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PETER WELKER
WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN
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PETER WELKER
WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN
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| We’ll Be Together Again is a cool, soulful stroll
through some classic jazz selections by trumpet player and arranger Peter
Welker and his band. The veteran San Francisco Bay Area musician gives
fresh, bold treatments to these timeless standards. Joined by some special
guests, including trumpet great Herb Pomeroy and saxophone player Fred
Lipsius on three songs each, the entire CD was recorded "live" in the studio,
with all of the musicians playing simultaneously.
Two versions of the title song serve as bookends to the CD. It opens with Welker on flugelhorn and Lipsius on piano, and closes with Lipsius on alto sax and Welker at the keyboard reprising the song. This lovely, melodic tune has a special, bittersweet meaning to Welker. WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN is dedicated to the memory of three departed loved ones: Elisabeth Welker, Peter's mother and musical inspiration; his son, Jacob Welker; and Lucille Rose Cynthia Marsh, daughter of drummer George Marsh. It's also a tribute to his longtime friendship and musical collaboration with Pomeroy and Lipsius. Listen to Lipsius hit an inspired harmonic on the final track, a note he says, "came out of heaven." Welker felt particularly honored that Pomeroy flew to the West Coast to record with him. Pomeroy was Welker's teacher at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston in the late 1950s and Lipsius was a classmate of Welker's at Berklee. Pomeroy has played with Charlie Parker, Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton and Stan Getz. Lipsius, an original member and co-leader of Blood, Sweat & Tears, now teaches at Berklee. The "live in the studio" technique gives the CD a passion and immediacy often missing on multitrack, overdubbed recordings. All of the songs on WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN were recorded on the first take and there were no overdubs. "So few people record like that these days," Welker said. He meticulously wrote the arrangements for each song and worked closely with chief engineer Jim Stern, a longtime friend, to achieve the sound he wanted. Stern, former vice president for Milestone/Fantasy Records, has an impressive list of engineering credits that include albums with Duke Ellington, Cannonball Adderley, McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans and Van Morrison. Welker, the only child of parents who were both working jazz musicians in New York and Boston, first picked up the trumpet at the age of nine. He credits his mother as being the major influence on his life and music career. "She really inspired me," Welker says. "Born blind, she sang on the coast- to-coast Camel Caravan show with Al Pearce and His Gang from 1935 to 1939." After studying at Berklee, Welker moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. He led a sextet that was the house band at the famed Jazz Workshop in North Beach from 1961 to 1965 and featured piano player George Duke. |
He has toured and/or recorded with the likes of Van
Morrison, Santana, Cold Blood, Jesse Colin Young, Buddy Miles and Dr. John.
He has been nominated for a Bammie (Bay Area Music Award) in the Best Horn
Player category. Welker's horn section, Horns 'R Us, has often been hired
to back such touring soul/ R&B acts as the Temptations, the Four Tops
and Smokey Robinson. The horn section is on a newly released CD produced
by Bob Dylan, THE SONGS OF JIMMIE RODGERS: A TRIBUTE. The guest artists
include Jerry Garcia, Aaron Neville, Van Morrison, Bono (of U2), John Mellencamp
and Willie Nelson. Welker led the horn section of super-producer Narada
Michael Walden's two-week all-star tour of Japan in 1995, in a band that
featured Joe Zawinul and Patti Austin. His previous album, PARA "PEACHY,"
an eclectic mix of jazz, R&B and salsa, was released in 1997 on Take
One Records. Phil Elwood of the San Francisco Examiner called it "one of
the greatest recordings ever made, produced and played by Bay Area musicians."
The songs on WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN are mostly mainstream jazz classics
with a real sense of musical history. Some of them were first recorded
in the 1920s and '30s, but Welker's arrangements give them a modern treatment
while retaining the feeling of an earlier era. "These are beautiful songs,
although some of them are somewhat obscure," Welker says. "I kind of resurrected
them and reworked them. I feel they really lend themselves to what we were
trying to do with this album." Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You evokes the
mood of America in the 1920s, with Pomeroy lending a sultry trumpet-with-plunger
solo to the 10-piece Big Band. Welker's trumpet soars on Recorda Me, which
also features trombone virtuoso Bill Watrous. Pomeroy and Welker alternate
solos on the soft and sentimental A Flower is a Lovesome Thing, as part
of the 10-piece band. The familiar Don't Get Around Much Anymore gets a
frisky and innovative arrangement, with Mel Graves' upright bass trading
lines with the horns. Moment's Notice is a bright, breezy treatment of
the John Coltrane composition, featuring tenor saxophonist Bennett Friedman
and guitarist Randy Vincent. The soothing, restful Peace finds Welker settling
into an easy groove with a quintet that includes Mark Levine on piano and
Steve Smith on drums. Pomeroy (trumpet), Lipsius (alto sax), Friedman (tenor
sax) and Vincent (guitar) take solos on Its You or No One.
WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN has the nice, easy feeling of a group of musicians (who happen to be good friends) playing with flair and having a good time. The CD is an inspired, elegant musical experience by a talented trumpet player-composer-arranger-producer and a stellar supporting cast. - Chris Samson |
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