Double Take

Saxophonist David Liebman talks jazz on Friday and plays jazz on Saturday

For veteran saxophonist and composer David Liebman, his upcoming weekend date with the Central New York Jazz Orchestra might seem like just another stop on a very busy schedule, were it not for the special opportunity that awaits him. In addition to his role as guest soloist covering heritage numbers by Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Miles Davis and his own compositions, Liebman will be featured on a four-piece suite written for the event by Central New York Jazz Arts Foundation artistic director and conductor Bret Zvacek.

Commissioned by Syracuse University’s Winnick Hillel Center For Jewish Life to celebrate their 60th anniversary, the piece, “If a White Horse from Jerusalem,” a title drawn from the “Peace Poems” of the Egyptian-born Israeli poet Ada Aharoni, incorporates both Jewish and Arabic musical traditions along with improvisational spaces.

The 30-minute work is, according to Zvacek, “written around Dave Liebman, to suit his style. The Jewish and Islamic musical traditions are stated separately in the first two movements and then are played together in the third and fourth movements without any real resolution.” Reflecting on the political aspects of the theme, he went on: “It’s up to me as a composer to present the elements to the listener and let them draw their own conclusions.”

Liebman’s role as the improvisational soloist is interpretive, according to Zvacek, a professor of jazz studies at SUNY Potsdam’s renowned Crane School of Music.

“The music is a story,” he says, “the instrumental soloist is the storyteller.”

Liebman’s career as an adventurous soloist and composer includes many diverse stories. Over a career of more than 40 years, Liebman, 65, has visited many genres including funk, rock, classical and multiple styles of jazz, and has written more than 100 pieces of music. He has also served as a jazz educator and performed with some of the most progressive names in jazz, including Chick Corea, McCoy Tyner, John McLaughlin, Elvin Jones, Michael and Randy Brecker, and toured with Davis.

As a recording artist, Liebman has more than 100 sessions as a leader or co-leader on his resume, and has consistently received high critical acclaim, including the 2011 NEA Jazz Masters Award. In addition to the concert on Saturday, April 16, at the Mulroy Civic Center’s Carrier Theater, 411 Montgomery St., Liebman will take part in a panel discussion on jazz and culture at Lender Auditorium, 102 Walnut Place, on the SU campus, on Friday, April 15, 3 p.m., alongside Zvacek and others. Friday’s event is free. Tickets for the 8 p.m. Saturday concert are $19.50 to $27.50 and are available at the Civic Center’s box office, 435-2121.

Liebman recently spoke with The New Times while on tour in New York.

Q: What does your schedule in Central New York include?

A:I’m going to Eastman {School of Music in Rochester} first. I’m doing a class there. Then I’m going to Syracuse on Friday for a panel discussion on the Jewish aspect of the music, then I’m going to Ithaca that night for a gig at some kind of jazz festival, then back to Syracuse on Saturday for that music that Bret Zvacek did.

Q: What is your impression of the piece you will be performing in Syracuse?

A: It looks fantastic, very well thought out. Challenging enough but easy enough to get down in one rehearsal. He wrote something that’s perfect for me with the soprano {sax} and the way I play. I’m looking forward to it.

Q: Are you familiar with the political aspect of this music?

A: In his video of the piece {available on YouTube}, Bret talks about the musical aspects, the Arab scales and the Jewish scales. There are musical sources from both sides. Everyone’s the same out there. They may call themselves something different but we all come from the same roots. There’s a reason the scales have a similarity. There are more similarities than differences between Jewish and Arabic traditions. Everybody grew up in the desert and that’s what it’s about. Political isn’t the point. It’s about musical traditions coming from different cultures that have more similarities than differences.

Q: What do you expect to bring to the improvisational spaces in this piece?

A: Well, my style is expressive on the soprano, which could be seen as a clarinet of sorts. I’ve been known to have inflections that might be, I wouldn’t say Jewish, but have an ethnic kind of feel about them, the nuances, the way you play the notes, the way you speak through the instrument. He {Zvacek} really wrote stuff that’s home base to me, a couple of scales that I’m familiar with.

A:  I have my own group. We have a Canadian tour in May. Next week I’ll be in Spain and then the Jazz Standard in New York for the 50th anniversary of Impulse Records with {saxophonist} Ravi Coltrane. Then I’m going to Estonia for a festival, then Austria.

Q: You’re going to be a part of a discussion of jazz and culture on Friday. What’s your concept of the place of jazz in today’s culture?

A: Jazz comes out of the American experience, but now it’s worldwide. It could only have happened here with the mixture of people. It started in New Orleans and worked its way up the river to New York. Now it’s a world phenomenon, beyond American culture. I’m the head of the International Association of Schools of Jazz. There are 30 or 40 countries involved. It’s the modern music of our times. It’s a very inclusive, international music.

Q: What other kinds of music do you like?

A: There’s 20th-century classical music; I enjoy Bela Bartok, Paul Hindemith. I also try to keep up with the young musicians. I have a pile of CDs I try to listen to. I don’t listen to music casually, as background music. Can’t do it. I’m going to be thinking about what it is.

Q. What’s in the future for Dave Liebman?

A: At this point I’m glad to get up and keep going. Traveling around the world, getting the message out, being recognized for what I am and making a living doing it. Playing with musicians young and old. I’ve accomplished pretty much what I want to do, so as long as I can stand up and keep that horn in my hands I’m good.

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Dave Liebman: “Jazz comes out of the American experience. It could only have happened here with the mixture of people.”