MAD & EDDIE DURAN: FROM HERE TO THE MOON

MAD & EDDIE DURAN
A saxofonista Madaline (Mad) e o guitarrista Eddie Duran são casados. E sua vida
conjugal deve ser um mar de rosas, se é que se afinam tão bem, quanto o fazem
musicalmente, onde formam "a perfect couple",
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EDDIE DURAN was born 75 years ago in San Francisco into a musical family of
Mexican heritage. Django Reinhardt was Eddie’s first inspiration, followed by
Charlie Christian, Barney Kessel, Jimmy Raney and Tal Farlow, who like Eddie,
were known for their bright swinging melodicism. Although he did take a year of
lessons, Eddie considers himself and “ear player. He was a professional at the
age of 15, and in the heyday of the San Francisco bebop scene, he played and
recorded with such Fantasy stars as Vince Guaraldi, Red Norvo, and Cal Tjader,
as well as with Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, George Shearing, Earl “Fatha” Hines,
Benny Goodman, Pearl Bailey and Barbara Streisand. Eddie’s first wife died in 1977. His children were all grown, and his music was his life when, seven years later, he met Mad while he was playing at the Cotati Jazz Festival north of San Francisco.
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MAD DURAN
Amazonian in both stature and energy, blond saxophonist Mad Duran embodies how a
woman gets ahead in a sax man's world: obsessive industry, dollops of creativity
and a supportive mentor. Together with her husband, jazz guitarist Eddie Duran
Mad runs Mad Eddie Records, for which she writes the liner notes, does the artwork
and handles the marketing. On the couple's latest album, From Here to the Moon,
Mad plays alto, tenor and soprano saxophones, plus flute. And she still has time
for interior decorating. When Mad graduated from the University of Miami School
of Music, her parents told her, as she puts it, "The party's over; go get a job."
Duran started as a waitress, taught herself French cuisine, and shortly became a
chef. "Not for long," she adds, "because it was too institutionalized. I couldn't
get creative. I don't like routine." She ended up running her own catering service,
designing menus, setting prices, overseeing a small staff. At 28, when Mad was
debating the course of her future--music or catering--she met Eddie Duran. A
generation older, Eddie was already a local jazz legend, and he was playing regularly in San Francisco with the hottest jazz players in town." I played for him a little bit and he said, 'Well, you have some talent but you need a lot of work,'" Mad recalls. Eddie also told her she could make a life out of music and that he was willing to help if she was willing to work. That's all it took to send Mad into high gear. For the next two years, she did nothing but practice. "I couldn't get it fast
enough," she says. On From Here to the Moon, a nice sampling of bebop and bossa
nova tunes, you can hear bursts of this same creative overdrive in Mad's solos.
Now that the Durans have played together for over a decade, Eddie will say he prefers
working with Mad to working solo. Her input helps him hear sounds for his compositions. Likewise, Mad draws inspiration from Eddie's amazing proficiency in the form. In music as well as temperament, Eddie's laid-back ingenuity and Mad's restless drive make them almost perfectly complementary.
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REVIEWS
Eddie Duran returns to the recording wars with a refreshingly retooled sound --
this time as co-leader with his wife, saxophonist/flutist Madaline "Mad" Duran.
By this time, perhaps partially influenced by his wife being a reed player, Duran
was tuning his guitar as a B-flat instrument, and this results in a heavier electric
sound that gives these tracks a unique texture when he plays rhythm. Mad is a capable
bopster on soprano, alto and tenor, and she handles the flute with a breathy tone.
On some tracks, Mad and Eddie make a perfectly satisfying music just as a duo, while
on most, they use either a bop rhythm section or a welcome return to the Latin
and bossa nova rhythms that influenced Duran in the '60s ("Symphony Sid Samba" is
especially nice). They make a seamless transition between "My Favorite Things"
and "Take Five" - both played in 5/4 time - deliver a rhythmically off-kilter
"Don't Be That Way," and a light-flavored Latin number "Quesadillas" is credited
to the pair as -- yes -- Duran-Duran. This album was originally released on their
custom Mad Eddie label and picked up by Milestone in 1999.
(By Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide)
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MINHA OPINIÃO - assisti a um concerto da dupla Mad & Eddie Duran em Miami, em 2000.
Na verdade, fui ao concerto para assistir ao pianista Mark Levine, um dos meus preferidos, que integrava a banda. Felizmente, além do grande mestre MARK LEVINE, sobre o qual vou falar amanhã, fui surpreendido pela sensacional performance de todo o grupo, especialmente por Mad Duran que, como se dizia no "Beco das Garrafas", "toca
feito homem..." Eddie, que eu já ouvira em outras gravações, confirmou ser um excelente guitarrista, da velha e boa escola. "Very Early", complicadissima valsa-jazz de Bill Evans é a minha faixa preferida neste album onde Eddie e Mad se cercam de um timaço de músicos.
MARAVILHA!
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MAD & EDDIE DURAN: FROM HERE TO THE MOON
Release Date:06/23/1998
Label:Milestone

PERSONNEL
Al Plank Piano
Eddie Duran Guitar, Arranger, Producer,
Mad Duran Arranger, Flute (Alto), Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor), Producer,
Marc Van Wageningen Bass
Mark Levine Piano
Scott Steed Bass
Raul Ramirez Percussion
Vince Lateano Drums

TRACKS/FAIXAS
Daahoud
Symphony Sid Samba
Everything I Love
Medley: My Favorite Things/Take Five
Medley: Conception/Deception
From Here To The Moon
Don't Be That Way
Besame Mucho
Budo
Quesadillas
Very Early
CTA

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