André Hodeir (1921-2011) was one of the world's most literate composers and working critics in the world of jazz. He began his career as a violin player, a path he abandoned three years after joining the Paris Conservatoire in 1942, to concentrate on his work as an arranger and writer.
For Hodeir, who had classic training but felt drawn to the aesthetic of jazz, the problem was how to transcend the frame of his technique and recreate it in jazz terms. So to figure it out, in 1949 he went into a long period of silence that would last until 1954, when he made his first recording with the Jazz Groupe de Paris. This opportunity gave him a chance to crystallize the concepts he had been working on for five years. "At the time of the creation of the Jazz Groupe de Paris, there was nothing set in stone in my writing, it was all sketches I needed to try out. That’s also the reason I gave the title Essais to the pieces resulting from this project".
Hodeir wrote his most avant-garde work for the Jazz Groupe, among whose members were some of the best soloists in Paris. Their collective effort led them to become one of the most sought-after jazz units in Europe, and Hodeir’s recordings with them earned him a world following that led to his American debut for the Savoy label.
In 1957, John Lewis best described Hodeir's musical attitude in a Down Beat article, when he said: "He's giving people ideas and directions and things to do. His work itself is of value, but he’s also showing others by his work what can be done in many areas". *Jordi Pujol*
Le Jazz Groupe De Paris
"Essais" D'André Hodeir
This record brings together some pieces from the beginning of my career and my first accomplishment as a jazz composer. It includes some of the finest French, Belgian, and American musicians linving in Paris between 1949 and 1954.
I remember one sunny afternoon when I went to visit Charles Delaunay I was in his office at Jazz Hot magazine, along with Jean Bouchéty, who played bass with Bernard Peiffer's trio, when in walked a tall thin, hawk-nosed gentleman. It was Jaques-Yves Cousteau, whose first underwater film I had greatly admired. He was finishing work on a short fil called Autour d'un Récif (Around a Reef), which he described as a "ballet of fish" and he wanted jazz music for ot: not Knowing which composer to contact, he had come to ask Delaunay's advice. We lent them an indiscret ear and gor hired.
Since Cousteau was not one to skimp on quantity or quality, we decide to go with Tony Proteau's orchestra which guaranteed the participation of Kenny Clarke, in addition to five saxes and eight horns and four widely respected soloists: Don Byas, Hubert Rostaing, Geo Daly and Bernard Peiffer. Only the latter was allowed to improvise the others played written solos. When I showed Don Byas his tenor part, he threw up his hands and said "This is written for piccolo!" Thus began a kind of reflection that stayed with me throughout my career.
In 1949, I had been a bebop convert and real admirer of Charlie Parker for about three years. But in listening to Récif it is clear that this influence did not show up in my compositions: the style is more Ellington than Gillespie.
It was Boris Vian who advised Paul Paviot to let me do the music for his short film Saint-Tropez (1953). I based a suite for orchestra on this score, which is predominantly influenced by the jazz "cool" of Miles Davis, Gil Evans and Gerry Mulligan. The suite was never performed in public, but was recorded with the participation of among others Nat Peck and Bobby Jaspar, who was considered to be the best of the European soloists at the time.
Along with Armand Migiani, Pierre Michelot and myself Bobby and Nat founded the Jazz Groupe de Paris whose sporadic career seems more productive in restrospect three albums and appearances in around ten films and several international festivals began composing for the Jazz Groupe de Paris in the fall of 1954, and werecorded our first six "tests" on the day before Christmas. Working as a cooperative, we divided the costs of the recording and enlisted the help of the great sound engineer Michel Philippot. At my request Philippot did a "chamber music" sound recording which I really like.
These Essais regarded by some (not inaccurately) as the opus 1 of my catalog, all point in the same direction a broadening of the forms that were common in jazz at the time. *André Hodeir (1999)*
Essais Par Le Jazz Groupe De Paris is the classic jazz album from musician and theoretician, André Hodeir. He signs these two albums who importance has not been denied. "Essays" constitutes a real challenge to the main data of orchestral jazz. Being long out of original print it is now available on a single CD reissue. *amazon.com*
1 - Cross Criss
2 - Paraphrase Sur Saint-Tropez
3 - On A Standard
4 - Esquisse I
5 - Paradoxe II
6 - On A Blues
7 - Autour D'Un Récif (part 1)
8 - Autour D'Un Récif (part 2)
9 - Saint-Tropez
(All compositions by André Hodeir)
#1 to #6: Le Jazz Groupe De Paris
from the album Essais d’André Hodeir (Swing M 33353)
Jean Liesse, Buzz Gardner (trumpets); Nat Peck (trombone); Jean Aldegon (alto sax); Bobby Jaspar (tenor sax); Armand Migiani (baritone sax); Fats Sadi (vibes); Pierre Michelot (bass); Jacques David (drums); André Hodeir (arranger, director).
Recorded in Paris, December 13, 1954.
#7 to #9:
from the album Musique de Films par André Hodeir (Swing M 33343)
#7 and #8: Tony Proteau Orchestra
Joe Boyer (trumpet), Hubert Rostaing (clarinet, alto sax), Don Byas (tenor sax), Bernard Pfeiffer (piano), Jean Bouchéty (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums), André Hodeir (arranger, director).
Recorded in Paris, 1949.
#9: Le Jazz Groupe De Paris
Christian Bellest (trumpet), Nat Peck (trombone), Robert Guisnath (clarinet, alto sax); Bobby Jaspar (tenor sax), William Boucaya (baritone sax), Bernard Pfeiffer (piano), Raymond Le Sénéchal (vibes), Pierre Michelot (bass), Pierre Lemarchand (drums), André Hodeir (arranger, director).
Recorded in Paris, 1953.
***
Le Jazz Groupe De Paris
Joue André Hodeir
[Originally Joue André Hodeir - (Vega LP 30572)]
A classic slice of the jazz scene in 50s Paris — as Andre Hodier, the famous French jazz critic, leads a group of some of Paris' best 50's boppers through a set of his own compositions, plus newly arranged bop classics. The band includes standout European players like Pierre Michelot, Fats Sadi, Nat Peck, and Roger Guerin — and Hodier's work is a great mix of boppish ideals with more modernist touches, slightly fragmented, but still with a nice sense of swing at their core. Sadi's vibes are especially nice on the set, and the record ranks as one of the few from the time in which he really takes a strong lead. *dustygroove.com*
Joue André Hodeir is the second recording by le Jazz Groupe de Paris, a piano-less nonet originally formed by André Hodeir, with the help of Bobby Jaspar, and dedicated to his music and arrangements — Hodeir, who used to be a proficient violinist, only conducts. By the time this session was recorded Jaspar had already left for the United States and was replaced by Georges Grenu. In addition to six originals, the program is rounded out with tunes by Bud Powell, Duke Jordan, Thelonious Monk, and John Lewis. Hodeir's compositions are not as tuneful and memorable as the covers, but this is irrelevant since his musical concerns deal almost exclusively with textures and colors. In line with the leader's esthetics, the soloists do not indulge into virtuosic runs. Instead, Hodeir's draws from his musicians complex soundscapes rich in tonalities. Overall, Hodeir favors slow and midpaced tempos, which provide a better ground for his intricate voicings. His original ideas are more obviously displayed on "Paradoxe I" ,which features a pulsating cymbal in the foreground, or "On a Scale", whose theme is not restated at the end. Despite the knowledge his theories require to be fully grasped, Hodeir's music is utterly enjoyable and this album provides a fine introduction to his universe. *Alain Drouot*
1 - Jordu
(Duke Jordan)
2 - Evanescene
(André Hodeir)
3 - Criss Cross
(Thelonious Monk)
4 - Tension Détente
(André Hodeir)
5 - Milano
(John Lewis)
6 - On A Scale
(André Hodeir)
7 - Bicinum
(André Hodeir)
8 - Parisian Thoroughfare
(Bud Powell)
9 - Paradoxe I
(André Hodeir)
10 - Triads
(André Hodeir)
Jean Liesse, Roger Guérin (trumpets), Nat Peck (trombone [except #3, #9]); Jean Algedon (alto sax [except #3, #9]); Georges Grenu (tenor sax); Armand Migiani (piano); Fats Sadi (vibes [except #5, #10]); Pierre Michelot (bass); Christian Garros (drums); André Hodeir (arranger, director).
Recorded in Paris, June 26 (#2, #6 to #8), June 27 (#1, #3, #4, #9) and July 2 (#5, #10), 1956.
