david weiss

Up as this has been extended......Every Wednesday in August (except today). August 9, 16, 23 and 30. See above for details. Also today, August 2, I'll be doing the musician show on WKCR (88.9 FM in New York and http://www.columbia.edu/cu/wkcr/ on the web). What this show basically is is that I play DJ mixing my own music with some of my favorite, most influencial music etc. I'll be playing music from my most recent CDs plus music from the new unreleased New Jazz Composers Octet CD plus a lot of other goodies that I've discussed here in the past that have not been widely heard anywhere. Check it out, I'll be on air from 6-9 pm.

Actually the T.S. Monk analogy is down the right path. Woody III is a drummer, and a very promising one at that. Joe Chambers has used him on a few gigs for tunes in which he switches to vibes and I've had him down to a few rehearsals as well. A name to watch for I think.

Wow, Danny Spencer, what a drummer. Is he still active? I've heard he's in the Bay Area but not much else. I've spoken to Charles Moore and Kenny Cox a few times but never Danny. PM me his info if you can. Thanks

Just a little heads up for those in the New York City area, I've started a new band and we are going to take up residency at Fat Cat every Thursday in July. See below for details. Hope you can make it out. Fat Cat presents David Weiss and the Point of Departure Quintet David Weiss- Trumpet J.D. Allen- Tenor Sax Nir Felder- Guitar Luques Curtis- Bass Kendrick Scott- Drums Fat Cat 75 Christopher Street (between 7th Avenue and Bleecker Street) (212) 343-0612 www.Fatcatjazz.com Every Thursday in July July 6, 13, 20 and 27 Shows at 10 pm and 12 midnight $10 Cover Charge with this invite http://www.davidweissmusic.com http://www.myspace.com/davidweisssextet The late 1960's were a turbulent but exciting time for jazz. The music seemed to simultaneously get more complex and simpler at the same time as a variety of influences infused the music. Some were experimenting with soul, rock and exotic rhythms from the India and the Far East. Others were carrying on the innovations of the second great Miles Davis quintet, using the groups ever shifting rhythms and harmonic complexities as a springboard to new compositional ideas. Some somehow combined both to create some new, exciting music. The Point of Departure Quintet is re-examining some of the most innovative music of the period, some of it neglected, some, perhaps, never quite as developed as it could have been as things seemed to move at a pace during that period that left some music from being fully realized as they quickly moved on to the next new thing. Among the composers being re-examined and re-imagined are Andrew Hill, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson and music from the unsung Kenny Cox and the Contemporary Jazz Quintet (who recorded two seminal but under appreciated records for Blue Note in the late 1960's). Known for introducing many of the finest young musicians to the jazz world for the past 10 years through his sextet (Marcus and E.J. Strickland), the New Jazz Composers Octet (Myron Walden, Jimmy Greene, Greg Tardy, Xavier Davis and Nasheet Waits) and as a producer (first CD's by Robert Glasper, Jeremy Pelt and Marcus Strickland), Weiss introduces some more of the finest young musicians on the scene today, Bassists Ameen Saleem and Luques Curtis, Guitarist Nir Felder and Drummers Jamire Williams and Darrell Green. I also wanted to tell you guys that I've finally launced a web-site, please check it out. http://www.davidweissmusic.com and in trying to keep up with the times, I have a page on MySpace. There are some clips and complete tunes from my last couple of CDs for download there if you care to check them out. http://www.myspace.com/davidweisssextet Thanks

Genuisus are rarely recognized in their own time. But I wonder if Wayne had self-produced SNE and released it on CDbaby--would Speak No Evil still be unrecognized? It seems to me that the labels (mega or even some of the independents) still serve a function by drawing our attention to particular works and promoting them. This does seem to be THE question doesn't it, there seems to be a lot more stuff to go through for the cream to rise to the top these days. Only time will tell, but I do have my fingers crossed. As much disdain as I might have for the majors, they will get you out there in a hurry and get you firmly established. What you do with it and for how long is perhaps more up to the artist but signing to a major is still the biggest and best way to make a splash. You're not going to do a world tour and have your CD release party at the Vanguard if your first CD is self-produced and only availible at CD Baby. Not yet anyway.....

I always preferred Impact and when I turned people on to Charles' big band stuff I'd always play impact first. However, I've been getting into the Music Inc and Big Band record more and more lately. It really charges out of the gate with Ruthie's Heart, which is still in the book and one of my favorities to play.

It seems quite believable to me that Barry came up with the piano vamp. I've studied with him a lot and he never said anything to me about it but I seem to recall him mentioning once that The Sidewinder wasn't his favorite record. It's one of my favorite Lee records though. Take away the Sidewinder and it's a great record. Being from the LP era, I always listened to Side 2 and thought it was incredible, great Joe Henderson. It's probably in my top 3 Lee Morgan records. I think Search for the New Land is my favorite. As for the Sidewinder, the live versions are off the hook, I love the one on the Lighthouse CD. Mickey Roker lays down a groove and Maupin plays a great solo. I have the video of the Fresh Sound live version of the Sidewinder (it was a TV show) but it cuts off on the head of the Sidewinder (the third and last tune), which is a shame because it seemed like they were really heating up.

I reverted back to an old childhood trick and snuck into Carnegie Hall this evening at intermission to see Herbie Hancock, thinking all I really wanted to see was the quartet with Wayne which was to close the show (I really don't like seeing shows at Carnegie Hall, the sound is usually terrible). Turns out Michael Brecker sat in with Herbie and Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette earlier in the evening and played great and looked great. I hear he's working on a CD as well. Health-wise (mind you this is all second or third hand information), I've heard he's on a steroid treatment that had gotten him back on his feet but he still needs to find a stem cell match at some point.

Now that was a good record! Is Rodney still in France? He's a cat I felt was just starting to get into something really exciting when he booked. Rodney never lived in France, just recorded for the French wing of Polygram. He fell off the scene for many reasons but in reality he never really fell off the scene completely. I know he just recorded again, for an independant label and I've done a few gigs with him over the last couple of years, one with his wife, Rhonda Ross, a vocalist like her mother and another with Rodney last summer in Brooklyn. It was an OK gig and Rodney still plays great but lets just say it wasn't Dance World Dance

My favorite drummers with Tolliver are Jimmy Hopps and George Brown. Both played with emotional fire and swung hard! Yes, both great drummers that Charles speaks very highly of, he still says that Hopps could play some grooves in a certain way that no one since can touch. It's tragic that both are alive and not on the scene. That said, Victor Lewis was simply off the hook on this recording. The studio was shaking and he raised the whole session to another level.

Lots of good points here and maybe when I have some real time, I'll try to address some of them individually if you care. There seems to be a lot of different things happening now in the jazz world. Certainly there is the push to institutionalize it, treat it like classical music, make it about performing classic repertoire a la Jazz at Lincoln Center and that seems to be working. People are dressing up to see Ellington performed for the millionth time but what's wrong with that, you see Beethoven's 9th performed a million times why not Ellington and Armstrong? Perhaps the problem is that it's too soon? Or is the problem that Jazz at Lincoln Center is becoming the face of Jazz for many (more so for the uninitiated of course) and if this repertoire stuff is becoming the face of jazz, what of the new music that is happening out there. How much talk is there of new classical material, for example. Is this leading jazz down the same road? A concern certainly. But there are young jazz artists that the youth seem to flock to (and just not music students), Kurt Rosenwinkle, Brian Blade and Chris Potter to name a few have huge followings and young too. What they play is some semblance of jazz so there is a future there and what can you say about most of the guys I mentioned? They don't wear there influences on their sleeves so it doesn't sound like some rehash of the same old, same old. JSngry is right, twenty years from now (or actually just ten as ten years have gone by already) I don't think we are going to be listening to Harper Brothers records as the creative voice of that generation but perhaps we will listen to Ralph Peterson's V or even Wynton's Black Codes From the Underground or Rodney Kendrick's Dance World Dance or a few others that don't come to mind at this particular moment. There were some very good records being made the last 20 years that will stand the test of time and be of some importance in the overall history of this music. I just hope time will sift these out over the years just like every other classic record rose to the top over the years (remember Speak No Evil got a ho hum 3 star review in DownBeat when it came out). Now, Blue Note, yes signing Suzanne Vega should make some eyes roll to the back of our collective heads but yes, Blue Note is now part of a huge corporation so if you succeed with Norah Jones, they are going to want more of those. Who knows how this is all going to turn out and if Anita Baker, Al Green, Dr. John or any of them make a splash and make them the money they are expected to make. If they don't, then what? However, in the overall scope of things and with all that's going on in the business today, it's remarkable that Blue Note is still going strong. They are the only major label left that is still recording new acoustic jazz with very few exceptions and for this alone, they should be applauded. As far as I'm concerned they can sign all the Suzanne Vega's they want as long as they keep the re-issues coming and make a sincere effort to find the best jazz acts out there and sign them as well. One new signing in five years (Glasper) is a pretty sad track record perhaps but hopefully they are just being cautious. There are a few other emerging artists that they should perhaps have taken the plunge on in the last few years (and five to ten years ago would have) but no clear cut no-brainers. Besides, as I've mentioned elsewhere, they did sign the Charles Tolliver Big Band so that makes them the smartest label in the world at the moment to me.

I've never been a great fan of Hino. His style, harmonic sense etc never really did it for me but every time I go to Japan and hit the record stores, I always purchase a Hino LP or two from the late '60s and '70s that I never have seen before. Usually they get a couple of listens and then get sold on ebay (Hi-Nology had this fate). I appreciate the effort and musicianship but the records as a whole never seem to quite come off. There's another one of the Tact label called Alone Together that I liked though but more for the band, Steve Grossman, Harold Mabern, Richard Davis and a Japanese drummer (let's see if I can invoke the wrath of Mr. Nessa). It's a very loose, fun date with some great Grossman. There is also this one date that came out on Inner City when I was in high school that I saw everywhere for a buck called Way Dance with John Scofield, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. It's been a while since I've listened to that ( I was a fusion kid, I bought it because of Tony Williams, I loved Believe It and was looking for more of the same) and I think I also have the Galper date mentioned earlier, that's a good date. Like I said above, he made tons of records for Japanese labels from the late '60s on, I sure most of them are on CD in Japan but it's a crap shoot and probably an expensive one at that. The drummer on Alone Together is Motohiko Hino, his brother?

OK folks, we did record an album for Blue Note last week. Billy Harper, Craig Handy, Howard Johnson, Bill Saxton, Stanley Cowell, Rober Glasper, Cecil McBee and Victor Lewis were among the participants. I think it will be great but I'm biased of course. Looks like it will be a February release. I'll keep you posted.

I saw this gig. I was on Christmas vacation from school and this was one of many gigs I saw. Lodi Carr is a singer and it was really her gig. I think she is still around but I don't know how much she performs these days. I remember Ron Carter and Al Harewood playing on the gig, don't remember who was on piano. Hank sounded great, his sound was huge but he didn't have the greatest control over the horn. The sound was more a result of overblowing perhaps then contol of the instrument. I loved it regardless. It's the one and only time I saw him play. He seemed a bit cranky and was engaged in conversation with Tommy Turrentine for most of the break, so I didn't try to meet him. I was talking about this gig once and the person I was talking to (I don't recall who it was now) told me they had a tape of it. I don't want to hear it, it would probably diminish my memory of that night.

He's performs quite regularly at Cecil's Jazz Club in West Orange, NJ, I don't know about the golf thing though it's certainly possible

Up....This Week!!!

How do you get a job like that, David? MG I had done some work for Blue Note in the past, especially some Lee related stuff (I co-produced the Live at the Lighthouse box and the Standards CD with Bob Belden, who bought me in on both projects) but in this instance, it was just a matter of running into Michael Cuscuna at the Blue Note offices and the topic came up in discussion and he said that he was re-issuing the Six Sense and was thinking of using some of the tunes from this session as bonus cuts and would I be interested in going through the session and seeing what I thought was suitable. After regretfully turning him down, he twisted my arm and talked me into it...kidding, I jumped at the chance. I think in my mind, I was sticking to the standard at the time which was only the strongest stuff should be included and that's what I think I did. If that standard has changed then on another go around I guess they could include more, which would suck I guess for the people who already own it. The download thing makes sense to me, there is a lot I've heard that this would make perfect sense for, hopefully someday down the road this will happen.

Not sure, but I think that Craig Harris was already aboard. Would've loved to have heard that band w/Joseph Bowie! I seem to recall Bowie being a little tentative but that was compared to seeing him regularly with Defunct at the time (that was the other band I was checking out all the time, they were everywhere then) where he was quite in the forefront to say the least....

I saw what was announced as their first public performance, in Chicago, at the Underground Jazz Festival, summer of 1981. But since the first About Time side came out in 1982, it sounds like they had been together and performing before that gig? I might have seen them as early as the Fall of 1980 but am certain I started seeing them on a regular basis in late 1980 and early 1981. The venues varied but not your regular places, lofts, some small clubs etc...maybe Chicago was their first gig outside New York? Do you remember who played trombone?

Personally, I think Threadgill's RCA/Novus cds are some of the best music he made. Think of Rag, Bush And All! Threadgill's sextett was THE band around New York just as I was getting into jazz in my late high school years. I saw them quite often at various venues. The horns were Threadgill, Olu Dara and Joseph Bowie. I think Bowie was gone by the first recording. I also think the band was working around New York for at least two years before they made they're first record. My favorites are still the first two About Time records as I was already familiar with the material and chomping at the bit for their release, as the personel changed, I was slightly less enthusiastic but there was still a lot of great music on those records. I think I saw them at Caravan of Dreams while I was at North Texas, I can't remember who was in the band then but remember Dara being gone.

Actually, I was given the assignment of picking the bonus tracks from this session to add to The Sixth Sense. I think I stand behind my decision, I thought everything else was just a bit off. The tune The Chief is killer and would have loved to included this but I just didn't think the performance was up to snuff.

Up for one last shot..... Adam, thanks for the photos, I'd post them but don't know how to do these things. You're welcome to if you like. Glad you enjoyed it and I'll stay away from the cake..... The Turning Gate is an original of mine. There is this little 4 note augmented chord note progression from Joy Ryder that I began toying with and came up with a whole new tune.

Up Starts tomorrow, personel as follows Jeremy Pelt (March 15), Keyon Harrold (March 22), Ingrid Jensen (March 29), Taylor Haskins- Trumpets Myron Walden- Alto Sax Jimmy Greene (March 22), Craig Handy (March 15 and 29), Bill McHenry- Tenor Saxes Norbert Stachel- Baritone Sax, Josh Roseman, Joe Fiedler- Trombones, Xavier Davis- Piano, Dwayne Burno- bass, EJ Strickland- Drums Material includes The All Seeing Eye, Genesis, Pandora Awakened, Diana, Mr. Jin and Fall Hope to see you there

The workshops are usually every Tuesday on West 65th Street (behind Lincoln Center), I can't remember the exact address. When that place is unavailible, it's moved to University of the Streets. University of the Streets also has weekend jams sessions run by a great alto saxophonist Jimmy Vass (who's played with Andrew Hill and Charles Mingus among others) and I've seen Braith there many times over the years. I've never seen Barry's instructional videos but I have taken his classes many times (it's still the best bargain in town, $14 a class I believe) and all I can say is they are great. He really lays it out for you in a clear way and includes everything. I'm sure the videos would be just as valuable. I still go to a class every now and again.

This and your subsequent posts are dead on. Where is Lonehill based (I don't own any)? If it's Spain, it illegal in every way but if it's Andorra then their copyright law is 35 years. I've had many arguments with Jordi Pujol about this over the years. He claims that the Andorrans are cousins of his and it's their company (they are just trying to follow in his footsteps) and his distribution company just distributes them. When the Mingus rip-off of the Uptown CD came out, I told him to remove it from his web-site because though he didn't put it out himself I thought it was in poor taste to sell it. We've had discussions about the copyright laws as well. I said though it's legal doesn't make it right and he just says it's legal for him so he does it. The 50 year law is not all of Europe. I believe it's 40 years in Italy but I could be wrong about this. I can say this about Jordi at least. He puts a lot of work into his re-issues and box sets. Most I believe are legit, some perhaps a little grey but his sincerity and the love he puts into his projects is real. He would never do lame re-issues like Lonehill or do a straight rip-off like the Mingus. He would want to do his own superior (in his mind at least) version of whatever he releases. That said, he has no problem selling all this other stuff. As for buying it, you can say you are depriving musicians of some pennies and should perhaps feel a little guilt. You are putting money into the pockets of someone who is potentially ripping off musicians but we're not talking about big money here. The best chance of seeing this stuff is if all the labels decide to make everything availible for download or perhaps if they continue to licence stuff. Other than that, I doubt Sony is preparing the Dave Bailey dates, they haven't released some Freddie Hubbard stuff (like Super Blue) that was prepared for release a few years ago.