I don't know what they mean when they say 'swing hard' anyway. Rolling Jazz Dflat 2014 Thread

RIP bassist Dwayne Burno at the end of last year at age 44. http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2013/12/29/rip-dwayne-burno/

Age 43

Believe I spelled his name correctly, though.

Frank Wess tribute right now at St. Peter's http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Frank-Wess-Memorial-Set-for-Tonight-at-Saint-Peters-Church-in-NYC-20140104

(I reverted to the old thread naming convention, hope nobody minds)

A successor to this thread: Rolling Jazz Thread 2013

WIth the long title, the long screenname and the not quite optimal searchability, don't know if this thread is going to make it.

Saw Mary Halvorson at BAM tonight, good stuff. Ches Smith on drums as usual/often, Jon Irabagon on sax, didn't catch the name of the trumpeter or bassist (tbh I didn't find them super noteworthy either). Overall I always find her sets interesting, although at the same time she leaves me slightly cold.

Never seen her, have seen the similarly named but unrelated drummer Eric Halvorson who runs a studio with another drummer Diego Voglino called The Sweatshop. Her regular bass player John Hebert is pretty good, he plays in Fred Hersch's trio.

Wait, you are going out of the house to see music. Who is watching K?

yesterday a friend was telling me about that new-ish Monk biography (last couple years I think), anyone read it?

http://www.npr.org/event/music/172713493/mary-halvorson-quintet-tiny-desk-concert

NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts don't usually include too many jazz ones, but last year they went for Halvorson emphasizing her decidedly non-standard approach to jazz's standard practices

xp saturday night it was my folks, who booked a visit without asking us. In exchange, I extracted babysitting as payment.

Sometimes we use the inlaws who live in the area, other times a babysitter. But fuck, it's expensive to go out when you add babysitting.

I've seen Halvorson at least one other time (maybe twice)? The set I remember well was with Ches Smith again and also the awesome Andrea Parkins on accordion, and Marc Ribot as well, and I forget who else. Much better band imo.

I think the band in the tiny desk concert is the exact lineup I saw

she definitely does fit into that "could compose offbeat jazz theme music for NPR shows" category, in a good way.

i already posted the Matt Ulery TDC, right? that one was nice.

x-post Jordan were you talking about the Robin D.G. Kelley book on Monk? It got lots of critical raves, but I haven't read it myself.

that's the one.

xp yeah I really like the Matt Ulery TDC, thx for reminding me. listening again now.

Full Newport set from last summer; can download too---I didn't get into all of it during live stream, but it's grown on me since (kinda understated/stealthy ambition; intriguing)
http://www.npr.org/event/music/208273900/mary-halvorson-quintet-live-in-concert-newport-jazz-2013

Not that she's all *that* subtle, or I wouldn't have noticed.

I'm such a dumbass because I never go out anymore, and I was like "Oh, Mary Halvorson, she's pretty esoteric, shouldn't be too many people there" and just showed up at like 5 minutes to showtime -- DERP, long line, turns out to be standing room only at the fairly large BAM cafe.

I doubt there's another person within a three block radius of where I live now that knows who Mary Halvorson is. Brooklyn and Queens are very different animals.

Here's an interview I did with saxophonist and now label owner Dave Rempis:

http://burningambulance.com/2014/01/07/interview-dave-rempis/

He's got two new albums coming out on 1/21 (though he's already shipping them if you order straight from him) and he talks about those (you can also stream one track from each), living and working in Chicago vs. New York, and why his new label's releases aren't available on Amazon, iTunes, or CDBaby. I think it's interesting; maybe others will, too.

Trumpeter Roy Campbell has died at 61. Amazing player, and an incredibly nice guy - check out everything by his Pyramid Trio and the fully improvisational quartet Other Dimensions In Music.

anyone watch the NEA thing last night? i caught Richard Davis' talk and solo. it was so Richard, like any given Black Music History class (not like a Black Music Ensemble class though, those were way more intense and rarely involved storytelling). loved the part where he realizes that Roy Haynes is in the audience.

Should appeal to those wondering to put on after Alice Coltrane/Pharoah Sanders. A little on the sedate side of that end of the spectrum (I am still waking up from a nap so don't complain about my phrasing):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv5eYs7fSGo

Sorry I guess I should have made that a link so this doesn't turn into another browser crushing/crashing thread.

Doesn't sound too much like the Balochi music I've heard, but that's okay.

I got that in the mail; didn't love it.

Maybe you need someone to re-set the vibrational levels of your chakras.

I just bought two CDs of Alice Coltrane devotional music not long ago, so I think I'm all set...

Waiting now for email answers to questions I sent alto saxophonist Sarah Manning. Her new album Harmonious Creature comes out Tuesday on Posi-Tone; it's interesting stuff, kinda boppish at times, kinda droney/country-ish at other times (the co-lead instrument is viola, played by West Coast avant-rock/improv/contemporary classical dude Eyvind Kang). In addition to original compositions, the group performs a piece by Gillian Welch ("I Dream a Highway") and one by Neil Young ("On the Beach").

The Monk book (Robin Kelley) is fantastic. One of the best music bios I've ever read.

Which one of these Shipp gigs would you go to?

Wednesday 19 February 2014, 8pm
With John Butcher and Thomas Lehn
£12 adv / £14 on the door

Thursday 20 February 2014, 8pm
With Paul Dunmall, John Edwards and Mark Sanders
£12 adv / £14 on the door

Friday 21 February 2014, 8pm
Matthew Shipp solo
£12 adv / £14 on the door

Either the Thursday or the Friday.

Got a couple of CDs in today's mail that I'm looking forward to checking out:

Jeff Platz, Past & Present Futures (he's a guitarist; the rest of the band is Daniel Carter on sax, trumpet, clarinet & flute, François Grillot on bass and Federico Ughi on drums)
Tom Tallitsch, Ride (he's a saxophonist; Michael Dease on trombone, Art Hirahara on piano, Peter Brendler on bass, Rudy Royston on drums)

Royston's debut as a leader, 303, comes out February 4, and it's pretty good, too; Jon Irabagon on sax, Nadja Noordhuis on trumpet, Nir Felder on guitar, Sam Harris on piano, Yasushi Nakamura and Mimi Jones on bass.

Got the new Jeremy Pelt album in today's mail. It's more or less the same band as heard on his album from last year, Water & Earth, and that one made my top 25 of the year. This is drifty music, that could easily head into In a Silent Way-meets-Mwandishi territory except that half the time the drummer (Dana Hawkins) is going wild, not just on the kit but with programmed breakbeats bubbling in the background, too. I don't love the fact that there are vocals on 3 of 9 tracks, but at least they're mostly wordless instead of lyrics. Anyway, Pelt has been one of my favorite trumpeters (if not my favorite, full stop) for a few years now, and this album continues his streak.

Which one of these Shipp gigs would you go to?

Definitely the one with Butcher and Lehn. Saw them both (without Shipp) a couple of years ago (and played briefly with Butcher, who was tremendous, on top of being a super nice guy), and a trio with Shipp sounds intriguing, to say the least. Lehn is one of the most sensitive electronic musicians around, incredibly reflective with an ear towards orchestration.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/27/arts/music/grammys-laud-giants-and-upstarts.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20140127

Terri Lyne Carrington became the first woman to win the best jazz instrumental album category for “Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue,” based on a classic 1963 album by Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach.

And in a twist, three classical categories were won by Maria Schneider, a composer renowned for her work in jazz. Her album “Winter Morning Walks” took best contemporary classical composition, best classical vocal solo (for the soprano Dawn Upshaw) and best engineered album, classical. (It was also cited as one of the projects by David Frost, who won producer of the year, classical.)
Accepting the composition prize, Ms. Schneider spoke passionately about how technology has both hurt musicians and given them new tools. She complained about the continuing piracy problem but also pointing out that her album, which cost $200,000 to record, was paid for with the help of crowd funding.
“We need a sustainable business so we can continues as music creators,” Ms. Schneider said.

Got a promo of the new Polar Bear on Saturday; listened 2 or 3 times and it's quite different to what they've done before - quite minimal in places, more electronic, more beat-driven (but the beats are not 'driving', if that makes sense). It's long (67 minutes), and kind of feels like the opposite of last years Melt Yourself Down album, which was super-fast, hooks, beats, party music. This is very different.

Rolling Jazz in C thread:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTYzYpb1MY0#t=44

this looks terrible and i can't wait to see it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHtRhESo9Q0#t=99
Driven by his demanding music teacher, drummer Andrew is determined to succeed as a jazz musician -- even if it destroys his personality. Under the shadow of his father's failed artistic attempts, Andrew practices until his hands bleed.

Which one of these Shipp gigs would you go to?

Definitely the one with Butcher and Lehn.

Seconded.

Just got a new Eric Revis album in this morning's mail - In Memory of Things Yet Seen, out in March on Clean Feed. Pretty ferocious band - Revis on bass, obviously, plus Chad Taylor on drums, Bill McHenry (who I've grown to like a lot more since Paul Motian died; I know that sounds weird, but his band with Motian sucked, to my ear, and the one he formed afterward with Orrin Evans and Andrew Cyrille was a million times better) on tenor sax, Darius Jones on alto, and Branford Marsalis guesting on two tracks. It's a really good disc so far.

Another one I'm excited about is alto saxophonist James Brandon Lewis's Divine Travels, out Tuesday on the revived OKeh label - it's a trio date with William Parker and Gerald Cleaver, and I'm told it's pretty free. I should be getting a download later today.

I would listen to William Parker and Gerald Cleaver accompanying a dog's farts

i saw Revis play once, in Kenny Garrett's band about 14 years ago. it was in a church and a young Chris Dave was on drums, the first time i ever heard him. completely ruinous. i remember feeling bad for Revis during a hyperspeed tune (something off Songbook i think), but he sounded fine of course and eventually it turned into a drums/sax duet. also remember losing my mind when Chris Dave dropped a stick and just switched over to playing the ride pattern with his left hand for awhile.

I second Jazzbo's recommendation of Kelley's Monk bio, and agree it's one of the best jazz biographies - or artist biographies - I've ever read. Hard to imagine anyone writing a book on Monk after this one; seems definitive in every sense. The style took some getting used to (fans of minutiae, rejoice: You will learn about who drove Monk to certain gigs, and who drove him when the other guy was busy, etc), but once I became immersed, I (pardon the cliche) couldn't put it down. Really, really great.

I've had Nica's book on my Amazon wishlist for over two years. One of these days I'll read it. A jazz fanatic friend of mine says it's great, with lots of insights about Monk, etc, but honestly, after the Kelley bio, I didn't feel like I was missing any piece of the Monk puzzle.

I bought one of the new Rempis titles - the one with Abrams and Ra, because I'm a big Josh Abrams fan. Haven't listened yet (it arrived today) but will report back.

Also, surprised no mention on here about the passing of Arthur Doyle.

And I too vote we not video-bomb this thread with Youtube clips if possible. I don't even open that Takoma thread anymore because it takes ten minutes to load. Links work just fine!

Turn off your images and they will be links!

Oh, I didn't realize that was a thing I could do. Thanks!

BTW loved that Rempis interview.

Hadn't realized that Howard Brofsky had passed away. http://www.nepr.net/blog/howard-brofsky-rip-1927-2013
RIP, Dr. Bebop.

Something neat for nerds: Bonham quotes Max Roach at the beginning of his Moby Dick solo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edPEBB6VjRQ

Skip to the end if you want to get really mad really fast

Looking for records that featured the unsung drummer Arthur Edgehill has been reminding me how much I love those old organ group records where they would use an organ AND a bass -- I feel like that kind of died out some time in the 60s, probably partly for financial reasons and partly because of the technical prowess of guys like Jimmy Smith, but I love the sound of an old churchy jazz organ over a bouncy upright bass line -- Shirley Scott, Wild Bill Davis, etc. Feel like it's sort of a forgotten corner of jazz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McXLl0mtTao
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7pLfOHzLM8

Spoke too soon. Can't find that drumming thread.

u mean this one
Drum geek sick chops youtube thread

No silly, on FB.

ohhhh, was confused, anyway it's on Russell Malone's page. He's a jazz guitarist I like btw, I was pretty into him in high school/college.

Are you an FB fan, friend or follower.
?

I think he's just friends with a couple musicians I am friends with so he came up in my feed when they commented on it.

The bassist I played with in high school tours the world with Roy Hargrove now and is becoming a bit of a heavy, so he's my fb connection to lots of big name dudes.

Okay, I found it. I see some familiar names,including Willard Dyson, who I just recently discovered. If I counted right,think the most posting on the thread is from you.

Have you ever met Russell IRL? He is really nice.

I haven't. Sometimes I think if I ever take lessons again (and am willing to drop $$$ on it) he's a guy I might holler at

Do you still have an electric guitar? Also I saw at least one other guitar player on that particular thread, Dan Adler. I believe he has a day job designing computer chips and/or algorithms. Israeli too, as far as I know. Maybe he will give you special rate.

I have a cheap electric guitar that I happen to like a lot (a Johnson). I don't have a hollow-body anymore.

I never liked my 90s Epiphone full-hollow anyway so I sold it a while back, figuring if I ever got back into jazz I'd just buy something nicer.

Does he even give lessons? I guess you could FB message him and find out. My understanding of the pricing is that generally guys who play lots of gigs usually charge $100 for an hour or so lesson- this is for any instrument- and they will schedule a lesson if and when they have time.

Of course at his level of fame,he may charge more, but maybe not

Yeah that's about the price I expected. Not in the market to spend that much right now, but maybe eventually.

You should try to go at least once when you are able.

Btw, I saw one of your old guitar teachers a few weeks ago at The Bar Next Door. He had a really good trio.

TD?

or VJ?

The former. Not sure I knew you studied with the latter.

TD was a temp sub while Ted was in and out of the hospital, VJ replaced Ted permanently, and it looks like he's the only remaining member of the jazz faculty from when I was there other than Ralph Bowen, who directs the program. VJ was a really nice dude btw, but I think I was just not in the emotional state to work with a different teacher after Ted passed.

Have you wished Russell a happy birthday yet?

Bottom five (#s 25-21) of the Burning Ambulance Best Jazz of 2014 list.

Burning Ambulance Best Jazz of 2014, Day 2.

thanks, as someone who hasn't been keeping up at all, this is great reading. it makes me happy that Criss Cross is still doing their same old thing.

(also, lol @ the dig on a certain jazz guitarist, i've never heard him play but have backed up his very talented wife on occasion).

backed up his wife you say

ON DRUMS, haha

i'll bet you did

*Ahem* I'll bet you guys would like this guy: http://www.willbernard.com/press/guitarplayer1007.htm

i do. i haven't heard those T.J. Kirk albums in forever but i have fond memories of them.

In other news, I heard a while back that the young jazz guitar phenomenon with the same last name as that guy's first name has pretty serious tendonitis.

But looks like he is out playing so either he has dealt with it or is dealing with it.

i don't know who that is, but that's rough. the best jazz guitarist i know had the same thing happen...he took a year off from playing guitar and started doing yoga and writing songs, now is a singer/songwriter.

still plays jazz, but uses more space, and does it on his high school Ibanez shredder guitar rather than the hollow-body.

fwiw I think I had Medicine Hat on CD. Don't love the guy though tbh, a little too cliche bluesy/funky for me.

The complete Burning Ambulance Best Jazz Albums Of 2014:

25. Vinnie Sperrazza, Apocryphal
24. Rodrigo Amado Motion Trio & Peter Evans, The Freedom Principle and Live In Lisbon
23. Orrin Evans, Liberation Blues
22. Eric Revis, In Memory Of Things Yet Seen
21. Matthew Shipp Trio, Root Of Things
20. Wadada Leo Smith, Red Hill and The Great Lakes Suites
19. The Cookers, Time And Time Again
18. Michael Blake, Tiddy Boom
17. Sonny Simmons & Moksha Samnyasin, Nomadic
16. Matt Brewer, Mythology
15. Rudy Royston, 303
14. Eric Hofbauer Quintet, Prehistoric Jazz Vol. 1 & 2
13. Paal Nilssen-Love Large Unit, Erta Ale
12. William Hooker & Liudas Mockunas, Live At The Vilnius Jazz Festival
11. Johnathan Blake, Gone But Not Forgotten
10. Donald Edwards, Evolution Of An Influenced Mind
9. Eric Wyatt, Borough Of Kings
8. Tom Tallitsch, Ride
7. Mark Lomax Trio, Isis & Osiris
6. Sarah Manning, Harmonious Creature
5. Mike DiRubbo, Threshold
4. Brian Charette, The Question That Drives Us
3. Steve Lehman Octet, Mise en Abîme
2. Jerome Sabbagh, The Turn
1. Jemeel Moondoc, The Zookeeper's House

Cool, thx

Yeah, I'm liking the Sperazza a lot so far. Didn't even know about the new Lehman.

Good work with that list. That Jerome Sabbagh album is stunning, need to listen to more of these.

I have now also listened to the no.1 - Jemeel Moondoc album, wow!

http://larryappelbaum.wordpress.com/2014/12/17/2014-favorites/

critic, radio dj, and Library of Congress employee

1. Billy Childs “Map To The Treasure” (Sony)

2. Keith Jarrett/Charlie Haden “Last Dance” (ECM)

3. Otis Brown III “The Thought of You” (Blue Note)

onward to 10 plus some reissues

I'm looking for jazz vocalists faves

curm, this has a jazz vocalists faves section:
Francis Davis presents his round-up of jazz crits. Intrigued by descriptions of ones I've missed, and his comments on others are mostly right-on (incl. his push-back against high ranking of Moran's half-good Waller project). But, despite Davis's opening caveats, Rollins' Road Shows Vol. 3 doesn't seem quite right for Top 10, much less No.4, considering that SR has set the bar very high---and the octogenarian diabetic doesn't spare himself on the longest tracks, or the 8-minute-plus "Solo Sonny"---but sounds like he should, just a bit (another kind of self-discipline). Still, "Patanjali" is so fucking tight, reminds me again that I need to check out yoga, and will make my P&J Singles (the album was on there for a while, and would make a Top 20)(History is a very well-chosen 2014 Rollins anth, on Spotify just below RS V3)

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2014/12/19/371282561/the-2014-npr-music-jazz-critics-poll?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nprmusic&utm_term=music&utm_content=2045

thanks

Incredible story about the stolen Smalls Buddha.

New Year, New Thread. "Weird Means Something You Never Heard Before": Rolling Jazz D-bag Thread 2015

Your subtitle on the new thread suggests that once can't post there unless they go to Smalls...You New Yorkers

You need to post a photo of the Buddha

Take it to I Must Protest!