella (Clean Feed) and Blue Vertical are dedicated to his late granddaughter.
“Philosopher’s Series” will be the advance single from the latter album on June 4, 2021 and we’re honored to provide an advance listen to this standout track with the stream debuting above.
In making what he knew would be his final musical statement, Pavone undoubtedly couldn’t help but to look back on a career well pursued. “Philosophy Series” for instance, takes a line from “Sequence” heard on his septet release from 2000 Totem Blues. Beyond that, Pavone’s big personality on his chosen instrument shines through like a guy with at least two decades left in him, not two months. Mitchell and Ballou join up to present Pavone’s intricately-composed theme and then for a while you hear the deep congruence of the Dialect Trio, freedom-bound but also clearly following a shared mindset. When Ballou returns, it’s clear he’s on the same wavelength, too.
Blue Vertical will bow on June 18, 2021 from Out Of Your Head Records.
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