Archive for February, 2009
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Submitted by Jazz Suite
Willie Nelson’s new collaboration with the modern day Western Swing group Asleep at the Wheel has people re-examining this Jazz-influenced music.
Nelson and company talk about the new album, “Willie and the Wheel”
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre publication The Weekender has a nice story about the new recording here, and touches on the history of the [...]
Lance Armstrong and Thelonious Monk
Submitted by Jazz Note SDP
In bicycle racing legend it is now known as “the look.” Lance Armstrong had been showing signs of fatigue for days when he and his rival Jan Ullrich fought out the tenth stage of the 2001 Tour de France. Ulrich had reacted to those signs by putting relentless pressure on [...]
Frank Morgan Remembered
Submitted by Jazz Note SDP
Alto Sax player Frank Morgan died in 2007, just short of his 74th birthday. He was based in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, which is the largest urban area close to my home in South Dakota. So though I never heard Morgan play, I feel like he belongs to me.
His album [...]
Audio update
Submitted by Secret Society
Thanks to the good folks at the Jazz Gallery, I was able to obtain the audio from last Friday’s second set. I’ve added the links here — these tracks have some killing solos from Josh, Erica, Rob, Mike, and newly inaugurated co-conspirator Matt Holman, so I am very glad to be able [...]
That keeps me thrown askew
Submitted by Secret Society
So Pulse is putting on a show at Barbès this Friday at 8 PM. Our current project is called Songs from the Hudson River and it’s a collaboration with singer/songwriter Joy Askew. Joy has performed and recorded with a remarkable array of musicians (Laurie Anderson, Joe Jackson, Peter Gabriel… ) and is [...]
Stream of conscience
Submitted by Jazz Suite
It’s Chick Webb’s birthday. The great folks at Drummerworld have all sorts of fun stuff to explore. We chatted about Webb here… he was a great drummer, and of course, gave us Ella, to boot.
As always, great drumming brings to mind some of the great drum battles. Here’s a couple for fun:
Visit [...]
RIP Blossom Dearie
Submitted by Secret Society
One of my all-time favorite singers is gone . She died peaceably, in her sleep, in her Greenwich Village apartment, at the age of 82. Somehow that seems apt.
When I first heard Blossom sing “Surrey With The Fringe On Top,” I didn’t get what anyone saw in it. Now hers is pretty [...]
And all their eyes look shady
Submitted by Secret Society
So with all the recording-related program activities, I did not quite get around to posting the audio from our December Jazz Gallery hit before we played there again this weekend as part of the Search And Restore website launch — check it out, it’s alive.
So, then. I’m-a just dump all this audio [...]
She likes the art museum, she don’t like Pavlov’s dog
Submitted by Secret Society
Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill was among those voting for the previously mentioned amendment barring any stimulus money going to museums, theaters, arts centers and the like.
Senator McCaskill also has a Twitter feed. Here’s her tweet from 10:29 AM yesterday:
Going to Museum of Am History today.Haven’t been since it re-opened.Want to check it out.Also [...]
Fuck art let’s demagogue
Submitted by Secret Society
So perhaps you heard that on Friday, the Senate passed an amendment to the stimulus bill, sponsored by the loathsome Tom Coburn, that bars any stimulus money from going to “any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, art center, and highway beautification project.” In other [...]
Blue Note at 70
Submitted by Jazz Suite
The New York Times takes a look at the trials and tribulations of the Blue Note label at 70.
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Rating 3.00 out of 5
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“Clair From The Moon”
Submitted by Jazz Suite
One of the neat things about having a blog is the wide range of music you are exposed to. This one comes from Joe Raciti - The King of Popsical.
It’s a jazzy take on Clair de Lune, perhaps my favorite classical piece. Jazzing the classics is always a cool concept, and calls [...]
Jazz & Accessibility 3
Submitted by Jazz Note SDP
I got some great responses to my last post. I am responding to them here rather than in the comments section. Anon1 says this:
I can appreciate your ‘Page One to Page Five Jazz’ concept, but where would you classify Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus? For me, they both play bebop, but [...]
More Earshot Golden Ear Awards Photographs
Submitted by EyeShotJazz
Hadley leads his quintet opening up the Golden Ear Awards night.
Hadley, Phil Sparks on bass and Thomas Marriott on trumpet.
Phil Sparks on bass.
Photograph by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan, a photojournalist specializing in photojournalism and portrait photography for publications and corporations and a Seattle wedding photographer with an unobtrusive, story-telling approach creating award winning [...]
Jazz & Accessibility 2: Andrew Hill & Evan Parker
Submitted by Jazz Note SDP
Back last year I posted a piece on jazz and accessibility, and proposed a five part “accessibility scale” from A1 (most accessible) to A5 jazz. Since then I have been listening to a much wider range of jazz, and my own ear for the music has become considerably more flexible. But [...]
Know your Co-conspirators: Mark Small
Submitted by Secret Society
(Photo: Lindsay Beyerstein)
Our ongoing series profiling the musicians involved with the making of Infernal Machines continues with a focus on Mark Small, today’s featured co-conspirator.
Like Josh, Jennifer, and myself, Mark studied at Boston’s New England Conservatory (home to sax gurus Jerry Bergonzi and George Garzone) before moving to NYC in the early [...]
RIP Hank Crawford and Lukas Foss
Submitted by Secret Society
I was saddened to learn that David “Fathead” Newman’s old foil, Hank Crawford, has also died, just a few days after Newman’s passing. Bruce Weber has the NYT Obit, and here’s Doug Ramsey (Rifftides).
See also Dave Douglas (Greenleaf), who links Hank Crawford with another departed American original, Lukas Foss. And for a movingly [...]
EARSHOT JAZZ - Golden Ear Awards
Submitted by EyeShotJazz
Monday night was the annual Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Awards evening held this year at The Triple Door. Hadley Caliman here playing in the set before the award announcements were made, won two of the coveted prizes, the award for the best Acoustic Jazz Ensemble and for the Best Northwest Concert of the [...]
“Bap-Tizum” - Art Ensemble of Chicago
Submitted by this SHAPE OF JAZZ
Rolling off the needle of my turntable, this disc delivers a live performance by the group during the 1972 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival. Unedited and exhibited in its entirety, the set showcases an adrenaline rush of tunes that leave the audience (as well as myself, the listener) begging for more.
The [...]
Dred Scott trio live at the Rockwood Music Hall
Submitted by Casa Valdez Studios
I met pianist Dred Scott when I moved back to the Bay Area from Boston in the early 90’s . I co-led a quintet with saxophonist Kenny Brooks for several years. Dred was the pianist, Kenny Wollesen played drums and when he was available Larry Grenadier played bass. Dred had [...]
Robert Knatt
Submitted by EyeShotJazz
I shot this photo of Robert Knatt last year and it appeared on the cover of the first issue of Earshot Jazz magazine for 2009. It is Volume 25 Number 1. A pretty good milestone for any publication. Robert Knatt has an outstanding reputation as a jazz educator. Here are a couple of [...]
Mixing up the Pentatonics- Jerry Bergonzi transcription
Submitted by Casa Valdez Studios
In Jerry Bergonzi’s book on pentatonics he has a recorded example of himself demonstrating the use of mixed pentatonics. My buddy Dave McGillicuddy transcribed Jerry’s example in order to see clearly what he was doing.
Mixing up the pentatonics solo
Mixing up the pentatonics- concert transcription
Mixing up the pentatonics- Bb transcription
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Jazz Guitar & Memory
Submitted by Jazz Note SDP
I’ve blogged about Kenny Burrell’s album, Midnight Blue. I picked it up in a music store in Claremont California in the 1980’s. It was one of the first compact discs I bought, and it was a remainder, so I got it cheap. It is a magnificent recording. Every soft echo is [...]
Take the plunge
Submitted by Jazz Suite
Hey trombonists, born this day in 1904, Joe “Tricky Sam” Nanton. So take out that plunger and celebrate!
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The New Bix, or, from Bix to Miles
Submitted by Jazz Suite
Part of the allure of Bix is wondering what he would have sounded like in the 50s, 60s and beyond. Many players have taken a crack at that, and most just sound like “Joe Cornet” playing in a Bixian fashion.
But one player who might have given us a glimpse at what Bix [...]
