abbey lincoln when autumn sings - who used to dance
abbey is so full of character, which is priority numero uno in my book. my first taste of her work was the cool record she did with stan getz, and then again singing "ten cents a dance" with the beautiful frank morgan. she sealed the deal for me when i saw her sing in chicago eons ago. my little sister tap-danced throughout her public school days, and got hooked on savion glover. my curiosity about their collaboration persuaded me to take a shot on this album and, although that cut is nice, this track does it for me. my spot is at 1:25. in addition to frank's gorgeously poignant solo, i am in love with that f# major chord that appears out of nowhere and am enchanted by how abbey wisps away the phrase "i felt alone".
john scofield jungle fiction - uberjam
a bunch of my friends have long been into scofield, but count me as late to the party. it took me forever to get into guitar players (sorry j-cook), and some folks i know are still anti-6 stringers. i finally witnessed the magnitude of sco back in my twin cities days. the wife and i went to a show at the fine line. i saw my good friend james biehn in the house, so i felt vindicated. the show was so good, in fact, that my wife actually went out and bought this record. this is the best track, and my favorite part is at 2:50 when sco gets out of that drum battle with a simple yet super hip 1-2-3-2-1.
charles lloyd lotus blossom - the water is wide
i don't usually care about sounding like any saxophonists. i'm not sure i even really like the sound of the saxophone. i have no clue how i came to play it, only hearing my mom tell the story of my dad disgustingly claiming that i picked it out because "it was the most expensive thing there." i only first heard mr. lloyd a few years ago, and merely by happenstance. i picked up this album because a) the band, and b) it was on ecm. my teacher did a record with billy higgins a while back, reenergizing my love affair with his playing. mr. lloyd's sound is genuine and emotional, the same recipe that i'm chasing. i love the title track, and my giddys on this strayhorn chart are sprinkled throughout the head every time i hear billy verbalizing his efforts. simply gorgeous.
song for barry - the return of the brecker brothers
the first jazz show i ever saw was in greeley, colorado at their unc jazz festival. my college took a bunch of kids out there for the weekend blowout of bands & combos flexing, vocal groups jazz handing. i had actually heard of michael brecker beforehand, but never his brother randy nor band members guitarist mike stern and drummer dave weckl. whoa. following a masterclass with los hermanos, the gig itself surpassed their unenthusiastic responses to the same damn questions from wannabe jazzers. they were pushing this album, with both audio and live concert dvd support. the first track kills, and my favorite part (aside from watching stern bend at the waist with each soaring long tone) is the way that michael wraps up his solo with a tongued eighth note line that matches dennis chambers' single stroke punctuation at 2:41.
derek trucks i'll find my way - songlines
shoot me for being judgmental. derek trucks was playing the iowa city jazz festival a couple years ago, and a bunch of my friends were beyond themselves with excitement. i was lukewarm at best, but definitely polite. trucks has a deep allman brothers lineage, to which i have nearly no knowledge or interest. seth, ben, & joel really wanted me to catch the set. i had already skipped out a couple years prior, when i blew out of the club after the elastic band and before trucks (and, come to think of it, i ran into james at that show too. he's a smart cookie!!!) i promised myself to hang for at least one song. 45 minutes passed before i knew what hit me. i bought this album right away, and love the big hit at 3:10 on this cut, setting up the rhodes glissando. beast.
thundercat fleer ultra - the golden age of apocalypse
dear lord this is the JAM. i am very compulsive by nature (ask my wife, whose head is shaking so hard in agreement that i fear it may end up on the floor) and have put this track on repeat in the stationwagon's bose system, through my new aviators, and blasting right at me on my macbook pro. big thanks to bart for hooking me up with this album. giddy moment? can the whole thing qualify? i guess, if i had to pick, that the synth banging arpeggios at 1:06 does the trick.
this track starts out a bit cheesy with bruno mars romancing the stone, but eminem sets it off. probably not his best effort (see early work as dre's apprentice & the marshall mathers lp), but certainly stronger than the majority of the rappers on the scene today. he flows over the bar line, mixes it up with a variety of subdivisions, and even occasionally sweetens the pot with a hemiola out of left field. my spot is at 1:55 when he outmeasures his duo partner 5'9".
i have just endured a jekyll & hyde weekend - sitting through teenage boys basketball tournaments during the day, playing fun gigs with workshop at night. the hoops tourney was out of town, which means we all coop up in a mid-level hotel (waffle maker, smallish hot tub, pretty clean environment), buy overpriced gatorade at the concession stand, and scream at the top of our lungs at middle school boys who are mortified by their folks' enthusiasm. the b-ball games and after parties (if you will) foster camaraderie between the boys while providing a social opportunity for the parents.
one of the dads asked me if i play wedding receptions. that's an honest question, and worth an honest response. i told him that us jazz guys don't really like playing those types of gigs because it's always the same batch of tunes for a group of people who are more excited to see you than actually hear you. however, we sure do like the money. he was surprised that i was more enthused about the paycheck than the playing. dare i tell him about the free food kicker?
the sad truth is that the original music gigs don't pay a ton and the standards shows help cover your bills. it makes sense, i suppose. people are hip to the old chestnuts and want to reminisce over their youth. i once caught run dmc in concert back in college. i had no interest in hearing reverend run proselytize with his new material, and i impatiently waited all the way to the curtain call to hear walk this way. other jazz fans have familiarized themselves with the some standard tunes and are ready to compare your navigation through those tunes with the historical benchmark versions they know. the folks with the deep pockets don't know our new stuff, so it's natural that they are less interested, but should money dictate our professional pursuits?
one of the workshop gigs i played was for the des moines metro arts jazz in july series. nearly every day of the month is booked with some type of jazz entertainment from a surprisingly deep local pool; smooth jazz stuff, classic big band, blues-based groups, talented swinging crooners, danceable latin ensembles, and straight ahead combos. i'd stop short of saying that it is a flawless system, but am certainly happy that our community is willing to get behind a true american art form instead of giving it empty lip service.
nobody i know gets duped into thinking they'll show up on an episode of cribs ("this is where the magic happens") while writing new material and reinventing song forms. we have all come to grips with the idea that our reward is $75, a couple of drinks, and a priceless internal satisfaction that is unquenchable. we keep hammering away at our thing, knowing that the dogmatic obstacles will eventually fall, and we continue posting our newest creations on sound cloud and various social networks, graciously revealing our visions to interested souls with that twinkle in their eye.
i ran into my friend brad rees at the gig friday, a college buddy of mine from way back in the day. he has founded and is now further developing a crafty music program at tiffin university up in ohio, zeroing in on music business and a cross-pollination of current pop material with longstanding jazz tools. he's fighting the good fight.
money is sticky business and a necessary evil. this tune pretty much sums it up, and that tattoo is ridiculous. devoting oneself to pursuing new art while consciously marketing it to the general public is the philosophy to which i subscribe. it's often a long and lonesome road, but one i will tread fearlessly. by no means do i neglect the music of the past: strayhorn, ives, miles, and debussy for starters.
the piano wizard bill evans once noted that those who look the furthest into the future reach back into the past. i believe that the space between the two is our creative playground.
