Ike Quebec

生于1918年的Ike Quebec，在他的音乐生涯中跟许多大家熟知的传奇爵士乐手一样，年轻时代不断在探索真正属于自己的演奏风格甚至找寻自己拿手的演奏乐器，Quebec早年不但是一位钢琴家同时也是一位舞者，直到最后他才发现萨克斯风才是真正属于自己的乐器。在演奏风格方面，虽然Ike Quebec被大多数的爵士乐迷认定为老派次中音萨克斯风演奏的代表性人物之一，而他浑厚而饱满的演奏调性更常常拿出来跟另外一位大师级人物Colman Hawkins相互比较、讨论。事实上，他深富情感的颤音演奏技巧，可是一点都不亚于Ben Webster。 这样一位刚柔并济的乐手，在他的演奏生涯中留下了一张非常特别的作品，就是帮Blue Note唱片公司录制了一张当时非常流行的Bossa Nova乐风专辑，这对乐手与唱片公司来说都是一个全新的尝试。而Ike Quebec也没辜负Blue Note的期待，在轻松的中南美洲旋律中巧妙的融入自己的演奏风格，并发展出一种独特的心灵沉思感，听完后乐迷将会发现这可能是自己Bossa Nova收藏中，最特别的一张作品。 这是萨克斯风手Ike Quebec生平最后一张挂名领衔的录音。在1962年10月间他录完这张专辑后，不到三个月他就意外过世。1962年他灌录这张专辑当时，正好全美爵士圈因为史坦·盖兹和查理·伯德两人在前一年2月间录的专辑中吹奏芭莎诺瓦音乐，而感染上了芭莎诺瓦狂热。奎贝克就和其他爵士乐手一样，都抢着赶搭这股风潮。特别的是，这整张专辑中的五位乐手却是一位也都不是以演奏拉丁音乐闻名的，更特别的是，盖兹那张专辑用的都是裘宾写的芭莎诺瓦，但这张专辑却大胆地都没有采用裘宾的音乐，甚至还有他们自己写的音乐和古典音乐（德弗札克的归故乡、李斯特的爱之梦），在奎贝克的芭莎诺瓦编曲下，这些曲调几乎轻松的难以辨认，而显出另一种趣味。但这张专辑除了这表面的轻柔以外，还有更深层的意义。
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.