Three clowns
(Shorter)
So far as i know, "three clowns" is the only weather
report tune on Which wayne shorter played the
lyricon, and it may well be the only Time he ever
recorded with the instrument. The lyricon was
Developed in the early 1970s by roger noble and bill
bernardi of Computone inc., And was in essence a
synthesizer for wind players. It consisted of a
saxophone-like controller with an analog
Synthesizer module. The controller resembled a
soprano saxophone, With a bass clarinet
mouthpiece, a sensor on the reed to detect
Pressure, and a saxophone-style fingering system.
The synthesizer Had two oscillators with a choice of
square and sawtooth waves, a Voltage-controlled
filter and low frequency oscillator, but no envelope
Generator, since this was controlled by wind
pressure and Embrouchure. The lyricon was
capable of very expressive sounds, But like other
synthesizers of the time, there was no way to save
the Settings for a particular sound.
"three clowns" and the subsequent track "barbary
coast" were the subject of a down beat blindfold test
in which bassist steve Swallow was asked to
comment about the tunes without being told what
was being played. Of "three clowns" he said:
Five stars! We've begun well. Wayne shorter with
weather report. He's my favorite jazz composer
(whatever that is), and this is one Of his strongest
pieces, a beautiful haunting melody. Wayne not only
composes before the fact, he composes as he
plays, so the Writing and playing are inseparable.
Joe zawinul is cunning as usual with synthesizer; i
don't know anyone who can make those
Instruments sound as warm, or get greater range
and flexibility. I always take this tune on tape with
me on the road. In wayne's Hands, i don't mind the
sound of the lyricon.
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