Recent Listening

I don’t really have the time or inclination at this point to write full on reviews, but here are some albums that I have picked up recently, that I have really been digging.

Josh Roseman New Constellations Live in Vienna

Josh Roseman’s New Constellations band is a marvelous synthesis of several bags that I love. The Jamaican vibe is present throughout. Can instrumental music be conscious music? This CD makes me say, “yes, it can.” Josh is a real creative voice, both as an instigator and trombonist.

Keefe Jackson’s Project Project Just Like This

This is Keefe’s second release under his name for Delmark. 3/4’s of the Lucky 7s are on this CD, plus many of my other wonderfully creative Chicago friends, colleagues, and acquaintances, so I am predisposed to like this CD. It is a great mix of tasty large ensemble writing, and spirited improvisations.

Luis Bonilla and Trombonilla Terminal Clarity

I haven’t been too familiar with Luis Bonilla, other than in his role as a member of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. I read a review of Terminal Clarity on AAJ, and it looked interesting. It is. Really interesting modern jazz improvisers, with a groovin’ latin rhythm section, and the freedom/resposibility of no harmonic instrument.

New Orleans scene is gaining momentum

As New Orleans continues to rebuild and regain itself, the out/creative/free jazz/whatever scene is starting to get some traction. Andy Durta (Scatterjazz) has started booking ir-regular Sunday nights at the Hi-Ho Lounge on St Claude, and the last couple have been great, including last Sunday’s Neslort performance. The Saturn Bar has also opened up to some more adventurous music, which I believe might also have something to do with Andy. Rob Cambre’s AnxSnd is as vibrant as ever. McKeown’s Books has been hosting more performances, and the Open Ears Series has been having good audiences and music. I especially dug the Jimbo Walsh Quartet last week.

It is feeling like a good time to be creative in New Orleans.

Kids are the best critics

This morning I was practicing for an orchestral bass trombone audition. Several of the excerpts are pretty loud. Whenever I would get to one of those, my 2 year old daughter would come in and say, “too loud!”

I’m not sure if that means I am achieving my goal of a real rich beautiful fortissimo, or if it means that I am being an insensitive bonehead. Let’s hope for the former.

Lucky 7s in Cadence year end list

One of the cool things about the way Cadence does their year end lists, is that they print each of their writer’s lists. This is nice, in that as you get to know the tastes of the writers, you have some idea about how to weight each one’s list for your own use.

The Lucky 7s CD, Farragut, made the top of Grego Edwards’ list for 2007. Even though the CD came out in late 2006, it was reviewed in Cadence in 2007, so it qualified for the 2007 lists. It’s nice to still be on someone’s mind so many months later. We’re in pretty good company too, other people on Grego’s list include Roscoe Mitchell, Peter Kowald, and Steve Swell.

If this piece of information inspires you to pick up a copy, that’s fine with me. 😉

Disney & record stores

This week, my family and I fled Mardi Gras and went to Disney World. It was quite ironic that at least once each day I still had to try to figure out a way to get where I wanted to go while a parade blocked my path.

I can’t remember that last time I went into a record store and bought recorded music. Probably a little over a year ago in Chicago. There are no more record stores in my city. A few small ones, but no one that carries any sizable chunk of stuff I dig. Tonight I took my stepson into the Virgin Megastore in Downtown Disney. He really just wanted to play the X Box demos, so I went off to search out the jazz section. I finally found it tucked back in the corner. It was even harder to find any new releases. There was classic Trane and Miles all over the place, but hardly anything new. I was relieved when I saw the display with the new Diana Krall and Chris Botti CDs, at least then I knew that they could get new releases. I did pick up Larry Young “Unity”, and Jackie McClean “Jackie’s Bag” for $8 each. The world/latin/electronica section was noticeably larger than the jazz/vocals/classical section. Vive la internet!

THE SOUL AND THE SYSTEM: WHY WRITE?

A long thought provoking post from Kris Tiner on writing about art. I quoted one paragraph. Click the link and read it all.

THE SOUL AND THE SYSTEM: WHY WRITE?:

“I DON’T DOUBT THE ROLE OF THE CRITIC, I don’t challenge the importance of interpretation. Interpretation is the right of any critic or writer, any audience member to compare the experience of art against their own personal experience. This is what is granted by the artist in the sharing of art. I don’t question that. But I do question the submissiveness of an artist in this relationship when that artist doesn’t draw a line between interpretation of their work and representation of their work. An artist who does not place importance on the representation of their work becomes simply a practitioner, a tradesman. It should be the responsibility of the creative artist to use every technique, every technology, every means at their fingertips to communicate the purpose of their art, including the medium of the art itself.”

Classic and rock

Last night was one of those special nights when I get to take part in two completely inspiring and seemingly opposite musical experiences.

The first performance was Haydn’s oratorio, The Creation, with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. I must admit that I have previously dismissed much of the classical period repertoire as “good, but not all that interesting to me.” I guess it was due to combinations of being a trombone player that is into jazz and new music, and just being foolish. Anyway, the bass trombone part to The Creation is pretty involved, so I spent a good bit of time with the piece before we got into rehearsals this week. That, combined with the spirit and joy that Carlos brings to this piece have really made it come alive for me.

After the LPO concert, I headed to dba to play with one of my longest tenured musical friends, Clint Maedgen. Clint and I went to high school together, and have started playing together again recently and it has been a blast. Clint does a wide variety of things, but the show last night consisted of one set of Clint’s tunes, and a set of Beatles tunes. It was a real gas.

It’s funny how two seemingly different musical worlds can get you to the same beautiful place.

Taylor Ho Bynum on brass playing via Lester Bowie

This is a great thought on the possibilities of brass playing. I agree whole-heartedly.

SpiderMonkey Stories » Blog Archive » Lester:

“Patterns are for saxophones…brass should be about blowing down the walls of Jericho, or sounding like a hippopotamus giving birth, or the aural equivalent of a Groucho Marx joke, or in Lester’s case, all of the above. He opened up a whole new world for me as player, a world of squeezes and shapes rather than scales and structures.”

Read the whole post and dig the sounds.

Poetry Picks: Best Poetry CDs of 2007

Poetry Picks: Best Poetry CDs of 2007

Tonight I saw Mark Bingham at the Hi Ho Lounge (for the AnxSnd Holiday blow out show) and he mentioned that an Ed Sanders CD that he produced (and I played on a few tracks of) was listed as the top poetry CD of 2007 on About.com. I thought that was interesting, then he mentioned that a Davis Rogan disc is also on the list. I am also on the Davis CD.

I am on two of the top poetry CDs of 2007 according to About.com. Will I suddenly become rich and famous, or even rich or famous?

What a trip…