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That’s a Different Groove

Alvin Batiste composer
David N. Baker composer
Yusef Lateef composer
Oliver Nelson composer

Marcus Eley clarinet
Lucerne DeSa piano
Music Alive Ensemble

Release Date: March 7, 2025
Catalog #: NV6712
Format: Digital
20th Century
Chamber
Jazz
Clarinet
Small Ensemble

THAT’S A DIFFERENT GROOVE from Marcus Eley presents clarinet works from jazz legends Alvin Batiste, David N. Baker, Yusef Lateef, and Oliver Nelson. Eley deftly reimagines these compositions in a chamber music setting. The album’s unifying theme is “groove,” the term musicians use to describe that elusive feeling of finding the rhythmic sweet-spot. Alvin Batiste’s Swing in the Abstract gives listeners a taste of New Orleans, while Yusef Lateef’s reinterpretation of Brahms invites us to consider new ways of hearing a centuries-old work. Transcending genre boundaries, THAT’S A DIFFERENT GROOVE is a bold, yet nuanced, series of performances spotlighting the jazz clarinet.

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Track Listing & Credits

# Title Composer Performer
01 Tune Suite no. 1 (2000): Swing in the Abstract Alvin Batiste Marcus Eley, clarinet; Jason Williams, drums; Karl Vincent Wickliff, bass; Music Alive Ensemble | Rachel Jordan, violin; Amy Thiaville, violin; Franco Sixto, viola; Rachel Hsieh, cello; Yuiko Asano, piano 8:22
02 Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1986): Blues David N. Baker Marcus Eley, clarinet; Lucerne DeSa, piano 4:24
03 Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1986): Loneliness David N. Baker Marcus Eley, clarinet; Lucerne DeSa, piano 5:58
04 Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1986): Dance David N. Baker Marcus Eley, clarinet; Lucerne DeSa, piano 3:52
05 Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1998): Allegro appassionato Yusef Lateef Marcus Eley, clarinet; Lucerne DeSa, piano 9:27
06 Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1998): Andante un poco Adagio Yusef Lateef Marcus Eley, clarinet; Lucerne DeSa, piano 4:34
07 Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1998): Allegretto grazioso Yusef Lateef Marcus Eley, clarinet; Lucerne DeSa, piano 4:49
08 Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1998): Vivace Yusef Lateef Marcus Eley, clarinet; Lucerne DeSa, piano 6:24
09 Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano (1957): Drammatico Oliver Nelson, clarinet arr. Marcus Eley Marcus Eley, clarinet; Lucerne DeSa, piano 6:41
10 Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano (1957): Largo Oliver Nelson, clarinet arr. Marcus Eley Marcus Eley, clarinet; Lucerne DeSa, piano 2:48
11 Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano (1957): with Vigor Oliver Nelson, clarinet arr. Marcus Eley Marcus Eley, clarinet; Lucerne DeSa, piano 4:26

Track 1
Recorded March 15 and 16, 2024 at the Marsalis Center for Music in New Orleans LA
Recording Session Producers Marcus Eley, Rachel Jordan, Paul Sims & Eldridge Andrews, Jr.
Recording Session Engineer Justin Armstrong, Eldridge Andrews, Jr., & Kellie McGrew
Editing & Mixing Paul Sims, Eldridge Andrews, Jr., Justin Armstrong & Kellie McGrew
Mastering Kellie McGrew
Stage & Equipment Set Up Daryl Dickerson

Tracks 2-4
Recorded in 1998 at O’Henry Studios in Burbank CA
Recording Session Producer Marcus Eley
Recording Session Engineer Armin Steiner
Editing, Mixing & Mastering Dan Blessinger
Digitally edited & re-Mastered in 2024 Kellie McGrew

Tracks 5-8
Recorded in 2021 at Allegro Recordings in Burbank CA
Recording Session Producer Marcus Eley
Recording Session Engineer, Editing, Mixing & Mastering Matthew Snyder
Edited & re-Mastered in 2024 Kellie McGrew

Tracks 9-11
Recorded in 1998 at O’Henry Studios in Burbank CA
Recording Session Producer Marcus Eley
Recording Session Engineer Armin Steiner
Editing, Mixing & Mastering Dan Blessinger
Digitally edited & re-Mastered in 2024 Kellie McGrew

Photography Alisa Banks Photography – Burbank CA

Album Executive Producers Susan Frederick & Marcus Eley

puffin-logo
Funding assistance from The Puffin Foundation, Ltd.

Executive Producer Bob Lord

VP of A&R Brandon MacNeil
A&R Chris Robinson

VP of Production Jan Košulič
Audio Director Lucas Paquette

VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Edward A. Fleming
Publicity Aidan Curran
Digital Marketing Manager Brett Iannucci

Artist Information

Marcus Eley

Clarinetist

Marcus Eley is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Music in clarinet and studied at the Hochschule fuer Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria. Eley has performed as a soloist with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra (Germany), the Louisville Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Edmonton (Canada) Wind Sinfonia, and the National Army Military Band of the People’s Republic of China (Beijing). He has also given numerous recitals in major cities of the United States.

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Music Alive Ensemble

ensemble

The New Orleans-based Music Alive Ensemble is a blend of outstanding musicians, composers, arrangers, and educators who believe that music as art conveys the breadth, passion, and intellect of society. Music Alive Ensemble provides concerts, artist demonstrations, and teaching workshops featuring classical and jazz collaborations. The organization also provides work for New Orleans musicians as well as visiting artists.

Lucerne DeSa

pianist

Pianist Lucerne DeSa received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of California, Irvine, and the University of Southern California respectively and completed her doctoral degree in piano performance at the State University of New York – Stony Brook. She has performed extensively as both solo recitalist, chamber musician and recording artist. DeSa and Marcus Eley have also performed for radio on WFMT Chicago and KUSC Los Angeles. In 2015, DeSa performed with Eley at the prestigious Beethovenfest Bonn (Germany). She has also performed recitals of music for clarinet and piano composed by African Americans with Eley at the National Arts Festival in South Africa. DeSa is currently the piano instructor at the Alabama School of Fine Arts.

Notes

What is a groove?

An indentation, rut, trench or something that is routine, familiar or “in sync” are some possibilities. When it comes to music, a groove cannot be strictly defined. Suffice to say, “you’ll know it when you feel it … and it feels good.” The groove is the rhythm or back beat. A groove can be found in all music. It can be unrecognizable, understated, or very prominent. This recording presents compositions by jazz legends Alvin Batiste, David N. Baker, Yusef Lateef, and Oliver Nelson for clarinet. Their works are usually associated with jazz music. However, in this recording, you’ll hear their creativity in a new setting but with “A Different Groove.”

— Marcus Eley

Tune Suite No. 1 is a journey of New Orleans and blues traditions in a “classical” chamber music setting. Swing in the Abstract features the clarinet as an independent voice and ensemble instrument. A jazz “swing-feel” is present throughout the music. Throughout this composition, the string quartet provides a response to the clarinet’s call and vice versa. The drums add subtle and poignant accompaniment.

– Marcus Eley

Alvin Batiste (1932–2007) was a music master, composer, arranger, and educator. He received a Master of Music degree in clarinet performance and composition from Louisiana State University and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Southern University. He was one of the most distinctive and virtuosic of modern jazz clarinetists. Although sometimes called a “New Orleans clarinetist,” Batiste was an avant-garde player who did not fit easily into any classification. His work won him fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Louisiana Division of the Arts, the National Association of Jazz Educators’ National Humanitarian Award, the International Association of Jazz Educator’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Offbeat Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Arts Education.

This Clarinet Sonata draws heavily from the jazz tradition. The first movement is, in fact, named the oldest and most revered jazz form, the Blues. The second movement (“Loneliness”) evokes quiet introspection while the third movement combines two dance forms, the calypso and Afro-Cuban styles.

– David Baker

David N. Baker (1931–2016) was a Distinguished Professor of Music and Chairman of the Jazz Department at the Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington IN, as well as conductor and artistic director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. Baker received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education from Indiana University and has studied with a wide range of master teachers, performers, and composers. He was nominated for a GRAMMY® Award in 1979 and has been honored three times by DownBeat magazine. His compositions total more than 2,000 in number, including jazz and symphonic works, chamber music, and ballet and film scores. Baker has received honorary doctorates from Wabash College, Oberlin College, and the New England Conservatory of Music. In 2007 he was honored by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with their Living Jazz Legend Award.

Yusef Lateef re-interprets Johannes Brahms Clarinet Sonata Opus 120 no. 2 in a way that is familiar, different, and thought-provoking. Specifically, this composition seems more like a work for solo clarinet with some piano accompaniment sprinkled in. This Clarinet Sonata is very similar to Lateef’s improvisational playing style where there seems to be no restrictions. Each movement has some rhythmic references to Brahms’s sonata but only in random poignant moments. Movement one is conversational, almost rhapsodic, and exploits the clarinet’s altissimo. Lateef’s use of middle eastern harmonies is evident in the pleasant second movement which has the same feel as the Opus 120 no. 2. A quasi dance-like third movement is playful but with a twist. The fourth movement has the piano playing a more significant role than the oth- er movements. It is more antiphonal, and harmonies are more biting. This composition is a tour de force.

– Marcus Eley

At an early age, Yusef Lateef (1920–2013) was exposed to music. He played alto saxophone in elementary and secondary school in Detroit MI. He showed great affinity for the instrument and progressed quickly. After high school, he moved to New York to launch his professional career and switched to the tenor saxophone. Big bands were in vogue in the 1940’s. Yusef resettled to Chicago and performed with tenor saxophonists Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt and later in Dizzy Gillespie’s big band. In 1949, he began his recording career. On the suggestion of guitarist Kenny Burrell, Lateef began the study of flute which inspired him to study other wind, string, and percussion instruments. While in New York, he recorded albums on such labels as Savoy, Prestige, and Verve. His playing style was evolving, becoming more eclectic and experimental. Also, his personal interest in furthering his formal music education resulted in securing undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. In 1975, Lateef received an Ed.D degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. As a scholar, he wrote books, composed music, and presented lectures on his philosophy of music. In 1980, Lateef was a research fellow at the Center for Nigerian Cultural Studies at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria. Upon his return to the United States in 1986, Lateef joined the music faculty at University of Massachusetts Amherst and Hampshire College. In 2010, he was awarded the Lifetime Jazz Master Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The first movement opens with a dramatic theme which sets the basic mood by the piano. The theme is later echoed by the clarinet. The mood changes to a very cantabile section accompanied by jazz harmonies. The Largo movement is based on an arpeggiated four note chord played by the clarinet. This movement retains the stately nature of the first movement. The third movement is fast and energetic. Here Nelson’s skills as a jazz architect are truly displayed. The clarinet and piano are equal partners in this journey of driving melodies and contemporary harmonies.

– Marcus Eley

Oliver Nelson (1935–1995) distinguished himself early as an accomplished saxophonist. He also studied piano, taxidermy, dermatology, and mortuary science. His formal education included studies in composition and theory at Washington University in St. Louis MO between the years 1953 and 1958. Nelson was an arranger for various musical acts at the Apollo Theater in New York with stints with Erskine Hawkins, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and the Quincy Jones bands. This flexibility afforded him much success in 1967 when he composed for film and television in Los Angeles. His most notable jazz compositions include The Blues, Abstract Truth, and Stolen Moments.