“...Coming back to these recordings and with my own material and this band... It feels like home.”

--Judi Silvano 

Judi Silvano ©Eugenia Morrison

Known as one of the most adventurous jazz vocalists in modern jazz, Judi Silvano detoured from her usual bent toward the avant garde with the release of an album of standards in 2005, Let Yourself Go (Zoho Music); two years later, she took another journey, this time in celebration of Women’s Work (JSL Records)—compositions by the often under-rated women who have nevertheless made their marks on a genre dominated by men. Now celebrating 20 years fronting her own JSL Records, Silvano returns to her more daring “discomfort” zone with the delayed release of Cleome: Live Takes. Recorded in 1999-2000, Cleome documents her chordless collaboration with like-minded George Garzone (tenor, soprano sax and clarinet), Michael Formanek (bass) and Gerry Hemingway (drums and percussion).  Two additional tracks feature Silvano with a trio of John Lindberg (bass) and Hemingway.  

Judi Silvano

Philadelphia native Judi Silvano has been named one of the Top 10 Vocalists by Down Beat three times and has performed and recorded with a long and diverse list of artists from Bill Frisell to Kenny Werner to Charlie Haden, as well as husband, tenor saxophone great Joe Lovano. Initially studying flute, Judi focused on voice while earning degrees in music and dance from Temple University. Judi moved to New York in 1976 where she was an improviser in dance before turning more attention to music. Her skills in dance and choreography led to work in downtown clubs, and Judi began attending the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis orchestra nights at the Village Vanguard. Listening to the big band, she learned the trumpet parts which became the basis for her horn-like singing style. She was further influenced through her collaborations with, and marriageto, saxophone titan Joe Lovano; the two have worked together on numerous projects over the past 20 years. Well known around the New York loft scene, Judi presented an acclaimed series of rising vocalists in a monthly program at the Cornelia Street Café for two years following September 11th. She’s also led vocal groups Voices of Juniper and Voices Together, and has directed Vocal Improvisation workshops in New York, at the Banff International Center for the Arts, and at Rutgers University. A columnist for All About Jazz and Jazz Improv, Judi has received numerous awards and grants (e.g., Meet the Composer, New York State Council on the Arts).  

The delay in releasing Cleome reflects serendipity—Judi’s encounter with pianist Mal Waldron at about the time these tracks were completed, and this put into motion a period of touring and interpreting standards with Riding the Zephyr and Let Yourself Go. The early years of the new century also saw her working on some New Age projects with arrangements for meditation (Spirit Music, Celestial Voices). Along came Women’s Work in 2007, and now, finally, back to Cleome.  

Cleome

Cleome: Live Takes

The sound on Cleome may not generate a Grammy for engineering but instead aptly reflects the spontaneity of the music as “live takes.” Some tracks were recorded by Joe Lovano at the couple’s home in update New York, while others are drawn from tapes recorded at gigs at the Knitting Factory. As such, these recordings have a raw intimacy rather than a polished studio sheen. Judi notes that “One session was recorded with Joe Lovano placing just one Sony mic in the middle of the space and recording it on his DAT recorder...The technology has come a long way even since 2000; now everything is computerized and you can edit and change anything.” 

Of the music that is captured on Cleome, Judi says, “Each musician is honored with the freedom to create their own part within the flexible structures of my tunes or themes... I think you can hear that we had fun in every spontaneous moment!” Seven of the nine tracks are directly from Judi’s pen, while the musicians also cover Sun Ra’s “Love in Outer Space” and the Japanese folk song, “Sakura.” As described in the vocalist’s press release, a “cleome” is a genus of tropical shrubby plants with “showy flower, much like small bursts of fireworks.” There’s perhaps no better analogy in botany or otherwise for the music contained here.  

The title track opens the collection, and immediately one must ask, “Where does the voice end and the sax begin?” Heavy and hollow percussion prompts yet another question, “What does Gerry Hemingway have in his kit?” I imagine a collection of found objects. I wish there was an accompanying DVD! Judi’s “Bougainvillea” is another botanical reference, an earlier version of one of the tracks of Women’s Work revealing an interesting evolution of composition and improvisation. The absence of a chordal instrument is more blatant here as there is a more defined melody and accompanying lyrics relative to much of the other material.  A very short version at under 2 minutes, “Bougainvillea” is just long enough for Judi to put the ideas out there, and harmonize with Garzone like a two-horn duet. 

Inspired by a trip to Turkey, “Yapi Credi” features percussion that feels both primitive and modern, like a digital view of an ancient ritual. A dirge-like ensemble melody emerges, Silvano’s voice providing a high-pitched horn. The eight-plus minutes of exploration creates sounds from outer space in tandem with echoes from Jurassic lands. There are lyrics of sorts, but these are syllables, not words, a vocalese dialogue. Judi’s background in flute informs her singing; she understands how to create the same pitches with her voice, down to the sense of air blowing through the tube. She acknowledges, “I hear my sound as a tonal instrument, whether I’m singing lyrics or not.” And Judi does pick up the alto flute on the richly melodic “Hand and Heart,” forming a lovely pairing with Garzone’s tenor sax as bass and drums stay far in the background. 

Judi Silvano ©Andrea Canter

Sun Ra’s waltzy “Love in Outer Space” has real lyrics which Judi notes are most likely the composer’s as she was unable to find any credit otherwise. After a verse focused on voice and bass, Judi takes off in vocalese mode, sounding much like her own flute, accompanied by John Lindberg on bass and Hemingway on drums. Her scatting becomes more animated with just percussion. By now the lyrics are superfluous, but the trio concludes with the opening verse, lyrics and all. 

The two closing tracks offer spontaneous takes on folk-rooted melodies. Judi’s “Dobranotz” –which means “good night” in Polish, seems less like a lullabye and more like a funeral dirge. Her voice nearly matches Garzone clarinet in pitch and whine, while Formanek’s draws his bow to a low, often darkly lyrical tone. Odd zings, scrapes and clangs from Hemingway create an uncertain backdrop. More oddball percussive sounds and a mosquito-like, buzzing bass mesh with Judi’s lower-register incantation on the trio’s interpretation of the Japanese folksong, “Sakura.” It’s an eerie and fascinating finish. 

Describing her reconnection with the more avant garde use of voice, Judi commented that “I am working in this time of my life toward finding the synthesis of approaching a song from the cognitive and emotional point of view (with words and feelings prominent), combined with the sound of my tone and movement of notes, lines, phrases and texture that I can contribute to move the non-verbal aspect of the music forward.”  Although recorded nearly a decade ago, the release of Cleome is ample reminder that Judi Silvano is never one to stay put vocally, but a singer, composer, arranger, musician constantly in forward motion. 

The documentation of Judi Silvano’s forward motion can be found on a sampler released this summer in celebration of twenty years of JSL Records. Included are tracks from representative recordings for the label, including Judi’s diverse vocals and compositions, and instrumentals featuring Joe Lovano (as well as his father, Tony “Big T” Lovano) and two tracks of Judi’s work on flutes and alto recorder. For more about Judi Silvano and her recordings, visit www.judisilvano.com and www.jslrecords.com. For a limited time, the JSL sampler will be provided free with purchase of Cleome. 

This review initially posted at www.jazzink.com. See Jazz INK for an exclusive interview with Judi Silvano. Andrea Canter blogs regularly about jazz at www.jazzink.blogspot.com  
 

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