{"id":2437,"date":"2011-03-18T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2011-03-18T15:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=2437"},"modified":"2011-03-19T12:27:37","modified_gmt":"2011-03-19T19:27:37","slug":"recent-listening-jeffrey-snedekers-french-horn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2011\/03\/recent-listening-jeffrey-snedekers-french-horn\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Listening: Jeffrey Snedeker’s French Horn"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Jeffrey Snedeker<\/strong>, Minor Returns<\/em><\/a> (JS). Snedeker is a rarity, a first-chair symphony French horn artist who understands jazz time, phrasing and feeling. In settings from quartet through big band to 41-piece string orchestra, he pays homage to the horn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role in jazz. Snedeker solos on pieces associated with the music\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s handful of French horn heroes, including Julius Watkins, David Amram, Willie Ruff and John Graas. Among his colleagues is the perennial French horn poll winner Tom Varner, one of the few players of the instrument to make a substantial impact in jazz over the past two decades.<\/p>\n

Snedeker and Varner revisit \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Two French Fries,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the Gigi Gryce piece that featured Watkins and Amram in a 1956 Oscar Pettiford big band album. Doubling the duration of the Pettiford performance, they solo at length, exchange fours with drummer Tom Noble, do simultaneous improvisation and\u00e2\u20ac\u201dstunningly\u00e2\u20ac\u201dplay in unison, harmonized with two saxophones, a transcription of Watkins\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 virtuoso solo from the Pettiford record. Their backing on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Two French Fries\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is by the Central Washington University Jazz Band 1, which nails the demanding arrangement. Varner is also a guest on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Linda Delia,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a Latin number Watkins recorded with Les Jazz Modes, the group he led in the 1950s with tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse. Watkins might grin knowingly at Varner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s note-bending solo.<\/p>\n

John Graas\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Allegretto, from Jazz Symphony No. 1\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is an octet arrangement reminiscent of Graas\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 1950s west coast milieu. The blowing choruses are built on the changes of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153All The Things You Are\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and have fine solos from Snedeker, alto saxophonist Lenny Price,\"\"<\/a> trombonist Phil Dean, and tenor saxophonist Saul Cline\u00e2\u20ac\u201dindications of the often-overlooked quality of jazz talent in the Pacific Northwest. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Godchild\u00e2\u20ac\u009d has the same Gerry Mulligan arrangement and instrumentation as the 1949 Miles Davis Birth Of The Cool<\/em> recording. Snedeker pays tribute by quoting the first notes of Davis\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 solo before he constructs his own. Price, on alto, and tubaist Curtis Peacock also solo to good effect.<\/p>\n

Snedeker was inspired by the example of Willie Ruff to include \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Summertime,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oleo,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chelsea Bridge\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Autumn Leaves,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d all recorded by the Mitchell\/Ruff Duo. His inspiration for the amusing version of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Straight No Chaser\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is the similarity of its melody line to the famous horn passage in Richard Strauss\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Till Eulenspiegel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Merry Pranks<\/em>, dramatically intoned by Snedeker before he counts off a brisk pace for Monk\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s famous blues in F. It has effective solos by pianist John Sanders, drummer Garey Williams and Snedeker. The other direct classical association is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Moonlove,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Andre Kostelanetz\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appropriation of the horn theme from the andante cantabile<\/em> movement of Tchaikovsky\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Fifth Symphony. Sanders introduces it with a succession of Tchaikovskian chords, then Snedeker plays the famous melody before he and the rhythm section make their lilting way through a chorus of “\u00be swing.<\/p>\n

Snedeker plays \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Take Five\u00e2\u20ac\u009d unaccompanied, incorporating split tones and startling interval drops to the nether region of the horn. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In a Sentimental Mood,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the sole track with strings, is rich with horn melody and variations over an ingenious arrangement by the late Tom Gause. The title piece and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Home Away From Home\u00e2\u20ac\u009d are originals by Snedeker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s composer brother Gregory, both with challenging harmonies and time changes, and with powerful bass work by Isaac Castillo, another Northwesterner worth keeping an ear on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeffrey Snedeker, Minor Returns (JS). Snedeker is a rarity, a first-chair symphony French horn artist who understands jazz time, phrasing and feeling. In settings from quartet through big band to 41-piece string orchestra, he pays homage to the horn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role in jazz. Snedeker solos on pieces associated with the music\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s handful of French horn heroes, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2437\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}