Phil Woods

Shaping the Sounds of American Jazz

Phil Woods passes on his
musical legacy through
teaching, recording, and composing.

Young alto saxophone players striving to find their own musical voice in the 1940s and '50s found it impossible to escape the comparison: they were bound to be measured against Charlie "Yardbird" Parker.

This is not in the least surprising, nor is it a negative thing, since Bird almost single-handedly changed the world of music in general, and the face of jazz in particular. Living in Bird's shadow is simply a fact that sax players of Phil Woods' generation accept as inevitable. In Woods' case, however, it means a good deal more: carrying on Bird's tradition is an honor, a privilege-and, most importantly, a responsibility.

"I guess I used to think of it as a burden being under Bird's shadow, definitely," says Woods, taking a break from working on his upcoming album, a Latin-influenced collaboration with flutist Herbie Mann. "We all used to think that.
It was inescapable, in the same way that a young cellist these days is bound to be compared to Yo-Yo Ma. Now, in my senior years, I'm honored to be mentioned in the same breath as Bird."

Woods has had more than five decades to find his own distinctive musical voice, which has shined through a career encompassing dozens of albums, film soundtrack appearances, uncounted concerts, global tours, and a roomful of Down Beat, Jazz Times, and Grammy awards. The list of jazz greats he has played with reads like a compendium of jazz history: Benny Goodman, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Michel Legrand, Thelonious Monk, Stephane Grappelli, Lena Horne, and Quincy Jones, to name just a few. He has also made his mark in the pop world, with his unique sound gracing albums by Billy Joel, Steely Dan, and Carly Simon. In 1994, Woods was inducted into the American Jazz Hall of Fame.

"Needless to say," he laughs, "I have enough confidence now that I know I don't sound like Charlie Parker. But I am one of Bird's children, in a very real musical sense. His music changed me, and it was a tremendous gift. I am one of the people who keeps that flame going."

Bird figured prominently on Woods' musical horizon from an early age. Still, while jazz sax was his first passion, Woods started off in 1949 as a classical clarinet major at The Juilliard School in New York City. "There were no jazz
programs in those days," he explains. "After high school I wanted to continue my studies, and to be a musician back then, you went to a conservatory. Alto sax majors were pretty rare."

Woods saw no reason to go anywhere other than New York City, where the jazz revolution was happening. "It was a golden age. I couldn't tell my mom I wanted to go to New York and play Charlie Parker's music, but I knew I wanted to be where Charlie Parker was. So it wasn't an out-and-out lie, but my mom was happy."

Woods first met Parker while studying with free jazz pioneer Lennie Tristano. Tristano's trio was working at a club called The Three Deuces, and the other band was Parker's. "Lennie asked me if I wanted to meet him," Woods recalls, "so we went backstage. Bird had a cherry pie and he gave me a big piece, and I've never forgotten that. He was always very kind to young musicians. That was when I first met him, but of course I'd been aware of his recordings since I was
14 years old. I never actually studied with him personally-he never did any teaching-but I studied all of his recordings, everything I could get my hands on."

Bird's profound impact on jazz music helped Woods to break out of what he had been doing, and to explore his own particular voice. Over the years, he has come to be widely regarded as a link between Bird's world of bebop and mainstream jazz. Of course, not unlike being known as one of Bird's heirs, this means another label.

"I guess labels are inevitable," comments Woods. "People need something to hold onto. This one is actually appropriate since my first jazz studies were transcriptions of Benny Carter's and Johnny Hodges' solos." And that was before he was even aware of Parker. The 1940s were the swing period and Woods, like other budding musicians his age, was immersed in the world of swing and big band.

"After Charlie Parker, my course became more clear," he continues, "and I wanted to combine both elements in my playing. With these three great alto players as influences, it's fair to say that I was perched on the cusp of historical change in jazz."

Not content with just three influences, Woods unhesitatingly claims a fourth, citing Dizzy Gillespie as his greatest mentor and the one who left the biggest musical mark on his development. In 1956, Woods joined Gillespie on a historical tour of the Middle East. "Dizzy was a lifelong friend and teacher," he says of his longtime mentor. "At 24, I was playing next to him, which was quite a thrill, and when you worked with Dizzy, school was always open. The learning never stopped."

Decades later, Woods was still working with him. Gillespie was a guest with the Phil Woods Quintet, formed in 1983 and still one of jazz's longest-running musical groups. "Dizzy and I toured Europe together, and I was still learning from him, even then. Next to Charlie Parker and Thelonius Monk, Dizzy was responsible for the bebop revolution, and that's where I essentially came from."

Being part of the revolution that changed jazz naturally puts Phil Woods in a good position to speculate what might be coming next for the art form.

"Mainstream jazz seems to be heading in a new direction, but not necessarily harmonically," according to Woods. "I feel we've gone about as far as we can go in that direction, unless you count quarter tones. The biggest ingredient now in the development of jazz is rhythm, and a closer affinity with the music of Cuba, Central and South America, Portugal, Mexico, and Nuevo Flamenco in Spain." The level of complexity in Latin-influenced jazz music is "startling," he feels, and some of the rhythms coming out of these countries are "incredibly sophisticated. You have guys playing in 11/4, 7/4, and other compound rhythms and they seem to do it very naturally. It's an exciting element making its mark on modern jazz around the world."

Not surprisingly, Woods says, this new direction can be traced directly to Gillespie's influence. "Dizzy actually started the Latin-influenced jazz music that we are seeing today," he explains. "I toured with Dizzy in '56, and when we played in Buenos Aires, the Argentine tango composer Astor Piazzolla was right in the front row with Lalo Shiffrin. Then we played in Rio, and sitting in the front row there were Antonio Carlos Jobim and Joao Gilberto, two great and influential Brazilian musicians."

Like Woods, these South American composers were largely classically trained, building their styles on a foundation of Bach, Debussy, Rachmaninov, and Ravel. They listened to what Gillespie was doing with American jazz and incorporated it into their own music, taking it to the next level.

"I know they were influenced by Dizzy and American jazz in general, and I think it helped clarify where they were going," Woods adds. "Now, it will help clarify where jazz is going."

That's not to say that it is cyclical. According to Woods, it's more a case of the two breeds of music feeding off each other to produce something new. "Jazz came first," he states. "You wouldn't have any popular or theater music without jazz, and you wouldn't have any jazz harmonies at all without Bach and Beethoven, or Debussy and Ravel. It all goes hand in hand."

Given the wealth of input Woods has enjoyed from Parker, Gillespie, and countless other teachers and fellow performers throughout his career, it makes sense that he feels bound to pass on his decades of knowledge and experience to others in the field of jazz.

"I've studied with some amazing players, and without question, we have a duty to give it back," he says emphatically. "In my case, I've always done masterclasses and lectures, and I will continue to do so as long as I'm able. I learned at the feet of the masters, so to speak, and I'd like to think that I obtained the information first-hand. It is absolutely crucial to pass this knowledge to the players coming up after me. That's what Dizzy would expect me to do, and that's why he shared his knowledge with me and thousands of others."

While Woods points out that books and recordings are important for study, he emphasizes that music essentially is a tribal/oral tradition, and all the books in the world cannot compare to the value of listening to great players perform.

"Just go to a concert of whatever music interests you," he says. "In a live performance you're right there seeing and experiencing it all, watching the performer's fingers and hearing the notes. Even better, if you can talk to the performer, you'll get that human aspect as well. It really brings it home. I feel very strongly about that."

Along with listening and being open to new musical ideas comes the right instrument for expression. Woods says he is always looking for something new, and he was delighted when Yamaha approached him to try out prototypes for a new custom-series alto saxophone. Notwithstanding his enthusiasm, he had several firm requirements to be met before he would be convinced.

"You get very demanding when you've been playing for 50 years, so I know something of what I speak," he says. "I want a horn that is very forgiving, that will take all I can give it and still respond with flawless pitch. It also has to have consistency and overall balance from top to bottom. I think Yamaha has managed to meet all these criteria. The custom alto is a great horn, a definite breakthrough in alto saxes, and Yamaha can be very proud of what they have done."

Of course, Yamaha didn't do it alone; Woods collaborated in the process every step of the way. "I've been up and back from the factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the designers have come to see me several times with the prototypes. We made minor adjustments each time, and I'd like to think I have contributed some good input in tweaking the horn."

The result? Woods beams. "To make a long story short, now that I've played the Yamaha I can't go back to my old horn. I love the sound it gets on the recordings. It's got something special. I wish I could put it into words, but then again if I could, I guess I wouldn't need music," he laughs.

The new horn will appear on future projects like the upcoming Herbie Mann collaboration, which appropriately features Brazilian jazz and tango music by Piazzolla and Jobim. "Herbie and I both graduated from Tony's Bar on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn back in the '50s, and we recorded together way back when," says Woods. "We decided to make one more album together."

He also just came back from the road, and will be going out again soon. "I was in Israel, South America, and South Africa, and I'll be headed to Japan later," he says. "I recorded an album of American songs with strings in Japan, and also recently did a new quintet album."

Between traveling, recording, composing, and working with Yamaha, Woods manages an impressive schedule-with absolutely no signs of wanting to slow down. "I just keep it going," he says. And just like Bird and Dizzy, he keeps giving it back.