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Jeff Andrews - Three Views of a Secret
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Although the Electric Bass has become the general standard in rock, pop and Rhythm and blues, it bas long struggled to be accepted by the Jazz community. The Instrument is still shunned by most in the jazz community despite the immensely creative and artistic contributions of Jaco Pastorius, Steve Swallow, Anthony Jackson, and John Pattituci, amongst many others. The reasons for the rejection of the electric bass by a large part of the jazz community are understandable and vague at the same time. On one hand, many believe that jazz music should remain an organic medium. Musicians of this point of view believe strongly in the natural sound of acoustic instruments. Others more logically argue that the substance of the music can only be judged by the content itself and not by peripheral details such as what instruments are being used to create the music. Steve Swallow once put it very well, saying "I've always thought the means are a fair game.... I feel as comfortable with digital delays as with the fingerboard of my bass, and as strongly connected to them... .so, I'm prepared to lose even more friends, if Necessary!"(Bass Heroes.Mulhern pg.61) Swallow's humor is only partly ironic. It is true that his own decision to play electric bass has cost him some, but not nearly as much as he has gained.
It seems there are fewer and fewer musicians prepared to take on the Electric Bass and the adversity that comes with it. The reasons for that tendency are understandable. It's simply difficult to play an instrument that people have preconceptions of. One musician who bas stood by the electric instrument, forged a unique and virtuosic style on It, and has had an immensely successful touring and recording career has been Jeff Andrews.
Jeff Andrews was born in 1960 and raised in Baltimore. He was born into a musical family and took to music very quickly. Growing up in the 60's and early 70's, he was able to hear a great diversity of music on the radio. It was a time when Rock and Jazz musicians both were trying to find new ways to expand their musical palette. Miles Davis was expanding his band to include some of the finest musicians playing electric keyboards, guitars and basses. The Beatles had long since retired from performing to isolate themselves in a recording studio and record landmark albums such as "Sgt. Pepper" and "Revolver" amongst many others. It was a great time to be a musician. Jeff's first instrument was a Fender bass and he quickly began playing with friends in garage bands, inspired by all the musical change and exciting sounds of the times. It was after hearing Jaco Pastorius that he decided he wanted to study music on a higher level in order to understand his instrument in greater depth. He decided to attend the preparatory division at Peabody conservatory and began studying harmony and theory, all the while continuing to play locally. After graduating high school he applied to Berklee College of music in Boston and was accepted.
Jeffs main interest in going to music school was to study composition. Unfortunately the program at the school made that difficult since only seniors were allowed to study composition. "I tested out of all the ear training and harmony classes, everything through modal harmony, counter point and classical theory. Technically I was advanced enough for these composition classes. That was my main objective, but they started throwing roadblocks in my way.... English courses, music appreciation classes ...... otherwise 1 would have gone through the program much too fast. They just wanted the tuition and were blocking me from these courses so 1 left school". After Jeff left Berklee, he spent some time in LA before moving to NY in the spring of 1983. He began what he refers to as a series of apprenticeships with several amazing musicians. Many of them were saxophone players. This was to greatly shape Jeff's playing and musical thinking. Some of the amazing people he played with were Wayne Shorter, Bob Berg, Bob Mintzer and Mike Brecker. Mike Brecker discovered Jeff, Mike Stern and Adam Nussbaum playing at the 55 band and decided to take them on the road and into the studio as his first band. Kenny Kirkland later rounded out the band on keys. "I played a lot with sax players.... the cream of the crop and these guys were idols of mine. Wayne Shorter was one of my biggest influences and Mike Brecker of course..... Playing with those guys I took the opportunity to pick up as much information from them as 1 could". One can easily bear those influences in Jeff's playing. His soloing is harmonically very sophisticated as well as highly developed melodically and thematically. Good examples of Jeff's sax influenced solos can be found on "Bait Tone Blues" from Mike Stern's "Between the Lines" album, as well as "Bruze", From Bob Berg's "Cycles" record. Jeff states that "I've found that most great players are so humble and cool, so I wasn't afraid to ask questions and 1 was able to learn so much about playing and writing from them." He jokes saying that "Wayne Shorter would speak in such a cryptic and metaphorical way that you would have to reflect for a while on his statements and suggestions..... It might dawn on yon the next day what he meant!" Jeff absorbed all of that indispensable harmonic, rhythmic and melodic vocabulary through osmosis, transcription and verbal communication with his incredible employers.
This was also a period of intense touring around the globe with Michael Brecker and his wonderful band. "Mike Brecker was one of my favorite players to work with. He was so incredible, and humble and fun. He was like a side man in his own band!" According to Jeff the most valuable thing he learned from all these sax virtuosi was how to express the harmony in linear way. Horn players can't play chords so their lines have to be as harmonically clear as possible. The Music of J.S Bach has this same perfect linear harmonic clarity. His Cello suites are a good example of this concept outside of a Jazz context. Charlie Parker and John Coltrane are great examples of this concept within a Jazz context. Spelling out the harmony can be just a technical exercise, but making it an artistic expression is where the skill of the performer shines through. Understanding the voice leading is the key to playing solos at the level that Jeff was aspiring to play at the time. "There is something unique about those instruments in that they have to imply the harmony and also play melody. You'll find the best linear improvising among horn players. They are also always playing melodies to these tunes so their melodic sense becomes highly developed. I listened to a lot of these guys and transcribed a lot of their solos". The ability to converse with different players on the road was also indispensable. Jeff was always very curious about the connection between harmony and melody and developed some unique ways to both understand it, and also to express it to his students." If you isolate melodies they have shape and form to them, I compare a melody to a woman's body and harmony is her dress and make-up. Depending on how you harmonize a melody the difference can be like night and day!" This is a great analogy, and one that very vividly illustrates the codependent relationship that melody and harmony have with one another. This understanding is crucial to improvisers, and especially to composers.
Jeff is blessed to have worked with some of the best drummers in the world. Some of them include Peter Erskine, Adam Nussbaum, Omar Hakim, Dennis Chambers, Dave Weckl and many others. It's fascinating how bass players and drummers with different feelings for where the beat lies can still connect, create an incredible pocket, and fire a band up with an amazing groove. Jeff has had amazing experience with this issue as a touring and studio musician. He also has a unique way of putting it into words for his students to grasp. "When I talk about time I like to define that because people have different concepts of what time is. I define it as two different things. There is one called absolute time which is the space between two points. It's like the space between two stars in the universe. In space we measure distance by how long it takes to get from one point to another. This time is absolute, 60 seconds in a minute right? Time feel is an interpretation of the space between these two stars, or between points A and B. If you look at points A and B as 7am and 7pm then the space between them is filled with the events of that day. These events can be of infinite quantity. What happens between two quarter notes is the same thing. How you fill that space creates your own personal feel, and is variable, but those two points are absolute". Again here Jeff shows why he is in such high demand as a player and teacher. (He is currently teaching at The New School as well as the Manhattan School of Music) He simply has the ability to express an abstract and nebulous idea in a very clear, succinct and beautiful way. His understanding of time and feel as two closely related yet different concepts has rendered him malleable enough to respect and adapt to the diversity of time feels of so many wonderful and different drummers. This is very similar to legendary stories you hear about Pablo Casals playing Bach's Cello Suites. If you know the tempo and amount of measures in the Courante from the first Cello Suite, you can extrapolate almost exactly what the performance time will be. Let's imagine its 3:35. Let's imagine a hypothetical Situation where Casals would push, pull and breath in the time in his rendering of the Courante and yet his performance time is 3:35 on the nose. This illustrates the point that Jeff is trying to make. It's simple yet difficult to grasp. Jeff feels that what really defines a musician is his or her time feel. He feels it's impossible to copy or imitate the way someone fills the space between beats. "A great example of that was Jaco Pastorius. He had a very unique and personal feel when he played 16th notes. Many people were able to cop his sound but nobody could ever cop his feel...... it was too personal. It's odd, but no matter how hard you try to be like someone else you never will because of that variable. Feel is very personal and becomes existential after a while; it's the most personal part of music for why does one person feel something one way and another person another way? I don't know but I'm glad they do because that's what makes everyone different" In an interview for Bass player Magazine Jeff went in to more detail about his simple yet effective practice routine. "Good time is all about awareness and listening while you're playing and listening back to performances. You should record yourself and work with the metronome as much as possible. When I play anything that's swing oriented I put the metronome on beats two and four, because that's how swing phrasing lies....... All that work develops your interna1 clock, and also builds your confidence, and that's 90% of good time playing." (Bass Player Dec.98, Richard Johnston) Along with his metronome and time studies, transcribing solos and learning them has also figured prominently into Jeff's practicing routine. This practice teaches one volumes about Harmony and Melody but can also expand your technique to incredible proportions. Charlie Parker and John Coltrane solos work great as etudes as well as musical studies. Considering no one has ever written a book of electric bass etudes, these solos are amongst the only option for a player seeking to expand his or her technique.
In the mid 90's after years of being a sideman Jeff turned his attention to forming his own band. What ensued was "The New Standards Band". Jeff led this band with Vibes player Joe Locke. Jeff's idea was to present and pass on Jazz to the next generation of musicians by putting it in a context they could understand. He worked to find tunes that had enough of a rhythmic and Harmonic foundation to support Jazz improvisation. This was very challenging at best. Jeff also wanted to use musicians in the band that had a love and appreciation for pop music as well as Jazz. He wanted the project to be a sincere tribute to the great rock musicians of the 60's and 70's such as Jimi Hendrix, Cream and Led Zeppelin. Finding these types of musicians was very difficult in New York. One can hear a great example of some of Jeff's concept for the "New Standards" band on the Vita! Information record "Where We Come From". They play a great version of Led Zeppelin's "Moby Dick". They turn the tune into a burning minor blues, alter the harmonic rhythm a bit, and create a fantastic arrangement. The Blowing is on these altered minor blues changes and Jeff takes an incredible and virtuosic solo that is equally informed by both Be-Bop and Blues. Tom Coster, Frank Gambale and Steve Smith don’t sound bad either!
Jeff Andrews was also the first musician to book music at the 55 bar on Christopher Street in the early 80's. Since then the 55 bar scene has blossomed into one of the most popular venues to hear some of the cities finest musical talent. The venue has played host to great musicians and bands such as Mike Stem and his trio featuring Jeff Andrews and Dave Weckl. Wayne Krantz and his band, featuring Anthony Jackson and Ari Hoenig, have also become regulars 55 bar performers. The tiny venue has also been regularly played by some of the legends of Jazz music including Jaco Pastorius, Cecil Taylor and Don Cherry. Jeff Elaborates: "The place looks like a palace now compared to what it was! The people that hung out there, I could write a book. It was like the "Twilight Zone"! I saw this guy falloff a stool and die there once. He just drank himself to death." Clearly the 55 has taken quite a turn for the better since those days. Jeff was instrumental in making that happen. He made a lot of very smart decisions and eventually, without any advertising, created a buzz about the place in the city. "I met the club owner (who was notorious slum lord) and explained to him that the city needed a place where musicians could just hang out and play. I wanted it to be more informal, not like the Vanguard or Sweet Basil. I wanted a place where we could just converse, play originals and test drive ideas. I didn't want a cover charge so that people could just come in and sit in and play. I started doing the gig with guitarist Randy Johnston" Eventually the once a week engagement turned into a four nights a week gig. As the momentum around the club built, Jeff Started thinking about some other guitar players he could bring down to play. It was as if by serendipity when he ran into Mike Stem on the street that same day. At the time Mike was just out of Miles Davis' band and having a hard time. It turns out he was looking for a quiet venue where he could just get his chops and confidence back together. Mike agreed to join Jeff at the 55 for some informal gigs. This was when the club really took off. There were lines around the street with people wanting to catch the show and sit in. "It turned into a nightmare. Everybody started calling asking to play there. I'd come home and my answering machine would he full! So I started giving nights to Jaco, Victor Bailey, and I gave Sunday rights to Leni Stern." Jeff says that amongst other things his time playing got very strong during this period because he was playing without a drummer every night. He had to function as a bass player and drummer and this became an invaluable experience for him. "That's where I got it all together. I was playing every night, and I was studying and transcribing everyday." Eventually they did start hiring in drummers though and the scene grew even further. Adam Nussbaum came in and joined Jeff and Mike Stem every Monday and Wednesday night, and that eventually became the core of Mike Brecker's band. "I knew that it was amazing when I got to Japan and read about the 55 bar in the newspaper there. I couldn't believe it." The 55 is currently a great place to hear music, although the original idea for the venue has he come somewhat diluted. It certainly is not a cheap venue anymore and the current owner, unable to resist. has turned the club into a highly lucrative venture. Despite all of that, the club has been instrumental in starting a new downtown music scene and Jeff Andrews obviously is the man responsible for starring the whole thing. It's also important to note that he went into it with some very noble intentions. Recently Jeff was approached to play a reunion show at the 55. He declined when he began to feel that the owner's sole motive for recruiting the original cast of musicians was solely to make a large profit: "It was obvious she was only interested in making money from it. I backed out of it."
In spending time with Jeff Andrews many fascinating points come to light. One is struck by his sense of humility and his sense of values. Even though he has surely done very, very well for himself as a bassist and professor it's clear there are certain lines he will not cross to make a buck. This is more than refreshing in the music business..... .its inspiring. He continues to reach out to a younger generation of bass players and pass on the knowledge he has acquired. He recently returned from a three-week convention in Brazil where he was teaching over 60 bass students. He continues to teach at the New School and The Manhattan School in New York City. He is also on the cutting edge of technology, presenting clinics live online with the help of Yamaha, a company he is endorsed by.
As a Bassist he is able to both groove and solo with equal virtuosity. He has toured the world 15 times over with some of the finest players in the world. These musicians include Mike Stem, Bob Mintzer, the great Bob Berg, Dennis Chambers, The Gil Evans Orchestra, Mike Brecker, Wayne Shorter and Kenny Kirkland amongst many others. He has been a presence on the scene for over 20 years and helped shape the Jazz performer’s landscape in NYC by putting the 55 bar on the Map.
At present Jeff is bard at work on a highly anticipated solo album. The album will be a pivotal moment in what has so far been a long and illustrious career. It will probably feature a great cast of collaborators and will be informed by all the things Jeff has learned wm his 1ravels around the world and his incredible mends and band mates. I'm certain many are looking forward to this exciting release by a phenomenal, humble and underrated musician and composer.
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