Dave Burrell/Sam Woodyard

A newly discovered session featuring two Jazz musicians of different generations proves that a common language exists among improvisers, no matter how antagonistic their styles are supposed to be. Souvenir of a three-month Paris club gig pianist Dave Burrell, then 30, and drummer Sam Woodyard, 54, shared in 1979, the session was recorded soon afterwards for a label that soon went out of business. Resorted from a cassette dub, the music features tunes from Burell’s soon-to-be recorded Windward Passages opera plus three familiar standards. The anomaly is that fo0llowing his work with Archie Shepp, Noah Howard and others Burell was supposed to be a Free Jazz player, while Woodyard, who was the drummer in Duke Ellington’s orchestra from 1955-1966 was typecast as a Swing avatar.

Woodyard certainly played that role elsewhere as well as being overly dependent on booze to the point of being an alcoholic. But here musical or personal habits don’t interfere as he amplifies the originals tunes with the same lively but understated rhythm he brings to the more familiar ones. Subtle smacks, cymbal clips and a practiced backbeat tap are used, with a minimum of bomb dropping.

Burell’s compositions like “On a Saturday Night”, “Black Robert” and “A.M. Rag” meanwhile draw on the Ragtime, Swing and Boogie-Woogie traditions that would have been even more familiar to Woodyard than the Hawaii-raised Burrell. In fact though the pianist’s driving Blues patterns and behind-the-beat emphasis could have secured him a honky-tonk residency prior to World War Two.

Unlike revivalists though his syncopated playing isn’t keyboard recreation. The driving expositions, include deviations into more abstract pulses, stop-time interludes, careful note placement, slides from airy tinkles to pedal point emphasis and at times rococo and dramatic interlude, would likely have even appealed to Ellington.

“Punaluu Peter”, the longest and most complex track, uses modernist phrasing that emphasize keyboard jump, stabs and slides, as the exposition moves from pressurized to more tension-ridden. Meanwhile the drummer’s individual pops, cymbal reverb and press rolls match the piano parts clearly even as the tempo doubles along with the stresses.

No one would confuse this session with Ellington études or Burrell’s more ambitious programs with larger bands. Yet it’s still highly enjoyable Jazz and an indication that an old drummer can learn new tracks or make the old ones work in new situations, at least if paired with a sympathetic partner.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. On a Saturday Night 2. A.M. Rag 3. Lush Life (Strayhorn) 4. Punaluu Peter 5. Sarah’s Lament 6. Stepping Out (or, Monday Night Death Rehearsal) 7. Embraceable 8. Black Robert 9. My Dog Has Fleas/Menehune Messages 10. Sophisticated Lady

Personnel: Dave Burrell (piano) and Sam Woodyard (drums)