Yet another preview! What can I say, I guess my editor thinks I'm a one trick pony.
This one's about Lee Rocker, the bassist from The Stray Cats, who's playing in DeKalb Thursday night. He's pretty much as big as it gets as far as rockabilly goes, so it should be a cool show. I'm going to check it out and write an online review for the Northern Star, too.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Musical Discovery: Shooby Taylor
I hear a lot of music, but every once in a while some musician really catches my ear and demands that I spread the news. Today, on a friend's facebook page, I learned about a cat named Shooby Taylor. I don't need to describe him; his music speaks for itself.
MP3 - Lift Every Voice and Sing
MP3 - Lift Every Voice and Sing
Monday, October 29, 2007
Halloween Concert Preview
Another preview article. This time for the School of Music's annual Halloween concert, a long-standing tradition. I'm not sure whether it's really of any use to post little insignificant articles like this one on the blog, but if I didn't, I'd feel like I'm breaking the rules. But I made the rules, and I have the power to change them! It's MY BLOG! If I don't want to post the little preview article, I don't have to!
Aw, heck. Here it is.
Aw, heck. Here it is.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Panoramic preview
Here's a preview article I wrote about Robert Chappell and Liam Teague's world-jazz fusion group, Panoramic. Again, about half of the length of my story was cut, but whatcha gonna do?
Go check out the show, Sunday night at the House Cafe in DeKalb; they're quite good.
Go check out the show, Sunday night at the House Cafe in DeKalb; they're quite good.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
How the tables have turned
I've gotten so used to writing about music in the last couple of months, the thought of someone else writing about me has been pretty far from my mind.
I was very pleased, then, to see a review of my performance with the Stuart Mindeman Trio in Door County, WI in the Peninsula Pulse, Door County's premier entertainment publication. We actually had the pleasure of meeting and having dinner with the journalist himself, Erik Eriksson, who was a very nice man. He's led a pretty impressive career, too: we were treated to stories about his interviewing Duke Ellington on the radio.
Well, anyway, it's nice to be on the other side of the paper.
Here's the review.
I was very pleased, then, to see a review of my performance with the Stuart Mindeman Trio in Door County, WI in the Peninsula Pulse, Door County's premier entertainment publication. We actually had the pleasure of meeting and having dinner with the journalist himself, Erik Eriksson, who was a very nice man. He's led a pretty impressive career, too: we were treated to stories about his interviewing Duke Ellington on the radio.
Well, anyway, it's nice to be on the other side of the paper.
Here's the review.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Track of the Day 2
I did another track of the day today, this time based on "Footprints" from the Miles Davis album "Miles Smiles." I realized I didn't really talk about the way the song actually sounds - the signature bass ostinato and dorian tonality, for instance, but what the hell, you only have so many words with these things.
Oh, and you'll notice that the people who put the page together credited the article to my editor, Keith, not me. Pure accident, there's no reason Keith would have wanted credit for my measly article.
Oh, and you'll notice that the people who put the page together credited the article to my editor, Keith, not me. Pure accident, there's no reason Keith would have wanted credit for my measly article.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Keith Jarrett Review
Well, it appears that another of my masterfully written articles failed to make the cut for the Northern Star website. I wrote a review of the new Keith Jarrett trio release, "My Foolish Heart: Live at Montreux."
Though it was published in the paper, it never made it to the website, so I'm offering curious readers my original, unedited version of the review RIGHT HERE ON MY BLOG! That's right, you get all of the insightful musical commentary without any of the bone-headed editing that my poor, precious articles undergo on the newsroom floor.
So, here it is:
In an era of Disney Channel pop stars, over-hyped indie bands, and jazz gimmickry, it’s an unqualified pleasure to hear one of jazz’s most enduring ensembles play for a live audience.
Pianist Jarrett, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette have recorded almost twenty albums as a group. Nick-named the “Standards Trio” because of their selection of well-known jazz standards as repertoire, they also serve as the gold standard of what a modern jazz group should be.
The trio’s new release, “My Foolish Heart: Live at Montreux,” is a live recording from the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2001. Jarrett says in the liner notes that he was waiting until the right moment to release the recording the public.
He offers this as a rationale for doing so: “This, indeed, was a concert containing so much of the breadth of what we have been doing with “Standards” these almost 25 years, that now is the time to hear it.”
Whether or not that’s sufficient rationale for waiting so long to release the record is debatable; what isn’t debatable is his reference to the “breadth” of the recording. On “My Foolish Heart,” the three old friends seamlessly maneuver between straight-ahead jazz, free improvisation, lush, romantic balladry, and, for the first and only time in concert, three ragtime tunes.
What’s amazing about the almost two-hour-long recording is that all of the above sounds like it belongs. The ragtime tunes, “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” and “You Took Advantage of Me,” are performed with the same earnestness as any other piece on the program, despite the rare straightforwardness of their delivery.
Thelonious Monk’s perennial blues head “Straight, No Chaser,” serves as the off-ramp from ragtime-land, and also as a sort of depository for the wild improvisation that would have sounded pretentious in the ragtime tunes.
The blues are always a sort of a home base for jazz musicians, and on this concert, “Straight, No Chaser,” sees the trio’s most freewheeling and highly intuitive playing.
On the blues the trio rarely defines a steady beat, and at times dips into completely free improvisation. But, much as the straightforward ragtime tunes don’t sound out of place in this modern jazz set, the impulsive improvisation on the blues sounds perfectly accessible and appropriate. Throughout the tune, the 12-bar blues form is hinted at, but rarely marked out very clearly.
Just as Jarrett is unafraid to explore different styles and moods, he and his comrades are unafraid to play alternately simple or complex ideas over the tunes of their choice.
In fact, he decries the “empty virtuosity” of today’s jazz artists in his liner-note exposé. Many times an idea of his will come to its logical conclusion, and, unafraid of leaving space, he will lay out for a measure or two before another idea presents itself, often filling the void with one of his trademark groans.
A player of unmatched technical skill and repertorial diversity (he has an extensive catalog of classical recordings to his name), Jarrett unabashedly recites the simplest blues licks and quotes old bebop tunes between unparalleled flights of technical prowess.
DeJohnette likewise exhibits equal propensity for simple and complex improvisation, choosing the former during his eight bar solos on “Honeysuckle Rose,” where he plays New Orleans parade-style snare beats and even offers an homage to Gene Krupa, pounding out swinging rhythms on his many floor toms.
Less in the spotlight in this concert is bassist Gary Peacock, who does a superb job of accompanying his band mates but opts to stay out of the spotlight. On the 6-and-a-half minute version of “Oleo,” the bassist only solos for a total of 40 bars.
It doesn’t matter, though. Just like Jarrett and DeJohnette, Peacock is always humble and willing to play just what the music calls for, whether it be an old ballad, an up-tempo burner, or a traditional Fats Waller tune.
What really matters is that they play it all with the collective knowledge of three of jazz history’s greatest players, and it all sounds good.
Though it was published in the paper, it never made it to the website, so I'm offering curious readers my original, unedited version of the review RIGHT HERE ON MY BLOG! That's right, you get all of the insightful musical commentary without any of the bone-headed editing that my poor, precious articles undergo on the newsroom floor.
So, here it is:
In an era of Disney Channel pop stars, over-hyped indie bands, and jazz gimmickry, it’s an unqualified pleasure to hear one of jazz’s most enduring ensembles play for a live audience.
Pianist Jarrett, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette have recorded almost twenty albums as a group. Nick-named the “Standards Trio” because of their selection of well-known jazz standards as repertoire, they also serve as the gold standard of what a modern jazz group should be.
The trio’s new release, “My Foolish Heart: Live at Montreux,” is a live recording from the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2001. Jarrett says in the liner notes that he was waiting until the right moment to release the recording the public.
He offers this as a rationale for doing so: “This, indeed, was a concert containing so much of the breadth of what we have been doing with “Standards” these almost 25 years, that now is the time to hear it.”
Whether or not that’s sufficient rationale for waiting so long to release the record is debatable; what isn’t debatable is his reference to the “breadth” of the recording. On “My Foolish Heart,” the three old friends seamlessly maneuver between straight-ahead jazz, free improvisation, lush, romantic balladry, and, for the first and only time in concert, three ragtime tunes.
What’s amazing about the almost two-hour-long recording is that all of the above sounds like it belongs. The ragtime tunes, “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” and “You Took Advantage of Me,” are performed with the same earnestness as any other piece on the program, despite the rare straightforwardness of their delivery.
Thelonious Monk’s perennial blues head “Straight, No Chaser,” serves as the off-ramp from ragtime-land, and also as a sort of depository for the wild improvisation that would have sounded pretentious in the ragtime tunes.
The blues are always a sort of a home base for jazz musicians, and on this concert, “Straight, No Chaser,” sees the trio’s most freewheeling and highly intuitive playing.
On the blues the trio rarely defines a steady beat, and at times dips into completely free improvisation. But, much as the straightforward ragtime tunes don’t sound out of place in this modern jazz set, the impulsive improvisation on the blues sounds perfectly accessible and appropriate. Throughout the tune, the 12-bar blues form is hinted at, but rarely marked out very clearly.
Just as Jarrett is unafraid to explore different styles and moods, he and his comrades are unafraid to play alternately simple or complex ideas over the tunes of their choice.
In fact, he decries the “empty virtuosity” of today’s jazz artists in his liner-note exposé. Many times an idea of his will come to its logical conclusion, and, unafraid of leaving space, he will lay out for a measure or two before another idea presents itself, often filling the void with one of his trademark groans.
A player of unmatched technical skill and repertorial diversity (he has an extensive catalog of classical recordings to his name), Jarrett unabashedly recites the simplest blues licks and quotes old bebop tunes between unparalleled flights of technical prowess.
DeJohnette likewise exhibits equal propensity for simple and complex improvisation, choosing the former during his eight bar solos on “Honeysuckle Rose,” where he plays New Orleans parade-style snare beats and even offers an homage to Gene Krupa, pounding out swinging rhythms on his many floor toms.
Less in the spotlight in this concert is bassist Gary Peacock, who does a superb job of accompanying his band mates but opts to stay out of the spotlight. On the 6-and-a-half minute version of “Oleo,” the bassist only solos for a total of 40 bars.
It doesn’t matter, though. Just like Jarrett and DeJohnette, Peacock is always humble and willing to play just what the music calls for, whether it be an old ballad, an up-tempo burner, or a traditional Fats Waller tune.
What really matters is that they play it all with the collective knowledge of three of jazz history’s greatest players, and it all sounds good.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Marching Jazz Band Feature
Here's a story I wrote on a new student-led ensemble at NIU that plays traditional New Orleans parade-style jazz, which ran in Tuesday's paper. As always, I feel like my editor obscured many aspects of the story, but whatcha gonna do? I don't live on campus, and I always just email my stories in, so I can't really sit there and discuss the changes with him.
Anyway, enough about me. The jazz group, which I saw on Tuesday, and of which I was a member in a previous incarnation, is plenty interesting because they're doing something that has pretty much been heretofore unexplored in the NIU jazz combo program.
Anyway, enough about me. The jazz group, which I saw on Tuesday, and of which I was a member in a previous incarnation, is plenty interesting because they're doing something that has pretty much been heretofore unexplored in the NIU jazz combo program.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Track of the Day 1
The entertainment department at the Northern Star is trying out a new feature called "Track of the Day." Every day a different Entertainment writer contributes a few paragraphs about one of their favorite tunes. I got my first turn today, and I wrote about Ahmad Jamal's "Poinciana," one of the great recordings in jazz. I didn't really feel like I could do the tune any justice with words, but, doggone it, I tried my best.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
MCA Review: Disappeared?
I wrote a review of a new rock 'n' roll-themed exhibit called "Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967" at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. It doesn't appear to be archived on the Northern Star website, however. It's probably just as well. I'm not an art reviewer, and I wasn't too proud of the article. I'll just sum up the exhibit this way: cool art stuff related to rock and roll, making me realize that if I really want to be a hipster, I need to start listening to the Velvet Underground.
Pat Martino Article
Here's a little preview article I wrote about the great jazz guitarist Pat Martino coming to NIU to present a clinic. I gotta say, I kind of rushed through this one (It was keeping me from going to the Pumpkin Farm on Columbus Day).
Ulrich Maiss Review
I wrote a review of German cellist Ulrich Maiss' recent performance at NIU. His performance, which basically consisted of a lot of noise accumulated from layered loops of distorted cello, was probably really offensive to most of the folks in attendance, but I kind of liked it. I realized after reading my printed article that I never really made it clear that I experienced a little bit of enjoyment from all the noise. I think that's OK, though. My editor said it reads more "newsy" that way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)