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cannonball-addict

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Everything posted by cannonball-addict

  1. I will speak now for the masses who seem to be in shock and are afraid to reply to this poster. I categorically disagree with your feelings. I think you are entitled to your opinion and I am not going to say you are wrong but truly I find it puzzling that someone could interpret Chris Potter as a boring player or Nate Smith for that matter! Smith's drumming could be the closest thing to a cure for narcolepsy or chronic fatigue syndrome. I do agree. Go see this group live and then tell us that you found it boring. On the score that you particularly like Holland and Eubanks, I would tend to explain that in relation to your comment that you generally like older classic stuff. Holland, for all his associations and trappings of avantgarde is really very much a player in the straighahead tradition. Note how he finally gets the acclaim he deserved long ago when he brings his group a bit more "in" from the Steve Coleman period (which I totally dug as well). Holland and Eubanks both are very modern players but they both rely to a degree on licks and patterns and thus their solos are often a bit easier to follow than Smith's metric modulations and Potter's solo flights (which tend to be other-worldly especially on the blues). Don't get me wrong, Eubanks is an incredibly moving and inventive player, but the stuff that he plays that strikes me most poingantly are the post-boppish lines and patterns that he often quotes. That's pretty much all I have to say for now but mind you all this was written with the imagery of the band playing live brilliantly preserved in my mind (which I have seen). -m
  2. Damn I wish I lived in Seattle. It seems like there's such a good scene there. And you guys being near Microsoft seem to all be plugged in and spreading the word about how great Seattle's scene is. The Canadian contingent I can't explain? I guess there's just nothing to do in Canadia!
  3. I picked this up and besides some nice Ray Brown and some standard jamming by the horn players, its really not worth your money unless you really dig bill cosby saying hikky burr (which I have to admit is hilarious no matter how many time you hear it). They were out of stuff to reissue so they decided to release some haphazard novelty stuff. its what I call "scraping the bottom of the barrel." Good thing Concord just acquired the entire Fantasy/Riverside/Prestige vaults. Talk about reissue power. Concord seems to have a really viable business plan. Their pop/hip hop/folky/showtunes bases are really covered. And Stretch Records is MONEY. I hope they keep Avishai Cohen on the payroll. I know they're keeping Chick. He is their other cashcow besides Michael Feinstein.
  4. His last effort, Medicine Wheel is also killin'.
  5. I think don byron isn't really interested as much in doing tribute records any more. I think he's into creating new music with other like-minded forward thinking musicians. On the aspect of Moran appearing as a guest on someone else's record, which today seems to be few and far between, is going to be "out," emotional, yet meaningful. I used to think very little of Byron (like I did about Dolphy originally too) but after listening to more of his stuff such as bug music and music for six musicians and especially "more music for six musicians," I really started to dig him a lot more not only because of his obvious intellect and devotion to social justice, but because the music is really emotionally evocative. He definately has the bop thing down cold, but he's not interested in rehashing that stuff. If he has a major label such as Blue Note backing him, he might as well contribute something original. Another reason I dig him is that he's able to play the clarinet in such a modern vain without compromising to the instrument's technical restrictions (from my experience as a sax player going over to clarinet and getting down the basic technique stuff but unable to be as evocative/swinging/expressive as I can consistently be on the saxophones). Let me just insert that his articulation in the altissimo is something to marvel at. I think that he is a very different musician from the rest of the crowd at Blue Note these days, save Lovano and Moran and a few others who don't come to mind right now. But the great thing is that Bruce Lundvall and Tom Evered and the powers that be, know Don Byron is a phenomenal musician and they keep him on the payroll because they are now a financially viable label with acts like MMW, Norah, and Van Morrison to buttress more "artistes" like Moran and Byron. Hopefully he will continue to be a creative new music kind of guy who can play straight-ahead like a mother-f@$&er, but chooses personal expression over licks because that's the way the spirit moves him (it also gets boring after a while to play licks). It becomes an inviting challenge to create your own language for your instrument. This is what we jazzers call "having your own sound." I think it's important to realize that guys like Byron, and Mark Turner, and Chris Cheek, and Adam Kolker, and to a great extent Chris Potter, etc. could all play very straight-ahead lick and hardbop tradition-oriented music, but they feel its more important to innovate and try to challenge themselves by communicating in new musical ways. If that involves screaming in the upper register to get out what you are feeling in the moment, so be it. Look at James Carter....I think Byron and Carter on a date together would be a recipe for a beautifully emotional display That's all I have to say about that.... mm
  6. I don't know much about Sam Rivers besides that he was involved in the Avant-Garde scene with Braxton and Holland and others in the 70s. What is the origin of this band? Can anyone explain who is in it and how it got together. I was just listening to a CD of them that I got out of the public library and I'm really digging it but since I just ripped in onto my computer and then returned the disc, I have no info on it, at least nothing that I can find on AMG or elsewhere. It is called "Inspiration." The soloists (especially both alto players) are BAD!!! Would appreciate any help. Natt
  7. Check out Adam Kolker on Bruce Barth's <I>East & West</I> and Kolker's other stuff. Chris Potter plays some great bcl. Gary Smulyan is also a badass on bcl. Obviously gotta give props to David Murray.
  8. How about Rebecca Coupe Franks? A slightly off-the-beaten-path sound but excellent player. She has a new album out which is a tribute to Joe Henderson.
  9. I second the motion for Oscar Brashear and Benny Bailey. But what about Eddie Henderson!?!??!?! The man is the sickest former doctor on the scene - one of the baddest cats out there without much recognition at all. I recently saw him with Tim Armacost. I also have to give a shoutout to my boy, trumpeter Eddie "E.J." Allen. Bad Mo-Fo! He is currently eading a "heavy" rehearsal big band at the musicians union in Manhattan that plays mostly original and new music. He also plays frequently in a band called Rhythm Ignition. He has worked with people such as Muhal Richard Abrams, Louis Hayes, Mongo Santamaria (six albums), David Gilmore, Bobby Previte, Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy, Cyrus Chestnut, Charlie Persip (as a member of Persip's 80s big band called the Superband). Most don't know this outside New York's musicians but Eddie is drummer Carl Allen's older brother. My ears are always open Matt
  10. Yeah mikeweil, I guess I agree with you. Except that she was unbeknownst to myself. I forgot to include Josefine Cronholm - her voice is spectacular. She is from Sweden I think but records for Stunt Records based in Holland (i believe). Alex Riel (the drummer) and a lot of other German/Dutch cats are on Stunt as well.
  11. It's sad but true. Call Don Bennett Drums in Bellevue, WA. They said two reliable sources (one named something like Kiplinger) called in to inform them. The old thing from a week ago was a rumor. This is real. Elvin Lives in Our Hearts....
  12. Yeah. Dig Aki Takase with David Murray playing some "bad" bass clarinet. mm
  13. You all probably know that I am a newbie. But do we have a Washington calendar going? Of upcoming things... Is so please provide a link. City Paper is so inaccurate sometimes.
  14. I just found about this trumpet player Rebecca Coupe Franks who is super BAD. She is apparently from the West Coast. She recorded a pair of albums in the early 90s which got excellent reviews and then she kind of fell off the face of the earth. and has not done anything since (from what I can tell by numerous web searches). Does anyone know about what she has been doing? And for that matter, let's talk about unknown female instrumentalists who are amazing and aren't getting any recognition or press. matt
  15. If you are interested in jazz you should try to hang at HR57 or Twins. (HR57 if you're a musician and you wanna jam; Twins if you wanna see the local cats or national acts as well for much more reasonable prices than Blues Alley or the Kennedy Center.) That neighborhood is in the throes of revitalization and I believe there's a cop shop right nearby there so it'll be safe enough. But I wouldn't walk alone outside after midnight. matt m.
  16. The concert was amazing. The sound on Potter was terrible while Eubanks really projected very well. Nate Smith is up there with Bill Stewart and even Tain. He is a master of metric modulations within tunes. Few know that he did not attend Berklee or any of the NY schools - he attended VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) and is from a few hours South of DC. I was soooooo happy they did Blues for CM. That is such a beautiful pastiche of Mingus' style of composition. The drone of the horns outdid the record. They could have featured Steve Nelson a little more. He is so conscientious of what is going on around him. I saw several instances where he backed away from a chord that he was comping with because he didn't want to overstep the bounds and walk on top of a soloist. Nelson is in a school of his own as far as technique and consistent originality is concerned - IMO 10X better than Bobby Hutcherson. Stefon Harris is closer but Nelson makes those guys look like amateurs. I would love to hear Arthur Blythe use Steve Nelson for chordal interplay. For those of you who don't know - Blythe usually uses drummer Cecil Brooks III, tubist Bob Stewart (a monster), and Gust William Tsilis on marimba. My idea is to substitute Nelson for Tsilis. That would be an interesting record. P.S. Robin Eubanks is quite possibly the most emotionally stimulating and heady trombonist on the scene. He ranks among the top guys - John Fedchock, Brookmeyer (though that's a different story). When are they gonna do a Eubanks family recording like the Marsalis' did. That would be tight. matt
  17. I admire Francis Davis a great deal because even though he now stands at the top of the "hierarchy" of jazz criticism, he is not a self-promoter like Giddins. Nor does he use the high-falutin' vocabulary. He has an admirably nice down-to-earth style. I was talking to Bertrand the other night about Wayne. We both agreed that we hear Wayne's compositional ideas in Chris Potter's music. This is probably an obvious statement to many of you, but it is interesting that Potter's approach (up to this point in time at least) has been very much as a blower - or in Wayne's words a "here's the damn saxophone solo"-player. I wonder if after Potter grows older, if his genius and creativity and passion as a soloist will be toned down as Shorter has developed. He is certainly a very forward-thinking musician who is charting his own path with a unique sound (though surprisingly very rooted in the blues among the swath of saxophone players out there today who only want to play alternate changes and alterations that make one sound and appear hipper than your average cat). Anyways......please......I welcome comments. matt
  18. I forgot to mention one thing. I just recently picked up some early KD. This CD is titled Kenny Dorham: The Complete Savoy Recordings. It seems to be very new but may not be. I found it on Half.com. The material was recorded from 1946 through 1949. It is all on one CD but all the tracks are short since the technology back at the time was so limiting to the possible length of tracks. For those interested PM me about the specifics.
  19. Hey Bertrand. I am glad we met each other tonight. This bboard is killin! And just to put my two cents on here, I really dig Una Mas. I actually found out about the song as probably many younguns these days are finding out about Kenny's lesser known compositions - through today's vanguard of trumpet players who owe so much of where the instrument has gone in the hard bop vein to the man called Kenny Dorham. Specifically, I was wowed by the version on Roy Hargrove's Crisol Band on the album "Habana." Great supporting line-up. The highlight of the tune for me is Gary Bartz' alto solo. Man - so soulful. Makes me wanna praise de lawd. I saw Gary on a panel on race in jazz sponsored by the JJA at IAJE. It was moderated by JJA president Howard Mandel (who perchance has an excellent trumpet roundtable article in this month's issue of DownBeat where they discuss underrated trumpeters). c- B) ball-addict
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