Category: Thoughts

One of the things I like about downloadable music is that it really enables impulse buying. The other day I was perusing the Grammy nominations in the jazz category, and noticed a nominated album that I hadn’t heard of. It is What Now? by Kenny Wheeler, with Chris Potter, John Taylor and Dave Holland. I though it looked interesting, and 5 minutes and a trip to the iTunes store later, I was listening to it.

Now comes the other side of easy access. I don’t mind paying $10 (or less sometimes) for 128k AAC files of music I want to explore. Generally if it is something I know I want, I’ll order the CD instead of download it. Of course once the CD gets here I usually read the notes once, rip it (at a much higher bitrate), and put the CD in a folder with the other hundreds of CDs whose music now usually gets played on my computer or iPod. Anyway, to the music…

I really like this music. There is no drummer, yet it still swings. Wheeler and Potter compliment each other well. Chris plays some stuff that is very souful and moving. Lately, my listening has been Kenny Wheeler deficient, and this album is encouraging me to remedy that situation.

Another recent iTunes pick up is the 20th Anniversary re-issue of Song X by Pat Metheny and Ornette Coleman.

To my ears, the beauty of Ornette is the melodies he plays throughout everything he does. His presence brings out the great melodic skill of Metheny as well. Like most free-ish outings, there are a few things that don’t work as well as the rest of the album, but the good stuff is so good. The new tracks are enough to justify checking this out, even if you have the original issue.

This album was first released in 1985. I was 15 and listening to a lot of Spryo Gyra and Maynard Ferguson. I had just bought a Jazz at the Philharmonic that had J.J. Johnson on it, and my friend Clint had just turned me on to Miles Davis Four and More. My musical journey had just begun, and I had no idea what was in store for me. I am sure that the first I ever heard about Ornette was from the press around the original release of this album. Shortly thereafter I heard “Lonely Woman” and that melody has been lodged in my brain ever since.

The melodies of Ornette…

Rifftides: Doug Ramsey on jazz and other matters

Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul, on which they mightily fasten, imparting grace, and making the soul of him who is rightly educated graceful, or of him who is ill-educated ungraceful—Plato

Any musical innovation is full of danger to the whole state, and ought to be prohibited . . . when modes of music change, the fundamental laws of the state always change with them—Aristotle

Cool thoughts from Dave Douglas.

Greenleaf Music

“If you know what you want why not just write it?”

Because improvisation makes great music. It’s an element of music with explosive potential. Sparks fly when musicians are forced to make choices. The energy of surprise is one of the things I love most in music: The sense that anything could happen. There’s also a power in hearing the individual make a choice that I find captivating. Hearing the voice of an individual musician is one of the hallmarks of jazz, and I believe it’s a strength that can travel.

Self production seems to be the way things are going in the music industry. Internet focused models that help create better connections with listeners, and access to more varied output from the artists are gaining traction. (See Artist Share)

Dave Douglas’ new label, Greenleaf Music, has an interesting subscriber model. Check out their subscriber page for more info on what it entails. They also offer individual song downloads, as well as full album downloads and physical CDs. The downloads are mp3, which implies no DRM, so you can actually listen to the music you buy on the player of your choice. There is a blog and internet radio as well. Looks like a couple of steps in the right direction to me.

Thanks to be.jazz for the heads up.

BoneZone Oddblog: Scales? Why? How?

Brad Edwards is cool. His trombone clef studies book is great. In the above article he says,” I like to think of a scale as a template. Instead of one specific pattern, apply a wide variety of patterns to the same set of notes.” Good advice for any musician.