BUD SHANK: AGAINST THE TIDE

Portrait of a Jazz Legend

Bud Shank

The Bud Shank Against the Tide DVD/CD combo package showcases the Bud Shank Quartet filmed in San Diego, CA performing Bud's tunes, and includes extensive interview segments with Bud as he discusses his over 60-year career in jazz. Included are rare Shank performances from television and film, including the Stars of Jazz TV show from 1957, and Bud's appearance from the Frankly Jazz TV broadcast in 1962.

The name Bud Shank is synonymous with West Coast jazz. He is credited with being one of the first musicians to introduce the flute to jazz. He was also one of the key figures to introduce Central and South American sounds to the idiom, along with Laurendo Almeida in the early 1950s, which led to the formation of Bossa Nova a few years later.

From a review by Jeff Krow:

Graham Carter, Jazzed Media's owner, has presented the jazz world and the American music scene with a major documentary release combined with a companion Jazz CD that shares the musical journey that multi-instrumentalist Bud Shank has undertaken for over 60 years. Like most long-lived musical geniuses, Shank's journey has provided explorations of multiple musical idioms, including jazz, classical, and international with forays into be-bop, West Coast centered jazz, Brazilian music, and film scores just to name a few.

What makes this DVD/CD release so special is the DVD section with Bud both playing with his quartet of Mike Wofford, Bob Magnusson, and Joe La Barbera, and also the between-song reminiscences regarding Bud's career, his influences (strong mention is made of Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, and Al Cohn-interestingly enough all tenor saxophonists), and opinions regarding improvisation, his time with the Centrum Jazz Festival in Port Townsend, and his witty observations on life as a jazz icon. He has strong opinions regarding being classified solely as a West Coast cool school musician, stating that his playing and tone are no longer 1950s West Coast based and never were. Being pigeonholed as a specific stylist is the last impression one would get after viewing the DVD.

A huge bonus is provided on the companion CD's tracks - the first four feature May 2007 studio numbers with Buds present quartet; as well as a duo with Bill Mays; and a big band track from Bill Holmans big band live concert in May 2005 at the LA Jazz Institutes Neophonic Impressions weekend. Shank is featured here on the big band track, The Gift. The CD is closed with three rarities - two Lighthouse All Stars songs, April 1956-issued, Lover Man and The Nearness of You - and finally a rarity par excellence: The Big Heist, from 1963, with Bud on flute with the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

Against the Tide is a major release documenting an artist whose musical career has crossed many jazz idioms and it shows a still-vital jazz icon who has followed his own path, taking both the opportunities coming his way and yet still venturing into new territories when his muse came calling. This is a MUST purchase for any jazz fan, or for that matter anyone with an appreciation for a musical artist who has remained independent, free willed, and vibrant over the last sixty years.

Contents

Disc 1 (Compact Disc) Tracks: