Jazz group Fourplay runs on mutual respect
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Fourplay will play two sold-out shows this weekend at Manchester Craftsmen's Guild.
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It may surprise fans of contemporary jazz that Fourplay is still going strong after 20 years. However, Nathan East, the band's bassist and occasional vocalist, might beg to differ, "given the fact that we all have such mutual admiration for [each other], playing together, hanging together."
You can thank pianist Bob James' long-standing custom of working with countless other musicians for the germination of the all-star band that plays the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild's Jazz Hall on Saturday, touring behind its latest release, last year's "Let's Touch the Sky."
Where: Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, North Side.
When: 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets: Sold out.
From the start, Fourplay "was crafted to be a democratic situation [where] each guy could bring two or three songs per record and get recorded and we all become leaders and producers in the band, [and] it's worked out really great," Mr. East says. "That's one of the things that James pushed for early on, and it really has made the band a lot of fun to participate in" -- even for what remains a part-time project for each member.
Even after so long together, its basic sound -- intricate, flowing lines over a base of laid-back funk -- hasn't changed.
"You have this basic quality of musicianship, and that's like our fingerprint -- that pretty much stays the same, but obviously you keep giving birth to these songs that we call our babies," Mr. East says. "We have a hundred-some odd songs that we've written and produced [over 12 albums]."
The group came together after Mr. James recruited guitarist Lee Ritenour and drummer Harvey Mason, both A-list session musicians in Los Angeles and stars in their own right, for his "Grand Piano Canyon" album, which came out in 1990. To fill out the lineup, Mr. Ritenour and Mr. Mason recommended Mr. East, who was building quite a reputation of his own in the same settings.
During playback of the recording, Mr. James noticed the chemistry among the four musicians and suggested they form the band. The quartet released its eponymous debut the next year and became an instant massive commercial success, the album remaining at the top of the contemporary jazz charts for nearly eight months.
First Published October 13, 2011 12:00 am
