Learn The History Of Music

Jazz went east in the twenties and thirties, from New Orleans and Chicago to Harlem. But jazz "left" Harlem in the 1960s, when it moved to clubs downtown and when R&B and rock began to take over. Music itself began to leave: for example, the young Jimi Hendrix felt more comfortable in Greenwich Village and soon located there himself.

However, in the last ten years a diehard Hammond B3 player has been on a mission... to the bring the music back to Harlem. The Hammond star is Seleno Clarke, and he hosts a Sunday night jam at the American Legion basement venue on West 132nd Street, Harlem.

So in Harlem there is now a virtual "Hammond Fest": Clarke's evening jam attracts fans and Hammond players from all over.

The Sunday night streets may be empty around 130th and Eighth Street, convenience stores closed, all quiet, but down in the basement on 132nd Street the joint is jumping.

Local fans, jazz fans from elsewhere in Manhattan, musicians, and the occasional star make the scene.

Clarke began his career in the '60s, when he played with Count Basie's band (as a sax player), but he was then drawn to the Hammond. Since then, his groups have included as guests guitarists Grant Green and George Benson. Clarke's work in the '70s included a track called "Stimulation" that is claimed to have "sold for $500 on eBay," a '45 that a website describes as "a no-holds-barred deep funk monster!" A more relaxed '70s '45 is featured on Clarke's site in mp3 form--the A side ("Soulful Drop"): Soulful Drop.

The venue is between Frederick Douglas and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevards, that is, the old 7th and 8th Streets, and being on 132nd Street it is, of course, seven streets above the Apollo Theatre on 125th Street. The evening has now been running for just over ten years.

On a winter's night, musicians from as far away as Poughkeepsie were in attendance. One of those musicians, organist Michael Torsone, had the floor for a good part of the evening, and he was accompanied, at the drums, by first Jacob Melchior and then his regular band drummer Steve DiGiovanni, and of course by a succession of sax players. Guitar was provided by Italian guitarist Daniele Feretti.

The unmistakable Hammond groove rocked the stone-work, and no doubt, also, the array of Clarke's certificates of acknowledgment (for his efforts in running the club) from local government and other places mounted on the walls. Torsone plays vintage Hammond, and eventually sang—with a girl holding the mic—a version of Procul Harem's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" —DiGiovanni was now on drums. During a guitar solo in a later number, Clarke was dancing at the bar. The Hammond does that.

On top of the Hammond sat "The Love Jar." It was not short of a few bills!

During one number, an audience member raised his hand up, palm upwards, to accompany the lift in key he knew was about to happen. Alto sax wailed as the atmosphere heightened. Melchior threw in some cymbal to his relaxed snare and bass drum, to match the climb.

Clarke says, "We take Sunday nights very seriously here." He says that sometimes rappers and hip hop artists come up to see what is happening, and they are blown away by the "real deal", as what they are seeing is live, organic music. The Hammond was pioneered by Jimmy Smith in the '50s and '60s. Soon he was joined by names such as Jimmy McGriff, "Brother" Jack McDuff and Dr Lonnie Smith, who played organ on George Benson's early swinging albums, It's Uptown with the George Benson Quartet (Columbia, 1965) and The George Benson Cookbook, (Columbia, 1965).

Benson produced the first of Clarke's two albums, his quintet album Diversity (1999). Clarke's second album is Diversity #2 (2003), a live album of Clarke and his Harlem Groove Band at Smoke, Broadway, NYC. The album features, amongst the musicians on the gig, Jim Rotondi on trumpet and Eric Alexander on tenor sax.

Following Torsone's set, Clarke took over the Hammond. The smooth groove of sixties and seventies Hammond snaked around every stool and table, as the ghost of Wild Bill Davis and Duke Ellington's accompanying finger-snapping became a reality again. Another sax player starred on alto, and you could soon imagine you were at a sixties recording session.

Clarke says, "I started this about ten years ago. If you look up on the wall you can see one proclamation from the city council--Bill Perkins (signed it)--he is now the New York State Senator. And I just received another honor about two weeks ago, which was my tenth year anniversary." (In 2001, The City Council of New York made a Proclamation in honor of Clarke's contribution on the Hammond and his contribution to the community of Harlem and New York City, and in the same year there was also a Proclamation Award by the Borough President's Office. He has also received awards from his home state of Maryland).

He says "My dream was ultimately to... bring the musicians back to Harlem and give back to the community. And that's basically what I'm about, you know. I'm having people from all over the world—there's a tremendous amount of diversity here. That was my dream—people from Europe, Japan, South America, everybody. So that's what my dream has been about."

"The American Legion, (248) West 132nd between 7th and 8th - that's Frederick Douglas and Adam Clayton Powell—I'm from the old school, I still use 7th and 8th—and of course I'm here every Sunday from 7(p.m.) to midnight."

The Hammond draws strong compliments from its players. Clarke says, "(It's) a nostalgic instrument." Dr Lonnie Smith once simply stated "it's a beautiful instrument": "Yes, says Clarke. "I call it 'The Beast.'" "The Beast" was soon on the prowl.

It takes a lot of application from the backing musicians to keep up with a Hammond. Clarke puts it in perspective: "I have a lot of energy when I play, and I have to have the right energy behind me to project or execute or to deliver, (that's the) bottom line... I put that Hammond in here like ten years ago—it's my baby."

Well known artists can drop in too, such as Dr Lonnie Smith and alto sax legend Lou Donaldson: "Oh yeah," says Clarke, "Lou comes in here. In fact he was here last week. I tell you the guys that come through here: Jimmy McGriff, the late Jimmy McGriff, Joey Defrancesco, Dr Lonnie Smith—he was here about two weeks ago (and) played. I get a host of others. So many come through here. In the last ten years—they all know me. We're all like family... because it's like my living room. This is not a night club. It's my living room, and they're all welcome to come in and we have a great time here."

If you have a Hammond on hand, and great Hammond musicians, a groovy time is inevitable. Did the music comeback to Harlem? Mission accomplished!

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Clarke and George Benson

Mike Stern at Iridium Jazz Club, New York 2008

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It is New Year's Eve, and the temperature shown on the buildings around Time Square show it is minus 12! ... I had just seen Mike Stern, jazz fusion guitarist extraordinaire, at Broadway's Iridium jazz club. To get there I had to sacrifice a backpack, leaving it nearby as police would not allow entrants to the closed off areas for the New Year's Eve celebrations to carry backpacks.

I saw the first set. Stern was appearing with a quartet, a star-studded line up if ever there was one: Kenny Garrett on alto sax (he and Stern both played with Miles Davis' group in the '80s), Tom Kennedy on bass and the power-house Dennis Chambers on the drums.

The crowd (at least, this writer's table) had a good share of French and Japanese people, very firm and committed fans of jazz in this writer's experience. Stern walked onto the stage and said that he would tune up. He introduced Kenny Garrett as "The real Kenny G ... Kenny Garrett!" Chambers sat behind a massive kit, three toms at eye level in front of him, and huge Zjildjian cymbles awaiting their punishment. Throughout the set he chewed his signature gum: an endorsement? Eg: "Dennis Chambers chews brand 'X' gum - rhythms that stick."

A long piece began proceedings, a Jimi Hendrix style riff opening it up. Stern began to throw in octaves, a big feature of his playing. Garrett was beating the time with his right hand on his sax, waiting for his entry. Multiple chords began and more octaves. Then Garrett soloed, then Kennedy and finally Chambers.

The next tune was the opening track from Stern's latest album, the humerously named "Who Let The Cats Out" (Heads Up, 2006). The piece is called "K.T." and features a pretty descending figure, which Stern played in unison with Garrett. The final chord appeared to be an F with a sharpened dominant up top, on the second string.

The third tune was an African style of melody, again "pretty" but softer. Garrett then played the figure in unison with the guitar. Coming closer to the front of the stage, Kenndy's bass was revealed as a huge cut-away instrument - plenty of room for high notes there. The ending was like rain falling gently, ... on the African soil?

The opening of the next tune was funky, and Chambers appeared to look quizzically at Stern. But he fell into the groove when the riff began, another Hendrix-like figure. It was very funky, with just the guitar and drums at first. Then things changed: another feeling of pleasant falling rain (in a hot climate!) - when Garrett played, the word "mellifluous" occurred to this writer. A sequence of "chasing the I chord" followed - V IV I - by way of a bendy figure. A G ninth chord from Stern finished the tune.

Stern told me later that his two main influences are Wes Montgomery and Jimi Hendrix. This was certainly apparent in the music, as huge electric sounds - a very much Stern version of Hendrix - and fast octave playing ala Montgomery, were much to the fore. It is a great sound: this writer found by chance a copy of the first album that Stern recorded with Miles Davis - "The Man With The Horn" (Columbia, 1981) - a few days before the gig, and was soon well hooked on the big vaguely fuzzed feel of Stern's (heavier) playing. For example, the enormous chords played by just the guitar to open "Back Seat Betty" - Davis' remembrance of the briefest-tenured of his wives - is guaranteed to make you a Mike Stern fan. There is also a tremendous and distinctive Stern solo on the album's opener "Fat Time".

Stern's "heavy" sound is unique, as individual as Hendrix's but very different. And, on his lighter (the Wes Montgomery) side, octaves always work well on electric guitar (witness Swedish progressive band Opeth, and sometimes Hendrix himself).

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Stern's custom Yamaha Pacifica

Colors and flashing cymble strikes came and went, and the set ended at high volume with a few moments of Stern and Garrett trading licks, Garrett repeating note for note Stern's stringed notes.

The set was not long ("too short" said a young French member of the audience near me in French: "trop court"!). However, it was long enough to present a very good picture of what Stern is up to a present. Buying his new album is a no brainer! The contrast between the smoking power of the hard-core electric riffs and the attractive lighter quasi-African sounds is both elegant and seductive.

Mike Stern is an electric stylist. And Dennis Chambers' drums rock.

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Stern's solo albums are:

Neesh (1983)
Upside Downside (1986)
Time in Place (1988)
Jigsaw (1989)
Odds or Evens (1991)
Standards and Other Songs (1992)
Is What It Is (1994)
(Grammy nominated)
Between the Lines (1996)
(Grammy nominated)
Give and Take (1997)
Play (1999)
Voices (2001)
These Times (2004)
Who Let the Cats Out? (2006)

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Kenny Garrett and Tom Kennedy

Photos: MyMusicDiscovery

OPETH, NEW YORK CITY 2008

Opeth At The Nokia Theatre, New York City, September 18, 2008: Progressive Rock Or Classical Metal?

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"When I hit this pedal, Abba are going to come on stage"
Akerfeldt (right) and Akesson

Photos: Mymusicdiscovery

On almost the last official day of summer Swedish band Opeth brought civility, intelligence, wit, good musical sense and of course rock to New York. in fact, leader and main engine of the band Mikael Akerfeldt said, in his affable, slightly professorial manner after the first couple of tracks, "We're going to have a rock and roll party - all night long!" The 2,100 seat venue roared its approval.

Opeth formed in 1992 in Stockholm, when Akerfeldt was asked to play bass by a friend in a metal band. The friend left and Akerfeldt became the main figure in the group. in a rapid time the band was ready for its first album, and the twentyone year-old Akerfeldt led the band to the completion of their first album, "Orchid"
(Candlelight, 1995). The genre was "officially" death metal (a more moody, slower form of thrash metal), but the widely--listened Akerfeldt (his mother had played him the gamut of '60s and '70s music as a child) was already writing music much wider in style (and influence) than the standard dark metal to that point. Acoustic guitars were included in the sound, and attractive harmonies. Opeth have always painted a picture far broader in scope and depth than just "metal".

Akerfeldt is a composer, and this is pretty much evident from the length of most of Opeth's songs which are are usually at least seven or eight minutes long. Music of that length can only survive if it is "composed", that is, split into successive sections that work together, like classical music movements.

The Nokia Theatre, just off Broadway in midtown Manhattan, is set up in an almost futuristic way, with two or three groups of television screens spaced every few rows back among the seats. It reminds you of sitting in an airliner. The front area, lower down, is for standing. A tape of Nick Drake (it sounded like "Riverman") played briefly as the time for Opeth to come on stage approached. Then there was a burst of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love", but the track only got as far as the riff before Opeth arrived.

The lights revealed the huge "orchid", - the title of the band's first album - an embellished signature "O" letter that Opeth places behind the band members for its gigs: the big "O" has a tail that make it look a bit like an artistic--looking onion.

Opeth are now a five piece, two guitars (Akerfeldt and recently-acquired lead guitarist Frederick Akesson), long time bassist Martin Mendez, and the relatively recent additions keyboardist Per Wiberg (he began to tour with the band in 2003, and also plays in a Stockholm blues band) and drummer Martin Axenrot who joined in 2006.

The "previous" Opeth (Akerfeldt says it is now really a new band) included the much esteemed musicians guitarist Peter Lingren and virtuoso drummer Martin Lopez. Lopez left due to anxiety attacks on tour, and Lingren in 2007.

The handling of the change in personel, and Akerfeldt's acknowledgment of it being a new band, is in keeping with the prog/jazz/classical feel to the band's music. To "real" musicians, different personnel means different music, even when you are playing your previous music. Like Duke Ellington or Miles Davis (but unlike most rock bands, who often break up if key members leave), Akerfeldt acknowledges that new band members will mean some kind of change in the music. For example, Akesson plays more virtuosic guitar solos than Akerfeldt did when he himself handled many of the solo roles when Akesson's predecessor was in the band. And so the performance of older songs will change.

It was Opeth's second appearance in New York this year. They are a very popular band with their fans, and sell--outs seem to happen just about everywhere. There is a good case to be made that they are currently the best band in the world, and that is exactly what one of the support bands (High On Five) called them before that
band left the stage. Opeth's sound is varied and very addictive, and it may be that Akerfeldt's long form songs are the way forward now for popular music. Opeth''s music is really a kind of classical music played by rock cum progressive jazz-rock musicians.

The band trooped on in jeans and t-shirts, and began with two tracks. The first number, "Heir Apparent", was very heavy at first, but changed to a unison passage of prog-rock style jazz guitar by the two guitarists. The track ended over a slightly moody B minor, G, E minor and F# chord structure. The second song was the popular live favorite "The Grand Conjuration".

After these numbers, Akerfeldt made his first stand-up comic joke of the night (the first of many), promising the "rock and roll party all night long." However, Opeth gigs are a rock and roll party: interesting, creative and eclectic songs unfolded, interspersed with the near genius wit of the singer.

"He introduced the third song of the gig as follows. "How are you feeling, are you OK?", in mock concerned tones. "It's one of those things I'm supposed to ask because I'm on stage and, you know ..." "We're going to continue with an obscure song that we don't really like - we don't really like playing it - it fucking sucks - from the Still Life album (Peaceville, 1999) a song called "Serenity Painted Death".

An alternately light then grimly darker piece evolved, metal "growl vocals" opening proceedings, but then giving way to Akerfeldt's very appealing straight voice in a later section. Like the majority of Opeth's tunes, this number is written in several parts. The album that the song is from (Still Life) tells the story of a tragic character who, as an outsider in his village, suffers an unfair fate by the end of the record. The album is sometimes nominated by fans as Opeth's best to date, but there are many candidates for "best album" in Opeth's catalogue. Some tracks from the album have jazz aspects, including a famous ballad by the band, "Face Of Melinda", where a fretless bass was used to provide a more jazz--like feel.

Jazz guitar--style licks decorated a central section of the tune, sandwiched between dark metal figures in octaves (an Opeth trademark--the octaves are played by Akerfeldt; guitarist Akesson, a lead guitar specialist, plays the more statospheric lead guitar parts).

An interesting feature of Opeth is that each band--member has pretty much an equal role in the music: in many bands, often the drummer is at the back hammering out a backing, but Opeth's stage set up had each musician positioned as if they were to have an equal sonic role; in the case of drummer Axenrot, it struck me as if it were more like an Indian ensemble where the tabla player is obviously front stage. And so, at times the audience's attention was drawn to the punctuating role of the drums, while Akerfeldt waited for his entry, or to the keyboards (although probably less so in their case). There was one moment in the gig where an unexpected beautiful minstrel--like flash erupted from the guitar (or rather, amp!) of Akesson, or when a guitar--sounding figure turned out to have been played by Wiburg at the keyboards. This is, of course, all testament to the great composing of Akerfeldt, (in these cases his spacing, and changes in instrumental texture).

At the end of "Serenity", Akerfeldt explained why the band "doesn't like playing" the song: "The reason we don't like playing that song is it's so fucking hard to play!" Laughter fills the venue as yet another Akerfeldt joke hits its mark. But he is right: it is a difficult piece with a lot of intricate parts.

Part of Akerfeldt's humor is in his delivery: his mock-concerned speaking tones again asked: "Is it sounding all right so far?" A rhetorical question for sure! The guitar sounds were perfect and the mix, sculptured by the enormous mixing desk in the centre of the room, excellent. Opeth have a wonderfully smooth guitar sound; on recordings Akerfeldt uses an "ebow" device (a prog-rock guitar effect from the 1970s and now rare). On tour he replicates the sound with various effects settings that do the job live, though it is not a precise replication. He has said he does not take the ebow on tour as he does not want to lose it!

"So good", remarked a member of the crowd near me. He was referring not just to the music but to the whole Opeth experience, filled out as it is by Akerfeldt's humour. And Akerfeldt continued the entertainment by sending up the lyrics of the somewhat stereotypical '70s and '80s German band the Scorpions: "'Encores to eleven than Chinese food. Back to the hotel' ... Profound!", ended Akerfeldt.

The next song was a very attractive slow number, introduced by the singer. "This next song is considered a ballad ...". On Akerfeldt then announcing that it was from the mellow and relatively acoustic album, the deliberately obversely--titled softer acoustic album "Damnation" (Koch, 2003), my neighbour was guessing it was the album's opening track "Windowpane". It was in fact the clever "Hope Leaves", a melodic song sung to softly jangling arpeggios and an occasional walking bass.

"I think it's a pretty good song. My voice might sound a bit like Peter Criss in Black Diamond (during the gig Akerfeldt often catered to his original musical metal "base" by referring to metal bands, not all of them familiar to this writer) but I'm going to try to sing it ... but I want to see lighters. I want to see Motley Crue tour, 1986 ..."

"Hope Leaves" is a more conventional song, written in one main verse section that is repeated before an instrumental end section, instead of many different sections. One of the main features was a stunning fluid solo by Akesson to finish the piece, ala Mick Taylor of the early '70s Rolling Stones--but it was the opportunity also for more Akerfeldt jokes after the song. "I [...] love Frederick too," he said. And then, as if as an afterthought: "And If you don't like Frederick (delivered in a quasi-Monty Python announcer voice), ... you're a bitch!"

It was also time to "introduce" relatively new drummer Martin Axenrot (who joined in 2006): "Yes, there he is", said Akerfeldt as Axenrot waved to the crowd somewhat shyly with both hands raised outward: "... the Buddy Rich of death metal!" Buddy Rich? The breadth of Akerfeldt's interests and influences was probably well illustrated right there.

Opeth's latest album is "Watershed" (Roadrunner, 2008): the album entered the Billboard Top 200 at number 23, and the opening song was from it. Akerfeldt introduced the album: "... and we'd like to play a song from that very album right now!" More hilarity from the crowd at this comical statement.

"Yeah, you sound excited", continued Akerfeldt like a stand up comedian playing the crowd. "Let's see if we can play this one - it starts something like this". Akerfeldt began crooning a medieval sounding chant-like melody accapella. Then the band came in.

Later in the gig somebody threw a coin on stage. "Yeah thanks, a coin. Great," Akerfeldt lamented. He struck a funky chord. "For that, I'm going to play the Doobie Brothers!" He strummed a few funk-like chord rhythms, before finishing up: "It would have been ugly!"

The next track was from the band's second album "Morningrise" (Candlelight,1996). Akerfeldt: "It was (pauses for effect) ... minstrel metal (emphasis on both words)". He has said that when the band recorded the album he visualised the music as being played by lutes, and band members brought in chess sets to play between takes!

The excellent and descriptive "The Night And The Silent Water" was the song in question. The whole introductory sound of the guitars and their parts evoked the title. Classical! A blog of the gig fascinatingly claims that at one point a fan (apparently overheard by the blogger, who was at the gig) said "Did you hear that passage into the diminished seventh. That was incredible"!

As Opeth songs are usually at least seven or eight minutes in length, after only a relatively few atmospheric and drama-filled tracks the end of the gig was fast approaching! (The concert was ten songs, over about one hour forty minutes).

A more straight--forward traditional dark metal Opeth favorite, "Demon Of The Fall" - "A different type of 'Fall'", said Akerfeldt - ended the main part of the gig. The band then returned to play many fans' favorite Opeth number, the typically multipart "The Drapery Falls" - from the "Blackwater Park" album (Koch, 2001) - as an encore. And then the curtain (metaphorically) fell on a brilliant and entertaining occasion, an Opeth gig at the Nokia.

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The Orchid waits for the encore

During the encore: "The Drapery Falls"

[An edited version of this review appears in Allaboutjazz.com, the world's best jazz website]

RUSSIAN CARAVAN: Bassist Dmitri Kolesnik at Cleopatra's Needle restaurant

New York

Friday, August 1, 2008

Dmitri Kolesnik, bassist and composer, came from Russia (St Petersburg) to the United States in 1991. After studying with bass legend Ron Carter, Kolesnik has been leading small groups in New York. He has also made several tours to Russia, including an appearance at the Moscow International Jazz Festival. On a mid-summer Friday night in New York, he brought his thoughtful compositions to Cleopatra's Needle, the jazz restaurant and club (2485 Broadway).

Kolesnik frequently plays with his five piece band The Corners Five (including prominent tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander), but tonight it was a quartet: Kolesnik, Grant Stewart tenor sax, Japanese pianist Mamiko Watanabe piano, and Oakland (Calif) native Willard Dyson at the drums.

Sheet music stood on the music stands, even for the drummer, so clearly some involving music was about to be served up at Cleopatra's Needle tonight! And it was.

A centre-piece of the first set was was "Blues For RC", a tribute to Kolesnik's teacher Ron Carter. A mixture of bass bends and harmonics carried the blues groove through to its conclusion. The band was superlative. Watanabe has a brilliant touch at the piano, her playing sometimes classical in its expression.

A graduate of the Berklee School of Music, she lists Art Tatum as her biggest idol ("I love Art Tatum", she says). Of his music she says simply, "It's classical". Having heard a little known but miraculous Tatum "air shot" recording of five sculptured tracks from a 1934 Toledo, Ohio radio broadcast (that appear to travel well beyond jazz) this writer can only agree. Watanabe also lists Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea as important influences.

Saxist Stuart is a fluid player, and an expert "Parker--ophile" as well: a curling "Steeplechase" (a sometimes overlooked track from Parker's run of 1947-48 masterpieces) cropped up later, in the second set. Drummer Willard Dyson was ever powerful.

Set two began with "Five Corners", the title track of Kolesnik's second album (Challenge Records, 2007). Stewart took the first solo, his trusty tenor looking a little battered, the larger keys clearly displaying the aura of antiquity. But the sound from the bell was of a different nature, alive and modern. He wore a suit jacket, black shirt, and jeans. Both Kolesnik and Dyson wore colorful shirts.

The musicians were reading carefully, given the complex sectional nature of some of the music. There was a strong piano solo, then all slowed for the extended bass solo from Kolesnik. He announced afterwards that the tune was dedicated to St Petersburg. The next number was "Visionary Hopes", a melodic and carefully structured piece. Kolesnik's solo was thuttering, like rain on a tin roof. The final note from the bass was the dominant, on a quiet finish. This was similar to the atypical end of the previous tune, where the bass ended on a minor third rather than the perhaps expected tonic note.

The third tune of the set saw a more driving bass. At the piano, Watanabe seemed to smile as her quick fingers played another showpiece solo. Stewart played a sustained, fast 32nd note passage, which was followed by a great unison between sax and bass. The drums assumed thundering dimensions towards the end of the tune. Kolesnik's "Go To Hollywood" (which saw big applause for Stewart), and Charlie Parker's "Steeplechase" ended off the set.

During the first break, Kolesnik spoke about the history of jazz bass. Duke Ellington's early '40s discovery (and the father of modern jazz bass) Jimmy Blanton was "the best". He started "a whole different approach to the bass." Of the few duo tracks Blanton recorded with Ellington, Kolesnik says "(There) you can really hear him." (An example is the famous "Pitter Panther Patter"). Growing up in Russia, Kolesnik listened to his father's records: Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Petersen and Cannonball Adderley (of Adderley's albums, Kolesnik lists in particular the "Live in San Francisco" album (Riverside, 1959). Kolesnik was not at first formally trained in musical notation. He began by inventing his own language for writing down the notes: "Doing it is the best way (to learn)", he says.

Kolesnik has a catchy composition called "Russian Caravan" (not played on this night) that he says describes the long tradition of Russians coming to America. He is one of the more recent!

The third set of the night began with "I Remember You" (another Parker recording, from one of his last great -- quartet -- dates in 1952) -- an excellent way to begin a club set. Stewart is a great ambassador for these tunes. (He was also very good on the classic "You Go To My Head", in the second set.)

Kolesnik began his solo by stating the melody, then expanding. A series of fast triplets near the top of the neck of the bass perhaps showed the tutelage of Ron Carter. After the leader's solo, the band bounced back strongly: there was applause after each section.

The next piece was Kolesnik's "Wild East Blues" (get it?), a melodic piece divided into different sections. There was, for example, an interesting musical shift by the tenor player before the drum solo arrived. Watanabe turned in some classic pianism, after a funky '70s-like introduction. A brilliant and catchy riff ended the tune, and I heard a girl in the back of the room whistling it after the tune had finished. This is surely what a composer wants to see!

Kolesnik's tune "Giving Rise To Doubt", from his first album "Blues For Dad" (Boheme Music, 2001) ended with a rising section that echoed the title. There was however no "doubt" about the following tracks, "Russianality" and "One Day At A Time". They continued the flow of compositional strength and tastful playing. Indeed, "One Day At A Time" began with a latin-like introduction and was in several time signatures, each one rapidly succeeding the other.

Needless to say, the musicians were again reading the music closely!

CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE JAZZ OPEN MIC, NEW YORK

Cleopatra's Needle Jazz Open Mic - Sundays and Wednesdays, 2485 Broadway New York

The mellow sounds of a CD of alto-sax master Johnny Hodges (Duke Ellington's premier soloist for over forty years) fill the restaurant as the piano trio returns for the next set of the singer's open mic session. Cleopatra's Needle, or "Cleopatra's" as it is known, is the upper west-side jazz venue and restaurant, well-positioned on Broadway between 92nd and 93rd Streets, that holds open mics for singers on Sunday and Wednesday nights. Johnny Hodges is the favorite sax player of Egyptian owner Maher Hussein, and serves perfectly to relax any nervous singer.

The Sunday session is hosted by pianist Alan Rosenthal and his trio, while the Wednesday open mic is presented by Jon Weiss and trio. The usual bassist is Bob Arkin. Drummers on Wednesdays include Steve Little (ex-Duke Ellington and the Sesame Street albums). Drummer for Sundays is Japanese musician Yutaka Uchida: incidentally, the Sunday open mic is followed every Sunday evening by the jazz trio of inventive Japanese pianist Toru Dodo.

The musicians are very good, and play patiently behind the occasionally less vocally gifted performer! Open mics can sometimes lead to comedy: recently an enthusiastic male singer over-cooked a Sinatra number, leaving the bassist with his hands over his ears! But that's a rarity. One or two regulars try out their own songs (bring at least the chords written out for the musicians).

Late evenings (usually from 11pm) are reserved for jazz jams, hosted by local New York band leaders, and these can also include open mic singers. Cleopatra's has been described as the "most consistent" (the words of leading jazz pianist Roy Meriwether) jazz jam venue in New York: the venue is open for jamming late every night of the week. Meriwether, who is nephew of boogie-woogie king Big Maceo Meriwether, played a number one Wednesday night ("Cherokee").

Meriwether then gave up the piano to another pianist who launched into the dynamic "The Sidewinder" by Lee Morgan. A white tenor player played a hot solo. Just before, the piano had been commandeered by a big Cuban pianist who had filled the place with notes.

International tourists also like to visit. One Wednesday Michel, a French trumpeter from near Lyon in central France, played a few numbers; he was on holiday with his family for a week in New York and "wanted to play some jazz". Come the wish, come the reality: he was soon jamming section parts in unison with a sax player behind an Italian singer.

On a recent Sunday at the open mic there was a music theatre singer from London, and a man from Cambridge (England) went so far as to bring the original German lyrics for "Mack The Knife".

All the while, staff serve the excellent Mediterranean food. Behind the band-stand there is a room in the back with longer tables for group bookings, and where jamming jazz musicians hang out waiting to play late at night. There are excellent paintings on the walls of the room, including a striking painting of an '80s Miles Davis and a large painting of a Cleopatra's jam from the past, which sits nearer the bar.

A sometimes less than covert feature of the open mic is the tip bowl, which, on Wednesdays, pianist Jon Weiss attempts to fill by any number of outrageous stories. For example, the drummer "has to visit his ailing grandmother who lives way up the Amazon and can only be reached by boat", etc. A smile lights up the sticks dude's face at the drums.

Alternating open mic drummer Steve Little said he was fired by Benny Goodman in the '60s, three times! "He fired everybody", said Little. "He would fire a whole band". His memories of Duke Ellington are better: he played on many Ellington dates in the mid '60s, and on the famous second Ellington Sacred Concert.

Tara Minton, a singer from Melbourne, Australia who was in town for a visit, was ecstatic to find she had just played piano with a former Ellington drummer! "Wait until I tell my father", she said. She had just played two of her own piano songs. Meanwhile, two Japanese girls queued to sing '50s standards.

Outside of the open mics and jazz jams, jazz ensembles are booked for the first part of the evenings. On Friday June 20, for example, there was the Sharel Cassity Quintet. Cassity is an alto sax player from Oklahoma, and has a tone similar to Charlie Parker's warmer sound. Her CD was available for purchase on the piano. The gig finished at midnight, and the jam was about to begin, this time hosted by Coltrane-influenced electric and slide guitarist Craig Magnato.

During the break, more Johnny Hodges alto sax moved sonorously through the club. Open mic and jazz jams as only open mic and jazz jams can be .... at Cleopatra's Needle, 2485 Broadway (between 92nd and 93rd Street).

JAZZ DRUMMER ROY HAYNES AT CATALINA BAR AND GRILL, HOLLYWOOD

May 26, 2007

Hear the radiocast

Catalina Bar and Grill, on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood. I walked in and sat down at the bar. Three guys were to my left, an older short and strong-looking Afro-American guy, and two white guys wearing glasses. They were shortly joined by a young black man carrying two saxophones, an alto and a soprano sax. He placed the vaguely battered instruments purposefully on the bar in front of him, and sat down. This was the band. The (slightly) older black man was Roy Haynes, famous jazz drummer who began playing with Charlie Parker and others in bebop, and who has carried through since, playing and inspiring Coltrane, Kirk, Corea and so it goes on. According to the calender, he is 81, born in March, 1926 but looked (and surely was) no more than 55.

The sax player was Jaleel Shaw, who has been playing with Haynes for a couple of years. The other two were Martin Bejerano (the pianist) and David Wong (the bassist), respectively.

As the lights came down, Haynes lounged back in his chair and casually asked the others want they wanted to play first, and then second: “So what do you want to start with?” He was dressed in a bright orange shirt open to three buttons, over a black under shirt, and black felt trousers. His shirt cuffs were pulled back, and a heavy gold ring stood on his second right hand finger.

The band walked to the stand and set about the gig, a mix of updated jazz classics with a bop tinge, from originals by the band to Thelonius Monk's "Bemsha Swing".

Bejerano’s growling piano effects, at one point, received obvious approval and grins from the drummer and sax player. On another occasion, the pianist began a piece with authentic Debussy - like sounds. He lives in Brooklyn. All the band lives “around New York”, in Jaleel Shaw’s words.

Haynes didn’t take long to launch into a battering drum solo, in Cole Porters “My Heart Belongs To Daddy”, that turned out to be a feature for every member of the band; a middle aged Dizzy Gillespie lookalike, who like me had got up to watch the solo more closely, came over and said, “Eighty-one years old. Damn!”.

Roy pounded the drums in his very musical style, showing why he has his nickname, “Mr Snap Crackle”.

Jalal Shaw has an elegant touch on alto sax, rather like alto sax legend Lou Donaldson but more a smooth version of Charlie Parker than boogaloo. The pianist and bassist were compact and broad, white-shirted, and so was their playing.

Haynes began to use brushes on a slower track with big floppy hits, raising the right hand brush high to an angle of forty-five degrees. Usually when you see drummers using brushes, the brush is “applied” in a flat circular motion. When I asked Roy, later, about his brush style he had no comment: why should he be concerned with any style other than his? It’s better than everyone elses’!

Later in “My Heart Belongs To Daddy” (the band plays a ten minute version), Haynes began a furious backbeat, followed by hard punching hits. This guy is 30.

At one point, a guest drummer was allowed to knock some snare in an interplay with Shaw, Haynes encouraging them on. Haynes is an excellent entertainer and showman as well as one of the greatest drummers in jazz, and there was a long comedy and talk section: he railed about people wanting their photo with him, because he “was a legend”. “What’s a legend?” he asked a member of the audience near the stage. “You” replied the fan. Roy said ”That’s the best answer I’ve heard!”

The gig was an example of what I call new music, that is a new mix of jazz and other sounds that is pushing forward music in general. This band, and the new work of Herbie Hancock and perhaps to a lesser extent Wayne Shorter (both of whom I saw in London) are more innovative right now than any rock bands or singer-songwriters. This gig was ample proof; and so is the brilliant album of Charlie Parker compositions (yes, he’s always been another classical composer to me) that Roy Haynes and other famous soloists (such as trumpeter Roy Hargrove) released in 2001: The record shows new light on these works.

In connection to Charlie Parker, it was also no accident that a feature of the Catalina gig was Jalal Shaw knocking out the Parker classic “Segment”. The tune is also the closer track on the band’s live album from January 2006, recorded in St Paul at that city’s “Roy Haynes Weekend”.

Roy Haynes is a brilliant musician pushing into new territories as well as showing a glimpse of the old. Just don't call him a legend.

This article is also published at All About Jazz.com

BB KING AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL

September 5, 2007

Audio Review

BB King appeared at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday night September 5 as the final act at the "BB KIng Blues Festival". The first act was much trumpeted British R&B guitarist James Hunter, and the second act was Robert Randolph and the Family Band. BB King's band, consisting of a baritone sax, tenor sax, two trumpets, second guitarist and rhythm section, walked onstage and played a couple of warm up numbers, ready for the master to appear. This he did in due course, walking slowly to the centre of the stage and sitting down on a chair (where he remained for the gig. His famous guitar Lucille was brought over, and he plugged in. Now for some blues, man.

BB spoke a lot between numbers, and didn't play enormous amounts of guitar, but when he did there was the mastery, the taste. After the second tune, he asked the crowd to applaud a sideman, "Make him happy", said BB. "Make him happy" was repeated more than once during the night, among the rest of the banter and jokes. "The first two numbers featured our guitarist, Charlie Dennis", said BB. The rest of the band pretended to get upset that he had left them out. "Give it up for the bass player. He was in it too", added BB to quiet them down. He made a lot of being eighty-one, "and if I'm lucky enough to survive another week I'll be eighty-two".

It was soon time for some more serious talk: "I'm from the Delta, Mississippi. I've never been in the 'Hood. I was out in the boondocks. I never saw an electric light in a house until I was sixteen. It was like going to the county fair!"

He continued "My town had the railway line going right down the middle", introducing the topic of segreagation in the South before World War Two. Whites were on one side, blacks on the other. When his family went into town on a Saturday night both sides would stare warily at eachother. He spoke about how he dared to drink water from the white's water fountain, thinking it must have been special: "The white water didn't tast any better than the black water!" he said. "I want to thank God for making the world a better place now".

Up next was a highlight "I'm A Blues Man But I'm A Good Man". There was his 1987 U2-written hit "When Love comes to Town", to more applause. Then it was time for some laughs about da ladeez: " .... maybe some ladies might want to know more!". He introduced more of the band: Walter King on "the big bass sax (baritone sax)".

"Let's change it up a bit" was the signal for some slow blues. Yeah! The opening lines were "I've got a good mind to give up living and go shopping instead .... and buy a tombstone ...."

More jokes about his age followed, and also tales about watching people playing "a crap game at the end of one of the cotton rows". Is that down home or what? "TheThrill Is Gone" ended the night. It was a brilliant gig, with picture painting in words as well as in music: the thrill certainly hasn't gone for him, or for anyone else who was there.

HAROLD MABERN AT SMOKE JAZZ CLUB, BROADWAY NYC

December 22, 2007

Mabern waits at the piano during a solo from
one of his sidemen

Harold Mabern performed with his piano trio three nights at New York Upper West Side club Smoke, the weekend before Christmas, 2007. The former pianist with luminaries like Wes Montgomery, Lee Morgan and John Coltrane was accompanied by a suited white bassist who looked like a young Al Gore and a white crew-cutted drummer who looked a little like a '60s Air Force officer. Former Mabern cohort tenor saxist George Coleman was in attendance at the bar (he preceded Wayne Shorter as tenorist in the Miles Davis Quintet of the early Sixties).

The set that was ending when I was able to get in (people paid by the set) was rounded out with "My Favorite Things". Mabern has always played an eclectic bunch of covers on his albums, from the '60s classic "What The World Needs Now" to the Sesame Street Theme (itself very Charlie Parker-like). This night was no exception.

The set (there were three sets, featuring some variation in the numbers played) contained about seven or eight numbers, but they were long pieces. He began with what he described to the audience as "the song that means a lot to me", a sixties bop/funk number of his own, "Don't Know Why".

Up next was a great version of ""A Merry Little Christmas", played with crisp elegance yet earthy fire. He told me later that the blues is behind everything he plays, whatever the apparent style of the tune.

At the start of the set he thanked the club for bringing in the piano, a Steinway: "Thanks for organising the Steinway. If you can't play that you can't play anything!". And grabbing the microphone after "A Merry Little Christmas", he said he thought the tune was the most beautiful Christmas song around. During the set, he also occasionally threw in quotes from other tunes, such as Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Surry With The Fringe On Top" in "A Merry Little Christmas".

Mabern is known for collaborations with, amongst others, "hardbop" trumpeter Lee Morgan, and evidence of this genre of jazz cropped up in several numbers. Mabern has a fresh style that pulls in the Sixties blend of gospel, blues and funk that characterised the whole Bobby Timmons/Herbie Hancock music of the time, but with added classical power. Mabern has large hands that easily handled the octaves he played in the right hand, and the ringing end to a number, in the right hand, became a signature of the performance.

Later numbers included Cole Porter's "The Last Laugh" (with a brief quote of "Anything Goes"), and "Dat Dere" by Bobby Timmons. Towards the end of the set Mabern suddenly interrupted his speaking to launch into an accapella version of Cole Porter's "I Get A Kick Out Of You", which he sang as "We get a kick out of you" (ie: the audience).

"The Last Laugh" (excerpt)

After the gig, I asked him if he approved of the term "hard bop". He said that he didn't like labels. He explained, "I'm really about the blues". Like alto sax master Charlie Parker, the blues underpins everything he plays.

Born in 1936 in Memphis, Mabern was a year younger than Elvis Presley, and he remembers that Elvis used to drive the ice truck ("people didn't have refrigerators in those days"). He said also that Elvis got his hip-swinging style from Mabern's piano teacher, the legendary Phineas Newborn.

His favourite songwriter? He replied first Gershwin, then quickly added Cole Porter, who he said was brilliant because of both his lyrics and music. Finally, he rested on Richard Rodgers (Rodgers/Hart, Rodgers/Hammerstein) because "you think you have worked him out but then something changes and the music goes somewhere else".

Fusing always fashionable Sixties bop/funk with the classic American Songbook, Harold Mabern is extremely relevant to today: younger rock bands and music writers should listen to Harold Mabern, as their music will improve if they do. He has a big and commanding style, with tremendous melodic appeal. Another reviewer of these performances asked himself why he had not discovered Mabern before. Discover the big hands and rich melodic ringing sound of Harold Mabern yourself.

This article is also published at All About Jazz.com

70TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT TRIBUTE TO BENNY GOODMAN AT CARNEGIE HALL

January 16, 2008

Goodman on film in 1943

The King of Swing, Benny Goodman, played a historic concert at Carnegie Hall on January 16, 1938. The concert was probably the first to prominently display popular music in a classical music venue. Carnegie Hall was open again to swing last night, when a 70th Anniversary tribute to the 1938 concert was held in the Stern Room, the main auditorium of Carnegie Hall..

To see what was being honoured, look at this clip from the Hollywood Hotel in 1937:

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Somewhere in the comments to the clip, a viewer expresses the wish that modern musicians would "take note" of what these guys are doing. Absolutely, and that is part of the purpose of this site.

The music was provided by a small jazz group and a "classical" orchestra (the "Champagne Symphony") put together by clarinetist and band leader Bob de Angelis and conductor/arranger John McLeod, both of Toronto. The Goodman band did not have strings, let alone a full orchestra, but that is the sound that was presented.

The concert began, as did the original, with the swing theme tune "Don't Be That Way", a powerful riff number that Goodman had described as his "ice-breaker" for the [original] night. De Angelis is a fluid clarinetist with a full tone, and the superb acoustics of Carnegie Hall projected the sound very well. Carnegie Hall is not as big as one would think, or at least the acoustics are so good that you feel you are almost on the stage listening.

As a jazz clarinetist, DeAngelis is probably closer to Artie Shaw than Benny Goodman, nailing the high notes in quite a Shaw-like manner, but he was more like Goodman on the first notes of the smnall group classic "Moonglow" that began the medley of Goodman hits before the interval.

The numbers played were the major Goodman numbers of the period, with the exception of four tracks that were recorded by Goodman two or three years later in his career and one that was not identified with him at all but is a great swing-era clarinet tune, Artie Shaw's enormous hit "Frenesi".

"Bugal Call Rag" began with the familiar bugal-like introduction of the Goodman band, but played neatly by what sounded like a classically-trained trumpeter in the backing orchestra: a little too neatly, perhaps. But the trombonist sounded very authentic. DeAngelis also sounded good on this version. The big riff ride-out at the end sounded like a huge ship powering away out to sea. There was good arranging here.

The next number was the classic "It Had To Be You", which began in a rather schmaltzy fashion but then began to really kick: the Goodman band did not have strings, of course, but his rival Artie Shaw had experimented with them and so the idea nevertheless had some authenticity.

The concert was characterized by a small purely jazz group taking over from the full orchestra from time to time, just as Benny Goodman interpolated a few numbers with his small group in 1938. The basic small group was the same make-up as Goodman's quartet, but with bass added (clarinet, vibraharp, piano and drums), but on "Up A Lazy River" the group was joined by arranger John McLeod on cornet and a trombonist. The original Carnegie Hall concert had a salute to the history of jazz (to that point), and this Hoagy Carmichael tune was made a tribute to Bix Beidebecke and his softer cornet sound of the late 1920s. The trombonist sounded quite like jazz trombone legend Jack Teagarden.

Canadian singer Melissa Stylianou took the mic for a swish version of "East of The Sun", which had good strings that raised the sound above any danger of schmaltz: it was funny to see two orchestral double bass players bowing the melody at one point. However, the jazz bassist, on the other side of the stage, was a bit too modern in his style on this number.

A small group (the quartet plus bass) medley ended the first half, beginning with "Moonglow". The opening notes of this song were probably the most authentically-Goodman like sounds of the night. "Avalon" followed, and the "Goodbye" and "Sing Sing Sing".

Of the other members of the small group, the bassist had an influential presence, his strong tone gliding under the others. The pianist was not much to the fore until "Airmail Special" ((in the second half). It can be hard playing in a tribute concert: if you do an accurate job of reproduction, then you are seen as a "copy', but if you are yourself you may be said to be "nothing like" the original. De Angelis was able to solve this by being himself, which was close enough to Goodman to work. The drummer was quite authentic, but I couldn't help thinking that the vibes player didn't seem overly keen! It would be very difficult to carry off an impression of the energetic and virtuosic original vibes player Lionel Hampton.

A major part of the original concert was trumpter Harry James: the cornetist John Mcleod was a good substitute: he is a great trumpeter, evincing power of the Harry James variety, and he also played some animated mute later in the night. His other main role, as arranger, would obviously be critical to the success or otherwise of the night, given that adding "stings' to normally non-orchestral music can cause signinificant grief for listeners! (An example was the use of string arrangements by Elton John on a tour of Australia in the 1980s). But not in this case: the arrangements were clever and subtle, sliding around and under the music in the foreground, at times actually being the music in the foreground, just as a true arrangement of a "bed" of strings should be.

The second half of the concert began with the Goodman opening radio theme "Let's Dance", which we were told was a nineteen thirties re-arrangement of composer Weber's "Invitation To The Dance". Pioneer electric guitarist Charlie Christian was name-checked for the next number (that he wrote during his tenure in Goodman's sextet, from 1939-1941) "Airmail Special". A riffarama. The band called this performance "Email Special"!

The violin lines were particularly good on"Why Don't You Do Right?'", a tune recorded by Goodman chronologically after the 1938 concert (with Peggy Lee in 1941), but whose date of cutting just may have served to allow arranger McLeod to "have some fun with it", as he put it after the concert.

One of the smoothest tunes around is "Frenesi": Ray Charles played it as did Artie Shaw. John McLeod introduced it by saying that Benny Goodman did record it, and that he had recently discovered this (I found the record once myself on an EP). The arrangement was appropriately lush, and it is easy to see that the number must be a regular staple of the Champagne Orchestra's repertoire. Following Frenesi was a good recreation of the Goodman baroque specialty "Bach Goes To Town", a swing take on Bach. It was a great sight to see a front line of a clarinetist, a trumpeter and a bass clarinetist playing this tune. "And The Angels Sing", a great later release by Goodman was the penultimate number, featuring Melissa Stylianou and probably Deangelis' best solo, and finally "After You've Gone".

The encore was a powerful version of the classic "Sing Sing Sing", begun in semi-darkness. The pianist came up with a part re-creation of the epic solo moment of pianist Jess Stacy, captured on mic in 1938 by, as legend has it, Benny Goodman moving the mic closer to the pianist. This was one of those moments of the night that reached back into the past to maybe just make you think you there in 1938.

This article is also published at All About Jazz.com

MICHEL LEGRAND AT BIRDLAND, NYC

March 1, 2008

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Birdland's front window, from the bar

French master composer and pianist Michel Legrand played Birdland in New York City with his trio for a week from Tuesday February 26 to Sunday March 2, 2008. Well, it wasn't really his trio: on bass was the famous Ron Carter (Miles Davis' second great quartet) and a la batterie (at the drums), Lewis Nash. Michel said how honoured he was to pay with great American jazz musicians such as these ("It was my dream to play with Ron Carter and Lewis Nash. It came true"). But the real honor was for us to see Michel.

The composer of such masterpieces as "Summer Of '42" and "The Windmills Of Your Mind" played two sets nightly. I saw him on the Saturday night. The numbers were mainly his own works, many written with lyrics by Marilyn and David Bergman, like "Windmills". Legrand sang most of them, his polite whispery voice segueing readily into his French speaking accent between songs.

Birdland is a large open club, friendly and with a great history, having been opened in 1950 in honour of its name sake, Charlie "Bird" Parker. But rarely can it have been host to a talent as great as Michel Legrand.

Michel Legrand has literally written the soundtrack to most peoples' lives, many of his songs having appeared in famous movies, for example "The Summer Of '42", "The Thomas Crown Affair" and so on.

I was lucky enough to see two sets. The first opened with an instrumental number, then Legrand played and sang, in French, "Once Upon A Summertime". Ron Carter, as in the second set, took a long and interesting solo on this second number. In the third number he brought harmonics into his solo. He wore a red tie and cravatte with a dark suit, and read from a music stand as all the music was Legrand's. A run of famous film themes and songs followed, interspersed with jokes from Legrand that the numbers had been wriiten "in 1863" or maybe "when I played with Miles Davis, in 1646". He introduced a number from "Yentl" (1983) by describing the scene that the song was written for: "Night falls and everywhere is dark ..."

He announced a "rock" number by saying that Lewis Nash "hates to play rock, so we'll play this!" At the end, Carter slid his fingers down the neck of his bass in a chromatic slide ala Jimi Hendrix. The great "Theme From The Summer Of '42" followed, and then "I Was Born In Love With You", that Legrand said was written "in one crazy night" with the Bergmans. He sang a duet with singer and Birdland regular Hilary Kole ("How Do You Keep The Music Playing?" - ".... she is called Hilary. Are you running for President?" he joked), and then came the finale of the set, "The Windmills Of Your Mind". As was usual, Legrand sang in French: the French words are "les moulins de mon coer", "the windmills of my heart". A ha, a different title and maybe more evocative.

"The Windmills Of Your Mind" was souped up, as was the final number of the second set, with different rhythms: a tango, fast, Dixieland, and ... Russian! Michel instructed the others to play a burst of slow stomping folded-arms Russian rhythm. Out there!

And so ended the first set.

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Michel and fan at Birdland

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In the second set, "Once Upon A Summertime" was introduced as a song "with the beautiful lyrics of Johnny Mercer". The third song this time was "Rose In The Stone", written "with my friends the Bergmans". A theme of the varied lyrics to Legrand's music is the seasons, and references to horizons ("past the horizons of your mind") , the wind ("the wind against your cheek"), and other aspects of the mood environment. When it was again time for "Theme From The Summer Of '42", Legrand announced that the writer of the film, Herman Raucher, was "in the house". He said that they should work together again.

A quiet number from "The Thomas Crown Affair" caused the bartender to tone down his shaking of the cocktail just ordered by a woman to my left. She laughed. The fact that Pierce Brosnan played in the re-make of the film after his Bond movies was perhaps a further irony: stirred not shaken this time!

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Parker and Thelonius Monk, Birdland

After the second set's duet with Hillary Kole, Michel said that he had always loved jazz all his life,"since I was three, a little boy, in 1743 at the time of Louis XIV". He mentioned perhaps the greatest pianist in jazz, Art Tatum, and said that Tatum (who died in 1956) had "appeared to him in a dream" saying, "I will play one of your tunes. Watch what happens". Legrand then went into a Tatumesque take on Legrand. This was followed by a medley of Legrand takes on other famous pianists: Duke Ellington ("Take The A Train"), Errol Garner, George Shearing, Dave Brubeck (where Legrand changed keys down twice in two whole-tone steps at one point), Count Basie and Oscar Peterson!

Michel Legrand at Birdland: one of the best nights of my life, dude.

Photographs: Mymusicdiscovery

This article is also published at All About Jazz.com

AHMAD JAMAL LIVE AT THE BLUE NOTE

Sunday May 11, 2008

Ahmad Jamal both caressed and crashed the Blue Note during his series of gigs at The Blue Note in early May. I saw him for his second set on Sunday May 11, 2008. Famous for dynamics in his playing (soft-loud, start-stop, and sectional changes), the piano master gave a bravura display of (the current state of) his art, developed over the decades since the early fifties when his 1951 album "Ahmad's Blues" was released. That album, together with Jamal's second album "The Ahmad Jamal Trio" (1956), strongly influenced the music of Miles Davis during his famous first quintet period of the mid 1950s and then the modal revolution of "Milestones" in 1958. Of course, Jamal's music has never stopped developing. His music now can perhaps be for this writer described as a type of "classical jazz". Elements of the early Jamal style crop up, but they are separated by dramatic blocks of music that pull in the sounds of Debussy and de Falla, and other classical composers. Jamal himself says that you are just as likely to hear some Mozart in his music as, say, Errol Garner. Given also that in the 1970s Jamal recorded many innovative fusion albums that have their devotees, you can easily see the developmental arc of a true artist. The variety and influence of his work (he is even much sampled by leading hip hop artists) was recognised, for example, by the French government making him a recipient of the prestigious French Order of the Arts and Letters in 2007. Soon to be seventy-eight, he is a bundle of science and energy.

I was lucky enough to meet him afterwards, and I asked him where his "open" sound came from. His reply was immediate (and not a surprise): Errol Garner. The sound was already evident on his first album, for example on the track "It Could Happen To You". With the release of his famous 1958 album "At The Pershing: But Not For Me", his sound was everywhere. His previous album, "The Ahmad Jamal Trio" of 1956, contained a musically very interesting tune called "Pavane" that has effectively the same music in its main section as Miles Davis' "Milestones", from two years later!

I asked him about his obvious influence on Miles Davis (acknowledged by Davis in his autobiography). Ahmad said "We were a mutual admiration society". I said that, so far as dates were concerned, his work was before Miles, and he conceded "It was me"! Credit where credit's due! And why were his 1950s recordings in guitar keys (C, G and D for example) instead of traditionally pianistic keys like Eb and Bb (keys that Art Tatum commonly used, for example)? "We're always learning new keys", he said. This may be a hint that the more open keys enabled him to more easily insert his innovative new sound and dynamics into the tunes. A further example of his developmental arc?

At the performance, it was clear that you were in the presence of a musical giant. Jamal was not the only giant present, though, as he soon introduced legendary drummer Idris Muhammed as "one of the great ones", after the opening track "Aftermath". He also complimented highly his long time bassist James Cammick. Cammick is an attention-grabbing bassist, with very fast and rhythmic solo passages at times. Busy percussionist Manolo Badrena made up the band.

Jamal was constantly standing and turning at the keyboard to give instructions to the percussion, or turning and waving to the musicians to conduct a section or rhythm change. A well-known feature of Jamal's performances, the conducting is necessary because of the brilliant dynamic changes during his pieces.

There were elements of Bud Powell, atonality and Charlie Parker, as well as a quote from "There's A Small Hotel", in the next tune, "You Can See", which was announced by Jamal as being by Monty Alexander. The third tune was "Mellowdrama" , "by another friend of mine" (Jimmy Heath). The following tune was very percussive, and then there was the arrival of the number "Topsy Turvy". There was a big introduction reminiscent of Errol Garner, and also a brief interpolation of "I Didn't Know What Time It Was". Another quote during the gig was "The Surry With The Fringe On Top", a popular interjection by fast, improvising pianists (for example, Harold Mabern). I later asked Jamal about his favortite quotes, and he said "We all like to do that". The practice, of course, began on a broad scale with Charlie Parker.

Jamal's new release is the album "It's Magic", and from the album he played the title track and "Wild is The Wind". All tunes were relatively long. Jamal's virtuosic playing and dynamics never let up. The penultimate track was "Poinciana", the huge hit from the "Pershing" live album: it was filled with stops and starts, dramatic halts with repeated chords, and other effects. At one dramatic point, de Falla's "Ritual Fire Dance" erupted from the keyboard. It perfectly illustrated the education one receives at an Ahmad Jamal gig! His progress from Garner to de Falla in thirty seconds, separated by staccato chords and other dazzling sounds, may well best summarise the gig.

Ahmad Jamal must be, to the unfamiliar listener, a revelation. He may just open your eyes (as well as your ears) as to what is possible in music currently. You need to see Ahmad Jamal.

This article (edited version) is also published at All About Jazz.com

FREQSHIFT AT THE GERSHWIN HOTEL, WEST 27TH STREET, MIDTOWN MANHATTAN

December 13, 2007

Freqshift is a New York based musical "collaborative", as they describe themselves, that presents new small group classical music.They are indeed the first group members of the Manhattan School of Music's contemporary performance program. The group is very interesting in that they perform frequently in non-traditional music venues, such as the Gershwin Hotel, and their performances can include "multi-media" projects. They thus also, perhaps, bring to reality the vision that composer Percy Grainger presented to Columbia University in the 1930s, when he began to invent and propose new kinds of (electronic) instruments. The venue, the Gershwin Hotel, is a hotel/hostel on West 27th Street in midtown Manhatten, and it often presents new art functions. It is a perfect venue for a concert by a group such as Freqshift.

The makeup of Freqshift on December 13 was the group's curator, pianist Vicki Chow, Philip Everall bass (clarinet),Victor Lowrie (viola), Amali Premawardhana (cello), Andy Kozar (trumpet) Will Lang (trombone), Andy Akiho (percussion), and Megan Schubert and Jeff Gavett (voice).

The group performed pieces by modern composers from Ligeti to Carter. First up was a fanfare by Gyorgy Ligeti, "Big Turtle Fanfare From The South China Sea", for solo trombone. William Lang is a great trombonist, full of expression and showmanship, and the piece was an ideal beginning. It was a fanfare, afterall.

Next up was "Sha", by young New York composer Mike Lowenstern: it was a "duo" performance by bass clarinetist Philip Everall and a computer that was struggling to keep up with the virtuosic Kletzmer-inflected clarinet lines. A tremendous performance by Amelia Lukas followed, a piece by Takemitsu that required the flautist to add rapid vocal theatrics as well as flute. Then, a very interesting and amusing piece by contemporary composer Noah Creshevsky, who was in the audience, was performed by Jeffery Gavett as lead vocalist. It was called "Jubilate", and at one point featured almost barbershop sounds.

Vicky Chow then played a very cohesive version of Elliot Carter's "90+" at the piano. Chow cleverly brought out the unity of the piece, and had a full and commercial tone. Her performance, if recorded, would be a very good introduction to Carter, a composer who can sometimes challenge listeners' focus when he is performed by less talented hands.

Now for another bright performance by William Lang, this time of Berio's piece "Sequenza". This piece was written by Berio from his memories of a clown, and it was very funny; Lang began by standing, and then sitting, growling the trombone almost like a Duke Ellington effect. There was then a Japanese steel pan perfomance of "Kimidor", by the performer Andy Akiho. It was attractive and dense, and in ABA form, but the B section could have been richer and the return to the A section was probably too quick.

A world premiere followed, of "Enliptic" by Scott Miller. This was a trumpet and computer piece, and another example of Freqshift performing a trans-technology work. Such pieces are interesting, particularly when considering that Miles Davis investigated using an electronic wash as a bed for his solos in the late '60s and early '70s.

Finally, the vaguely locomotivic "Workers' Union" by Louis Andriessen (born in 1939) was perfromed by the whole Freqshift "collective", a nonet. There were allusions to Honnegger's Pacific 231 (which, of course, is actually descriptive of a locomotive) and a large amount of humour as the "committee" of musicians "discussed" their issues. Later in the piece, chromatic lines provided cohesion.

Freqshift are a very gifted group and well worth checking out, not only to keep up with what is happening in modern classical music but for an entertaining evening of virtuosity. After the concert, an older man, who had possibly been in the audience, was playing a bravura piece at the piano: I asked him who wrote it. "Oh, me," he replied. And that may well sum up the atmosphere at the Gershwin Hotel. Anything can happen.

COZY'S BLUES BAR, VENTURA BVLD, LOS ANGELES

Two nights at Cozy's