I suppose if there was a bin that this recording would be placed in, it would probably be a “jazz” bin. I fell in love with jazz early in my saxophone study days. I took lessons with the outstanding sax player/instructor Hal Stein, in the SF bay area, and not long before moving to NYC in the mid-seventies, studied with sax legend Joe Henderson. I had the opportunity to tour with the Johnny Otis Rhythm and Blues Revue, which at that time featured Shuggie Otis, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, and the Three Tons of Joy among others. The baritone sax player was “Big” Jim Wynn. He and I were the horn section. To this day I love the sound of baritone and tenor sax together.
I came to NYC, sleeping for over a month on the couch of my close (and patient) friend, saxophone-virtuoso Alex Foster, to see how and where I would fit in the jazz world. This was towards the end of the loft jazz scene, but still with plenty of places to jam and hang-out, as rents were not yet ridiculous. I found myself sitting-in with an incredible piano player named Albert Dailey and was excited when asked to join his ensemble.
I did, but not long after was offered a very different gig, touring with a Broadway show with a three-month commitment. I wasn’t making enough money in town, even with low rent, so took the job. Albert wasn’t happy about it, and looking back, I wonder if I did the “right” thing.
I’ve done Broadway shows, played in the streets, travelled the world, performed at the “Garden” and in community gardens. I have worked with musicians from all over. I found my own clarinet “voice” when active on the resurgent Klezmer scene. The “downtown” new-music world was full of fascinating, inventive ideas and it was exciting to gig in places like CBGBs and the Mudd Club. I worked with dancers receptive to new sounds, with documentary film makers, and played on hundreds of recordings of all types of music.
I’d been around Latin music throughout my career. In the SF bay area, there was a very exciting Latin-rock scene. Carlos Santana, Malo, and others were tearing it up. When I first moved to NYC, I subbed on Tito Puente’s band and did late-night Columbian gigs playing Merengue and Cumbia. The neighborhood I moved to, and still live in, was full of Dominican musicians. In the evening, I’d hear accordion and guiro playing into the wee hours. The neighborhood has changed, the sounds are less frequent. I miss them.
All through the years I’ve balanced choices like that, to play creative, interesting music and survive in this pricey town.
This has been the model for my career to date. That is to say that all these elements show up in this project, having seeped into my musical being for many years.
credits
released November 15, 2023
#1 Whatnot
Erik Charlston - vibraphone
Randy Landau - double bass
Tim Keiper - drums and percussion
Danny Louis - Hammond B3 organ
Steve Elson - baritone saxophone
I am playing baritone sax on several of these tunes. I thought I’d mention how I became a baritone sax player. I always loved the deep rich sound of this big horn, so I bought an extremely used old baritone in Oakland California. I took it apart and got it in working condition and used it occasionally, mostly for my own music. In 1982, having been in NYC for five years, I got a phone call from my friend, (and future Borneo Horn co-saxophonist) Stan Harrison. He asked if I played baritone and I replied, rather shamelessly, “I am the best bari player ever”. Chutzpah. Stan was assembling a horn section for a Nile Rodgers recording session. It turned out it was for David Bowie, and it became Let’s Dance. The recording went well and on the second day I was asked to play a baritone solo on the song Modern Love. It happened on the first take, or perhaps second. That song and that record became enormously popular. Thus, I became a baritone sax player and much of my subsequent studio work has featured that horn. Love playing it, hate schlepping it.
#2 Ceci-Cela
Steve Elson - tenor saxophone, Bb clarinet, contralto clarinet
Randy Landau - double bass
Patrick Simard - drums and percussion
Erik Della Penna – guitar
Recorded at Steve Elson’s Lips and Fingers Studio and remote locations.
Listening to playback and hearing myself intaking air on about 6 clarinets on Ceci-Cela reminded me of the first time I recorded in multitrack digital format. Lenny Pickett, Stan Harrison, and I, known as the Borneo Horns, were recording on a Nile Rodgers session for the British singer John Waite. We had just double tracked a song, so there were six saxophones. We came back to the control room to hear playback. The engineer solo-ed the section, meaning, that we were only going to hear the horns. He started the “tape” a few seconds before we entered. It was completely silent, instead of the normal hiss as the tape played. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, I heard six saxophonists take a deep breath and then just pure saxophone sound. There are folks that prefer the analog days, but I was taken by the clarity and remember that feeling to this day.
Ceci-Cela was also the finest patisserie on the Lower East Side. Had a sense of neighborhood and the best croissants from an incredible French baker.
#3 Hannah
Erik Charlston - glockenspiel
Randy Landau - double bass
Danny Louis - Hammond B3 organ
Steve Elson - Eb clarinet
The song Hannah was named for both my sister Margaret Hannah, and my great-grandmother Hannah. Two exemplary women of my family, and who doesn’t love a name spelled the same forward and backwards.
#4 Then Again Again
Erik Charlston - vibraphone
Randy Landau - double bass
Tim Keiper - drums and percussion
Danny Louis - Hammond B3 organ
Steve Elson - tenor saxophone
Most of the music on this CD was recorded in the first several “takes”. This tune required multiple tries, and I learned that if you name a song “Then Again Again”, you are asking for trouble.
#5 It Is What It Isn’t
Steve Elson - tenor and baritone saxophones, Eb, Bb and contralto clarinets
Erik Della Penna – banjo
Recorded at Steve Elson’s Lips and Fingers Studio
This is just me on a bunch of different instruments with the addition of fellow Hazmat Modine band member Erik Della Penna, playing banjo.
#6 Fall Springs Internally
Erik Charlston - vibraphone
Randy Landau - double bass
Tim Keiper - drums and percussion
Danny Louis - Hammond B3 organ
Steve Elson - tenor and baritone saxophones
When I played the demo of this for Danny Louis, he imagined a tap dancer in the mix. So, we had Tim Keiper add castanets. It reminded me of the time, many years ago, that trombonist Ray Anderson and I were taking tap dance classes from his wife Jackie Raven in my loft. I remember going downstairs and having to explain the “bad news” to my neighbor.
#7 Comeback
Cliff Korman - piano
Joe Fitzgerald - bass
Norbert Goldberg - percussion
Steve Elson - alto flute
Recorded and mixed at Second Story Sound by Scott Lehrer
This song and Eb Clarinet Soliloquy were originally recorded for the filmmaker Jonathan Demme and his producing partner [and poet and author] Daniel Wolff. They were making a series of short films about the devastation of the storm Katrina on New Orleans called “Right to Return”. I am happy to give this music a chance to be heard again.
#8 Undone Melody
Erik Charlston - vibraphone
Randy Landau - double bass
Tim Keiper - drums
Danny Louis - Fender Rhodes piano
Steve Elson - tenor saxophone
Undone, not in the “not-finished” sense, but more in the doomed sense of the word.
#9 Girth
Erik Charlston - vibraphone
Randy Landau - double bass
Tim Keiper - drums and percussion
Danny Louis - Hammond B3 organ
Steve Elson - baritone saxophone
When I first showed this tune to keyboard phenom Danny Louis, he, as I expected, saw the title, and asked “Hudson?”
#10 Winsome
Erik Charlston - vibraphone and glockenspiel
Randy Landau - double bass
Tim Keiper - drums and percussion
Danny Louis - Hammond B3 organ
Steve Elson - piccolo
As a journeyman saxophonist I’m expected to double on clarinet and flute at least, and nowadays playing double reeds is very desired. Piccolo, bass clarinet and several other instruments are asked for on occasion, and best to be up on these if you are looking for certain kinds of jobs. I played piccolo, albeit not terribly well. Some years back, I was on a recording session for incidental music for Saturday Night Live, along with Lou Marini. He was playing the piccolo on one cue and played so beautifully, that it sparked an interest to take it more seriously. I went out and bought a decent instrument and played it wherever I could. It hasn’t helped the tinnitus, but so much fun.
#11 One More Last Dance
Cliff Korman - piano
Steve Elson - Eb clarinet
Recorded in Rio de Janiero by Darius Korman
and at Steve Elson’s Lips and Fingers Studio
My long-time friend Cliff Korman recorded his piano part for this tune in Rio de Janeiro his home of many years.
We happened to be in Rio together, each for our first time, in January 1988. I was playing with Duran Duran on their first trip to Brazil, and Cliff was investigating music that clearly had made a strong impression on him. Cliff in some ways never left. He lives, performs and teaches music at a university there for most of the year.
Though he was in Rio, and I was in NYC, the piece feels like an intimate conversation.
#12 Sublingual
Erik Charlston - vibraphone
Randy Landau - double bass
Tim Keiper - drums
Danny Louis - Fender Rhodes piano
Steve Elson - tenor saxophone
Meaning under the tongue. Also, subtones are an aspect of playing the saxophone, mostly the tenor saxophone, best exemplified by Ben Webster. It’s that sound on the bottom of the horn, airy and fuzzy. Plus, I just like the word sublingual.
#13 Eb Clarinet Soliloquy
Cliff Korman - piano
Joe Fitzgerald - bass
Steve Elson - Eb clarinet
Recorded and mixed at Second Story Sound by Scott Lehrer
On the higher-pitched instrument in the clarinet family here. I first really heard this instrument as Lenny Pickett played it so brilliantly on some of his compositions for the Borneo Horns. It has such sweetness to it.
My hope is that you will listen to this entire album from top to bottom, at a healthy volume, on great speakers or high-end headphones. Enjoy!
Elson composes and performs on saxophones, clarinets, flutes and other woodwinds. His long musical collaboration with David
Bowie began when he played baritone sax solos on Let’s Dance (Modern Love) and continued until his featured soloing on “The Next Day” recorded just a couple of years before singer’s death. Elson leads his group, Steve Elson’ Lips and Fingers, around NYC and overseas....more
