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PDX Jazz Fest :: Dave Holland Quintet
Well, the PDX Jazzfest in Portland, Oregon, is about 3 weeks away. You won’t want to miss it. There are many fantastic local and national acts, including these great headliners:
Thursday, February 25 – Luciana Souza
Friday, February 26 – Mingus Big Band
Saturday, February 27 (3pm) – Trygve Seim & Frode Haltli
Saturday, February 27 (7:30) – Dave Holland Quintet
Sunday, February 28 (3pm) – Pharoah Sanders
Sunday, February 28 (7:30) – Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy
As we lead up to the event, I’ll focus on one of the headliners a week… next up the Dave Holland Quintet.
At the pinnacle of his career, Dave Holland has settled into the unassuming role of jazz master. The multi-award and poll-winning bassist, composer, arranger and bandleader leads two of the most vibrant groups in jazz: the Dave Holland Quintet and the Dave Holland Big Band. He has collaborated in two of the top jazz collectives of the decade: the ScoLoHoFo quartet comprised of Holland, John Scofield, Joe Lovano and Al Foster and the Herbie Hancock-piloted all-star quartet including Wayne Shorter and Brian Blade.
Though he’s too busy to be fully engaged in outside projects, Holland has played on recent Roy Haynes albums and recorded trio dates with such leaders as Geri Allen and Kenny Wheeler-all outings that he says he could not pass up. He even has taken his recording career into his own hands, launching his own label imprint, Dare2 Records in 2005.
A onetime sideman with two titans of jazz, Thelonious Monk (a short tenure) and Miles Davis (a seminal experience during the trumpeter’s Bitches Brew era), Holland made his debut as a leader in the early 1970s. He broke in as a leader with Music for Two Basses (1971) with Barre Phillips and Conference of the Birds (1972) with a band featuring Sam Rivers and Anthony Braxton. Holland also expanded his work as a side musician to include recording with a diversity of artists such as Bonnie Raitt (Give It Up, 1972), John Hartford (Morning Bugle, 1972) and Lee Konitz (Satori, 1974).
In recent years, his recording career has continued to flourish, recording such milestone albums as his quintet CD, Extended Play: Live at Birdland (2003) and two Grammy-winning big band discs, What Goes Around (2002) and the potent follow-up Overtime (2005). Continuing this impressive creative streak into 2006, Holland released a new quintet album, entitled Critical Mass. The album is the first new studio recording by the Dave Holland Quintet to be released in over five years and marks drummer Nate Smith’s debut recording with the band.
In regards to his quintet, Holland sees his band as representing the evolution of different types of rhythmic structures and forms that has been transforming the face of jazz in the last two decades. In his search to keep the music vital, Holland says the band has delved into the rhythmic traditions of Africa, India, South America and the Caribbean, as well as the innovations in contemporary music in the hip-hop and R&B worlds.
Webpage: http://www.daveholland.com/
FOR INFO & TICKETS: http://pdxjazz.com/tickets/
~Dan – np: Yuka Honda – Heart Chamber Phantoms 
PDX Jazz Fest :: Trygve Seim & Frode Haltli
Well, the PDX Jazzfest in Portland, Oregon, is about 4 weeks away. You won’t want to miss it. There are many fantastic local and national acts, including these great headliners:
Thursday, February 25 – Luciana Souza
Friday, February 26 – Mingus Big Band
Saturday, February 27 (3pm) – Trygve Seim & Frode Haltli
Saturday, February 27 (7:30) – Dave Holland Quintet
Sunday, February 28 (3pm) – Pharoah Sanders
Sunday, February 28 (7:30) – Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy
As we lead up to the event, I’ll focus on one of the headliners a week… this week is all about Norwegian jazz masters Trygve Seim & Frode Haltli.
A unique saxophone/accordion duo and key figures in the new Norwegian music, Trygve Seim and Frode Haltli have played together in many contexts. The accordionist joined Seim’s large ensemble for live performances after the release of Different Rivers in 2000, and participated in the recording of The Source and Different Cikadas later that year, as well as Sangam (recorded 2002-2004). He continues to tour regularly with Seim’s large ensemble. Trygve and Frode have been playing in duo since 2001: Yeraz is the first documentation of their work in this format.
The two musicians share an interest in the expressive potential of acoustic music across all stylistic boundaries, from world folk traditions to contemporary composition. Accordionist Frode Haltli came to contemporary music early, but simultaneously began playing folk music in his local village community, and at 13 was the youngest member of a traditional dance band. Folk has remained a thread in a musical life that embraces improvisation as well as performance of composed music with a special focus on modern composers. His prize winning debut album Looking on Darkness (ECM New Series, 2002) including the title piece written by Bent Sørensen, was a powerful summing up of new directions in Nordic composition. Passing Images (recorded 2004) made connections between folk and improvisation and pooled a team of maverick talents including classical violist Garth Knox, jazz trumpeter Arve Henriksen and singer/composer Maja Ratkje.
Inspired early in his creative life by Jan Garbarek and by Edward Vesala, Seim has worked in many modern jazz contexts, and continues to tour with Manu Katché’s group. In his own music, however, distance from conventional definitions of jazz becomes ever more marked. Investigation of Asian, Middle Eastern and East European music – and especially the sounds of the Armenian duduk, the Japanese shakuhachi, and the Indian bansuri flute – have had their impact on Seim’s music and brought about a redefining of the nature of dynamics. Subtle shadings and textures are part of his palette, and microtonal phrasing characteristic of his melodic approach.
Webpage: http://www.trygveseim.no/
Webpage: http://www.haltli.com/
FOR INFO & TICKETS: http://pdxjazz.com/tickets/
~Dan – np: Mycale play John Zorn’s Masada Book Two: Book of Angels, Vol. 13 – Mycale
REVIEW: Bill Frisell Trio @ the Shedd (Eugene, OR – 1/23/10)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
I saw Bill Frisell about a year and a half ago with Eyvind Kang & Rudy Royston… fantastic show, but more on the experimental, avant-garde edge (my review of that June 2008 show). Last night’s show was a trio of guitarist Bill Frisell with bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen (Sex Mob, Electric Masada, etc):
They hit the Shedd stage around 7:30pm. Differing from the retro live photo above, Tony Scherr was on electric bass. Kenny Wollesen played a standard kit, and Bill Frisell had a few guitars, pedals, gear to loop his sounds… and a big screen above them to show the congruous films as they played.
At the beginning of the show, Bill explained the accompanying film pieces: four by Seattle animator Jim Woodring, one by Bill Morrison, and two Buster Keaton classics. The band started out with a Jim Woodring computer animation – all black and white, but with many interesting, morphing shapes. The music started off slow, had some interesting wandering scales with a nice build and finish. The animation was quite enveloping, and the 10 minute piece seemed to fly by…
I was only allowed to take photos for the initial fifteen minutes, but the rest of the Woodring cartoons were somewhat related to the initial computer animations – 
many of the same morphing shapes show up, whether in a character, a beer tap, or a lamp. The primary character in the animations was “Frank.” We follow him around in his travels that either end in a big mess, a violent picnic, or death.
The second Woodring piece introduced us to the aforementioned “Frank.” He tooled around his house and then went up into the hills to some odd looking palace, and when he returned, his house had been ransacked by some fat, troll-like human character. The animation appeared to be paper-based stop-motion animation. The music had a Floratone or possibly Disfarmer feel… I actually recognized the melody that Bill played midway through, but can’t place it now.
The third piece was another Woodring “Frank” animation, but this time with either colored paper or possibly fabric animation. 
The setting was a picnic and got fairly violent near the end. The piece was shorter (maybe 5 minutes), which led into the fourth and final Woodring piece… a claymation “Frank” with a devil-type character. The music had a nice groove, and the animation ended with the beer tap looking piece of furniture tipping over to expose the phrase “And You Call Yourself a Gentleman.”
Up next were three silent films… and quite frankly, I lost the music in the viewing. I think the music worked really well and enhanced the pieces, but it definitely fell to the background of what I was paying attention to …
The first was a short film called The Mesmerist by Bill Morrison featuring a re-worked 1926’s film The Bells which featured Boris Karloff. It had been altered from the original, and I’m not sure what was part of the original and what was part of the re-imagining. It started with a very old, sepia & scratchy feel and grew into more animated splotches. The storyline is of an innkeeper who murders a rich visitor and is haunted by the murder he committed.
Up next were two Buster Keaton films… The High Sign (1921) and One Week (1920)…
Each film was in the 15-20 minute range. I was quite amazed at Buster’s utterly ingenious physical comedy. I was familiar with his work a little bit (trumpeter Dave Douglas and his Keystone band has used Buster Keaton in the past). The first one was a gangster caper with a really basic (but stupendous) cross-section of a house with tons of trap doors and moving walls. The second one was of a cheap home that was hurriedly built after a wedding with hilarity ensuing. For the video (with non-Frisell music) check out YouTube of The High Sign and of One Week.
Seven songs, 90 minutes… the Trio took a bow and left the stage. They hit the stage one last time for a short animation of Woodring’s Frank called Whim Grinder:
I enjoyed the film and animation accompanying Frisell’s music; though, I’ll say again that the music really dropped to the background on some of the wild imagery of the Frank cartoons and storylines & physical comedy going on in the films. Upcoming tour dates of Frisell’s include Eyvind Kang/Rudy Royston dates, some Ron Carter/Paul Motion dates, some 858 Quartet dates, and these Scherr/Wollesen dates (which would presumably feature the films/animations as well)…
- 1/24/2010 – Seattle, WA – Triple Door
- 4/2/2010 – Savannah, GA – Savannah Music Festival at Charles Morris Center
- 4/3/2010 – Savannah, GA – Savannah Music Festival at Charles Morris Center
The Appropriate Linkage:
- Bill Frisell’s Site
- Bill Frisell on MySpace
- Tony Scherr’s Site
- Tony Scherr on MySpace
- Jim Woodring – Animator
- The Shedd Institute
BILL FRISELL TRIO PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2010 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
Limited to 1200 pixels wide or tall (10 pics)
John Zorn – Masada Book Two Marathon (NYC)
MASADA ‘BOOK OF ANGELS’ MARATHON!
February 17th & 18th
2 nights. 10 bands. 19 musicians. 1 inspiring book of music!
Written in a flash of creativity during three months at the end of 2004, the 316 compositions in John Zorn‘s Book of Angels (aka Masada Book Two) contain some of his most lyrical and inspiring music. Performed by a wide variety of ensembles over the past 5 years the music has generated 13 CDs to date, with 4 more scheduled for release in 2010. This special Marathon concert brings together 10 different groups in two evenings-five bands per night. Don’t miss this special downtown event presented at the historical Henry Street Settlement at the Abrons Art Center! $30 in advance / $35 at the door (Separate admission each night)
Tickets at https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/710455
Featuring: Uri Caine, Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen, Joey Baron, Cyro Baptista, Kenny Wollesen, Jamie Saft, Erik Friedlander, Mark Feldman, Ben Goldberg, Shanir Blumenkranz, Sylvie Courvoisier, Tim Keiper, Brian Marsells, Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, Basya Schecter, Malika Zarra, Sofia Rei Koutsovitis, John Zorn, and more
DAY 1 February 17th (Wednesday) at 8pm
Banquet Of The Spirits
Ben Goldberg Quartet
Mark Feldman/Sylvie Courvoisier
Mycale
Masada Sextet
tickets for Day 1 https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/7904665
DAY 2 February 18th (Thursday) at 8pm
Uri Caine solo
Masada String Trio
Jamie Saft Trio
Erik Friedlander solo
Masada Quartet
tickets for Day 2 https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/7904675
I wish I lived in NYC!
The Masada Book Two Series (to date):
~Dan – np: Yuka Honda – Memories Are My Only Witness
PDX Jazz Fest :: Mingus Big Band
Well, the PDX Jazzfest in Portland, Oregon, is about 5 weeks away. You won’t want to miss it. There are many fantastic local and national acts, including these great headliners:
Thursday, February 25 – Luciana Souza
Friday, February 26 – Mingus Big Band
Saturday, February 27 (3pm) – Trygve Seim & Frode Haltli
Saturday, February 27 (7:30) – Dave Holland Quintet
Sunday, February 28 (3pm) – Pharoah Sanders
Sunday, February 28 (7:30) – Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy
As we lead up to the event, I’ll focus on one of the headliners a week… next up the Mingus Big Band.
For those jazz fans who don’t know the music of Charles Mingus, go back to school. He was a monumental force on bass and a great composer in his own right. He had a firey-oft-angry personality, a strong conviction against racism, and a great sense for melody. He was one of my first forays into jazz… I had Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus and Mingus Ah Um long before I had any other jazz in my collection.
The Mingus Big Band celebrates the music of the composer and bassist, Charles Mingus, who died in 1979. Under the artistic direction of (Charles’ wife) Sue Mingus, this 14-piece band performed Thursday nights from 1991 to 2004 at the Fez under Time Cafe in New York City, occasionally alternating with the Charles Mingus Orchestra. From November 2004 to September 2008, the big band had a residency at Iridium Jazz Club and in October 2008 moved to Monday residency at Jazz Standard. The Mingus Big Band tours extensively in the United States and abroad, and has eight recordings to its credit, six of which have been nominated for Grammys.
Regulars currently appearing in the 14-piece band:
- 3 Trumpets: Randy Brecker, Earl Gardner, Alex Sipiagin, Lew Soloff, Tatum Greenblatt, Ryan Kisor, Kenny Rampton, Jack Walrath, Sean Jones
- 3 Trombones: Conrad Herwig, Andy Hunter, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Earl McIntyre, Dave Taylor, Robin Eubanks, Joe Fiedler, Clark Gayton
- 5 Saxophones: Vincent Herring, Seamus Blake, Abraham Burton, Wayne Escoffery, Donny McCaslin, Mark Gross, Craig Handy, Jason Marshall, Lauren Sevian, Jaleel Shaw, Steve Slagle, Ronnie Cuber, David Lee Jones
- Piano: Orrin Evans, David Kikoski, Helen Sung, George Colligan, Kenny Drew Jr.
- Bass: Boris Kozlov, Hans Glawischnig, Andy McKee, Joe Martin, Ugonna Okegwo, Dwayne Burno
- Drums: Donald Edwards, Gene Jackson, Victor Lewis, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Adam Cruz
Webpage: http://www.mingusmingusmingus.com/
FOR INFO & TICKETS: http://pdxjazz.com/tickets/
~Dan – np: John Zorn – Cobra
Sonny Rollins on Tour
Jazz LEGEND Sonny Rollins is hitting the road for a short midwest/west coast tour this spring…
- April 6 Orchestra Hall, Detroit, MI
- April 9 Orchestra Hall, Chicago, IL
- May 10 Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA
- May 13 Wheeler Auditorium, University of California, Berkeley, CA
- May 16 Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA
- May 19 Davis Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, Davis, CA
The Seattle show being on a Monday makes it problematic for me. I’ll see what I can do. Anyway, if he’s fortuitously swinging by your neck of the woods, go!
~Dan – np: Half Zaftig – Life Like Luster
PDX Jazz Fest :: Luciana Souza
Well, the PDX Jazzfest in Portland, Oregon, is about 6 weeks away. You won’t want to miss it. There are many fantastic local and national acts, including these great headliners:
Thursday, February 25 – Luciana Souza
Friday, February 26 – Mingus Big Band
Saturday, February 27 (3pm) – Trygve Seim & Frode Haltli
Saturday, February 27 (7:30) – Dave Holland Quintet
Sunday, February 28 (3pm) – Pharoah Sanders
Sunday, February 28 (7:30) – Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy
As we lead up to the event, I’ll focus on one of the headliners a week… first up Luciana Souza.
Luciana Souza is a Grammy winning jazz vocalist from São Paulo, Brazil. Her first solo album was An Answer to Your Silence (1999). The Poems of Elizabeth Bishop and Other Songs (2000) was fifth place in the New York Times‘ 2000 The Year in Pop and Jazz: The Critics’ Choice list. In 1991, she was elected Discovery of the Year by APCA for her work with Hermeto Pascoal. In the next year, she toured with the Zimbo Trio. In 1995, she was nominated for Outstanding Latin Act and, in the next year, Outstanding Jazz Vocalist at the Boston Music Awards. Among the artists she has been performing and recording with are her godfather, Hermeto Pascoal; Danilo Perez; Zimbo Trio; David Kikoski; Joey Calderazzo; Romero Lubambo; Guillermo Klein; Oscar Castro-Neves; Cyro Baptista; the Paul Winter Consort; Ben Sher Group; Steve Lacy; Kenny Wheeler; Donald Brown; John Patitucci; Kenny Werner; Osvaldo Golijov; Bob Moses; and George Garzone. From a musical family (her parents are Walter Santos and Tereza Souza), Souza has been involved with music since her childhood, when she worked with jingles. After four years at Unicamp University in Brazil, she went to the Berklee College of Music, where she received a bachelor’s degree in jazz composition. She received a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. In 2009, Souza released Tide her first album for Verve and her second collaboration with husband and producer Larry Klein.
Webpage: http://www.lucianasouza.com/
FOR INFO & TICKETS: http://pdxjazz.com/tickets/
~Dan – np: dredg – Waterborne (soundtrack)
PDX Jazz Fest // Nellie McKay
Two unrelated news items…
PDX Jazz Fest is just over 6 weeks away… if you like live music and live anywhere near Portland, Oregon, you need to check this out. It’s a great festival. This year’s line-up is pretty darn excellent, if you ask me. I’m hitting three of them (Holland, Sanders & Douglas)…
Headliners
Thursday, February 25 – Luciana Souza
Friday, February 26 – Mingus Big Band
Saturday, February 27 (3pm) – Trygve Seim & Frode Haltli
Saturday, February 27 (7:30) – Dave Holland Quintet *
Sunday, February 28 (3pm) – Pharoah Sanders *
Sunday, February 28 (7:30) – Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy *
The whole week of Feb 21-28 (2010) is full of other great local and national jazz artists as well… all over town. For tickets and more information: http://www.pdxjazz.com/
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Nellie McKay has released a few 2010 tour dates on her webpage (very scattered so far). The Seattle date is with Garrison Keillor‘s A Prairie Home Companion… fuuuun. I’m planning to make the trek up to that show.
- 1/7/2010 Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant
- 2/18/2010 New York, NY The Allen Room at Lincoln Center
- 4/3/2010 Seattle, WA Paramount Theater – A Prairie Home Companion
- 4/10/2010 Delaware Water Gap, PA Deerhead Inn
- 6/1/2010 New York, NY Feinstein’s at The Regency
- 9/17/2010 Monterey, California, United States Monterey Jazz Festival
I’m sure more dates will trickle in throughout the year. Go to her tour page for more info.
~Dan – np: Miles Davis – Porgy & Bess
Thom Yorke // Dave Douglas
Two news items… both film & music related…
As posted on atease… Radiohead’s Thom Yorke wrote three songs for the Tibetian documentary When The Dragon Swallowed The Sun. It is the documentary on the inside perspective on the Tibetan movement to free Tibet from Chinese occupation, its internal conflicts and contradictions. In an interview with 24-bit, director Dirk Simin revealed that Thom Yorke wrote three new songs for a particular chapter of the film.
Songwriter Damien Rice has also written a song for the documentary, and composer Philip Glass has penned the main theme for the film, including a piece for a key “grand finale” sequence. The premiere is expected early in 2010.
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One of my favorite jazzmen, Dave Douglas, is bringing his Keystone group to Stanford to collaborate with filmmaker Bill Morrison on Spark of Being, a ‘monumental work’ combining the screening of film with live musical performance. Dave Douglas is an artist in residency for most of the Spring 2010 at Stanford University.
If you are lucky enough to live near (or are vacationing near) Stanford, you can try your hand at going to the world premiere performance of Spark of Being on April 24, 2010.
~Dan – np: Floss – Vitamin A
* Favorite Instrumental Albums of 2009 *
Disclaimer (with a nod to Andy Whitman of Paste): No, I haven’t heard all 8,000+albums released this year. I’ve heard about 200 of them, which makes me at least 97.5% likely to be wrong. I make no claims to objectivity. These albums are my favorites from 2009. You might think that the one you’ve heard that I haven’t heard is the best album of 2009. And you might be right. So go ahead and vent. Enjoy!
As I start this post, I will say that this is all very subjective and really put together for my own purposes. I’ll also state that, yes, some of the music below does have some vocals. For the most part, it’s sequestered to a track or two on a long CD of mostly instrumental goodness. My list, my rules, and/or my breaking of the rules. With that being said, all of the artists below tend to be in the jazz and instrumental frame of reference anyway.
Hopefully my spilling out of music that I like finds interest with someone else. But if not, thanks for stopping by… check out their webpages, SpaceBook pages, yadda yadda yadda. OK, now on to the best of what’s hit my ears this year on the mainly instrumental front…
Honorable mentions: Uri Gurvich‘s The Storyteller, John Zorn‘s Filmworks XXIII: El General, Ahleuchatistas‘ Of the Body Prone, Secret Chiefs 3‘s Le Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomini (The Severed Right Hands of the Last Men), and Skerik & The Dead Kenny G’s Bewildered Herd.
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 Osso String Quartet – Run Rabbit Run: A Tribute to Sufjan Stevens’ Enjoy Your Rabbit (Asthmatic Kitty) :: I feel lucky that I got to witness the world premiere of Osso playing Sufjan Stevens’ Enjoy Your Rabbit at MusicNOW Fest 2007 in Cincinnati. I think almost immediately after that show, I emailed Asthmatic Kitty to see if they were going to release audio or video of that performance. Little did I know that they’d do me one better by putting Osso into a studio to record the full length stringed tribute. Huzzah! While the novelty of the initial project has worn off for me, the musical arrangements stand firm. I really dig Osso and I’m looking forward to their further collaboration with Sufjan, My Brightest Diamond, or their own pieces.  |
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 Mike Patton – Crank High Voltage Score (Lions Gate) :: Well, Mike Patton pretty much took a year off of Ipecac stuff due to Faith No More reuniting. I supposed this score satiated me, but I would have loved for Mondo Cane to make its way out the door in 2009 (as was initially promised by Patton himself). Anyway, this album has a couple of vocal tracks, but overall, it features Mike’s voicebox gymnastics and razor-edged composition schizophrenia that I’ve loved since I first got into Mr. Bungle… Fantômas… and the rest of his vast body of work… |
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 Feldman / Caine / Cohen / Baron – Secrets (Tzadik) :: This album snuck on me as I was re-listening to my 2009 CDs. It has that klezmer jazz feel as is common in the Tzadik Radical Jewish Culture series, but it also has a much more accessible feel as well. With Uri Caine’s piano in the mix, he almost adds a Vince Guaraldi aspect to the klez-jazz that permeates. |
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 Jónsi & Alex – Riceboy Sleeps (indie) :: Sigur Rós is one of my favorite groups, and a few years ago frontman Jónsi started an arty project with his partner Alex. At first it was a hand-printed notebook and a few musical things on MySpace, but it transformed into a full album as time went along. It’s much more ambient when compared to Sigur Rós – but definitely appeals to fans of Jónsi’s main band. In other news… they have a raw, vegan cookbook PDF on their website (for free)… holy cow… I’m totally gonna make some raw strawberry pie when the season comes around. That and many other recipes look flippin’ delicious… much like the music. Yeah, this is a music blog, right? Sorry for my drooling over “Icelandic rockstar” recipe books. |
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 Wadada Leo Smith with Jack DeJohnette – America (Tzadik) :: I love trumpet… I have some of Wadada’s other work, and I usually find it to be hit or miss. I wasn’t coming in with a lot of preconceptions or whetted appetite about this album, and after the first spin, I loved it. It’s fairly sparse sonically, with only Wadada on trumpet & flugelhorn and Jack on drums. The sound from his horns is so brilliant and melodic, yet searching. I hope they can get together for a 2nd duo outing sometime soon. This wins my “best surprise” award for instrumental albums in 2009. |
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 The Fantastic Terrific Munkle – Music To Dance To (Jazz Groove Australia) :: I got into the Fantastic Terrific Munkle via band member Julian Curwin, who put out his fantastic Tango Saloon out on Ipecac a few years ago. Munkle and Tango Saloon have similar jazz meets groove meets world music meets danceable rhythms. This one was harder to get, as I had to directly order it from Australia (but at least they accept PayPal in US dollars). I wish I could find similar luck with Tango Saloon’s second album, Transylvania (still no stateside release, and the AUD to USD conversion is killin’ me these days). |
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 900X – Music for Lubbock, 1980 (Asthmatic Kitty) :: I got this download for free from Asthmatic Kitty along with the other Library Catalog Music Series (they’re great in supplying review subjects to music bloggers), and the 900X album simply surpassed the others in the collection, if you ask me. I ended up buying it on vinyl… a great addition to the collection. I don’t know if 900x (or James McAlister dba 900x) have any future plans for further releases of this nature. I hope so. |
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 McTuff (Skerik & Joe Doria) – McTuff, Volume 1 (indie) :: Joe Doria’s tribute to Jack McDuff has turned into a great Northwest jazz quartet (and trio when Skerik isn’t available). I’m lucky to have seen them a couple times thus far. Skerik’s sax is fantastic, Doria’s hammond keeps the groove, Lewis’s drums are killer, and Coe’s guitars really know how to burn (which I didn’t really pick up on until the 2nd time seeing them live).   |
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 Roberto Rodriguez – The First Basket (Tzadik) :: Roberto Rodriguez’s Cuban-meets-Judaic music have been some of my favorites out of Tzadik the last few years… this one was a bit different. It’s a score to a film (of the same name) that follows the history of Jewish basketball… its scope covers klezmer, classical, rock, dixieland, and more. Its variety is what helped this album beat out his other 2009 album from the list this year (Timba Talmud is also really good). |
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  Medeski Martin & Wood – Radiolarians II & III (Indirecto) :: Starting in 2008, MMW set out to record three albums back to back to back, heading out on a short tour before each album and going directly into the studio and then out on the road again. They swung through Eugene in late 2008 as part of the Radiolarians III Tour. By that time, only R1 had come out; so the crowd didn’t really know the material being played. They played two sets, one set of experimental meets groove and one set of the eventual R3 material. Near the end of 2009, they released the Evolutionary Boxset (all Radiolarians albums with tons of extras: vinyl/live/remixes/DVDs)… great material from a fantastic groove-oriented jazz band. I’m stoked, as they’re coming through Eugene again in Feb 2010. Yay! |
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 Wynton Marsalis – He and She (EMI Blue Note) :: Wynton is a great trumpet player, puts on a great live show, writes and releases great music, and he’s also a jazz bigot. Sigh. |
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 Eyal Maoz’s Edom – Hope and Destruction (Tzadik) :: Great Jewish instrumental rock. I dug Eyal’s first album, Edom. It appears he’s made an official band out of it… yay. I don’t have much else to add; so I’ll leave it with Tzadik’s P.R. niblit… “Hope and Destruction presents powerful Jewish rock instrumentals from a cutting edge guitarist who combines the harmonic lyricism of Bill Frisell with the angst and skronk of Marc Ribot.” Ribot and Frisell influences… me likey. |
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 Jon Madof’s Rashanim – The Gathering (Tzadik) :: Similar but a bit rockier compared to Eyal Maoz’s Edom, Jon Madof has been on my radar since his first instrumental Jewish rock album, Rashanim (which subsequently turned into the band name similar to Edom’s recent evolution). Anyway, this is Madof’s third album under this band moniker. Guitars, bass, drums… banjo… banjo bass… jaw harp… glockenspiel… melodica… tiple… chonguri… it all sounds great!! Jon also has another band called CircuitBreaker that I’m waiting on with baited breath. |
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 Stabat Akish – Stabat Akish (Tzadik) :: From Toulouse, France, this is one of those rare Tzadik releases that fits into the “Composer Series” that doesn’t bore me to tears. Don’t get me wrong, there are some gems in the CS catalogue, but most of them are violin noodlers. This is more of the rock band variety of composers. It has elements of French street music (which I witnessed first hand in Toulouse, coincidentally), elements of Zorn’s schizophrenia, and elements of the ever excellent Frank Zappa… thanks to the vibraphone and bass marimba acrobatics. |
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 Zu – Carboniferous (Ipecac) :: I got this due to Mike Patton’s involvement… he actually sings on one track (and vocal instrumentation on another). Despite that Patton vocal song, this is definitely an instrumental band and a chiefly instrumental album. Zu is powerful rock from Rome, sometimes lumped in with the math rock scene, sometimes with metal. They have had their hand in the jazz scene in the past, too (their album placed in The Village Voice‘s 2004 jazz poll). This album is my only experience with them, but I hope to get into their diverse and vast back catalogue soon. |
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 SF Jazz Collective – Live 2009 (SF Jazz) :: SFJC 2010 will not quite be the same… they lost Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano, and Miguel Zenon – all key players in the 2007 through 2009 seasons. This 2009 season was dedicated to the music of McCoy Tyner and also features great compositions by the eight members of the band. It is truly a collective of many great musicians, not just a band fronted by a few.  |
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 Tim Sparks – Little Princess: Tim Sparks plays Naftule Brandwein (Tzadik) :: A fingerstyle guitar virtuoso, I’d heard Tim on some other Tzadik releases, but I think this one is my favorite of his. This album is a trio of Tim, Cyro Baptista on percussion, and Greg Cohen on bass. I think the added players helped fill out Tim’s sound – which was awesomely virtuosic, but a touch too sparse on prior releases. |
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 Dave Douglas – A Single Sky (Greenleaf) :: This was the third of three Dave Douglas releases this year. It features three new Dave Douglas tunes and four rearranged Douglas tunes by Jim McNeely and his Frankfurt Radio Bigband. The entire album has a great big band feel, something I’m a sucker for – obviously. I love Dave Douglas’s prolific nature – 2009 was good to his fans. |
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 John Zorn – Alhambra Love Songs (Tzadik) :: One of the more accessible albums in Zorn’s catalogue, this is his ode to his favorite San Francisco Bay Area artists and musicians: Vince Guaraldi, Clint Eastwood, David Lynch, Mike Patton, Harry Smith, and more. The music is played by the Rob Burger Trio (Rob + Greg Cohen & Ben Perowsky). The albums leads off with the very Guaraldian tribute to Vince himself – “Mountain View.” |
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 Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy – Spirit Moves (Greenleaf) :: Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy is coming to Portland / PDX Jazz Fest this coming February! I’m so stoked. This band features Dave on trumpet, Vincent Chancey (French horn), Luis Bonilla (trombone), Marcus Rojas (tuba) and Nasheet Waits (drums). The tuba really adds that bouncy backbone that I love (I’m also a fan of the rockier band Drums & Tuba). Check out DD&BE’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert (video). |
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 Sufjan Stevens – The BQE (Asthmatic Kitty) :: It is atrociously difficult to read the lettering on the front cover… maybe as easy as navigating the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in rush hour. This was Sufjan’s first foray into studio album land since the Avalanche (but that was more of a b-side collection of 2005’s Illinoise). Anyway… it’s a moving, 40 minute piece dedicated to NYC’s traffic clusterbomb. It comes with a film to accompany it, and if you get the double-gatefold vinyl, you get a spiffy comic book written by Sufjan and a fantastic full-color booklet. I like it how Sufjan “keeps it weird” when he’s “keeping it real.” |
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 John Zorn – O’o (Tzadik) :: While the music is stunning, I think longtime Tzadik artwork designer Chippy deserves a ton of credit as well. This album is the band from The Dreamers: Baptista, Baron, Dunn, Ribot, Saft, and Wollesen. It carries on that world music / surf / exotica sound, but adds the element of nature: being a tribute to rare birds (the album is named after an extinct Hawaiian bird). |
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 Tides from Nebula – Aura (indie from Poland) :: Tides of Nebula is powerful, evocative progressive post-rock goodness from Poland. They have links on their MySpace page on how to get their CD. It’s really, really, really, good. It combines the huge sound from post-rock giants like Explosions in the Sky or Mogwai, but adds a tight edge as well – similar to if Brit progressive rockers Porcupine Tree tweaked some Explosions or Mogwai songs. This is one of those bands and albums that I had no idea about even this summer, and then out of nowhere – BAM! Way up to the top of the pile. I’m looking forward to more from this great group.  |
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Masada Quintet & Joe Lovano play Masada Book Two: Book of Angels, Vol. 12: Stolas (Tzadik) :: The original Masada quartet’s last studio album was in 1999. They continued as a quartet (John Zorn / Dave Douglas / Joey Baron / Greg Cohen) throughout most of the 2000s (I got to see one of their last shows in March 2007). Zorn moved on in the 2000s with writing a 2nd book of Masada tunes, not to be played by Masada, but rather interpreted by other bands. The past 11 albums in this series have been fantastic (Secret Chiefs 3, Medeski Martin & Wood, and the Bar Kokhba Sextet (related-to-but-not-Masada) albums have been my faves). I would never have imagined that Zorn would “allow” Masada to record an album for this Masada Book Two series. Well, he didn’t (sort of). He added pianist Uri Caine and tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano to the mix. A great “supergroup” album!! |
Where do I get most of these jazz and other instrumental releases? My #1 favorite source for jazz is Downtown Music Gallery in New York. Manny and Bruce and their great staff are superb… and being the official distributor for John Zorn’s Tzadik doesn’t hurt my affection for them. I usually do a monthly Tzadik order (if the releases strike my fancy), and they have a ton of other non-Tzadik jazz and avant-garde releases as well.
And, no, I’m not affiliated, I don’t get a commission, and beyond my initial “big tax refund / gotta get caught up on Zorn order of 2005,” I haven’t gotten a discount with DMG. I just love and support what they do.
My Other Favorites of 2009 Recaps:
- Fave Concerts of ‘09 are recapped *HERE*
- Fave EPs/Vinyl/Live/more of ‘09 are recapped *HERE*
- Fave Vocal Albums ‘09 are recapped *HERE*
- Fave Artists of the Decade are coming soon
- Old Years: 2008I, 2008V, 2008ep, 2008C, 2007V, 2007I, 2007C, 2006, 2005
~Dan – np: Brian Borcherdt – Torches
Jazz is not hindered by boundaries, Wynton!
Wynton Marsalis photo by Steve Mack
An open letter to Wynton Marsalis, self-professed “CEO of Jazz,” in response to this article:
Wynton Marsalis seeks purist fan . . .
The legendary jazz musician wants to give a present to the jazz buff in Spain who complained to the police that the music at a gig wasn’t ‘jazz’ – and has asked the Guardian to find him. Problem is, we can’t . . .
{read more of Giles Tremlett’s article from The Guardian UK}
While I enjoy much (if not all) of your catalogue, while I will likely continue to enjoy your future work, and while I will likely continue to go see you if you swing through my town – sometimes you are a close-minded nitwit.
Regardless of the fact that you may play what some to be considered “true jazz” that fits more with the founding New Orleans sound, you and your music do not define the genre. Jazz is not something that is defined so narrowly.
For the sake of the artform, shut up, Wynton. Quit trying to trumpet from the mountain-top that jazz is limited to that which you want it to be limited.
Free jazz and avant-garde/experimental jazz aren’t supposed to be called jazz? Fine, that’s your opinion. Just quit being such a pompous jerk about it.
Sincerely,
Daniel Temmesfeld
np: Dave Douglas – A Single Sky
2010: The Year of the Zorn
As posted on Tzadik.com…
GREAT NEWS FOR ZORN FANS!
2010 will be a landmark year for John Zorn who promises 12 new CD releases-one every month! Included will be new music from The Dreamers, Moonchild and Alhambra, 3 new releases in Masada Book Two: Book of Angels series, a major new studio composition dedicated to the Korean-American writer Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, a classical release featuring his acclaimed violin concerto Contes des Fées, the DVD release of his opera with Richard Foreman ASTRONOME, a ripping improvised duo recording with Fred Frith and undoubtedly several surprises. Most of the recordings are already completed and the release schedule set, so keep your eyes and ears open and expect a new Zorn release every 4th Tuesday of the month in 2010!
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Also on the new album front… as discussed earlier, the My Brightest Diamond remix boxset (4 EPs on 2 CDs) is now up for pre-order. There are only going to be 1,500 sets pressed, signed and numbered by Shara Worden. Find out more HERE.
~Dan – np: Nellie McKay – Normal As Blueberry Pie
Reptet 7″ / Glen mashup video
Seattle jazz band Reptet has a new 7″ vinyl out called Agendacide. It’s available in vinyl/mp3 and mp3-only versions via the Reptet website, CDBaby, or (I expect eventually) the Monktail Creative Music Concern’s webpage. They’re headed out on a West Coast tour (that I won’t be able to catch this time, unfortunately):
- October 29, 2009 Cottage Grove, OR The Axe & Fiddle
- October 30 Chico, CA The Coda Cafe
- October 31 South Lake Tahoe, CA The Divided Sky
- November 1 Placerville, CA The Cozmic Cafe
- November 2 San Francisco, CA The Make-Out Room
- November 3 Sacramento. CA The Shady Lady
- November 4 Davis. CA The Delta of Venus
- November 5 Oakland, CA Café Van Kleef
- November 6 Reno, NV The Zephyr Lounge
- November 7 Los Angeles, CA Molly Mallone’s
- November 8 Santa Barbara. CA Live Culture
- November 9 Glendale CA JAX
- November 13 Olympia, WA The Eastside Club
They’ve got a new blog going on, too: http://reptet.wordpress.com/
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SInger-songwriter Glen Phillips tweeted last week about a mashup video of his “Spirit of Shackleton” and OneRepublic & Timbaland‘s “Apologize,” and the 1961 film The Phantom Planet. Behold “Spirit of an Apology“:
~Dan – np: Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords
Nellie McKay (10/20) photos posted
Photos from Tuesday’s show are now posted… go to…
REVIEW: Nellie McKay at
Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley (Seattle, WA – 10/20/09)
~Dan
REVIEW: Nellie McKay @ Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley (Seattle, WA – 10/20/09)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
So, I had tickets to see Ben Folds with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra at Benaroya Hall last night. I hemmed and hawed and finally decided to sell my ticket on craigslist to go see Nellie McKay instead. I dig both of them as artists, and the main reason for the hemming and hawing was the whole symphony aspect (I mean, I’ve seen Ben Folds Five or solo a half dozen times already… so the symphony take on it was my main draw). Ah, but… Nellie totally has my heart when in a piano/vocalist celebrity deathmatch with Mr. Folds. She’s quirky, cute, writes and sings both silly and political songs, has a passionate love for animals (she’s a vegetarian with a stance on animal cruelty that makes me proud), and… you rarely know what to expect from her musically on any given night. I’ve seen her twice prior, and both times were fantastical suprises.
Sorry, Ben. Next time?
As a consolation for the Ben Folds fans, there’s a free mp3 stream (or download if you do some research, i.e.- “view source”) from the Huffington Post of the Ben Folds collaboration with author Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, etc). It’s a jab song at the ex-fiance of ex-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin‘s daughter Bristol… from the HuffPo, I present you “Levi Johnston’s Blues.”
Speaking of the HuffPo… here’s a recent article / interview with Nellie McKay by Michael Giltz.
Oh, so Nellie’s latest album, Normal As Blueberry Pie, is all about Doris Day (a total of 14 Doris Day tracks in the recording session, and one Nellie original). Two of the 15 session tracks are more difficult to get ahold of, unless you want to buy both the “exclusive” Barnes & Noble bonus track version and the iTunes bonus track version. Have I mentioned that Universal Music Group’s tactics suck!? Anyway, the album is great (special track tactics notwithstanding). The album lacks some of the bite and wit of Nellie’s prior 3 (and a half) solo albums. But, I love it all the same. It’s got Nellie trademark nostalgia / campiness, as evidenced by the photos surrounding the release (see to the right).
OK… on to the review of the show…
I really dig Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley. It’s small and intimate (but large enough for the room to breathe). Also I like the idea of making an experience out of the show – a fantastic meal, great atmosphere, and an attentive audience makes for a wonderful evening. Oh, and free parking in downtown Seattle is like the cherry on top. This was only my second time here (Hiromi in June was my first), but it is quickly becoming one of my favorite venues in the PacNW, if not ever. I just wish it wasn’t so far away from me in Eugene all the time.
Nellie went on around 7:40pm with her backing band, The Aristocrats. This was my first time seeing Nellie with a band. They were excellent. They were all younger than I was expecting. I mean, this wasn’t her studio backing band… but as hired guns solely for touring, they really worked well with Nellie in a fun & playful way. The band was Nellie McKay (piano and ukulele), Howard Fishman (guitar), Charles Schiermeyer (sax), Ben Bynum (drums), Scott Litroff (violin and flute), and Daniel Policar (keys).
Setlist: just shy of 90 minutes
- If I Ever Had a Dream
- Close Your Eyes (Doris Day cover)
- Sentimental Journey (Doris Day cover)
- Send Me No Flowers (Doris Day & Burt Bacharach cover, Nellie on Uke)
- Do Do Do (Doris Day cover) *a fave of the night*
- Mean To Me (Doris Day cover)
- Dig It (Doris Day cover, Nellie dance-off) *a fave of the night*
- The Very Thought of You (Doris Day cover)
- A Wonderful Guy (Doris Day cover)
- I Remember You (Doris Day cover)
- “I Killed Larry David and I Liked It” / Grunge Song *a fave of the night*
- Crazy Rhythm (Doris Day cover) *a fave of the night*
- Black Hills of Dakota (Doris Day cover)
- A-Tisket, A-Tasket (Ella Fitzgerald cover)
- The Dog Song *a fave of the night*
- Encore: Zombie (with Gary Danielson on sax)
- I Wanna Get Married (Doo Wop Version, with Gary Danielson on sax) *a fave of the night*
So, yeah, holy crap… Nellie just keeps on getting better each time I see her. I thought I’d be slightly bummed by a mostly Doris Day set (as I really like Nellie’s original songs a lot), but the Doris Day material was really fantastic in a live band setting. The addition of a jazz combo behind her really made the songs gel, and her interaction with the others was really fun. She’s kinda of a nutty person (or maybe as corny as Kansas in August)… but I wouldn’t want her to be any other way. I didn’t get a chance to meet her after the show, but I had a fun night regardless. Nellie and the Aristocrats are playing a second night (Wednesday, October 21st) at the Jazz Alley. If you go, drop me a line with your thoughts on Night 2.
Some of the best lines of the night by Nellie…
“I still can’t go back to Olympia, because I have overdue library books.”
“There’s hashish in that music… that was a score!” (really funny in context)
The Jazz Alley’s description of Nellie as a “martini cool chanteuse” was kinda of spot on. :) If you don’t have her newest one, get it… it’s fun (and out on vinyl, too):
The Appropriate Linkage:
~Dan – np: Erik Friedlander – Topaz
NELLIE McKAY PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2009 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
Higher Resolution (12 pics)
Limited to 1200 pixels wide or tall (49 pics)
Large ZIP file (12.9 Megs)
includes all of the pictures above
CLICK HERE FOR ZIP FILE (right click, save as)
Portland Jazz Fest 2010 – huzzah!!!
OYG! The headlining line-up for this coming year’s Portland Jazz Festival is rad.
Thursday, February 25, 7:30pm, Hilton Pavilion Ballroom, Luciana Souza
Friday, February 26, 7:30pm, Newmark Theater, Mingus Big Band
Friday, February 26, 9:30 pm, Norse Hall, In The Country
Saturday, February 27, 3:00pm, Norse Hall, Trygve Seim & Frode Haltli
Saturday, February 27, 7:30pm, Newmark Theater, Dave Holland Quintet
Saturday, February 27, 9:30 pm, Norse Hall, Christian Wallumrød Ensemble
Sunday, February 28, 3:00pm, Newmark Theater, Pharoah Sanders
Sunday, February 28, 7:30pm, Crystal Ballroom, Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy
I’m definitely going to the Dave Douglas show… and the other bold shows are definitely good possibilities. More acts to follow in the coming months. The festival runs February 22-28, 2010.
Tickets go on-sale October 27th at TicketMaster (or October 14th – 10am if you are a PDX Jazz member).
Find out more at:
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A totally unrelated sidenote… Texas band of rock siblings Eisley just released a new EP called Fire Kite (digital only, out Oct 9th). Album cover looks Jebus-y (or at least it’s geometrically-inclined with potentially religious ambivalence)… DL’ing now… we shall see…
~Dan – np: Megadeth – Endgame
Dave Douglas – A Single Sky
I got the SF Jazz Collective‘s Live 2009 CD in the mail the other day. It’s a smokin’ hot remembrance for me of the show they put on at The Shedd in February of this year. The SF Jazz Collective features Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano, Miguel Zenon, and many more great musicians. The new SFJC CD set put my Dave Douglas 2009 music count up to 7 ¾ hours… that includes the excellent Brass Ecstasy Spirit Moves CD, the BE: On Stage Live series, the Masada Book Two’s New Masada Quintet (with Joe Lovano) playing Stolas, and the SFJC Live 2009.
Well, yesterday I logged in to my Greenleaf Music Subscriber page (as it’s a new month, and I wanted to see if they had any new treats), and they had some samples of the new Dave Douglas A Single Sky CD. I checked my email, and “bam!” there’s an email notifying me of pre-order status of the new album – due out October 27th (I must have been sleeping).
It features Jim McNeely and the Frankfurt Radio Bigband. The collaboration offers three new Douglas compositions alongside four works from the Douglas songbook reimagined by McNeely. Find out more HERE.
~Dan – np: Dave Douglas – “The Presidents” from A Single Sky
REVIEW: Wynton Marsalis & LCJO @ Hult (Eugene, OR – 9/17/09)
Well, I got into Wynton Marsalis from Ken Burns’ (long ass) JAZZ documentary. I had heard of him, but never really heard him, and he was featured heavily in the movie. I came to find out that he was the artistic director & co-producer of the documentary series. Anyway, I love trumpet (Dave Douglas & Steven Bernstein being top of my other Top 3 living trumpeters). This year, I’ve had a chance to see all three of them… Yay!
I like the Hult. I saw Wynton’s brother Branford at the Hult around this time last year. I like the Hult this week in particular (due to it being a 4 concert week): I like that the show started early (7:30pm), ended on time (9:25pm), and I got home at a reasonable time. Double Yay!
Wynton and his near-double octet hit the stage after a short introduction. Wynton was position at the top center of the bandstand and went directly into announcing the first song…
Setlist:
1st set – 40 mins
- Free for All (Art Blakey) *a fave of night*
- Peace (Horace Silver)
- I Like to Take My Time (Mr Rogers)
- Itsy Bitsy Spider
- Up from Down (Gardner) *a fave of night*
2nd set – 45 mins
- Weary Blues (sextet band, ragtime tune) *a fave of night*
- Joe Turner’s Blues (septet, Wynton sang impromptu)
- Tattooed Bride (Duke Ellington)
- Portrait of Mahalia Jackson (Duke) *a fave of night*
The first set started off with “Free for All” which had some great solos… sax, trombone and trumpet. The entire night was filled with some great solos, and “Free for All” kicked it off right. For the second set we moved to some open seats near the center… right by the very energetic soundman. He was humorous. While I dug the first set a lot, the second set was smokin’ hot. More ragtime and New Orleans street jazz in spots versus the more held back, big band vibe from the first set. The first two songs of the second set were a stripped down cast (sextet and the septet before the rest of the band re-joined them for the Duke tunes. I think my favorite tune of the whole night was “Weary Blues, ” which was really hoppin’. Seem ironic that the entire crowd (of largely white hair) was just idly sitting in their seats. :)
All in all, a great evening of great jazz.
The Appropriate Linkage:
~Dan – np: Fima Ephron – Soul Machine
Miles Davis’ Kind of Bloop
Not entirely sacrilegious. A new tribute to Miles Davis‘ Kind of Blue called Kind of Bloop just came out… it’s an 8-bit tribute album. There are samples of the 5 songs on http://www.kindofbloop.com/, and it’s available via Amazon digital (mp3 & FLAC) for only $5.
- So What by Ast0r [9:24]
- Freddie Freeloader by Virt [9:40]
- Blue in Green by Sergeeo [4:14]
- All Blues by Shnabubula [10:45]
- Flamenco Sketches by Disasterpeace [7:06]
I wonder if Bitches Bloop, Birth of the Bloop, or a Charlie Parker Bloopland are in the works. :)
~Dan – np: Dub Trio – Another Sound is Dying
Medeski Martin & Wood – Radiolarians III
I saw the Radiolarians III performance in Eugene last year. It was GREAT!! Well, yesterday, MMW announced the record release on the MySpaces…
Pre-order on AmazonRestlessly inventive improvising trio Medeski Martin & Wood are set to release the third installment of The Radiolarian Series on August 4th, 2009. Recorded in December 2008, Radiolarians III perfectly sums up the themes, motifs and styles laid out in the previous two Radiolarians records.
There is an epic feel at play here, as the choruses rise and swell out of low-lying grooves and polyrhythms. Highlights include the passionate and gritty traditional “Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down,” the anthemic “Undone,” and the Latin-influenced acoustic opener “Chantes Des Femmes.” Overall, Radiolarians III finds the trio doing what they do best, melding genres and improvising. What results, is maybe the strongest and most cohesive album of the entire Radiolarians Series.
Woot.
~Dan – np: John Zorn – O’o [with the Dreamers, Electric Masada, The Gift crew of musicians]
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