Peter Bernstein, in Mehldau's Words

[jordanklemons]

“I met Peter Bernstein soon after I arrived in
New York City in 1988. Many people would have different ideas about what might constitute a '
New York' sound, if anything. I would call it more of an ethos that Pete came to personify for me, one that I still associate with my favorite players who reside in
New York. That ethos doesn't form one specific style of playing; it's more like a collection of deeply felt sentiments about jazz music that form the basis for a broad range of possible styles.


Those musical sentiments would include the importance of melody at all times in whatever you're expressing, which means playing phrases that have a shape to them and not just running licks. That in turn implies a healthy distrust of arbitrariness in general. It you're going to play a tune, you don't fudge on learning the melody. Pete was the first musician I met who would make periodic pilgrimages to the New York Public Library to get the original sheet music for, say, an Irving Berlin tune.


That was one of many valuable lessons that I got from Pete early on. If you go to the original source to learn a tune, your arrangement of it will speak authentically as your own take on that song, instead of being your version of Miles Davis' version, for example. I think that's why whenever I hear Pete play a standard, it never sounds arbitrary. He always seems to create a definitive version of a tune, one that intersects gracefully between an unapologetic affection for the original song, and his own personal musical choices for his arrangement. They include the way he phrases the melody, his improvisation, and a host of other factors that make you smile as a listener and say, "That's Pete." Dedicated to You on this record is a perfect example. Listen to how he lovingly treats the melody - it sounds like this is his own song.

The first time I heard Peter Bernstein was at a jam session, playing on a medium slow blues. With me in the audience were several musical peers, including Larry Goldings. Larry was just starting to play the organ in addition to piano, and eventually would form the heaviest, most original organ trio jazz has seen in the last two decades, with Pete on guitar and Bill Stewart, who joins Pete on this record, on drums. ....


The blues had been going on for almost half an hour and everyone's interest had peaked after about 4 minutes. Solo after solo ensued, full of well-intentioned but vapid testifying and shrieking from horn players and scat-singers. Just when it was getting painful, Pete began to solo. He basically annihilated everything that had preceded him and left all of us just shaking our heads in awe. We were emotionally reduced to jelly; he brought tears to our eyes. I left that day shaken.


What was it in his playing? To start with, there was a gravity to what he was doing emotionally that just drew me in - 'Dude, this is serious.' But it wasn't just serious for the sake of being serious. His playing was informed by what I can only describe as a profound love for music, in this case specifically the blues, which is so prevalent in Pete's music. It was like he had discovered something beautiful, and he wanted urgently to share it with all of us. A serious love that urgently needs to be shared with other people - it all translates into something that you might call the humanity in Pete's music. I felt like he was telling me something about myself that day, and I always feel that way when I hear him.



Pete's reading on this record of Strayhorn's masterpiece, Blood Count, is a case in point. In a solo guitar setting, he gives it to us stripped down. The naked desolation of the tune speaks all the more clearly. But Pete doesn't push the point. He never veers into sentimentality. and allows the pathos to speak for itself by giving us a reading that's devoid of affectation. Many other musicians would be tempted to milk this song much more. The melody, with its exotic chord tones and glissandos, and the fragrant Strayhorn harmony that underpins it, almost cry out for an overtly expressive, theatrical reading. That's why this tune is so difficult to play - if you give into that temptation it can easily become sentimental. Pete's approach is to let the sentiment in the tune speak for itself - it's already there, it doesn't need to be magnified. He coaxes the emotion out of the tune instead of loudly stating it. The effect on me as a listener is that I get more from it, not less. This version of 'Blood Count' has a wonderful twofold quality, It has what I usually associate with the song - a raw feeling of mortality, like someone hanging on. But Pete gives you a bittersweet kind of recompense: If you're just hanging on in this music, then as you slip away, losing your grasp, you're finally able to see how beautiful everything really is.

I've come to believe that the sort of 'maturity' that Pete displays on 'Blood Count' is the kind of musical attribute that's more innate than acquired. It's a question of temperament. You start with that temperament already. It can be developed and refined, but if you don't have it to begin with, it can't really be learned. Pete's no slouch, and he has a real thirst for new musical discoveries. Over the years I've seen how he assimilates them into his own playing and writing like early on in our friendship when he got really deep into Billie Holiday, or a few years back when he turned me onto the music of Donny Hathaway. Nevertheless, there are certain qualities central to his music that he had from the gate. That was one of the things that always struck me and other musicians who were playing with Pete early on in our own development. Here we were absorbing all these influences at once, sounding like a different musician depending on what context we were playing in. But Pete, from the first time I heard him at least in 1988, already had his own identity - he sounded like Peter Bernstein in whatever situation he was in. That just blew us away.


One important quality of Pete's is his rhythmic authority. A good example on this record is his own Simple as That. This is the kind of tempo that inspires the cliché, 'separates the men from the boys,' It's a medium-slow groove, and Pete can wax in this vein like nobody's business. In the opening melody, and then in his solo later, his lines are relaxed and poised all at once. Pete's feel on this sort of tempo has always been devastatingly good - he sits a little behind the beat and gets you into this slow-burn state. That quiet authority of his, though, comes from the consistency in his line: He never gets away from his ideas, he never rushes inadvertently, and nothing is ever the slightest bit unclear in what he's communicating. When I'm playing behind him on a tune like this, his mixture of relaxed swing and total clarity has the effect of pulling me into his musical statement completely. I've only had that experience playing with a few other musicians. It's what they mean when they say someone has a 'big beat.'


That quality of Pete's is probably both innate and absorbed. He always had this incredible sense of pacing in his playing, a sort of patience rhythmically. But I definitely remember checking out who he was checking out and seeing what kinds of players in jazz pointed the way for him. He has his guitar heroes for sure, but more often than not, I've noticed how horn players influence Pete. So, that relaxed kind of rhythmic authority might be informed by tenor players that I know he loves - the built-in backbeat of Gene Ammons, the behind-the-beat long eighth-note lines of Dexter Gordon, or the strong, swinging logic of Sonny Rollins' phrases.


That brings up another thing about Pete that sets him apart for me: I've always thought of him less as a guitarist and more as a musician. His swing feel – that 'big beat' that he has - is something you associate more with a horn player than a guitar player. But it goes further than feel. Particularly in his writing, he's more concerned with purely musical matters, and less with guitar stuff. Incidentally, Pete is a competent piano player. It's kind of uncanny. Even when he plays the piano, not on his own axe, he still has a harmonic concept that's completely specific to him and no one else, like in the way he voices chords, or the progressions he comes up with when he's just noodling. I've noticed that Pete often begins writing a tune of his own by getting an initial idea at the piano - a progression or a little voice leading figure - and then moves over to the guitar to continue writing.

.....

[jordanklemons]

...


Heart's Content, the title track of the record, is a beauty. It's got some quintessential Peter Bernstein things going on. Check out the simplicity and economy of the melody. Except on the brief bridge and the coda, the melody always stays wonderfully in one minor scale, outlining a specific shape and building off of it. While the chords under it are moving and shifting a fair amount, the melody is a constant; the bluesy melancholy it gives off acts as a binder for all the harmonic activity. A lot of Pete's tunes operate on this principle of placing a largely diatonic, simple melody over some advanced, often dense chords that move a fair amount. The effect on the listener is a great kind of give and take. You get pushed along with the movement of the harmony, responding to the flux, but at the same time are emotionally anchored by the melody. And Pete is never very far away from that melody in his solo statement.


Two predecessors for that sort of jazz compositional approach might come to mind, mainly Thelonious Monk and Wayne Shorter. I know that Pete has absorbed their music a lot. There's something more about Pete that he has in common with those two jazz composers. His tunes are stitched together so well, there's so much compositional logic to them, that you can't just willy-nilly superimpose your own vocabulary when it comes time to solo. You have to address the tune in some way in your improvisations; it sort of compels you to do so. If you simply paste your own licks onto one of Pete's tunes, you run the risk of sounding strangely irrelevant, like an unwanted dinner guest. ….


I remember Pete telling me what one of his teachers, the late great pianist Jaki Byard, shared with him about playing jazz: "You can't lie." I suspect what Jaki Byard meant is that even if you try to lie as a player, you'll wind up telling the truth to anyone who has ears enough to hear it - that you're up there on the bandstand, just trying to lie, and you're not fooling anyone in the long run.


Peter Bernstein has a rare honesty about him as a musician. Quite simply, that quality comes naturally to him, because he has nothing to lose by being honest. The music that he offers the listener is always something that he's carried within himself first, and then loved into being. It's a beautiful world unto itself, and Heart's Content is a good place to either continue enjoying that world, or discover it for the first time.


Brad Mehldau, March 2003”

[sgcim]

Yeah, and the Bradster also said in an interview on NPR, when the interviewer said that many people were comparing him to Bill Evans, "I don't know where people get that from. I've listened to some of Bill Evans, and I don't even think he was a good jazz pianist."

[goldenwave77]

Yeah, and the Bradster also said in an interview on NPR, when the interviewer said that many people were comparing him to Bill Evans, "I don't know where people get that from. I've listened to some of Bill Evans, and I don't even think he was a good jazz pianist."

Shepik's comment on Bill Evans is amazing because it contains a real live opinion (whether one agrees with it or not).


Does anyone remember a British satirical magazine from the 80's? I think it was either Private Eye or Spy. Whatever it was called, they used to have a regular feature called "Logrolling in our time..." It featured excerpts/blurbs from book reviews and/or jackets, and would show how Author A would praise Author B, and then how B would praise A, each in effusive terms.

They could probably start a similar column for musicians. I mean who can take this stuff seriously?!

I was beginning to think all musicians were secret Republicans, as the head of the Republican National Committee once decreed that the 11th Commandment was "Thou shall never criticize another Republican."

[sgcim]

Shepik's comment on Bill Evans is amazing because it contains a real live opinion (whether one agrees with it or not).


Does anyone remember a British satirical magazine from the 80's? I think it was either Private Eye or Spy. Whatever it was called, they used to have a regular feature called "Logrolling in our time..." It featured excerpts/blurbs from book reviews and/or jackets, and would show how Author A would praise Author B, and then how B would praise A, each in effusive terms.

They could probably start a similar column for musicians. I mean who can take this stuff seriously?!

I was beginning to think all musicians were secret Republicans, as the head of the Republican National Committee once decreed that the 11th Commandment was "Thou shall never criticize another Republican."

Uh, we're talking about Brad Mehldau, not Brad Shepik.

[goldenwave77]

Uh, we're talking about Brad Mehldau, not Brad Shepik.

Same point....musician blurbs are the equivalent of magazine puff pieces. Its actually irrelevant, at least to me, who made the comment. The point is that so few of them can be taken at face value.

Go read this comment about "music being loved into being." Don't you think this is laying it on a little thick?! I almost reached for a barf bag.

[grahambop]

Same point....musician blurbs are the equivalent of magazine puff pieces. Its actually irrelevant, at least to me, who made the comment. The point is that so few of them can be taken at face value.

Go read this comment about "music being loved into being." Don't you think this is laying it on a little thick?! I almost reached for a barf bag.

At least you could always rely on good old Miles Davis to be rude about virtually everybody. I think the only 2 people he regarded as sacrosanct were Louis and the Duke.

[NSJ]

At least you could always rely on good old Miles Davis to be rude about virtually everybody. I think the only 2 people he regarded as sacrosanct were Louis and the Duke.

And top of his list, A trumpet player from E St. Louis ---Clark Terry. When CT talked, Miles STFUed and listened. wHen CT walked into the room, Miles made sure he didn't have to pay for any drink ever.

[goldenwave77]

There is nothing wrong with, and a lot that is right about, musical respect. I think Miles respected Dizzy, his 2nd great group personnel, Monk, Mingus, Duke and a lot of others.

Dizzy respected Charlie Parker, musically, but had to part company when he couldn't put up with his antics.

I just don't find musical puff pieces by other musicians to be helpful, or even convincing. Frankly they put me off. I suppose they can be ignored.

[wolflen]

I just UTubed some of Brad Mehldau..has some of Keith Jarretts physical mannerisms while playing..I give little credence to the quote about Bill Evans .. but then again I have heard some say Hendrix and McLaughlin were just average players ..

two pieces caught my ear River Man by Nick Drake and Hey Joe - there are several writers given credit for this tune..River Man is a very melancholy piece that Drake played on guitar..in essence it has a resemblance to Tim Hardins "It will never happen again" and Misty Roses.. Brad gets the melodic feel of the tune but misses on the mood-that's my take..On Hey Joe..he seems to want Hendrix to sit this one out..its a fairly simple tune using the cycle of fifths as the harmonic framework..Brad does not wonder far from it..and tries to quote Jimi several times but to me he falls flat..

I would like to hear Brad work with Ben Monder...that would be fun

[Fortune]

I don't understand the need to jab at one who's dead. dislike.

[sgcim]

I just UTubed some of Brad Mehldau..has some of Keith Jarretts physical mannerisms while playing..I give little credence to the quote about Bill Evans .. but then again I have heard some say Hendrix and McLaughlin were just average players ..

two pieces caught my ear River Man by Nick Drake and Hey Joe - there are several writers given credit for this tune..River Man is a very melancholy piece that Drake played on guitar..in essence it has a resemblance to Tim Hardins "It will never happen again" and Misty Roses.. Brad gets the melodic feel of the tune but misses on the mood-that's my take..On Hey Joe..he seems to want Hendrix to sit this one out..its a fairly simple tune using the cycle of fifths as the harmonic framework..Brad does not wonder far from it..and tries to quote Jimi several times but to me he falls flat..

I would like to hear Brad work with Ben Monder...that would be fun

Fast forward about 8:50 into it for the part about Bill Evans:
https://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/ondemand/106894

I agree that he totally missed the point of "River Man".

[KirkP]

Here's a nice 30-minute KPLU mini-concert & interview with Peter Bernstein.

http://www.kplu.org/post/live-studio...jazz-guitarist

[wolflen]

Fast forward about 8:50 into it for the part about Bill Evans:
https://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/ondemand/106894

I agree that he totally missed the point of "River Man".

thanks ... its a bit clearer now

[jordanklemons]

Yeah, and the Bradster also said in an interview on NPR, when the interviewer said that many people were comparing him to Bill Evans, "I don't know where people get that from. I've listened to some of Bill Evans, and I don't even think he was a good jazz pianist."

I was looking for the interview since you posted this comment as I wanted to hear him say it from his own mouth. I appreciate you posting the link.

So yes, he clearly isn't speaking highly of Bill, but in fairness, he didn't say what you said he did... and you probably shouldn't put your own words in quotes as someone else's. I didn't listen to the entire interview, I just fast forwarded to the 8:50 mark, so maybe he says those exact words somewhere else... but at 8:50, he says "I'm not even really crazy about his playing"... which is very different than saying "I don't think he was a good jazz pianist."

You also need to put it into context. Mehldau has been told for decades that he sounds just like Bill Evans, and that he clearly was heavily influenced by him. And he's been saying that that isn't true for decades. I don't even like when someone says something like that to me once, let alone everyone saying that for that many years. I can imagine it's gotten very old for him to respond to. Perhaps out of frustration for trying to get his point across, he felt that just saying he doesn't like his playing might help end the false belief so many hold. (PS, I actually love Bill Evans and he's one of my personal bigger influences... this response isn't against Bill's playing... it's just pro-individuality and wanting Mehldau to feel that he doesn't need to be made defensive just because he's a great piano player.)

Also, Brad reads and writes very deep, philosophical stuff. He always has. So it's not like this type of romantic verbiage is out of character for him. That's part of his thing. He writes the same way he plays.

It seems to me that the fact that Mehldau would be willing to say that about Bill Evans publicly would give more credence to the words he wrote about Peter... as he's not just some puff piece writing guy... he seems willing to speak truthfully as to how he feels about musicians.

Also, regarding Peter, if you've never met him, heard him play live, or played with him... then I could see how Mehldau's words would seem a little silly and over the top. Let's not forget that Jim Hall said "[Peter Bernstein] is the most impressive guitarist I've heard. He plays the best of them all for swing, logic, feel, and taste."

[sgcim]

You're right, I did screw up BM's quote, and I'm sorry for that, but his demeaning tone regarding BE (eg. "This guy", I don't know why people put "this guy" on a pedestal, I'm not really crazy about his playing') was pretty clear.

In the encyclopedic book "Jazz Styles", it's made extremely clear that there was Bud Powell, and then there was BE.
The author clearly states that Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, etc... derive their voicings from BE, and I doubt there would be a Brad Mehldau without a Bill Evans, whether he cares to acknowledge it or not.

You don't have to listen specifically to a player to be influenced by him.
He talks about being influenced by Miles Davis; who played piano on "Kind of Blue"?

I frankly don't like the attitude some of the players in that circle have about the guys who basically gave them the basic elements of their style.
Peter Leitch refers to Peter Bernstein as Peter GREENstein, and you know what that means...

[goldenwave77]

[QUOTE=jordanklemons;623401]
It seems to me that the fact that Mehldau would be willing to say that about Bill Evans publicly would give more credence to the words he wrote about Peter... as he's not just some puff piece writing guy... he seems willing to speak truthfully as to how he feels about musicians.

No, in fact it illustrates perfectly the opposite proposition. It's OK to speak ill of the dead, because there won't be any response. But as for the living....let's see--I plug you, you plug me...we all plug each other under the yum yum tree. I mean your example couldn't be a more perfect illustration of backscratching, or "logrolling in our time" as Private Eye used to term it.


Also, regarding Peter, if you've never met him, heard him play live, or played with him... then I could see how Mehldau's words would seem a little silly and over the top. Let's not forget that Jim Hall said "[Peter Bernstein] is the most impressive guitarist I've heard. He plays the best of them all for swing, logic, feel, and taste."[/QUOTE]

Maybe so...the proof, in any event, is in the listening...not in the puffery. This stuff just makes me cringe, though.

[jordanklemons]

You're right, I did screw up BM's quote, and I'm sorry for that, but his demeaning tone regarding BE (eg. "This guy", I don't know why people put "this guy" on a pedestal, I'm not really crazy about his playing') was pretty clear.

No apologies necessary. I paraphrase all the time. Just worth keeping in mind that when you type something out on a public forum that's a paraphrase and put it in quotation, people will assume it's verbatim. At least, I did.

He could have meant it in the way that you interpreted it. I understood it to mean that he was tired of every critic and every interviewer for 20 years trying to put him in a box and to get him to admit that it's all from Bill. But there's no way either of us could know, so whichever it is doesn't bother me as it's only conjecture.

You don't have to listen specifically to a player to be influenced by him.
He talks about being influenced by Miles Davis; who played piano on "Kind of Blue"?

True. But you also can sound like another musician without having been influenced by them. Goes both ways. And he also says that he does own a couple of his records. Which, right or wrong, I interpreted to mean that he admits he listens to him and enjoys him, but doesn't derive his approach to music directly from him. But who knows? Either way, I sympathize with a brilliant artist who's been forced to live in another artist's shadow for 20 years against his will.

I frankly don't like the attitude some of the players in that circle have about the guys who basically gave them the basic elements of their style.
Peter Leitch refers to Peter Bernstein as Peter GREENstein, and you know what that means...

That's fine. I just see the evolution of the musical tradition as more open. I don't think there are just one or two people who formed it. I think it's ever evolving and ever influencing. And every generation grows up hearing what the older generation did, learning from it, and then turning it into their own thing. I think if there weren't an industry of critics trying to pin everyone down and explain to the world what an artist is doing, and how and why they sound the way they do... I think younger artists would be less likely to get defensive about it. Yes, all of these guys are influenced by the older generation. But they're also influenced by each other, by the current pop music, by classical music, and by plenty of other things. But even still, none of these influences GAVE any of this stuff to any of the players in this circle. All of these guys have worked their asses off for decades to accomplish their voice. Just like BE did.

You can find Brad 'defending' himself against being just BE copycat as far back as the liner notes in his art of the trio cds back in the 90s. I interpreted his comments about BE in the interview you posted as defensive frustration. But again, I have no idea his true intentions. None of us can.

My personal assumption, having never met the guy, is that if you were buddies with him and hanging out playing tunes one day and BE came up... he would probably talk lovingly and respectfully about the guy. Just like Pete would probably talk respectfully about Green. But if you interview them for 20 years and ask constantly for them to admit in an interview that they're just copying BE or Green, they're probably going to say no a lot. And maybe on a particularly bad day get frustrated and take it a bit too far.

[jordanklemons]

No, in fact it illustrates perfectly the opposite proposition. It's OK to speak ill of the dead, because there won't be any response. But as for the living....let's see--I plug you, you plug me...we all plug each other under the yum yum tree. I mean your example couldn't be a more perfect illustration of backscratching, or "logrolling in our time" as Private Eye used to term it.

Okay.

Maybe so...the proof, in any event, is in the listening...not in the puffery. This stuff just makes me cringe, though.

I'm not sure if you're just playing the devil's advocate for the devil's advocates sake here - since this stuff makes you cringe. Or if you actually don't find anything of value in Pete's playing. Either way, that was exactly my point...

"Also, regarding Peter, if you've never met him, heard him play live, or played with him... then I could see how Mehldau's words would seem a little silly and over the top." - me

[jordanklemons]

Here's a nice 30-minute KPLU mini-concert & interview with Peter Bernstein.

Live Studio Session: Peter Bernstein - First-Call Jazz Guitarist | KPLU News for Seattle and the Northwest

Nice find... thanks K! Haven't come across this yet.

[sjl]

Yeah, and the Bradster also said in an interview on NPR, when the interviewer said that many people were comparing him to Bill Evans, "I don't know where people get that from. I've listened to some of Bill Evans, and I don't even think he was a good jazz pianist."

I don't change any of my Evans albums for a Mehldau one. I try to justify this comment being a sort of a "killyourmasters" attitude, but Mehldau, even Jarrett are so small in my book compared with Evans.
I am going to listen Undercurrent just now to forget this.

[Groyniad]

At least you could always rely on good old Miles Davis to be rude about virtually everybody. I think the only 2 people he regarded as sacrosanct were Louis and the Duke.

and bill evans?

if bm is serious about evans he's much less of a musician than i thought he might be. what he says about pb is good - but it applies even more obviously to bill evans - without whom it would have become unhip to play standards a very very long time before it in fact did.

bm plays aimlessly in comparison to evans - consistently

[sgcim]

and bill evans?

if bm is serious about evans he's much less of a musician than i thought he might be. what he says about pb is good - but it applies even more obviously to bill evans - without whom it would have become unhip to play standards a very very long time before it in fact did.

bm plays aimlessly in comparison to evans - consistently

This is a good description of one of the things that makes Evans so special; every aspect of his playing is so packed with nuance, development and complexities in rhythm, melody and harmony, that he makes other players seem aimless in comparison.
I experience this almost weekly when I play with a pianist who since the age of eleven, has devoted himself to capturing BE's thought so completely, I actually feel like I'm playing with BE himself.

We played last night, and the bass player and I were talking about the first time we played with him. We felt like we were completely lost, because there was so much going on that we had to hear and adapt to.

An example of how well we've adapted to him was evident when we all found ourselves playing chromatically descending altered dominant chords in the middle of his solo on ATTYA.

I happened to be on the same film score forum as Evan Evans, BE's son, and he described his father's music to me as being a kind of new, spontaneously composed, classical music.

[Groyniad]

but it swings so hard i can't hear at as remotely classical - despite the complexity and refinement. its more bud powell than debussy

of course bud himself has a classical thing going on too... but its his time i'm thinking of

what a wonderful thing to get to play regularly with someone who generates a genuine evans feel

evans, parker and bud powell are how i discovered jazz - and i've spent a lot of time working out parker stuff and some powell too - but really getting down to learning some bill evans stuff is something i feel i'm still not ready for

[Doctor Jeff]

Well I think Bud, Bill and Brad are all fine keyboardists. I am a huge Bill Evans fan--admittedly he did not play consistently well toward the end of his life as the drug dependency and liver failure took over, but he is probably my favorite modern pianist. Such a lyrical player.

Re' Miles and Louis and Diz--I think Miles respected their playing and role in music--how could he not? But in his autobiography he says it bothered him that they "shucked and jived" in front of the (mainly) white audiences. Miles' cultural biases were as strong as his musical ones.

Anyway, having heard or read a gazillion musician quotes over the years I always take them with about a pound of salt. A favorite interview thing is to say, what do you think of so-and-so, hoping to get a good quote, all the better if it's negative.