Archive for April, 2009
« Previous Entries Next Entries »The Rise and Fall of the Clarinet - One person’s view
Submitted by Jazz Suite
Michael Pellecchia on Jazz.com takes a look at The Rise and Fall of the Clarinet (in three parts)
“The clarinet was once the dominant instrument in jazz, literally defining the sound of the Swing Era, as demonstrated by the commercial and artistic successes of Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and others. But somehow that [...]
Incestuous and vain, and many other last names
Submitted by Secret Society
It is not entirely clear to me what the point of having a blog is if you can’t use it to occasionally give a shout-out to your friends and colleagues. So, in that spirit…
Trumpeter and Secret Society alumnus André Canniere is briefly back in NYC, and has gotten the old gang back [...]
So everybody buy my shit or I’ma come and kill you
Submitted by Secret Society
Fan-financed recordings (ahem) are nothing new, but they are definitely taking off, and stories about them seem to be everywhere these days.
I am forced to admit that drummer Josh Freese (Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle, Devo) offers better premiums:
$75,000 (limited edition of 1)
-Signed CD/DVD and digital download.
-T-shirt**
-Come out on tour with [...]
You deem me due to clean my view and be at peace and lay
Submitted by Secret Society
I missed this Alan Moore interview in Wired when it first came out a couple of months ago, but if it’s new to you too it’s worth a look. It’s super-curmudgeonly but very cogent, especially if you choose to pretend (as I do) that his ridiculous affectation about “magic” is all a [...]
Skirl Party @ Bell House, 11 April 2009
Submitted by Secret Society
The Bell House is a very cool somewhat newish music venue owned by the Union Hall/Floyd crew. It’s located in the same block of repurposed industrial Brooklyn No Man’s Land that also houses IBeam. This was an event for Chris Speed’s Skirl Records, with brief sets by four bands, each presenting a [...]
Johnny Griffin, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, & Monk
Submitted by Jazz Note SDP
Here’s some hardbop for you! Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis. Two spectacular tenors, now both gone to that great jazz club in the sky. Griffin and Davis were great duo. I have been enjoying Blues Up and Down, and The Tenor Scene for some time. Today I acquired a third [...]
“Uhuru Na Umoja” - Frank Wright
Submitted by This Shape of Jazz
Frank Wright is one of the avant-garde sax players I have only just been jumping into in the last year and a half or so, and man can he swing. Uhuru Na Umoja is a really heavy and powerful album that even though it’s a baseless quartet, it assaults the [...]
Not perfect grammar always perfect timing
Submitted by Secret Society
Sweet Jesus I hate The Elements of Style
Here’s why:
50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice
By GEOFFREY K. PULLUM
April 16 is the 50th anniversary of the publication of a little book that is loved and admired throughout American academe. Celebrations, readings, and toasts are being held, and a commemorative edition has been released.
I won’t [...]
I got no kick against modern jazz OR the kids are alright
Submitted by Jazz Suite
Apparently, I have something of a rep for avoiding a lot of new jazz — how’d that happen? But, in all honesty, there is truth in that, often because I find it far too clinical. Strictly speaking, that is a criticism of the artists, and not modern jazz as a whole.
Which [...]
Jazz’s debt to Nick La Rocca
Submitted by Jazz Suite
Nick La Rocca’s claims about the creation of jazz are wrong, of that there is no doubt. But while he didn’t invent the music any more than Jelly Roll Morton, his contribution to the music is no less important.
Sadly, while Morton’s crime was exaggeration, La Rocca (right or wrong, I make no [...]
Passion & Communication: Mal Waldron & Marion Brown
Submitted by Jazz Note SDP
I remember a sunny afternoon in Southern California when I was listening to Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. The soloist played a line and then shifted down the scale and played it again. The first line was light hearted. The second was deadly serious and cut into the muscle. It occurred to me [...]
Eliane Elias is Beautiful
Submitted by Jazz Note SDP
Back when I was still buying classical music (the only good musician is a dead musician) I noticed something. There were a lot of women recording great music, but to judge from the CD covers they were all of them drop dead gorgeous. Anne Sophie Mutter comes to mind. Now I [...]
Oh my god look what the cat dragged in
Submitted by Secret Society
“Street” date is May 12, but you can pick up an advance copy at our CD release hit at Galapagos on May 8.
Interested reviewers/bloggers, kindly contact Scott Menhinick at Improvised Communications and he’ll set you up. Scott is a mensch, one of the rare publicists who is both ruthlessly methodical and also (still) [...]
All I wanna know is when is checkout time
Submitted by Secret Society
I’m currently listening to the stream of the inaugural broadcast of Josh Jackson’s new show on WBGO, The Checkout. (Do not be deceived by their “On The Air Now” badge, which still says “Jazz Profiles.”) The Checkout is devoted to the revolutionary idea that at least some listeners at America’s flagship jazz station [...]
Coltrane and the Low Horn
Submitted by Jazz Note SDP
Trane liked to experiment with textured sound. His turn on the soprano sax is a good example. His arrangement of low horns on the Africa Brass Sessions is another. And then there is his work with Eric Dolphy. But his very first recording included a baritone sax played by Sahib Shihab [...]
Bud Shank 1926-2009
Submitted by Jazz Suite
Doug Ramsey’s Rifftides remembers Bud Shank, and it’s a beaut.
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Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]
One more from Chicago
Submitted by Jazz Note SDP
I am planning to visit the Jazz Record Mart on Illinois, just off Michigan, one more time tomorrow. I have got some ideas what I am looking for. Meanwhile, here is a cut from the Sonny Criss disc I bought on Wednesday. It is a brilliant piece of bop. Consider this [...]
Dutch jazz
Submitted by EyeShotJazz
Playing at the Asian Art Museum Friday night was the very cool group of Amsterdam’s top improvisers the Ab Baars Trio, playing with Chicago’s MacArthur-winning sax titan Ken Vandermark.
This show was one in the series of concerts that Earshot Jazz Presents in its annual Spring Series. There are four unique concert events in April featuring [...]
Ab Baars
Submitted by EyeShotJazz
Ab Baars at the Asian Art Museum Friday night with Amsterdam’s top improvisers in the Ab Baars Trio, playing with Chicago’s MacArthur-winning sax titan Ken Vandermark.
More to come.
Photograph by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan, a photojournalist specializing in jazz photography, photojournalism and portrait photography for publications and corporations. He is also a Seattle wedding [...]
Young Man With A Horn
Submitted by Jazz Suite
The occasion of Doris Day’s birthday recalls one of my favorite films, Young Man with a Horn. Some say this film is unwatchable. Well now…Yes, yes, I know it has its flaws, but consider it was an adaptation of a flawed novel, step back, and enjoy it for what it has.
Six reasons [...]
Joe Henderson’s Meditation on Billy Strayhorn
Submitted by Jazz Note SDP
I wonder how many authentic jazz record stores are left out there. I have personally only visited two in recent years: one in New Orleans, and the other, The Jazz Record Mart, yesterday in Chicago. The deck seems to be stacked against such enterprises. Most of the music was available elsewhere [...]
Prague International Summer Jazz Workshop
Submitted by Casa Valdez Studios
I’ve been invited to teach at the Prague International Summer Jazz Workshop this year. The workshop runs from July 18th to the 25th. My old buddy Jeff Ballard taught there last year and told me that he had a great time. I’ve started looking for other teaching or gigging opportunities [...]
Those gentle, quaint, fun-loving old charmers
Submitted by Secret Society
In regards the title of the previous post, I can’t believe I forgot to link to this video:
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Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]
Jazz Photographs - Habib Koite & Bamada
Submitted by EyeShotJazz
Here are the additional photos from last nights wonderful performance at the Triple Door by Habib Koite & Bamada, Africa’s hardest working and tightest band. If you missed them last night, be sure and try to catch them the next time they come to town. Presented by KEXP
Habib Koité has adopted his own highly [...]
Sign up for the big band or sit in the grandstand
Submitted by Secret Society
Like a lot of younger jazz composers who write for large ensembles, I have a bit of an ambivalent relationship to the “bigband tradition.” For instance, the piece of Secret Society music that most directly draws on that vocabulary is “Lizard Brain” — and it is in 13/4, incorporates a lot of [...]
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