marcello

Jsngry - I believe he is talking about pop performers but his comments also apply to many of the Jazz performers we see and hear. There are more than a few who arrogance, and superior attitude ,to both their fans and fellow artists, far exceeeds their talent. I see many Jazz players who assume a "pop mentality"!

The band for the "Bags Groove" appearance was: Joe Locke - Vibes Mike LeDonne - Piano Mickey Roker - Drums Ray Drummond - Bass ( Friday ) Jom Webber (1st set Saturday) Bob Cranshaw (2nd set) Now enven though the writer does not know much about jazz, he was truly taken by the performance as to opposed to what he usually hears and sees. I think that it makes his observations even more noteworthy that he does not come from a deep jazz position and when he does see or hear some of todays more exposed and touted jazz performers, he is left cold. When someone like him is touched by THE REAL THING, it's good for the music we love. Remember?

Here is a insightful piece from the Columbia Spectator; any comments? Cool, Baby Alexander the Greer By Alex Greer Columbia Daily Spectator November 12, 2004 Since when did we take “cool” to be Robin Leach-inspired songs from whiny vocalists and a band that has no knowledge of their instruments outside of power chords? Since when did we take “cool” to be musicians naming themselves after a currency and mumbling rhymes with less vocabulary variance than the label on a bottle of orange juice? Since when did we let “cool” even come anywhere near the emo movement? Cool used to be smooth. The o’s used to be dragged out for a little bit longer than necessary; it used to be a word that came from deep down within the throat. The word, or the real version at least, still exists here and there. And at Smoke, a club just 15 minutes from campus, it prevails. Joe Locke and the Milt Jackson Rhythm Section gave a good vocabulary lesson there last Friday. Locke filled in on vibraphone (kind of like a xylophone) for the late Milt Jackson, whose rhythm section decided to give a tributary performance, a jazz wake if you will. Joe just leaks energy, and I highly recommend seeing his next performance in the city before he leaves for England. In between his invigorating solos he literally ran offstage so that the rhythm section could get a taste of some of the spotlight, and he always scats the notes of whatever he’s playing while pounding it out on the vibes. His whole air made me realize just how much we’ve lost our grasp of “cool.” In mainstream music we never see guys like Joe anymore; it’s always the group of idiot teenagers whose manager and producer have more say in the music than the band does. And in the rare instances when we find a band that has creative control, what drives their music never really tends to be the same thing that drives Joe and the Milt Jackson Rhythm Section—the thing that I’m sure we’ve lost touch with. Granted, there are exceptions, but the wave of alternative rock, emo, and hip-hop that we’re seeing dominate the charts now is, at its core, driven by the fixation that the artists have on showing off. For some reason—most likely a lack of ideas about anywhere new to go with music—current mainstream rock has come to rely on shock value. The genre now figures that, if it gives it to us hard enough, mindlessly enough, and distorted beyond all recognition, we won’t realize that the tunes just lack any substantive value. Rap, on the other hand, loses its concern with where it’s stemming from by being so concentrated on showing that it knows its roots (i.e. Kanye’s reliance on sampling Nina Simone and the Beatles instead of original beats). Its fans, however, never seem to realize the references, making the whole self-destructive process pointless; I can’t even count how many people I’ve had to tell that Ma$e’s new single, “Welcome Back” is actually from the 1970s sitcom Welcome Back Kotter. The front that these genres have had to put up as of late has forced them to become a hollow shell of music. What they’re missing—what Joe Locke embodies and the aspect of “cool” that has been forgotten—is soul. Cool is not screaming at the top of your lungs, “I will never know myself until I do this on my own” (cough, Linkin Park). The Milt Jackson Rhythm Section doesn’t have to put up the front to make good music or to make their presence known: last Friday all of Smoke was awestruck at the section’s talent (another forgotten word), produced by a couple of old black versions of Mr. Magoo with sensible suits and ties, jamming with a shy pianist with a five o’ clock shadow. They can spend their time concentrating on their music because they’re not distracted by trying to show that they’ve got balls. They have soul, and soul permeates without effort, and that’s what’s cool, baby. Joe Locke will be playing at Knickerbocker from Nov. 18-20. Smoke is located at 106 and Broadway.

Joe Locke and Geoff Keezer have recorded for eighty-eights as "The New Sound Quartet". The record is called "Summer Knows" that has both great originals ( "The King" by Locke is wonderful ) and some reallygreat re-workings of standards such as Keezer's arraingement of" All The Things You Are". Joe Locke

This is the same band that played the Isle of Wright Festival. I have kept only the disc that featured Miles ( it was a 2 lp set) that has "Call It Anythn'" on it.

Joe Locke & Geoff Keezer who have a new recording that is , for now, only available in Japan called 'The Summer Knows' by 'The New Sound Quartet".

I spoke to Joe Locke on Monday when he heard the news of Mark's death; he is devestated. Joe and Mark made two great frecordings with Joe's 'Storytelling' group; 'Storytelling' and 'State Of Soul' that are very dear to Joe and a fitting legacy to Ledford's many talents. Joe Locke websites; www.joelocke.com & www.joelocke.net.Joe Locke's official web site Joe Locke .Net

I think this is not only fine music but almost a exact example of the music that Dizzy was playing live ( except for the flute) and I really dug this group with Al Gafa. This is NOT the commercial music that was on the 'Dizzy's Party' record. but has those great Al Gafa songs like 'Barcelona' and 'The Land Of The Living Dead', not to mention Dizzy's ' Olinga', which was a SERIOUS and spirtiual song to him ( maybe the flute solo has been edited out of the cd version). By the way, Al Gafa's 'Leblon Beach', also on Pablo, is really fine and not released on cd.

Here is Vibraphonist Joe Locke's Itinerary through 2/05: October 22 - Peterborough, England : 4 Walls of Freedom Peterborough Jazz Club October 24 - Cork, Ireland: 4 Walls of Freedom Cork Jazz Festival October 30-31 - Seattle, WA : Joe Locke Quartet w/Thomas Marriott - Tula's LIVE BROADCAST ON KPLU November 5-6 - NYC: Tribute to Milt Jackson w/Mike LeDonne, Bob Cranshaw, Mickey Roker Smoke November 18-20 - NYC : w/Lew Soloff & Francois Mouton The Knickerbocker November 22-27 - London: 4 Walls of Freedom Ronnie Scott's November 30 - December 4 - Sheffield, England: 4 Walls of Freedom One Eleven Club February 16 - Denver, CO.: 4 Walls Of Freedom Mount Vernon Country Club February 18 - Portland, OR: - Educational Workshop Portland Jazz Festival February 19 - Portland, OR: 4 Walls of Freedom Portland Jazz Festival February 27 - Half Moon Bay, CA.: - Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society