Joe G

There's lots of music that has an uplifting emotional quality to it, and certainly it's not confined to jazz for me. But in the jazz realm, the music that gives me the expansive feeling that I associate with the spiritual is from Pat Metheny. Also John Mclaughlin in certain settings.

Hmm, interesting. I usually don't delve into his setup too much, because I couldn't possibly afford the type of equipment options that he can. I know what you mean about the AG. It's deterioration is probably unavoidable given the fact that it's all centered around Pat and the Group. A board like this is much more diverse and healthy.

Hey CJ, thanks for posting that! I wish we could hang out and watch it together (I don't even have a DVD player yet ). Re: Pat's setup for triggering sounds; I have no idea. He does that in As It Is also, where the electric sitar sound is heard in the melody. Might have to consult the experts at the American Garage.

An internet friend of mine is looking for this, but according to AMG, it's out of print. If anyone has it and wants to sell it, you would make one Romainian very happy.

What about 9? A trio of trios!

Yeah Ben!!! Take another chorus!!! B)

Megadeth! What the... Amazing that we don't have to wait another ten years for a trio album. Should be cool beans!

I can't remember if Jim said he sent anything out, but I did alert him to your posts. We are putting together a short tour in October, and will keep you and everyone else informed on the details. Thanks again for the leads. B)

I'm looking forward to meeting you (and playing the gig)!

Last year my aunt bought me a CD as a "thank you" present, and it turned out to be The Philadelphia Experiment, with Chris McBride and Uri Caine. I asked her how she came to choose that one, as she knows next to nothing about jazz, and this is a pretty obscure (and hip) title. Well, she had also bought a Tony Bennett CD, and asked the guy behind the counter for a recommendation. He told her "if you like Tony Bennett, you'll love this!" Makes me wonder if the guy was hip, and was playing a joke on her! Lucky for me in any case...

Sweet! Thanks for the scoop.

I got my copy from BMG in the mail a couple of days ago. Very enjoyable, and I liked Velma's vocals straight away! I haven't listened enough to say much more, other than thanks for the tip, Jim.

Rock it to the Max! B)

Peter is one of my favorite guitarists on the scene today. I've been listening to him a lot lately: Heart's Content, Trio, and the Bill Stewart Trio live @ Modern Drummer. The new one is good, but I haven't taken to it quite like I have his organ trio work. There's one solo - and I'll have to go back and check which tune - where he plays almost languidly throughout, never once going into double-time phrases. The tune itself was medium up. I thought that was interesting.

Err...I should mention that I read this in his notes for the Songbook. I have yet to meet the man. Someday perhaps... About Claude's comment: Fair enough, but I would like to point out that about half of these pieces are pure improvisations, which is pretty amazing to me.

Likewise, thanks for the tips Peter. Looks like we'll be avoiding Zanzibar - that shit gives me the willies! (Although there's nothing wrong with Tuck Andress.) Generally, the type of venues we look for are the ones that will hire us! But listening rooms are preferred over restaurants, unless it's like a rib joint that's known for jazz. But we'll certainly be checking into those rooms. Hope to see you soon! Joe

I was actually thinking of my own experience learning to play tennis in the last couple of years. As someone who wants to elevate his game, I'd like to play with people who are better than me. Of course I don't want to lose everytime either. That's just human nature, the ego, a survival instinct and all that. It's okay, because not wanting to feel the sting of defeat everytime out is an early incentive to work on my skills. But what I really want to experience is the feeling of joy and pleasure when the body's own wisdom takes over, and my actions are coming from a place of detachment, giving them a power and effectiveness that wasn't there when I was worried about winning the game. It's that Zen of sports thing. And that works best if my opponent can reach that state at the same time; then it becomes a beautiful sort of dance. The thing about professional sports is that big money is involved, and I think that skews the picture quite a bit. If a coach has a greatly improved NBA team, but doesn't produce championships, he still might get canned, even in as little as one year. Winning teams mean big revenues. That mindset then filters down to our society as a whole, and you end up with screaming parents on the sidelines at grade school soccer games. Where's the joy in that? On a sidenote, it's my opinion that the monsterous salaries paid to many professional athletes is a further reflection of our society's misplaced values. Especially when you consider how many teachers are getting cut right now. Also, this turned out to be a very instructive and revealing thread!

If I may, there's a couple of points I'd like to contribute. In sports, the ideal is for participants to achieve higher levels of play in opposition to one another. That is the real game: refinement of skill, "pushing one's own envelope" as Sangrey said. The glorious accomplishments of the Champion are relative to the quality of the opposition (think of all those lopsided Superbowls: boring). Musicians do this by playing with people who are farther along the path then themselves, thus creating a situation (sometimes painful) that challenges them to rise to the occasion. To try another music analogy (courtesy of Kenny Werner), think of Art Tatum vs. Thelonious Monk. If all it were about was great piano playing, why would you listen to anyone but Tatum? He's the champ. But then, as we know, Monk brought forth the (ugly) beauty that was inside of him, much to our benefit.

Nice post Dr J. I was pretty disappointed with Penguin's reviews of Metheny, too. A newcomer would probably conclude that very little of his music was worth the time and money. AMG is much closer to my views on this stuff. Have You Heard is a fun tune. It took a couple of years before it dawned on me that the head is partly in 7/8 time. Even Pat said he was sure it was in 4/4 until he wrote it down. It's that smooth. B)

Thanks Peter! Jim just sent out some info to Chris' Jazz Cafe and Zanzibar Blue to see about getting in there. Know anything about these joints?

So string theory is dead? I haven't even gotten around to reading my copy of The Elegant Universe. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Driver A, Driver B... it's all relative...

I'm interested to find out what's up with Live Three Ways. There may be additional material that's been added. I've heard a couple cuts from Up All Night on the radio, as well as hearing some of the tunes in concert recently, including the ones you mentioned. I like what I've heard and will be watching for it to show up at BMG. It would be a nice disc to have now that summertime is here though.

Damn Ghost--I nearly ended up popping my arm out of its socket in a biking accident that same day! What's up with that?

Last night: Pat Metheny Group, First Circle Edgar Meyer, Double Bass Concertos Disc 2 of The Raga Guide Kurt Rosenwinkel, The Next Step Sam Yahel, Trio An enjoyable evening for sure.

This is a great thread.