My latest Stereogum column is live. Includes my thoughts on the whole Robert Glasper/Ethan Iverson thing, plus track premieres from Christian Scott and his former guitarist Matthew Stevens (and trombonist Joe Fiedler), and lots of other good stuff.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Friday, 24 March 2017 14:25 (seven years ago) link
Hmmmm I wish I liked that Christian Scott track better, the last record had a nice sense of an active rhythm section w/one of the drummers playing samples. This is more static and reminds me of some of those old Graham Haynes records. It's also in that uncanny valley zone where it's so close to beat-based music that it really has to sound amazing. Still curious to hear the rest of the record though.
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 24 March 2017 15:39 (seven years ago) link
This album is definitely a programmed-rhythms mood piece, but eventually it seeps into your brain and takes over. It's his Tutu, in a way.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Friday, 24 March 2017 15:42 (seven years ago) link
Get thee to Mezzrow, where still-back-from-the-dead Tootie Heath is playing tonight and tomorrow.
Also came to post that Cannonball Adderley's Fiddler On The Roof, which I heard on WKCR while waiting to pick up my daughter at band practice, is my new jam.
― And Run Into It And Blecch It (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 24 March 2017 16:14 (seven years ago) link
A good piece on that Monk soundtrack - http://wbgo.org/post/new-thelonious-monk-album-emerges-soundtrack-classic-french-film#stream/0
― Fastnbulbous, Sunday, 26 March 2017 14:56 (seven years ago) link
What did you guys think of the Darcy James Argue from last year? I bought it on Bandcamp's ACLU day, eager to hear a 12-tone big band album. I've been playing it a fair bit; it's all at least interesting. I don't know if I'm as sold on some of the funk moves and don't really know what to make of the spoken bits.
I've actually been really getting into this.
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Monday, 27 March 2017 17:28 (seven years ago) link
seeing 75 dollar bill and company tonight and jazz passengers tomorrow; living that roulette life
― Bobson Dugnutt (ulysses), Monday, 27 March 2017 17:46 (seven years ago) link
Seeing Supersilent (first NYC show since 2004!) and Matana Roberts (solo) tonight.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Monday, 27 March 2017 17:49 (seven years ago) link
i'll be at supersilent as well, pretty psyched tho i hate that venue
― adam, Monday, 27 March 2017 18:14 (seven years ago) link
That lineup sounds amazing!
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Monday, 27 March 2017 18:23 (seven years ago) link
RIP Arthur Blythe, after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Monday, 27 March 2017 19:13 (seven years ago) link
I have only heard a bit of his 70's - 80's stuff Lennox Ave, Illusions + In The Tradition and they are all a+. I should listen to some more really.
― calzino, Monday, 27 March 2017 19:38 (seven years ago) link
The Giant Is Awakened is such a killer album.
― PURE, BEAUTIFUL OIL (Sparkle Motion), Monday, 27 March 2017 20:47 (seven years ago) link
I have his first four Columbia albums, and the two India Navigation albums that were combined onto a single CD.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Monday, 27 March 2017 20:49 (seven years ago) link
75 dollar bill were great though first hour was definitely superior to second. lotta sound!
― Bobson Dugnutt (ulysses), Tuesday, 28 March 2017 15:08 (seven years ago) link
Supersilent and Matana on the same bill is straight up unfair.
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Tuesday, 28 March 2017 15:20 (seven years ago) link
It was a really interesting show. Matana played solo, without the video projections, loop pedals, and other stuff that she's been using lately. Just horn and two microphones, one of which she used to monologue. She talked about the death of her parents, how her dad got her into avant-garde jazz (which she hated as a child), and other stuff. She also got the audience to hum on pitch, and conducted us with one arm while playing sax that harmonized with our humming.
Supersilent were everything I hoped they'd be. They started out really quiet and beautiful, with Arve Henriksen taking the lead as one of the other dudes filled in very soft Fender Rhodes around him. Gradually it got into an early 70s Tangerine Dream zone, but then it started to get louder and louder. By the 20 minute mark Henriksen had put on a headset mic and was ranting into it while the music sounded almost like Autechre - really loud and pounding/scorching in an abstract and almost arrhythmic way. Crazy stuff.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Tuesday, 28 March 2017 15:56 (seven years ago) link
If I wasn't already jealous...
I did se Matana do something similar at an ATP (GY!BE, I think) - very sultry, bluesy and beat. She was captivating.
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Tuesday, 28 March 2017 16:10 (seven years ago) link
Recently on Jazz Night In America: (Georgia Anne) Muldrow Meets Mingus (with Jason Moran and full band). She is with the Afrocentric current that flows through underground hip-hop, avant-R&B and psychedelic soul... a singer, rapper and beat-making producer. Fits the Mingus selections pretty well. Stream it while you can: http://www.npr.org/event/music/521222975/muldrow-meets-mingus
― dow, Tuesday, 28 March 2017 18:23 (seven years ago) link
She also got the audience to hum on pitch, and conducted us with one arm while playing sax that harmonized with our humming.
She did this when I saw her in 2013! About 40 cents above Bb iirc?
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Tuesday, 28 March 2017 18:24 (seven years ago) link
(I checked that with a tuner, to be clear. Not claiming to have identified the number of cents by ear, although I was lucky enough at guessing the approximate pitch.)
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Tuesday, 28 March 2017 18:28 (seven years ago) link
Which reminds me, this is posted now---another one from Night Lights, source of that Mal Waldron spotlight show I linked on last year's Rolling Jazz (still available, when I streamed it again recently):
In the 1980s a new generation of women jazz musicians emerged who expanded their predecessors’ push against the patriarchal boundaries of the jazz world. On this edition of Night Lights we’ll hear music from pianist Geri Allen, singer Cassandra Wilson, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, guitarist Emily Remler, and saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom, as well as recordings from women who were already jazz veterans, including Marian McPartland, Carla Bley, and Joanne Brackeen. The only one I hadn't heard: Emily Remler, whom I skipped during her brief career(RIP), because she carried on about Wes Montgomery in several interviews, and in general seemed like such a zealous noob---but the track here is pretty startling; I better start catching up.http://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/jazz-women-1980s/Still not really getting into Jane Ira Bloom though.
― dow, Tuesday, 28 March 2017 18:39 (seven years ago) link
There's only one Remler album on Spotify, and it's called East to Wes. It's...fine. Good band - Hank Jones on piano, Buster Williams on bass, and Marvin "Smitty" Smith on drums.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Tuesday, 28 March 2017 18:47 (seven years ago) link
― Bobson Dugnutt (ulysses), Tuesday, March 28, 2017 10:08 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark
this isn't really jazz content but i have to ask -- did Mind Over Mirrors open? If so, that would explain the first hour being better than the second, haha! (Unless 75 Dollar Bill played for 2 hours?!?)
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, 28 March 2017 19:16 (seven years ago) link
xpost The track selected for Night Lights may or may not be all that representative, but she's playing rhythm-as-lead, zigzagging between the others without jostling; seemed closer to mid-60s live Velvet Underground or McGuinn getting ready for "Eight Miles High" than to Wes, but yeah some of his influence in there as well---also seemed like a track Mary Halvorson might be into.
― dow, Tuesday, 28 March 2017 19:24 (seven years ago) link
xp to lechera: they played for two hours! but with a lotta very solid guest artists including jim pugliese, cheryl kingan and karen waltuch... most of the show was nine musicians. ended with everybody walking through the crowd shaking maracas and too much time on ilx but all i could think was http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f163/courtneykaehler/maracas.jpg
― Bobson Dugnutt (ulysses), Tuesday, 28 March 2017 19:30 (seven years ago) link
damn that sounds awesome1) i love maracas and 2) i am going to see them a week from saturday!!
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, 28 March 2017 19:30 (seven years ago) link
to clarify, them = the band, not maracasi have my own maracas at home to shake whenever i please (tbh i injured my right elbow and broke a cymbal with my maraca-enthusiasm so i am taking it a little easier these days)
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, 28 March 2017 19:37 (seven years ago) link
you should bring your maracas with you they might get a workout.Both sets were enjoyable but the second was more noisy and generally less filled with moments of rapture. They did a lot of 3-d sound, wandering in the audience type stuff.
― Bobson Dugnutt (ulysses), Tuesday, 28 March 2017 20:36 (seven years ago) link
am i on the outside in reading 75 dollar bill as "jazz"? I suppose they're technically "new music" or "instrumental" but i kinda lump all that stuff together these days, at least as far as my internal genre meter goes.
― Bobson Dugnutt (ulysses), Tuesday, 28 March 2017 20:37 (seven years ago) link
I def wouldn't call it jazz -- probably somewhere on the improvised/experimental spectrum, which is sort of a sonic catch-all whereas jazz has traditions and whatnot.
Showing up to the show armed w my maracas is both appealing and the most embarrassing possible thing I could do. Can't throw them in my bag without giving myself away, gotta commit or submit!
Did Mind Over Mirrors open?
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, 28 March 2017 23:21 (seven years ago) link
nah, just jumped directly in with both feet and did a duet with rick and chethey closed with an ornette coleman song for the first half with chanting. loads o fun.
― Bobson Dugnutt (ulysses), Wednesday, 29 March 2017 05:29 (seven years ago) link
https://soundcloud.com/emptyeditions/sets/last-signs-of-speed
not jazz, I don't know what to call it
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Wednesday, 29 March 2017 19:57 (seven years ago) link
I interviewed trumpeter Christian Scott for Burning Ambulance. He's doing 3 albums this year; the first one comes out today.
― Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr, and Violent J (誤訳侮辱), Friday, 31 March 2017 14:18 (six years ago) link
Will check that---first of all, came here to exclaim over last night's rerun of Piano Jazz, with Mose Allison in 1988, at 62 and the top of his game---zingy ruminations of course, but as usual what really gets me going is the playing; a couple of times he even comes off something like the Professor Longhair of bop, like on a 4/4 "Tennessee Waltz" (McPartland's right in there too on that 'un)---stream the whole thing here:http://www.npr.org/2013/04/05/176333998/mose-allison-on-piano-jazz
Meanwhile over on Night Lights, last night's fabulous new Dorothy Ashby show hasn't been posted yet, but here's the recent one on Nica and others: http://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/nicas-tempo-hipsters-flipsters-onthescenesters/
― dow, Monday, 3 April 2017 17:06 (six years ago) link
Mainly the ace compositions dedicated to her.
― dow, Monday, 3 April 2017 17:09 (six years ago) link
Word From Mose has been my fave MA album so far, he was absolutely classic! I really dig his accent as well.
― calzino, Monday, 3 April 2017 20:21 (six years ago) link
Night Lights' aforementioned Dorothy Ashby saga is now posted: http://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/fantastic-jazz-harp-dorothy-ashby/ On the earliest sides, the flute is most effective with long sustained notes around the harp, but more occasional tootling can get in the way (and sounds like the suits have her kinda mixed down on some of the early fluteless segments, like she's basically backing the male flautist), but lots of upfront Ashby too, especially with just bass and drums, that's all she needs--later things get more cosmic, but never too filigree, and when she starts singing, look out now.
― dow, Monday, 10 April 2017 02:54 (six years ago) link
Tonght's Night Lights is on Herbie Hancock in the 60s.
― dow, Monday, 10 April 2017 02:59 (six years ago) link
Very interesting Bad Plus news; Ethan Iverson is leaving, and Orrin Evans is replacing him. I'll be honest - I've never listened to the Bad Plus. I've always meant to at least check them out, but just never gotten around to it. But now I want to - both the original trio and the new incarnation. And this article, by Nate Chinen, is fantastic - really revealing quotes from everyone.
― Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr, and Violent J (誤訳侮辱), Monday, 10 April 2017 15:50 (six years ago) link
That is crazy. Haven't read the article yet, but seems a tiny bit weird to keep it going, since they've made such a big deal about it being a real band whose members are essential to the identity. But Dave King's got kids to feed and web series to make and I'm sure this is his main source of income, so no shade.
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 10 April 2017 16:05 (six years ago) link
That is crazy. Haven't read the article yet, but seems a tiny bit weird to keep it going
How I felt as well
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Monday, 10 April 2017 16:06 (six years ago) link
Wow, good jazz drama in that article! I always wondered how DK felt about some of those things, and I now I know.
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 10 April 2017 16:21 (six years ago) link
When they were explaining that the primary musical forces were Anderson and King, it reminded me of that famous Rolling Stones story where Mick Jagger called Charlie Watts "my drummer" and Watts punched him in the face and said "You're my fucking singer!"
― Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr, and Violent J (誤訳侮辱), Monday, 10 April 2017 16:44 (six years ago) link
In unrelated news, I interviewed saxophonist Dayna Stephens for Burning Ambulance.
― Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr, and Violent J (誤訳侮辱), Monday, 10 April 2017 19:51 (six years ago) link
ILM's 2017 Rolling Jazz Thread Spotify Playlist
― Bobson Dugnutt (ulysses), Monday, 10 April 2017 19:58 (six years ago) link
New Kamasi Washington track sounds p good: http://www.factmag.com/2017/04/12/kamasi-washington-harmony-of-difference-shares-13-minute-single-truth/
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Thursday, 13 April 2017 02:13 (six years ago) link
Bought two albums on Bandcamp today: Duo Palindrome 2002 vols. 1 and 2, by Andrew Cyrille and Anthony Braxton. They're as amazing as you might expect.
https://intaktrec.bandcamp.com/album/duo-palindrome-2002-vol-1https://intaktrec.bandcamp.com/album/duo-palindrome-2002-vol-2
― Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr, and Violent J (誤訳侮辱), Thursday, 13 April 2017 19:44 (six years ago) link
He is a great drummer. My current fave album featuring Cyrille is the Stuff Smith tribute album with Billy Bang/Sun Ra from '92, although tbh it is probably more down to Bang I like it.
― calzino, Thursday, 13 April 2017 20:28 (six years ago) link
RIP Allan Holdsworth, fuck.
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Sunday, 16 April 2017 18:49 (six years ago) link