Ike Quebec

生于1918年的Ike Quebec，在他的音樂生涯中跟許多大家熟知的傳奇爵士樂手一樣，年輕時代不斷在探索真正屬于自己的演奏風(fēng)格甚至找尋自己拿手的演奏樂器，Quebec早年不但是一位鋼琴家同時也是一位舞者，直到最后他才發(fā)現(xiàn)薩克斯風(fēng)才是真正屬于自己的樂器。在演奏風(fēng)格方面，雖然Ike Quebec被大多數(shù)的爵士樂迷認定為老派次中音薩克斯風(fēng)演奏的代表性人物之一，而他渾厚而飽滿的演奏調(diào)性更常常拿出來跟另外一位大師級人物Colman Hawkins相互比較、討論。事實上，他深富情感的顫音演奏技巧，可是一點都不亞于Ben Webster。 這樣一位剛?cè)岵臉肥郑谒难葑嗌闹辛粝铝艘粡埛浅Ｌ貏e的作品，就是幫Blue Note唱片公司錄制了一張當(dāng)時非常流行的Bossa Nova樂風(fēng)專輯，這對樂手與唱片公司來說都是一個全新的嘗試。而Ike Quebec也沒辜負Blue Note的期待，在輕松的中南美洲旋律中巧妙的融入自己的演奏風(fēng)格，并發(fā)展出一種獨特的心靈沉思感，聽完后樂迷將會發(fā)現(xiàn)這可能是自己Bossa Nova收藏中，最特別的一張作品。 這是薩克斯風(fēng)手Ike Quebec生平最后一張掛名領(lǐng)銜的錄音。在1962年10月間他錄完這張專輯后，不到三個月他就意外過世。1962年他灌錄這張專輯當(dāng)時，正好全美爵士圈因為史坦·蓋茲和查理·伯德兩人在前一年2月間錄的專輯中吹奏芭莎諾瓦音樂，而感染上了芭莎諾瓦狂熱。奎貝克就和其他爵士樂手一樣，都搶著趕搭這股風(fēng)潮。特別的是，這整張專輯中的五位樂手卻是一位也都不是以演奏拉丁音樂聞名的，更特別的是，蓋茲那張專輯用的都是裘賓寫的芭莎諾瓦，但這張專輯卻大膽地都沒有采用裘賓的音樂，甚至還有他們自己寫的音樂和古典音樂（德弗札克的歸故鄉(xiāng)、李斯特的愛之夢），在奎貝克的芭莎諾瓦編曲下，這些曲調(diào)幾乎輕松的難以辨認，而顯出另一種趣味。但這張專輯除了這表面的輕柔以外，還有更深層的意義。
by Alex Henderson
Influenced by Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster but definitely his own person, Ike Quebec was one of the finest swing-oriented tenor saxman of the 1940s and 50s. Though he was never an innovator, Quebec had a big, breathy sound that was distinctive and easily recognizable, and he was quite consistent when it came to came to down-home blues, sexy ballads, and up-tempo aggression. Originally a pianist, Quebec switched to tenor in the early 40s and showed that he had made the right decision on excellent 78s for Blue Note and Savoy (including his hit Blue Harlem). As a sideman, he worked with Benny Carter, Kenny Clarke, Roy Eldridge, and Cab Calloway. In the late 40s, the saxman did a bit of freelancing behind the scenes as a Blue Note A&R man and brought Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell to the label. Drug problems kept Quebec from recording for most of the 1950s, but he made a triumphant comeback in the early 60s and was once again recording for Blue Note and doing freelance A&R for the company. Quebec was playing as authoritatively as ever well into 1962, giving no indication that he was suffering from lung cancer, which claimed his life at the age of 44 in 1963.