Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) Macero was known for his innovative use of editing and tape manipulation unprecedented in jazz and proving influential on subsequent fusion, experimental rock, electronica, post-punk, no wave, and acid jazz.

Biography

Early work

Teo Macero was born and raised in Glens Falls, New York, United States. After serving in the United States Navy, he moved to New York City in 1948 to attend the Juilliard School of Music. He studied composition, and graduated from Juilliard in 1953 with Bachelor's and Master's degrees.

In 1953, Macero co-founded Charles Mingus' Jazz Composers Workshop, Taking his cue from Tingen, Nick Southall described the impact of Macero's work on In a Silent Way in a 2003 Stylus Magazine article:<blockquote>

Behind the scenes, Miles and Teo took the tapes of the In a Silent Way sessions and transformed some beautiful, folk-tinged, melody-driven sets into two exquisite, beguiling and otherworldly pieces of music. Using techniques that pre-dated the proliferation of tape loops, cut-ups, edits and sequencing in rock, pop, hip hop and dance music, Miles and Teo took apart the original recording and reassembled them outside of any traditional or accepted jazz structure or melodic framework. This idea of taking jazz away from its birth, genesis and flowering as a live art and into the studio would soon become standard practice, but in 1969 it was groundbreaking.

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Some listeners and critics have complained that Macero overproduced Davis' recordings, and cut too much. But after hearing the unedited tapes from the In a Silent Way sessions, jazz critic John Ballon wrote that the original editing and production "attests to the producing genius of Teo Macero." Ballon continues:

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It took a force like Teo to splice together a cohesive album out of so many inspired pieces. Not only did Teo have the balls to stand up to Miles on creative decisions, he had the right. And Miles knew it. And while his ego rebelled against any producer messing with his music, Miles knew that incredibly great records were borne out of the conflict and compromise of his relationship with Teo.

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On Davis' 1970 release Bitches Brew, Macero continued to expand his innovative practices, and "Bitches Brew not only became a controversial classic of musical innovation, it also became renowned for its pioneering use of studio technology." Some of the controversy at the time also stemmed from the use of the word bitches in the title. Macero recalls that when Davis told him that he wanted to call it Bitches Brew, "I thought he was kidding." The album became the best-selling jazz album of its time, selling 500,000 copies by 1976, when most successful jazz albums sold less than 30,000 copies.

Macero produced M.F. Horn 3 for Maynard Ferguson in 1973 as well as Ferguson's next album in 1974, M.F. Horn 4&5: Live At Jimmy's. On that album, Ferguson can be heard thanking Macero, noting that Macero "is sitting out in the street in the mobile thing" monitoring the recording. The album includes the piece Teonova in Macero's honor.

Macero's innovative techniques were inspired partially by his association with avant-garde composer Edgard Varèse, and they continue to impact the way musicians, producers, and remixers work in the studio today. Brian Eno, a producer who has worked extensively with U2 and Talking Heads, among others, talked about Macero's influence on him in a 1996 interview with jazzthetik magazine. Eno describes being "fascinated" by Macero's editing techniques and the "spatial" quality he added to the music. "He did something that was extremely modern."

In 1975, Macero left Columbia and formed his own production company. However, he continued to work with Davis until 1983 and continued to produce records for Columbia throughout his career.

Other work

After his tenure at Columbia, Macero continued as a player and producer on other projects, working with Brubeck, Tony Bennett, Herbie Hancock, Asha Puthli, Michel Legrand, Wallace Roney, Shirley MacLaine, Vernon Reid, Robert Palmer, and DJ Logic.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Macero released a handful of his own albums, including Time Plus Seven, Impressions of Charles Mingus, and Acoustical Suspension, before founding his own label, Teorecords, in 1999. Subsequently, he released over a dozen albums of original compositions, and continued to produce reissues of Miles Davis and other artists for various record companies. However, Macero was outspoken in his opposition to the practice of adding back alternate takes that didn't appear on the original albums, or otherwise altering the original music, on the grounds that it corrupts the intentions of the musicians and the producer at the time the recording was made. "They put all the mistakes back in," said Macero. "Don't destroy the original record."

A short film, Teo, was filmed by producer/director Daragh McCarthy and features Teo Macero's last recording session and extensive interviews.

Tributes

Both Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk dedicated a song titled Teo to Macero: Davis in the 1961 album Someday My Prince Will Come, Monk in the 1964 album Monk. The song Teonova (Dedicated to Teo Macero), written by Pete Jackson, appears on the 1974 Maynard Ferguson album M.F. Horn 4&5: Live At Jimmy's, produced by Macero. The Wayne Shorter composition Teo's Bag appears on Davis's 1979 album Circle in the Round.

Death

On the evening of February 19, 2008, Macero died in his sleep, having long suffered from pneumonia. He was 82.

Awards

  • BMI Student Composer Award in 1953
  • Two Guggenheim Fellowships for composition in 1957 and 1958
  • National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1974
  • Over 20 RIAA Gold, Platinum, and Multi-platinum certifications

Discography

As leader

  • Explorations (Debut, 1953)
  • What's New? (Columbia, 1956)
  • Teo (Prestige, 1957)
  • Impressions of Charles Mingus (Palo Alto, 1983)
  • Acoustical Suspension (Doctor Jazz, 1985)
  • Impressions of Thelonious Monk (Teo, 2003)

As sideman

With Miles Davis

  • In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969)
  • Jack Johnson (Columbia, 1971) – recorded in 1970
  • On the Corner (Columbia, 1972)

With Kip Hanrahan

  • Coup de Tete (American Clave, 1981)
  • Desire Develops an Edge (American Clave, 1983)

With Michel Legrand

  • Legrand Jazz (Columbia, 1958)
  • Michel Legrand Meets Miles Davis (Philips, 1970)

With Charles Mingus

  • The Moods of Mingus (Savoy, 1955)
  • Jazz Composers Workshop (Savoy, 1956)
  • The Jazz Experiments of Charlie Mingus (Bethlehem, 1957)

With others

  • Dave Brubeck, Jazz Collection (Columbia, 1995)
  • Charlie Byrd, Byrdland (Columbia, 1966)
  • Al Foster, Mixed Roots (CBS/Sony, 1978)
  • Lionel Hampton, Saturday Night Jazz Fever (Laurie, 1978)
  • Kenyon Hopkins, Rooms (Cadence, 1957)
  • Marty Manning, The Twilight Zone (Columbia, 1961)
  • Gunther Schuller & George Russell, Brandeis Jazz Festival (CBS/Sony, 1977)
  • Charles Thompson, Rockin' Rhythm (Columbia, 1961)

As Producer (Selected Discography)

For Miles Davis

  • Sketches of Spain (1960)
  • Someday My Prince Will Come (1961)
  • Seven Steps to Heaven (1963)
  • My Funny Valentine (1965)
  • Miles Smiles (1967)
  • Bitches Brew (1970)
  • Jack Johnson (1971)

For Charles Mingus

  • Mingus Ah Um (1959)
  • Mingus Dynasty (1960)
  • Let My Children Hear Music (1972)

For Thelonious Monk

  • Monk's Dream (1963)
  • Criss-Cross (1963)
  • Monk (1964)
  • Underground (1967)
  • Straight, No Chaser (1967)
  • Monk's Blues (1968)

Notes

References

  • Tingen, Paul: Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967-1991, Billboard Books, 2001.
  • Marmorstein, Gary: The Label: The Story of Columbia Records, Thunder's Mouth Press, 2007.
  • Feather, L and Gitler, I (eds): The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz, Oxford University Press, 2007.
  • Weidenbaum, Marc: "Higher Sources", Pulse!, August 2001.
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