Month: January 2007

Lucky 7s reviewed in Cadence Magazine

Here are some choice quotes from the Cadence Magazine review of the Lucky 7s Cd Farragut.

The originals are interesting, the ensemble plays loose or very tight depending on the needs of the moment and the solos are inspired. …You may already know Jeb Bishop’s work with Vandermark, Brotzmann, etc. The presence of Albert brings out the best in them both.

The ensemble plays a raucous, yet controlled form of Jazz that has some of the joy of old New Orleans style yet is thoroughly Post-Bop in its inflections.

The opening piece, “Stitch,” is a microcosm of all that is strong in this band. Swinging ensemble, an interesting head, a dynamic rhythm section that builds intensity in response to the heat of some great solos.

This is modern ensemble Jazz of the highest caliber. Grab this one!

You read what the man said…

2 good ones last Sunday

January can be a slow time in New Orleans. There’s a lull between the holidays and Mardi Gras. Well, I had the pleasure of playing two really fun and rewarding gigs this past Sunday.

The first was with Martin Krusche’s Magnetic Ear at Bacchanal. It is an early gig (6-9) and it is outdoors. It was pretty cold, but the music and the company were very happening. It is always an honor when friends and musicians come out to hear us play, and we were honored Sunday. The band had a couple of new members of the Magnetic Ear musician pool, and they both played great. Will Terry on sousaphone, and Charlie Kohlmeyer on drums were both grooving and aware, and a real pleasure to make music with.

Later that night I got to play with a Jonathan Freilich band called Klezmurder All-Stars, which was an amalgom of the long standing New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars, and a newer band that Jonathan has called Klezmurder, which is a sort of free-jazz klezmer band. There was a lot of flying by the seat of my pants, but I was surrounded by great musicians, and it was tons of fun. There was a fun and engaging audience as well, which always helps.

Han Bennink @ King Bolden’s

King Bolden’s often has a pretty eclectic mix of patrons. Last night that eclectic mix included French Quarter regulars who had been there watching big screen NFL playoffs all day, and the hard core New Orleans free jazz fans, who were there to hear Han Bennink.

The performance was scheduled to start at 8 PM. I got there right at 8, hoping I hadn’t missed the start. Han was sitting behind his drums, and the Colts/Pats game was being projected on the wall. It was the beginning of the fourth quarter and I was told that the concert wouldn’t start until the game was over. That was the bad news.

The good news was that the volume from the TV was off, and there was a Lee Morgan record playing. Han just sat and played along with Lee, et al. for much of the next hour. That was an interesting insight.

The concert started about 9. The small room was pretty crowded. The enthusiastic music fans had crowded around the drumset which sat in the middle of the floor. Only the 10 or 12 people closest to Bennink could really see him, but the sound was pretty good throughout the room. He played about a 45 minute set of solo drumset. It was all based in steady pulse, if not overtly grooving. The performance was engaging and not overly serious. The whistle/sing along of “Whistle While You Work” was fun. He also told the talking frog/drummer joke.

King Bolden’s is on North Rampart Street. If you look out of the window of the club, you see Congo Square, the historical significance of which was not lost on Bennink.

The second half of the concert was a duo with Bennink and Kidd Jordan. Due to uncontrollable family obligations, I only heard the first few minutes of this, and it seemed like it was going to be pretty happening.

I love that feeling

I only have a couple of students that I teach at my house.  I had a lesson yesterday with a high school sophomore.  It was his second lesson, and he is a pretty good player.  He likes jazz band, so we started talking about improvisation, which he said he wanted to learn.  I played a vamp in Bb on the piano, and he played some stuff over it.  He sounded pretty good for a beginner, so I put on the Aebersold Major/Minor and we traded 8’s, just trying to deal with playing simple melodies.  As we kept playing, we went from 8’s to 4’s, then we were both playing together, and then it happened.  I got that feeling.  That feeling I get when something cool starts to happen, when there is interaction between improvisers, when it starts to really get fun.  I love that feeling.  I guess it can even happen with 15 year olds and Aebersold LPs.

Lucky 7s review in JazzTimes

From the Jan/Feb 2007 issue:
Jazz | JazzTimes Magazine CD Reviews

The creative music scenes of Chicago and New Orleans join forces in the Lucky 7s septet, presented here live and raw. Neatly balancing abstraction with fat, chewy grooves, the band gleefully stomps through compositions by co-leaders Jeb Bishop and Jeff Albert, pulling back occasionally for stark atmospherics or somber ensemble sections. Jason Adasiewicz’s cool vibraphone work adds an intriguing extra dimension to the second-line rhythms and ballsy horns in this dynamic north-south summit.

Blue Bayou: An industry that hates its customers

I’ve blogged similar stuff before, but this post (Blue Bayou: An industry that hates its customers) gets the point pretty well.

Imagine an industry that was so hostile to its customers that it regularly sued them; that resisted all new technologies for distributing its products, even as their best customers were embracing them; and that lobbies in Washington to try to take away its customers’ legal rights to use its products.

The future is coming, and artists have to decide if they want to join it or fight it.  Many of us have dreamed about getting major label deals, but at this point, does that put you on the right side of the future?

Little-Known Music Magazine Attempts Big-Time Ad-Sales Scheme

You hear stories, but yikes…

Little-Known Music Magazine Attempts Big-Time Ad-Sales Scheme – Idolator

The gist: Joyce, who’s under the impression that his magazine is a “highly influential force within the indie rock genre,” asks Johnson if he’s planning on advertising Amplifier. Johnson says no, explaining that Birdman’s ad budget is nonexistent; Joyce replies with an off-the-cuff “well, it was nice writing about your artists.”