Dear 1999

This post is part of a group blog event organized by MusiciansWages.com. The topic is: "If you could go back to 1999 and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?"

Dear Greg (1999),

I wish you had an idea of the changes that are in store for the music world in the next 10 years. Looking back on things, there is one thought that keeps coming back to my mind and it serves as the most important piece of advice I can think to give you for the upcoming decade: Don't Wait.

We both have a tendency to plan things out and think about how great things will be when we get everything just right. The secret is, it is never just right. Start documenting things, start writing, start recording, don't wait! Things are coming that will blow your mind!

In just a few years, the internet will be much more connected to the music world and it will change the whole paradigm of how music is experienced, purchased, discussed, etc. There is still much discussion going on even now in 2009 but I can tell you, this is a GOOD thing. Artists are getting their work out at a rate that is unprecedented. The trumpet player Dave Douglas (go find his recordings as soon as you can...) is self distributing everything he does. He records a set, goes home, posts it online and makes it available for download. Tenor player Matt Otto (don't wait to check him out either...) does similar things with his recordings as well as lessons and exercises with a pay what you can system. So generous.

Get your stuff recorded and get it out there. As an artist, you (and I) have to be ready to embrace the opportunities that are coming.

Remember what you tell all of your students: "If we waited until we could do something to do it, we'd never do anything!"

Peace,

Greg (2009)

Someone should have Warne-ed me!!!

The Warne Marsh project I've been working on is at the same time incredibly rewarding and incredibly frustrating.

I've transcribed some stuff from later in is life and an now working on stuff from the 50s. His harmonic vocabulary is very steeped in common practice/BeBop ideas so it is relatively easy to absorb his melodic and harmonic choices. What I am struggling with is both his rhythmic language and his approach to the saxophone in general. The rhythmic piece comes from, I am sure, his study with and of Tristano's approach. He plays lines that at first hearing do not seem so complex but once you begin to deconstruct the line, none of the expect rhythmic resolutions are present. Lines that typically resolve on the beat are displaced by several beats. That coupled with a sound conception that is very impressionistic and effervescent make it quite difficult to isolate the specifics for his vocabulary. His sound is one of the aspects I haven't quite decided about yet. The transparency of his sound gives the effect of his lines rising and out of and falling back into a misty field of subtone and air. I get the feeling that Wayne Shorter was influenced by Warne at some point. If anyone has data on this, I'd love to hear it. However, there are aspects of his sound that do not appeal to me also. To my ears, there is a nasal, almost "stuffy-head" color to his mid-register and his upper register can be an adventure in intonation.

The challenge and point of transcription projects like this is to put aside any subjective feelings about the artist under study, absorb the artist's conception and approach, and THEN decide what works for you and mine that gold.

These challenges are very good for me right now.

That Old Feelin'

Last week marked my first week as a Graduate Student in Jazz Studies at The University of Rhode Island.

It feels great to be back in school and I am working on some very interesting projects:

- A research project into Gil's writing that will culminate in 2 charts written in his style.

- A semester-long study of the saxophonist Warne Marsh (An Unsung Cat indeed).

- A Music "History" course on the 20th century. This is mostly 20th Century Classical, but I am already finding some interesting compositional techniques that I look forward to trying out.

Having some projects to do and some milestones to hit has done wonders for my motivation level, which has been sagging of late. I'll update how the projects are going. For now, here is a great clip of Warne's playing with Lee Konitz.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The President....

A happy 100th birthday (a day late) to Lester Young. I have been listening to some Prez today for the first time in a while and I must get some more into my rotation post-haste.

Lester is one of those cats that I always feel like I "should" listen to and never do. I have written about primary sources before and Prez CERTAINLY counts as one. All of my favorites have links back to him and, as today's listening has shown, he is QUITE heavy. His sense of line is something I want to dig into over the next few months. Currently, I'm digging "Ad Lib Blues" from Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio. Just beautiful playing.

On a different note, I am adding the Twitter widget that Howard Mandel has put together. This is a great idea and I hope many will use it. It is designed to act as a way of tracking who is hearing live jazz where...in direct response to the "Is Jazz Dead" article and conversation that has been going around. Here's what Howard has to say about it:

"Start a Twitter campaign, and see what happens! Do as many people hear live jazz in a week as attended Woodstock, say? Using the hashtag #jazzlives, a rough count is underway, supported by independent jazz activists, musicians, festivals, journalists but most of all the listeners themselves. It's a lesson in how people participate in culture now, with encouraging findings."

I am still formulating my own thoughts on the issue, at least trying to put them together in a coherent enough fashion for posting here but, based on the attendance and demographic at the Newport Jazz Festival a couple of weeks ago (at $75.00 a day!!) I am encouraged, with reservations. I'll be exploring those reservations in the next couple of days. Until then, dig some Prez...

Newport 2009 - Day 2

Sorry for the lag...

The second day of the Newport Jazz Festival was an absolutly amazing experience.

I love Joe Lovano. I have loved Joe Lovano since "Universal Language" back in the 90s.

Joe Lovano played on Sunday as the first act on the main stage. It...was....beyond....words!

NPR webcast the performance and it is available for download here. RUN, do not walk, to this site and download it. US5 is, in my opinion, his most creative project yet and they were in top form. The 2-drummer format worked very nicely...very textural and not much "bashing" (although, there was some). Esperanza killed it for a second day in a very different setting. She is an amazing musician.

Roy Haynes and Ron Carter (!)...another killer set. Ron's bass sound is as thick as ever and his playing is even more refined than I remember.

Brubeck was as elegant as always. Played mostly Duke tunes and it was great to hear his sensibilities steeped through Dukes compositions.

Enjoy the pics:

Brubeck!

Lovano and some hack...

Roy Haynes and Ron Carter

Lovano!

Lovano on Tarogato...

Newport 2009 - Day 1

What a great day. The weather was perfect, bright and sunny (as evidenced by some very unfortunate tan lines on your's truly...I was wearing a Kufi. Use your imagination....) and not too hot. The music was wonderful! I heard:

The Cedar Walton All Stars - Cedar with Lou Tabackin and Curtis Fuller. Lou is always a treat to hear and what a privlidge to hear Curtis. One of the only (if not THE only) bone players to play with Trane. The music was right out of the hard bop/modal genre. Cedar's great tunes sound great with the tenor/bone combination.

Esperanza Spalding - How is it that I have not been listening to her for the past couple of years?!? Killer bass player, that goes without saying, but her vocal work really knocked me out today. Informed to my ears by Betty Carter as well as artists like Stevie Wonder, there is an element on her upper range that just grabs at my heart. I'll be visiting iTunes soon.

Joshua Redman - Josh hit with his double trio, which at times covered the entire spectrum from solo to sextet, with all mathematical combinations in between. I haven't checked out much of Redman's music in the past few years. Hearing him today makes me realize what I have been missing. The music was exploratory, very textural and formally VERY interesting. No head-solos-head.

Branford Marsalis - When I was in high school, Branford was my hero. I begged my father to take me to hear him when he would come through Chicago/Ravinia etc... I have gotten away from listening to him in the past few years, but today was a nice reminder of how much I like him. A good mix of standards and originals, his set was full of mastery. Branford's harmonic sense is quite original while keeping touch with history and his rhythmic concept is just amazing. He can shift gears between upper and lower neighbor meters with more ease than anyone I can think of. His soprano tone is to die for!

A great day of music and I can't wait for tomorrow...Photos follow...

Esperanza Spalding

Joshua Redman

Esperanza Spalding

Branford Marsalis

Esperanza Spalding

The crowds

The NPR Command Center

Cedar Walton, Curtus Fuller, Lou Tabackin

Newport Up! - Day 7

I must admit, I spend a good part of yesterday listening to OMD and The Cure. But in honor of the Festival starting tomorrow, here is one of my favorite performance clips from Newport.

Brecker and Stern on "Original Rays"...

See you at Ft. Adams....