Downbeast - music blog

This week's issue of The New Yorker features a profile of jazz nerd Phil Schaap of Columbia University's WKCR radio and his ornithological-leaning show Bird-watchers, a program that, in writer David Remick's words "places a degree of attention on the music of the bebop saxophonist Charlie Parker that is so obsessive, so ardent and detailed, that Schaap frequently sounds like a mad Talmudic scholar who has decided that the laws of humankind reside not in the ancient Babylonian tractates but in alternate takes of 'Moose the Mooche' and 'Swedish Schnapps.'"

Remick asks Schaap to compile his top 100 Essential Jazz Albums (assumed, Of All Time), "more as a guide for the uninitiated than as a source of quarrelling for the collector" and Schaap responds with an eminently quotable commentary on the sad state of Music Lists as a whole. (Bravo.) For a little perspective of Mr. Schapp, we found this interesting Bulletin Board debate on All About Jazz entitled "Phil Schapp drives me crazy!".

AAJ also has a timely feature this week on the recent fiduciary woes of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE). -- although one doesn't usually read an investigative piece that beigns with the line: "The truth is, we don't really know."

We've just torn the wrapper off Tiny Resistors, Todd Sickafoose’s new Crypto drop that will hit all Capitalist Aural-Stimuli Dispensing Centers on JUNE 10TH.

cover art by Grady McFerrin & Gareth Jiffeau

Todd is familiar to most alt-music hounds in his role as righteous babe Ani DiFranco's house bassist for eight touring months out of the year—indeed, no less than The New Yorker called him “Ani DiFranco’s secret weapon.” (Go here for a short clip of them performing "Coming Up" from Imperfectly at Ann Arbor in 2006.) Mr. Sick is a versatile chap whose two previous solo records as a leader show his interest in obliterating the musical boundaries between jazz, chamber music, punk, folk, indie rock, and experimental electronic improvisation—or, more to the point, creating new ways of joining and bridging such disparate musical styles. It reminds me of a line from the LA Weekly’s fireplug music critic Greg Burk: “There are no styles any more, only music.”

Continue reading "That New CD Smell 2: Semi-Acoustic Boogaloo" »

We got 'em! The next Crypto releases have come back from the pressing plant and we've literally just ripped the cellophane off of the Jeff Gauthier Goatette's House of Return and Todd Sickafoose's Tiny Resistors. Drop day is June 10, but here's a little preview of both. First up, House of Return:

Fancy the cover art? It's by Nels' friend Angela DeCristofaro

Continue reading "Ah, That New CD Smell" »

While we're still recovering from our recent sojourn to New York, Bennie Maupin's Early Reflections received 4 stars in The Week, which as is its style, offered a compendium of various early reviews:

"For the past 35 years, Bennie Maupin has been a faithful foot soldier of progressive jazz, said Mark Stryker in the Detroit Free Press. His "sinewy" bass clarinet playing helped to define Miles Davis' landmark Bitches Brew and he later worked with Herbie Hancock on the keyboardist's early forays into jazz fusion. Early Reflections finds the multi-instrumentalist in his element, wonderfully expressive and free to delve into the "lush avant-gardism" that makes his palying unique. This album just isn't a chance for Maupin to sum up the different styles he's explored over the years, said Michael West in the Village Voice. It's a continutation to a lifelong devotion to musical experimentation. Playing flute, clarinet or saxophone, and supported here by a relatively unknown Polish quartet, Maupin daringly rejects musical scrictures and imagines an "acoustic post-bop jazz of rich lyricism" that's at once subtle and audacious. "Coaxing wistful phrases from his soprano" sax, Maupin transforms the "eeriness" of "The Jewel and the Lotus" from his 1974 album of the same name into "sweet reverie." He creates a sense of wonderment throughout, pairing short sketch-like compositions with sweeping drifts of euphony. Early Reflections reveals a musical depth "refined by experience and cured through wisdom," said Michael Nastos in Billboard. By putting himself at the helm, Maupin creates the "most introspective" and remarkable recording of a "long and varied" career."

In direct opposite news, Das Wilco made the "Live Reviews" section of the current Spin magazine -- but where on earth was any text mention of the LEAD GUITARIST Nels Courtney Cline? Well, at least the had a small photo of him playing the lap steel...

Well, CryptoNights 2008 at Jazz Standard NYC has concluded, and as a (not so) independent observer I'd have to say it was a smashing success. Every night was well attended, everyone played great, and the Crypto way was perpetrated in fine fashion. It was wonderful to see old friends in attendance (the family Bendian, Bonnie Wright, Lisle Ellis, et al), and make some new ones as well. The guys who came from Louisville, Nels' wild and interesting pals, they all made me really happy.

Continue reading "Reflections on the week that was" »

While the Crypto crew is flying home today after a week in New York -- and our Fearless Leader Jeff Gauthier is being administered oxygen and B-12 shots for chronic exhaustion -- we'd thought we'd "reprint" an impassioned piece of jazz journalism from our friend Brick Wahl on the state of jazz in America in This Our Last Year of Khmer Bush. (Quite timely, given the news of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of the IAJE last week.) We were working on a similar post to commemorate Jazz Appreciation Month, but Brick beat us and wrote "The Unpackaged Groove," something so searing and so passionate -- and so goddamn TRUE -- that we will defer this space to him today.

Rahsaan Roland Kirk (Artwork by John Heard)

THE UNPACKAGED GROOVE
by Brick Wahl
The table was so close, it abutted the stage, and when Azar blew that soprano of his you could look straight up into its innards and almost see the frantic rush of notes coming out all harmonized. It was that close. So close that you could feel the rhythm section, Lorca Hart’s pounding toms and John Heard’s thrumming bass and Nate Morgan’s jagged chords vibrating through the stage and through the table and into our bones. They had a groove going, a monster jazz groove, and it was unstoppable. Even Azar gave into it, left the stage to let the groove whirl itself senseless, turning and turning, ever widening. Morgan’s fingers were completely mad, pounding and pirouetting insanely intricate melodies out of Monk and McCoy and the blues and Chopin. Lorca, laughing, was all motion and whirring sticks. Yet things did not fall apart. Because holding down that center was Heard, just his second night back at Charlie O’s after a long, scary illness. He leaned into his instrument and laid out a perfect lattice of bass notes that held everything together as it propelled it all forward. No mere anarchy, this. This was an infinite groove. This was a happening. This was jazz in all its overwhelming power, deep black music played white hot. Nothing else mattered. Not the whole crass music business, not the manufactured pop and rock and hip-hop that passes for American culture anymore, not a music press that pompously elevates mass-produced trash into art. None of that mattered, not an iota. This was a Sufi moment, all the horrors of the world dispelled by the twirling monster groove. No one slouching nowhere. When at last it came to a stop, the audience, spent, exploded with applause and rushed the stage to congratulate the players like they’d won the Stanley Cup.

But then if you dig jazz you’ve been there. Moments like that don’t happen every time; if you see enough jazz you’ll experience them. It’s one of the very last things in America, this battered America, that can take a sick and tired you and make you feel like you touched the sun. It still does what the American music industry has destroyed in almost every other music. It remains real, unpackaged, spontaneous. It’s immune to marketing campaigns and image consultants. They may have killed rock and pop and the rest, sucked them dry, but they haven’t touched jazz. Certainly not that night at Charlie O’s ... for if there had been any A&R people in the audience that night, as Lee Ving once said, they certainly went and died...That’s jazz appreciation. (published in LA Weekly, April 25-May 1, 2008)

And, finally, In Memoriam: Jimmy Giuffre, 1921-2008. Rest In Tempo.

Last night the Nels Cline Singers invaded Jazz Standard. It was awe inspiring. We'll give a more detailed review of the band after tonight's show. For now, here's a set list that includes some old chestnuts not heard for quite a while (Thanks Brad). Don't forget to see Scott Amendola's set tonight which includes Charlie Hunter (!!!) Nels Cline, and Jenny Scheinman www.cryptonight.com:

Set I:

Dedication (Andrew Hill)
A Mug Like Mine
Thurstonious
Blues 2
Sunken Song
"Two untitled pieces, for atmosphere and groove"
Exiled

Set II:

Lullabye for Ian
Fly Fly
Confection
The Divine Homegirl
Attempted
Jackying
Something About David H.

Two Crypto fans showed up all the way from Louisville Kentucky for the opening night of Cryptogramophone’s 10-year celebration Cryptonights at Jazz Standard (April 23-27). So, what excuse does our erstwhile blogger Matthew Duersten have for not making the scene? It’s certainly not the weather, as Spring has definitely sprung here in New York City, with temperatures in the mid 70s. Even New Yorker’s attitudes seem sunnier this week…or maybe it’s just the afterglow of a great opening night.

As president of the “Hair Club for Creative Music,” I wear many hats. Much of my time over the last few months has been spent preparing for this week in NY, which has included booking shows, making travel arrangements, hotel accommodations, airport pickups, instrument rentals, coordinating promotion and interviews, etc. Considering all the possibilities, it must have been a small miracle that as few things went wrong as they did. However, having to play a show the same night as discovering that two musicians had been bumped from their hotel rooms, and that the instrument rental service had forgotten to deliver 3 cymbal stands and had sent a bum amp, raised the stress level a few notches.

Continue reading "Opening Night at Jazz Standard" »

OK, the taxes have been paid; the checks are in the mail. Time for some enjoyment; time for YOU. As it so turns out, today's YOUR day: both Bennie Maupin's Early Reflections (review) and the Crypto 10th Anniversary comp Assemblage, 1998-2008 (review) are out-out-OUT. Why not treat yourself? I mean, we already have copies...

We caught Mr. Maupin with his awesome (as in "awe-inspiring") new band at their much-publicized gig at Catalina's last Friday. (Check out a review here.) This killer ensemble -- pianist Michal Tokaj, bassist Darek Oles, percussionist Munyungo Jackson, drummer Michael Stephans -- performed cooking versions of ER's "Escondido" and "Inner Sky." But the highlight (at least in Your Humble Blogger's ears) was when Bennie brought out the lovely and bewitching Polish folk singer Hania Chowaniec-Rybka (flown in from Warsaw!) to improvise on extended versions of "ATMA" and "Spirits of the Tatras." The proud Poles in the audience (and there were quite a few -- Solidarność!) cheered loudly and pounded their tables. One can only imagine the turnout this weekend when Mr. Maupin closes out Crypto's 10th Anniv. celebration at The Jazz Standard in New York. Unlike last year, YHB will not be attending, but I'd like to put out the call for anyone in the 5 Boroughs who plan on attending any of this week's concerts to post any of your experiences on our "Comments" board. We won't even correct the spelling. Honest!

Maestro Maupin will be busy elsewhere soon on another cool project with recently-relocated-to-UCLA Mr. James Newton, showcasing the music of L.A. native son Eric Dolphy with vibraphonist Jay Hoggard, drummer Billy Hart, and our own Darek Oles. (It's pronounced "Dah-rek," not "Deh-rek" -- and don't ever make that mistake boyo.) The ensemble will play at the upcoming Heraldsburg Jazz Festival and record an album for old friend ECM. What's particularly exciting about "Celebrating Eric Allan Dolphy" -- besides the titanic talent involved, of course -- is that the group will be resurrecting music left behind by Dolphy when he embarked on his 1964 tour of Europe with the Charles Mingus sextet. (And, as we know, didn't come back.)

Last weekend, we tuned into NPR's Off Ramp with John Rabe and stumbled upon "My Teacher Alma," which profiled the great pianist/teacher Alma Hightower. It's short but sweet, and a nice intro for those interested in a bit of Black L.A. musical history.

STILL HOLDING THE NOTES AFTER 10 YEARS
Local avant-garde jazz record company Cryptogramophone celebrates its milestone with a retrospective.
by Gina McIntyre, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Jeff Gauthier, president of the Culver City-based jazz factory Cryptogramophone, has spent the last 10 years releasing the work of avant-garde performers with a passion for both improvisation and melody -- people like percussionist Alex Cline, bassist Mark Dresser and bass clarinet player and saxophonist Bennie Maupin, the last of whom appeared on classic albums like Miles Davis' 1969 electric landmark Bitches Brew and popular '70s recordings with Herbie Hancock's Headhunters.

Da Crypto Boyz (photo by Anne Fishbein)

It was an unlikely turn for the former classical and studio violinist, who admits that his father had suggested he might want to study business at one point -- just in case. But Gauthier felt strongly that these artists deserved wider exposure, and after a friend, bassist Eric von Essen, who played with Gauthier in the seminal '80s chamber-jazz group Quartet Music, died from heart failure in 1997, he was determined to take action.

Continue reading "L.A. Times ♥♥♥ Crypto" »