Wednesday, October 29, 2014
The Clare Fischer Orchestra
"Name an area of musical imagination and Clare Fischer’s probably been there, from jazz and classical to pop, rock and R&B. Everything the veteran composer/arranger/pianist does blends skillful craftsmanship with musical credibility" – Legendary Music Journalist Don Heckman
Track listing:
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Clare Fischer: Extension (1963)
Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com
West Coast jazz musicians of the '50s and early '60s tend to be viewed stereotypically as laid-back hot dogs who routinely recorded upbeat contrapuntal originals. As for West Coast orchestral arrangers, they are imagined as writers working mostly for pop albums and film.
In truth, artists and arrangers on the West Coast recorded quite a number of heavy dates during this period, including Russ Garcia'sWigville (1955), Jimmy Giuffre's Seven Pieces (1957), Ornette Coleman's Something Else!!! (1958) and Fred Katz's Folk Songs for Far Out Folks (1958). One such intensive album is Clare Fischer's Extension, a Pacific Jazz release which has just been reissued on CD in a glossy mini-LP case. [Pictured above: Clare Fischer, Getty Images]
Recorded over two days in 1963, the first session featured Gil Falco (tb); Bobby Knight (b-tb); Vince DeRosa, Richard Perissi and Fred Teuber (fhr); Tom Johnson (tu); Sam Most (fl); Ben Kantor and Louis Ciotti (cl); Jerry Coker (b-cl); Gary Foster (cl,ts); Don Shelton (cl,as); Jack Nimitz (bar); John Lowe (fl-1,pic-1); Clare Fischer (p,org); Bob West (b); Colin Bailey (d) and Larry Bunker (vib).
On the second date, a slightly modified group was used: Gil Falco (tb); Bobby Knight (b-tb); Vince DeRosa, Richard Perissi and Fred Teuber (fhr); Tom Johnson (tu); Bud Shank (fl,as) [pictured]; Don Shelton (cl,as); Gary Foster (cl,ts); John Lowe (cl,b-cl,bar,pic); Jerry Coker (ts); Clare Fischer (p,org,as); Bob West (b) and Colin Bailey (d).
Fischer was an admirer of Gary McFarland's modernist feel, Gil Evans' sighing Impressionism and Eddie Sauter's tonal intricacy. But on this album, there are traces of Duke Ellington's complex harmonic textures. Nevertheless, Fischer was distinctly his own man, brushing aside the styles of those he favored for new carefully crafted orchestral explorations. Here, aside from Jerry Coker's tenor sax solos and Fischer's own piano and organ solos, there is no other improvisation on the album.
After Extension was released on vinyl, it was reissued on vinyl again in 1983 on the Discovery label. Then, in 2003, it was released digitally as part of America the Beautiful by the Fischer family. Like many superb albums that have been forgotten, the only reason Extension is out now in its original form with original liner notes is because someone was passionate enough to make the effort. That someone is Jonathan Horwich, who has been producing albums since the early 1960s. As Jon told me in an email:
"I first became aware of Extension in 1964 or 1965 when I took piano lessons with Clare. My jazz record company at the time, Revelation, recorded him then as well as Warne Marsh, Gary Foster, Gary Peacock and others. I may issue more Clare Fischer big band stuff in the future, though I believe Extensionis his greatest work. It just holds together perfectly and is singularly original."
A month before his death in January, Fischer wrote a note for the reissue:
"I have always written music on my own terms, not bowing to pressure from producers to join in the latest stylistic fads or use the hottest musicians of the day. I recognized the 
genius of people such as Jerry Coker [pictured], Don Shelton, Gary Foster and many others long before the record industry really started paying attention to them because I have the ears to do so. Had I not insisted on the musicians I wanted back then, you would be listening to a much different album.
genius of people such as Jerry Coker [pictured], Don Shelton, Gary Foster and many others long before the record industry really started paying attention to them because I have the ears to do so. Had I not insisted on the musicians I wanted back then, you would be listening to a much different album.
"Similarly, my choice of instrumentation was not convenient for those trying to fit the recordings into existing music categories but it was essential for featuring Jerry exactly as I deemed. His superb tone and expressiveness float immutably over the unconventional woodwind and brass colorings. Consequently, I have never worried about my works standing the test of time because none of them were written with an expiration date in mind!"
Fischer's originals for Extension took four months to prepare, and he rehearsed the orchestra tirelessly prior to recording. The featured artist was Jerry Coker, who had this to say in the album's original notes:
"This is very difficult music—playing it is like patting your head and rubbing your stomach simultaneously, and you are constantly faced with concurrent lines and ideas that are going two different directions at once toward the same place."
The album opens deceptively with a frolicking waltz calledOrnithardy, with Fischer on the organ. Then the album promptly exits the predictable highway for an exploration of rougher musical terrain. The title track, with a fascinating orchestration, also features Fischer on organ.
I will admit that it took me about five listens to fully grasp the excitement and breadth of this album. Fischer is such a pretty arranger that you constantly half-expect Extension to veer into his more melodic approach. But the balance of the album steadfastly remains innovative, forcing you to meet the modern work on its own terms.
JazzWax tracks: The newly remastered CD and download of
Clare Fischer's Extension can be found at iTunes and Amazon here. By the way, the abstract cover was by Zoe Anne Fischer, Clare Fischer's first wife. Interestingly, the LP cover incorrectly displayed the piece's background as rust-orange. For the re-issue, it has been restored to its original tone.
Clare Fischer's Extension can be found at iTunes and Amazon here. By the way, the abstract cover was by Zoe Anne Fischer, Clare Fischer's first wife. Interestingly, the LP cover incorrectly displayed the piece's background as rust-orange. For the re-issue, it has been restored to its original tone.
JazzWax clip: Forget, if you will, that Robert Palmer can't handle this type of material. Instead, focus on the genius of Clare Fischer's arrangement of The Tender Trap:
Used with permission by Marc Myers
Used with permission by Marc Myers
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Pianist Scott Martin Remembers Clare Fischer
By Scott Martin
Clare took the building blocks and traditions of jazz, salsa, bossa nova and classical music and combined them in ways that were absolutely original and personal. In short, he developed his own harmonic language, which puts him in the company of the very greatest innovators of the jazz world.
The first time I encountered the late Clare Fischer’s music was playing
one of his big band charts as the pianist for my high school jazz band, back in
1973. I’d just gotten into the band as a sophomore and had to take the music
home and basically memorize it in order to be able to play it. It was in an odd
time signature and the piano part was a series of II-V, minor to dominant ninth
chord arpeggios that required all of my skills to master, yet made sense and
used voicings I already knew, but just in a way I’d never conceived of putting
them together before. In the years since, as I’ve gotten to know Clare’s
playing, writing and arranging a lot better, that original impression of his
music has never changed.
Clare took the building blocks and traditions of jazz, salsa, bossa nova and classical music and combined them in ways that were absolutely original and personal. In short, he developed his own harmonic language, which puts him in the company of the very greatest innovators of the jazz world.
About 10 years after learning his jazz band chart, I saw Clare perform
with his band at the Baked Potato in L.A. My friend was playing percussion in
the band and briefly introduced us. By that point I’d played “Pensitiva” and
“Morning,” his best known compositions, and listened over and over to his work
playing and arranging for the Brazilian genius Joao Gilberto.
A little later, I noticed he’d written the score for Prince’s
movie, Under the Cherry Moon. I also became familiar with his salsa
records with Poncho Sanchez that used closely harmonized vocal arrangements
he’d developed for the Hi-Los back in the ’50s combined with melodic and
rhythmic devices that recalled Stravinsky.
I’ve always admired the incredible range all of these various projects demonstrated. More recently, I even watched a scratchy YouTube link of him performing his own deeply moving arrangement of “America the Beautiful” on the huge pipe organ at the National Cathedral. Not many “jazz pianists” could stretch that far.
I’ve always admired the incredible range all of these various projects demonstrated. More recently, I even watched a scratchy YouTube link of him performing his own deeply moving arrangement of “America the Beautiful” on the huge pipe organ at the National Cathedral. Not many “jazz pianists” could stretch that far.
But the most indelible and valued memory I have of Clare is spending
most of the day with him a few years ago while I was in L.A. for a music
conference. I’d emailed him, recalling the time we’d met over 20 years before
at the Baked Potato, and mentioned some of the things I’d done after that as a
studio musician in N.Y.C. His wife, Donna, wrote back and said she was
corresponding for Clare since he was recovering from a broken leg, but invited
me to drop by when I’d be in town.
I came over in the morning and Clare sat and watched the entire live DVD
of my jazz band, which I’d really just brought to give him as a gift. As we
sat, drank coffee and ate cake Donna had made, I learned that they’d been close
in college, but both married different people and then came back together in
their later years. I thought that was highly romantic. In little asides, Clare
mentioned that “nobody” had ever played or recorded his songs correctly, that
Brazilian music had to be felt in half-time, and that he’d really made a good
living playing in the studios.
Afterwards he decided he wanted to go have lunch at his favorite Italian
restaurant just down the street and insisted I join him and Donna. He joked
with the waitresses and owner, who knew him well, and ordered food he wasn’t
supposed to eat, reminding me a lot of my grandfather, who always did those
very same things.
It was clear Clare had reached that great place in his life that musicians get to where they’re content with what they’ve accomplished and spread good nature everywhere they go, without judgment or discrimination. He totally opened his door to me, basically a perfect stranger, and reinforced for me the idea that the very best musicians are often the most humble and unassuming.
It was clear Clare had reached that great place in his life that musicians get to where they’re content with what they’ve accomplished and spread good nature everywhere they go, without judgment or discrimination. He totally opened his door to me, basically a perfect stranger, and reinforced for me the idea that the very best musicians are often the most humble and unassuming.
After lunch he again insisted on driving me back to my hotel, about a
half hour away. As we drove through Laurel Canyon, I thought about all of the
incredible musicians that have lived and worked in L.A. over the past decades
and how great the vibe of California has been for music for my entire life.
Since then I’ve gotten the occasional emails announcing his big band playing at
various L.A. spots and the release of some new and reissued records.
It is such a blessing to be able to connect the music you’ve grown up
with to the musicians who created it and I’ve been very lucky that way in my
life. When I heard on the jazz radio station in Denver that Clare had passed
away last week, and then heard the song they played to commemorate him, “Como
Come,” where he plays a grooving montuno piano part that a guy born in Michigan
in the 1920s has absolutely no business playing and where his ideas and
harmonies jump out of every bar, I thought back to that day I spent in his
company and turned up the radio even louder.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Clare Fischer dies at 83; versatile pianist, composer, arranger
The Grammy-winning musician's interests included jazz, Latin and pop music, and he released more than 50 albums under his name.
By Don Heckman, Special to The Los Angeles Times
Clare Fischer, a Grammy-winning pianist, composer and arranger who crossed freely from jazz toLatin and pop music, working with Dizzy Gillespie, George Shearing, Natalie Cole and Joao Gilberto as well as Paul McCartney, Prince, Spike Lee and Michael Jackson, has died. He was 83.
Fischer died Thursday at Providence St. Joseph's Medical Center in Burbank of complications of aheart attack suffered two weeks ago, according to family spokeswoman Claris Dodge.
Although Fischer entered the professional music world through jazz, his expansive creative perspective quickly grew to embrace many other musical areas.
"I relate to everything," he explained in a 1987 interview with The Times. "I'm not just jazz, Latin or classical. I really am a fusion of all of those, not today's fusion, but my fusion." He went on to describe his fascination with Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Bartok, as well as Duke Ellington, Bud Powell, Lee Konitz, Tito Puente and boogie-woogie pianist Meade Lux Lewis.
Regardless of the area in which he was working, Fischer's arranging and composing always possessed a rich harmonic palette, one that attracted and influenced other musicians.
"Clare Fischer was a major influence on my harmonic concept," noted Herbie Hancock, describing Fischer's arrangements for the 1950s vocal group the Hi-Lo's as having a significant impact upon his own recording, "Speak Like a Child."
Fischer's arranging was especially valued by pop and rock artists for the lush, classical qualities of the textures he created, especially for string ensembles. Working closely with his son, Brent Fischer, also an arranger and conductor, he provided arrangements and orchestrations for Paul McCartney, Chaka Khan, Carlos Santana, Rufus, Brandy, Prince and numerous others. His first film credit was the music for Prince's "Under the Cherry Moon."
In addition to his writing efforts, Fischer was a busy studio keyboardist, performing, composing or arranging for commercials, film and television scores, and more than 100 albums for other artists.
He also released more than 50 albums under his own name in a recording career that began in 1962 with the Pacific Records album "First Time Out." His diverse ensembles included the Latin groupSalsa Picante; the vocal ensemble 2 + 2; his Clarinet Choir; a big, 30-piece band called Clare Fischer's Jazz Corps; solo piano performances; pairings with Donald Byrd, Gary Foster, Jerry Coker and others; and a duo with Fischer's digital piano and the acoustic guitar of Helio Delmiro.
"After the Rain," produced in 2001, was his first classical recording, a collection of his symphonic works.
He won two Grammy awards, in 1981 for "Clare Fischer and Salsa Picante Present 2+2" and in 1986 for "Freefall."
Douglas Clare Fischer was born Oct. 22, 1928, in Durand, Mich., the third of four children. His first instruments were violin and piano. By the time he was in his teens, after his family had moved to Grand Rapids, he was composing and writing arrangements for big dance bands. His versatility as an instrumentalist grew to include cello, clarinet and saxophone during his high school years. In 1947, he entered Michigan State University, majoring in composition and theory, graduating in 1951 cum laude with a bachelor's degree in music.
After serving in the U.S. Army, he returned to Michigan State, receiving a master's in music in 1955.
Fischer's professional career escalated in the late 1950s during his five-year association as pianist/arranger/conductor with the musically adventurous Hi-Lo's. But it was his arrangements for Dizzy Gillespie's 1960 album, "A Portrait of Duke Ellington," that brought him the full attention of the jazz community. Albums for George Shearing, Cal Tjader, Bud Shank and Joe Pass followed. In the mid-'70s a reunion with Tjader also revived Fischer's fascination with Latin music via his Salsa Picante group. His affection for Brazilian music in general, and bossa nova in particular, resulted in albums such as "So Danco Samba," "Lembrancas" and "Symbiosis."
In the '80s, Fischer became an arranger and orchestrator of choice for many major pop artists.
In 1988, Fischer had a freeway encounter with another driver that climaxed in a physical confrontation at the side of the road. Fischer, 60 at the time, was pushed to the ground by the combined assault of the driver and his companion, suffering a hairline skull fracture and a concussion. He was in the hospital, in and out of consciousness for two weeks. It took nearly a year before he was able to return to music.
"If I discovered anything in that strange, 10-month period of recovery," he said in a 1992 interview, "it's that music is the one thing that makes me sane."
He is survived by his wife, Donna; his children, Lee, Brent and Tahlia; two stepchildren, Lisa and Bill Bachman; three grandchildren; and a brother, Stewart.
news.obits@latimes.com
Fischer died Thursday at Providence St. Joseph's Medical Center in Burbank of complications of aheart attack suffered two weeks ago, according to family spokeswoman Claris Dodge.
Although Fischer entered the professional music world through jazz, his expansive creative perspective quickly grew to embrace many other musical areas.
"I relate to everything," he explained in a 1987 interview with The Times. "I'm not just jazz, Latin or classical. I really am a fusion of all of those, not today's fusion, but my fusion." He went on to describe his fascination with Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Bartok, as well as Duke Ellington, Bud Powell, Lee Konitz, Tito Puente and boogie-woogie pianist Meade Lux Lewis.
Regardless of the area in which he was working, Fischer's arranging and composing always possessed a rich harmonic palette, one that attracted and influenced other musicians.
"Clare Fischer was a major influence on my harmonic concept," noted Herbie Hancock, describing Fischer's arrangements for the 1950s vocal group the Hi-Lo's as having a significant impact upon his own recording, "Speak Like a Child."
Fischer's arranging was especially valued by pop and rock artists for the lush, classical qualities of the textures he created, especially for string ensembles. Working closely with his son, Brent Fischer, also an arranger and conductor, he provided arrangements and orchestrations for Paul McCartney, Chaka Khan, Carlos Santana, Rufus, Brandy, Prince and numerous others. His first film credit was the music for Prince's "Under the Cherry Moon."
In addition to his writing efforts, Fischer was a busy studio keyboardist, performing, composing or arranging for commercials, film and television scores, and more than 100 albums for other artists.
He also released more than 50 albums under his own name in a recording career that began in 1962 with the Pacific Records album "First Time Out." His diverse ensembles included the Latin groupSalsa Picante; the vocal ensemble 2 + 2; his Clarinet Choir; a big, 30-piece band called Clare Fischer's Jazz Corps; solo piano performances; pairings with Donald Byrd, Gary Foster, Jerry Coker and others; and a duo with Fischer's digital piano and the acoustic guitar of Helio Delmiro.
"After the Rain," produced in 2001, was his first classical recording, a collection of his symphonic works.
He won two Grammy awards, in 1981 for "Clare Fischer and Salsa Picante Present 2+2" and in 1986 for "Freefall."
Douglas Clare Fischer was born Oct. 22, 1928, in Durand, Mich., the third of four children. His first instruments were violin and piano. By the time he was in his teens, after his family had moved to Grand Rapids, he was composing and writing arrangements for big dance bands. His versatility as an instrumentalist grew to include cello, clarinet and saxophone during his high school years. In 1947, he entered Michigan State University, majoring in composition and theory, graduating in 1951 cum laude with a bachelor's degree in music.
After serving in the U.S. Army, he returned to Michigan State, receiving a master's in music in 1955.
Fischer's professional career escalated in the late 1950s during his five-year association as pianist/arranger/conductor with the musically adventurous Hi-Lo's. But it was his arrangements for Dizzy Gillespie's 1960 album, "A Portrait of Duke Ellington," that brought him the full attention of the jazz community. Albums for George Shearing, Cal Tjader, Bud Shank and Joe Pass followed. In the mid-'70s a reunion with Tjader also revived Fischer's fascination with Latin music via his Salsa Picante group. His affection for Brazilian music in general, and bossa nova in particular, resulted in albums such as "So Danco Samba," "Lembrancas" and "Symbiosis."
In the '80s, Fischer became an arranger and orchestrator of choice for many major pop artists.
In 1988, Fischer had a freeway encounter with another driver that climaxed in a physical confrontation at the side of the road. Fischer, 60 at the time, was pushed to the ground by the combined assault of the driver and his companion, suffering a hairline skull fracture and a concussion. He was in the hospital, in and out of consciousness for two weeks. It took nearly a year before he was able to return to music.
"If I discovered anything in that strange, 10-month period of recovery," he said in a 1992 interview, "it's that music is the one thing that makes me sane."
He is survived by his wife, Donna; his children, Lee, Brent and Tahlia; two stepchildren, Lisa and Bill Bachman; three grandchildren; and a brother, Stewart.
news.obits@latimes.com
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