LYLE MAYS
Highland Aire
Teiko
Slink
Mirror of the Heart
Alaskan Suite:
- Northern Light
- Invocation
- Ascent
Close To Home
PLAYERS: Lyle (p, synths, autoharp), Billy Drewes (s), Bill Frisell (g), Marc Johnson (b), Alex Acuña (d), Nana Vasconcelos (perc, v)
REFLECTIONS
LYLE: I wrote “Highland Aire” in Sonata Allegro form, no jazz journalist ever noted that, I think it was because they both didn't understand Sonata Allegro form, didn't think that some kid would repurpose some old classical form in a new and compelling way, and did not in fact either speak or understand musical language itself.
Credit for discovering Alex Acuña as a drummer, beyond just a percussionist, goes to Steven Cantor, who I credited as the producer of my first solo album, because while I wrote all the music and directed all of the rehearsals and set the schedules, Steven told me who to hire in the first place. It was his idea to team me up with Alex and Billy Drewes. I already knew I loved working with Nana, Bill Frisell and Marc Johnson. The band that Cantor imagined for my first album was inspired and worked like gangbusters, to the point that when it came time to record, Cantor didn't have to do a thing. He just sat in the booth smiling. He literally had nothing to say because it was all going so well. Good producers don't have to fix things that are well designed in the first place.
I even insisted on 8 hour days for both the band and the crew. Niki Gatos was shocked when I released everyone at 5 pm everyday and urged them to have a great dinner and relaxing evening. That album went down so smoothly - humane working conditions, everybody fresh everyday, hugs and love all around, no need to scold ever because everyone assembled was so professional and the whole project was all well-composed, well-planned and well-rehearsed ahead of time.
It was pure joy to work with Alex Acuña that first time. I felt like he (much like Nana) wanted to focus on being creative and expressing love with every note while also performing at an incredibly high level. I couldn't have asked for a better band and a better vibe. There were more smiles and hugs during the recording of that album than during any other project before or after. It is so rare in life when everything works as planned, the results are fantastic, and everyone goes home happy.
We have all suffered for our art in ways great and small. Rare is the art that emerges from a party. I am proud to have shown that that can happen too. My first record was, as I later discovered, more the exception then the rule, still it happened and was documented. It was a magical moment in time and I got to share it with the best recording engineer (Jan Erik Kongshaug), the best keyboard tech (Niki Gatos), the best piano tuner/technician (Tom Sheehan), the best producer who never had to do anything (Steven Cantor) and five of the most soulful musicians to ever play anything.
Listen again to the end of Ascent, Tell me if that doesn't sound like the Rolling Stones playing a Beethoven symphony at the Olympics or something akin in spirit, grace, mastery, power and world-embracing beauty. I will always love Alex Acuña for what he brought to that party and for who he is as a person. Deep respect there.
ALEX ACUÑA: Personally when he called me to go to New York to rehearse and to record his first album, I discovered Lyle was a profound gifted musician - the first night we rehearsed in a very small studio, I met the other musicians, producer Steven Cantor, Billy Drewes on alto & soprano saxophones, Bill Frisell on guitar, Marc Johnson on acoustic bass, Nana Vasconcelos on percussion, and started to run the tunes. I had ordered a drum set with my specifications and my cymbals were there and it just felt very good to be in NY recording again. The first recording date I think we started late afternoon thru the evening and he already had some great sounds pre recorded to play with. It all just sounded amazing and ready for us to join. We heard the entire compositions through the headphones with proper isolation but still able to see and feel each other playing. We were there 3 days having lots of fun with great camaraderie like we knew each other for a long time. We treated and respected the compositions properly. I have to say I’m so blessed that he called me to participate in this masterpiece, the entire album is an epic one for many reasons. Fresh everything and his choices of sounds were well arranged and the right players for his debut album was not a coincidence. He always knew what he wanted and how he wanted his compositions to be performed by all of us. Lyle always let us know how he would like his tunes to be played and so forth and we listened to his directions and respected his leadership as well. Lyle gave us lots of room to compose our parts or add on his pieces and I personally with everyone else was very inspired and open with our own musical statements, He trusted us. The album still holds up today. It doesn’t sound dated and is still fresh and contemporary.
I like all the songs because they are very different from each other and sound very honest from the heart, mind and spirit. But not saying that this is my only favorite piece, but I will mention it because my performance was and is one of my signature approaches on this one - “Slink" - I don’t like to place myself in front of anybody but yes, I like to make music with my heart which I did it on these compositions of Lyle. Everyone had a full contribution with a fresh approach to the style of Lyle - I know we all understood his heart as well.
I was able to discern and play his work because I had training time with Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter - the time I spent with them educated me to sense and understand what is from the heart and what’s from the mind, Lyle had the same ability. I miss him a lot.
BILL FRISELL: I remember when we did his first record. Alex Acuña and Nana in the studio. I was flipping out. The spirit took over. It was unbelievable. Billy Drewes is unsung one of a kind voice. He plays saxophone but when I think of Billy Drewes I think of the sound. I think Lyle heard that too and allowed that to come out.
BILLY DREWES: We rehearsed a little at the studio. I remember it was my birthday and my wife set up a huge party at my house a couple days before we recorded. I think it was a surprise party! But I could not miss the rehearsal because I knew this was going to be a fabulous experience which it was. Luckily, I did make it to my birthday party but much later in the evening.
We did not over rehearse any tune. We had done a few compositions with Nana at the gig a couple years earlier (1983) and there were some new tunes as well. I remember we came up with the ending to “Slink” in the studio experimenting. Lyle figured it out.
Lyle had everything covered. He was relaxed and played great solos. This was a big project in putting everyone’s sensibilities together.
When you know percussion like Alex Acuña you can play with Nana. You know how to give the other person the space. It is like Bill and I, we pair up for different things naturally. You pair up playing melodies. You pair up playing rhythms. It was not only percussion with Alex and drum set and Nana doing his thing but electronic percussion all interwoven. It’s seamless. And then you have Marc playing so beautiful and simple but just the perfect stuff. Not to sound cliche but he anchored the music and he has such a beautiful sound.
The mix took a long time. It was complex. I loved how the alto sax was out front in “Highland Aire.” It blew me away. At the end of the session, I remember on “Close To Home” I played the melody. It was not in Lyle’s original concept but he wanted to have it. I remember it feeling really nice.
This album has not aged - when you have electronic/digital sounds they can sound dated but not in Lyle’s case. His sounds are unique. He was an architect of those sounds. He developed them so it wasn’t just a generic thing. That was a part of his voice. The music still stands up and is beautiful and has not lost anything. Lyle had vision and that made this music powerful. He was such a visionary.
MARC JOHNSON: This album is cinematic. The music really conjures up images of different places on earth. There is something majestic in this music. “Slink” is on this recording. Such an amazing piece and really fun to play on the bass with those sliding intervals up the fingerboard. I’m especially fond of the “Alaskan Suite” and the “Invocation” in particular. Lyle had seen a documentary about a Japanese mountain climber who lost his life on one of the famous peaks in North America. There is a sort of alpine call sound that is produced by some setting on one of Lyle’s synthesizers…the Prophet, I think. Lyle said that he discovered the sound by accident via a setting that the instrument was not designed to do.