Carol Liebowitz | Bob Field | Waves Of Blue Intensities | NA1021

Carol Liebowitz, piano and vocals; Bob Field, tenor saxophone

Tracklist: 1. All The Things You Are 2. Secrets, revealed 3. Waves of Blue Intensities 4. My Melancholy Baby (with vocals) 5. These Foolish Things 6. Dreamology 7. There Will Never Be Another You 8. Home Free 9. Out of Nowhere 10. All of Me (with vocals) 11. What Is This Thing Called Love

Recording Date: April 13, 1994 at Acoustic Recording, Brooklyn, NY

“Liebowitz
is a rhythmically sophisticated improvisor…Field is relaxed no matter what the tempo, favoring a smooth, lyrical tone…The juxtaposition of the new with the traditional is what this duo is all about. It’s an often fascinating combination.” – Carl Baugher, Cadence


“…a
liberal-minded and inquisitive jazz listener will find good reasons for repeated play.” – Lois Moody, Jazz News

Liebowitz and Field

mix freely improvised tracks with very loose versions of standards like “Melancholy Baby” and “Out of Nowhere.” Field’s free playing (especially on the standards) is very coherent and eminently lyrical, using the tune’s melodic contours as a guide, while straying somewhat afield of the traditional harmonies. Liebowitz as much as ignores the changes completely. I imagine that she’s playing off the melody as interpreted by Field, probably keeping the harmonic rhythm in mind to a degree, but relying mostly on her musical instincts, which are usually fine. The totally improvised cuts (especially the title track) are an unqualified success, though I wish they’d stretched them out a little more. The tunes are rathertoo familiar in their original form to stand up to this kind of treatment; the weight of historical expectation lies heavy on every note, which can be a distraction. I suppose had one never heard “All of Me,” however, he orshe could easily accept Liebowitz and Field’s rendering as definitive. Quite an unusual album, and one worth hearing. — By Chris Kelsy, Jazz Now (on line jazz magazine, New Sounds page, Oct. 1995)

This wide-ranging duo

covers a lot of musical turf. Whether playing a soothing ballad with warm tonalism, as on “These Foolish Things,” or driving an agitated, free excursion like the title track, Liebowitz/Field admirably maintain their balance. Liebowitz is a rhythmically sophisticated improviser who is unafraid of dissonance. Even the more traditional tunes have an occasional jolting edge which infuses them with life. Field is relaxed no matter what the tempo, favoring a smooth, lyrical tone and an orderly, disciplined solo style. Liebowitz also sings in a tart voice not unlike her pianism. The juxtaposition of the new with the traditional is what this duo is all about. It’s an often fascinating combination. — Carl Baugher, Cadence Vol. 21, No.4, April 1995

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Pianist and vocalist Carol Liebowitz

began studying the piano at age 9. She attended New York’s High School of Performing Arts where she continued studying classical repertoire, and received a BA in Music from New York University. After college, she began studying improvisation with pianist Connie Crothers and later, voice with Jay Clayton. She has performed with various artists at clubs around NYC, and in workshop concerts with Jay Clayton and Sheila Jordan. Other performances include two solo piano concerts, and duo concerts with guitarist Andy Fite and tenor saxophonists Charley Krachy and Bob Field. Her first recording, “Waves of Blue Intensities”, a duo with Bob Field, was released on New Artists in 1994. She lives in New York City.

 

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2 thoughts on “Carol Liebowitz | Bob Field | Waves Of Blue Intensities | NA1021

  1. Except for four jointly conceived originals, the material on which these performances are based is from the repertoire of standards whose interesting harmonic changes have always attracted the jazz improviser. But the approach chosen by this duo bears few overt ties to bop or any other modern jazz development adhering to recognizable, conventional elements of rhythm, harmony or melody. Brief thematic quotes and, in Liebowitz’s vocal excursions, snippets of lyrics spin fine connecting threads to the original songs, but from there on the web takes on unpredictable designs.

    Artists whose work is released on the New Artists label are frequently tagged as adherents to principles pioneered by pianist/teacher Lennie Tristano, but I don’t believe they can always be so neatly summed up or packaged. As this duo demonstrates, individuality and curiosity neither began nor ended with Tristano, so there’s good reason to appreciate these artists on their own merits. If you really have to put their talents and concepts to the test, just absorb what they do with “What Is This Thing Called Love.” I’m not sure how composer Cole Porter would have responded but a liberal-minded and inquisitive jazz listener will find good reasons for repeated play.

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