| Jerry
Dodgion on Thad Jones |
| "In
my estimation the contributions of Thad Jones
the composer, the arranger, the improvising
soloist, the conductor, and the human being do
rank him in the forefront of the greatest
talents America has ever produced." |
|
| Mark
C. Gridley on Thad Jones |
| "Jones’s
writing earned him respect among jazz
arrangers, and his pieces found their way into
textbooks for jazz composers. He invented such
a distinctive arranging style that listeners
can often identify it by hearing only a single
chord. The Jones arranging style was one of
the most original to appear since Duke
Ellington." |
|
| Jim
McNeely on Thad Jones |
| "Somebody
once commented on how Arnold Schoenberg
influenced every composer in the first half of
the Century – his voice was so pervasive you
either wrote like him, or you had to
consciously go in a different direction to
avoid him. It was the same with Thad Jones’s
writing in the late ‘60’s and
early’70’s, especially for us young
writers – the textures, the angles, the grit
in the voicings, the rhythmic joy, the
integration of modern small-group playing into
a big band context – you were either seduced
or you purposely went in another
direction." |
|
| Thad
Jones on Suite for Pops |
| "The
entire production is reflective of what I
remember about Louis. But they are not merely
mirror images. They are representative
impressions of the man’s entire being. And
what I thought might take place during certain
periods of his life, either with his
participation or merely the culture that
surrounded him and his contemporaries." |
|
| Mel
Lewis on Thad's Music |
| "...The
underparts are the second, third and fourth.
Those are difficult because Thad had a way of
placing every note in what he considered to be
the strongest horn. So it didn’t necessarily
mean because you were playing second trumpet
that you were playing second trumpet parts in
an ensemble. You might be playing saxophone
parts. He just gave everybody the strongest
note. That way his ensembles were so fat and
rich." |
|
| Mel
Lewis on Suite for Pops |
| "Every
night, when Thad mentioned the dedication to
Louis in Suite for Pops, wow, the house would
come down; we could have done anything at that
point. They loved the piece – and it’s not
derivative of anything that Louis played;
it’s a dedication to him, our thoughts of
parts of his life." |
|
| Bill
Kirchner on Jim McNeely |
| "McNeely
freely acknowledges the deep influences of
Thad Jones and Bob Brookmeyer on him, and
echoes are easy to hear-the benefits of having
both as mentors cannot be overstated. But
there's an important aspect to McNeely's music
that comes from his being a contemporary
rhythm-section player. Many of his best pieces
are built from the bottom up- that is, with
the rhythm section as the foundation-then he
integrates that section with the rest of the
band in all sorts of provocative ways." |
|
| Jim
McNeely on His Process |
| "One
of the central themes of jazz composition is
the tension and balance between the individual
(soloist) and the community (ensemble). And
one of my current areas of interest is
creating ensemble structures for groups of
soloists, not individual soloists." |
|
| Bob
Brookmeyer on Jim McNeely |
| "Whatever
the 'next step' is in music, I firmly believe
he will be it. He has all the tools -
imagination, technique, dreams,
ambition..." |
