Transcript for the Piece Audio version of NEA Jazz Master Hubert Laws
HUBERT LAWS_FREEDOM OF IMPROVISATION_#188
(:90)
NOW, A JAZZ MOMENT…
MUSIC: Moments Notice
Hubert Laws: I had no idea that flute playing would become therapeutic for me. I carry my flute around everywhere I go and pull it out, ‘cause it actually becomes a panacea for me.
NEA JAZZ MASTER HUBERT LAWS IS JUST AS COMFORTABLE PLAYING A JAZZ CLUB AS HE IS ONSTAGE WITH A SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. HE SPENT FOUR YEARS IN HIS EARLY CAREER AS A SUBSTITUTE FLUTIST FOR THE METROPOLITAN OPERA AND NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC, WORKING WITH LEONARD BERNSTEIN AND MANY OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST CONDUCTORS. AMAZING EXPERIENCES, BUT SOMETHING WAS MISSING…
Hubert Laws: After I had done that, I began to appreciate something that I took for granted. That is, the ability to improvise. Because human beings are free moral agents. Free will is something we all enjoy. And then I begin to think about, man, how much freedom I just have been enjoying and took it for granted. So instead of playing and practicing only the concerti and the sonatas, hey, I started applying that same discipline toward improvisation.
MUSIC: up for punctuation, then fades under and out
THIS JAZZ MOMENT WITH FLUTIST HUBERT LAWS WAS CREATED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS. I’M CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE.
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HUBERT LAWS_FIRST FLUTE_#189
(:90)
NOW, A JAZZ MOMENT…
MUSIC: Morning Star
Hubert Laws: Music is a communicative tool. And when you learn to use it, it can only enhance your life.
NEA JAZZ MASTER HUBERT LAWS IS ONE OF THE MOST HIGHLY REGARDED FLUTISTS IN JAZZ. HE’S ALSO ONE OF THE MOST VERSATILE, WITH ROOTS IN POP, RHYTHM-AND-BLUES, AND CLASSICAL MUSIC. THAT’S REALLY WHERE HE BEGAN…
Hubert Laws: I got my first flute while I was in high school. What happened was, the high school band was playing this piece by Rossini called “The William Tell Overture.”
MUSIC: William Tell Overture (sneak in under singing)
And in that “William Tell Overture” is a prelude most people don’t know about. They know about [SINGS EXCERPT], they know that part because it was the Lone Ranger’s theme. But the Prelude had a big flute solo in there. But in the high school band, there was no one to play that solo. But just about that time, a friend of mine, Sonny King, had a flute in his attic. And he gave it to me. I went around two days without even being able to make a sound off that thing. But once I started, you know, getting a sound, then I learned to play that solo. And that, boy, became like an instant marriage.
MUSIC: up for punctuation, then fades under and out
THIS JAZZ MOMENT WITH FLUTIST HUBERT LAWS WAS CREATED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS. I’M CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE.
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HUBERT LAWS_AMAZING GRACE _#190
(2:00)
NOW, A JAZZ MOMENT…
MUSIC: Amazing Grace
Todd Barkan: To discuss Hubert Laws, you have to talk about the great sound that he has as a flute player. It’s just one of the most inspirational, pristine sounds that I’ve ever heard in all of contemporary music.
MUSIC: up for a phrase of punctuation
IT’S NO SURPRISE THAT THE RICH, ROUND SOUND OF NEA JAZZ MASTER HUBERT LAWS LEAVES A DEEP IMPRESSION ON MANY LISTENERS, LIKE JAZZ PRODUCER TODD BARKAN…
Todd Barkan: One song that I, that I go back to over and over with Hubert Laws that has touched me for decades, is when he plays Amazing Grace. It’s just a thing of really radiant beauty.
MUSIC: up for a phrase
Hubert Laws: My dad was responsible for that. HUBERT LAWS… One day, he’d come back from fishing I bought him a boat, and… he’d come back- he was at the boat with the hose, watering it down, getting the salt off- everything. While he was doing that, he was humming “Amazing Grace.” I said, “Dad, you know what? I’m going to record that for you.” (slightly upcut – can’t get to sound any better…)
MUSIC: up for a phrase of punctuation
Todd Barkan: I mean that, to me, encompasses all the worlds that he encompasses… TODD BARKAN… It has his church background and it has his jazz, it has his blues, it has his exquisite expressive qualities to it.
MUSIC: up for punctuation, then fades under and out
THIS JAZZ MOMENT WITH FLUTIST HUBERT LAWS AND PRODUCER TODD BARKAN WAS CREATED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS. I’M CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE.
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HUBERT LAWS_HIS SOUND_#191
(:90)
NOW, A JAZZ MOMENT…
MUSIC: All Soul
Chick Corea: Somehow that sound that he makes immediately captures the listener. It captures me, warms my heart, makes you smile…
Herbie Hancock: It really is something that he owns. As soon as you hear the flute that Hubert Laws is playing you know that that’s Hubert Laws.
… PIANISTS CHICK COREA AND HERBIE HANCOCK ON NEA JAZZ MASTER HUBERT LAWS…
Chick Corea: He transforms that sound into what we call a voice. It’s a voice that goes beyond an instrument.
Herbie Hancock: You know, what comes out of him is not the flute. What you hear is Hubert. When a musician gets to that point, where you hear an instrument, but the first thing you think of is not the instrument, you think of the person that’s playing it. Hubert Laws is like that.
MUSIC: up for punctuation, then fades under and out
THIS JAZZ MOMENT ON FLUTIST HUBERT LAWS WITH CHICK COREA AND HERBIE HANCOCK WAS CREATED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS. I’M CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE.
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