Frank Gratkowski @ Chickie Wah Wah

Lately I have been getting a bit dark on New Orleans, and the creative music scene here. Tonight I was encouraged. Frank Gratkowki played the first of several nights of gigs here in New Orleans, at Chickie Wah Wah.

The place was packed, well packed for free jazz on a Monday night. The music was good, and Dale made red beans and rice. There is something about red beans and rice on a Monday night that makes it seem like everything is all right.

Here is Frank’s schedule for the rest of his stay (Thanks to Ben):

TUES. MARCH 13 w/HELEN GILLET @ SOUND CAFE 7PM

Frank with “experimental cellist” Helen Gillet, bane
of the right-wing blogosphere
(http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1792010/posts)
at the intimate Sound Cafe for an early evening
improvisational session. Bring the kids!!!

TUES. MARCH 13 w/JOHNNY VIDACOVICH AND MIKE DILLON @
D.B.A. 10PM

Frank Gratkowski will be a special guest at Johnny’s
weekly d.b.a. gig, joining vibes player Mike Dillon

WED. MARCH 14 w/DRY BONES TRIO @ HI-HO LOUNGE 10PM

Frank Gratkowski, reeds
Bill Hunsinger, bass
Rob Cambre, guitar
Endre Landsnes, drums

This is a double bill put together by Rob Cambre
featuring the Majik Markers, of whom I know no more
than this anonymous internet quote: “Majik Markers
girl f@#%ing guitar wild-style noise like cacophony en
masse.”

THURS. MARCH 14 @ SNUG HARBOR 8 & 10PM

Frank Gratkowski, reeds
Brian Coogan, keybords
Rick Trolsen, trombone
Dave Capello, drums

frank gratkowski

Ingrid Jensen @ Loyola

Ingrid Jensen was the guest artist at the Loyola Unversity Jazz Ensemble Festival this weekend. She did clinics and performed with the Loyola big band. I caught one of her clinics, that was aimed at trumpet players, and heard her performance with the Loyola band. I was familiar with Ingrid’s name before this weekend. I had read about her in a few magazines, and had heard a few cuts from her CDs on the radio, but I can’t say that I really knew her music or had paid much attention when her stuff was on the radio.

Ingrid Jensen

She began her clinic on Friday by playing the beginning of her recent CD At Sea. The first sound was her blowing air through the trumpet in imitation of waves crashing on the shore. What follows is a great exploration of melody and band interaction. Her clinic was great. She presented information to the students in a very open minded and music focused manner. It wasn’t about learning what you are “supposed” to learn, but about developing the skills to be musically honest. I am sure I am paraphrasing a bit, and even probably putting my own philosophy on top of it some as well. My point is, the clinic was great. Very refreshing and inspiring.

When I got home Friday, my rss reader held this added evidence of Ingrid’s slammingness.

Saturday night her performance with the Loyola big band was equally fresh and inspiring. When active performing pros play with student bands, it can be a crap shoot. It is hard to get the level of interaction out of college students that the pros are used to from their own bands. This can lead to tension bewteen the pros and the students/conductor. From what I could tell Saturday night, this was not an issue for Ingrid Jensen. She seemed to be very encouraging to the students, while still striving for great performances. She sounded great, and the band held up well under demanding music. She didn’t seem to get wigged out by some PA inconsistencies, or a drummer space out.

I picked up 2 CDs from her after the show: At Sea and Flurry, which is by a co-op called Nodic Connect. They are both Artist Share CDs. I had been wondering how Artist Share dealt with selling CDs at performances, and I found out Saturday night. Each CD comes with a sticker that has a serial number that allows you to sign in to Artist Share and get the participant offers, just like if you had ordered the CD from the website. It is very slick. I’ll write more about the Artist Share stuff soon, because I just got in on an Ed Neumeister thing too.

Both literally and figuratively

In an online discussion about the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, an African-American friend of mine who grew up in north Louisiana wrote the following:

I remember the park across from my house being segregated. I remember walking out of our house as a child and seeing a sign in the park that said, Colored Area. When I go home to day, the sign is gone but the metal post upon which it rested is still there.

Here is an NPR story with several recorded versions of th song.

New Orleans Jazz Orchestra

Last night, I had the pleasure of playing with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra directed by Irvin Mayfield in State College, PA. I’m not a regular member of the group, but I usually end up doing something with them every 6 months or so. This gives me an interesting perspective to watch the group’s development.

The band has always swung very hard and had great soloists, but over my last couple of stints with the band, I have really noticed how the depth of both the material and the performances has increased. Much of the music is very roots/tradition based, but there are times when the stuff gets pretty out as well. There is an honestness and an organic balance to the group’s performances. Some of this is due to Irvin’s vision and leadership, and a lot of it is due to the fact that the band’s featured players are all super bad. Last night featured great performances from Ed Petersen, Evan Christopher, Herlin Riley…the whole band is slammin’.

If you get a chance to hear the NOJO, don’t miss it.

Boing Boing: MPAA rips off freeware author

I had been off of blogging the DRM/copyright stuff for a while, and here is the second one in a row. The story is ok, but Cory’s accompanying rant is very good.

Boing Boing: MPAA rips off freeware author

Even the MPAA and its member companies can’t avoid violating copyright. The MPAA’s own CEO personally ripped off Kirby Dick, pirating his film “This Film is Not Yet Rated” using the MPAA’s duplicating facilities. The studios regularly hose writers, painters, composers and performers, nicking their creative labor without compensation, and sneeringly invite them to sue if they don’t like it. Even the web-development departments get in on the act.

Is it any wonder that everyone with a computer is practically guaranteed to be a copyright criminal?