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JAZZ NOTE 20 – BE THE BOSS

Theme from Mondo Cane Read More Jazz Notes What makes New Orleans not only a musician’s town but also a place that produces musical families? Take the Marsalis family.

“I’m going to do it.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Sing karaoke.”

My brother, Chad, had never done it before, but that did not stop him from putting his name on the list and paging through the well-thumbed booklet in our neighborhood bar.

Chad actually has a pretty good singing voice, but he had no intention of playing the moment straight.  He picked “New York, New York” and did his best impression of SNL alum, Phil Hartman, doing Frank Sinatra.  It had me laughing in the torn vinyl booth.  It also caused one of the patrons to go right up to Chad, flip him off and storm out of the bar.

What is it with Frank Sinatra that causes so much emotion?  As an American legend, how much of his life is real?  For fun I pulled a Sinatra biography (James Kaplan’s Frank the Voice) from a library shelf.  I randomly picked a paragraph to cite in this essay.  All you need for prologue is Sinatra is parked in an open convertible in the middle of the desert with Ava Gardner.  It’s two in the morning and they are sharing a bottle of Beefeater’s Gin:

“Frank reached across her, almost falling into her lap, and after fumbling with the latch for a second, opened the glove compartment.  He handed her a dark heavy metal thing that smelled of machine oil.  Ava cradled it in her hand, looked at it in wonderment.  It was a snub barreled Smith & Wesson .38 Chief’s Special.  Frank took another pistol just like it, squinting, aimed at the traffic light.” 

 

Are you kidding?  That’s the type of story that pushes a musician into a cartoon version of himself, but I don’t want to talk about Frank Sinatra.  I want to talk about his voice.

If you knew nothing about Sinatra and the luggage that comes with the name, you would be impressed by the voice.  He may be one of our greatest American singers for his ability to frame a song.  When he sings he sounds like he’s having a conversation like it’s just you and him in a bar and there is no Rat Pack. 

Sinatra picked up the nickname, The Chairman, but I think he’s more dynamic than one who shouts out orders in a boardroom.  Just pick up one of my favorite albums, It Might As Well Be Swing.  Through ten songs he ranges from confident and melancholic to petty and magnanimous.  My favorite song is the Oscar nominated “More” from the thoroughly bizarre movie Mondo Cane.   Sinatra’s voice is full at ease and buoyed by the restrained, yet dynamic horns of the Count Basie Big Band. They are a perfect match and have produced one heck of a sing-able album.  I’m sure Sinatra wouldn’t mind if you sung along as long as you remember who’s in charge. 

dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ fornaught.net

JAZZ NOTE 19 – HAVE A FAMILY REUNION

After

What makes New Orleans not only a musician’s town but also a place that produces musical families?  Take the Marsalis family.  There’s Wynton, one of jazz’s more tireless promoters.  Then you have Branford, Delfeayo and Jason.  Plus, don’t forget the man who started it all, Ellis.

What is surprising about this multi-gifted family is how they never grew up playing together à la the Von Trapps, the Osmonds or Hanson.  Ellis was aware of the gimmicky nature of children dressed in uniformed costumes trying to please a taskmaster of a father.  He had no intention of pushing his kids to follow his tradition.  If Ellis’ sons wanted to learn jazz, he would show them how, but they would have to discover what it meant to them on their own.

That’s what Ellis did most of his life, first teaching music in high school before moving on to New Orleans University.  In fact, The Marsalis Family: A Jazz Celebration is a concert that only came to fruition because Ellis was retiring from the University’s jazz department.  Only at the end of a distinguished career would his sons come to play together for the very first time.

At this point the Marsalis boys had all found their path in the music industry:  Wynton on trumpet as well as director of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra; Branford on saxophone playing with Sting and as the bandleader for the Tonight Show; Delfeayo on trombone working as a musical producer; and Jason on drums and vibraphone and co-founder of one hopping group, Los Hombres Calientes. 

The only non-Marsalis on the stage that night was one of Ellis’ students, Roland Guerin on bass.  And with Ellis on piano, the group played a little of everything:  You have the standard, Oscar and Hammerstein’s “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top”; the traditional, “St. James’ Infirmary”; the sibling rivalry, Wynton and Branford going toe-to-toe in “Cain and Abel”; and the crowd pleaser, Louis Armstrong’s, “Struttin with Some Barbecue.” 

Then you have three songs from the man of the hour.   My favorite is “After.”  I’ve listened to it so many times it now evokes a certain mood.  Part calm, part wistful, part longing, if this album is about family, then this song is about a man, who after a long, hard day, has a few moments alone to reflect, to be thankful and to be relieved that Cain and Abel finally put down their instruments and went off to bed. 

dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ fornaught.net

JAZZ NOTE 18 – LOVE WHAT YOU DO

If you want to know why I love jazz, look at the aside picture.  It’s Art Blakey and he is smiling.  In fact, any picture of him behind a set of drums wielding a pair of sticks has a beaming face.  That’s unless he’s brandishing a lit cigarette.  Then, with lips pursed he reveals a sly grin.

The reason for the smile is because Blakey loved what he did.  As a self-taught drummer in the late 40’s, he became an intricate sideman to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.  As a budding bandleader in the 50’s, he formed the Jazz Messengers, a tight-knit group that created the funky style known as hard bop.

If there is one word I would use to describe Art Blakey, it would be joyous.  If jazz could be the musical equivalent to gospel, Blakey, who grew up a Seven Day Adventist, spent every waking moment spreading the good news.  Jazz filled him with an infectious spirit and he was tireless in his pursuit.  Many pictures not only had him smiling behind a set of drums but profusely glistening.  To him a concert was like a tent revival and he did everything under his power to bring everybody along.

Another aspect of Blakey that I love is how he never dulled in his musical pursuit.  When his band evolved in the 70’s and 80’s as a breeding ground for new talent, Blakey saw the setup as a two-way street.  For the rookies, they were given an established platform to make their argument.  For Blakey, he had continual flow of new blood to keep his band moving to the next gig.

Blakey recorded over 100 albums but it was his constant touring that he saw as the key.  His zeal is so well known there is a possible “true” story in Bill Crow’s Jazz Anecdotes to highlight this dedication:

Art was driving to an out-of-own job and passed through a village where traffic was completely tied up because of a funeral procession.  Since he couldn’t get past the cemetery until the service was over, he got out and listened to the eulogy.  The minister spoke at length about the virtues of the deceased, and then asked if anyone had anything else to add.  After a silence during which nobody spoke up, Art said, “If nobody has anything to say about the departed, I’d like to say a few words about jazz.”

I have over 20 songs of Blakey marked favorite.  One thing they have in common is they are bold and crisp.  They establish the melody early and get on with the solos.  I also find them thematic: Arabia, Night in Tunisia, Free for All and Alamode.  Just listen to Noise in the Attic and see if you don’t agree.   

Dave

JAZZ NOTE # 17– LEARN SOMETHING NEW

Holland & Habichuela: Subi La Cuesta

Sometimes I wonder if jazz musicians are born to continually hone their craft.  For them, music isn’t an arc where a creative flourish is followed by future reunion tours.  Instead, it’s a rise and expansion of musical proficiency and knowledge.  For example, take a look at bassist, Dave Holland.

Born in the jazz hotbed of Wolverhampton, England, Holland was already an established figure on the London jazz scene when he caught the ear of Miles Davis.  On first impression, Davis asked Holland to join his band.  And after a two year stint, Holland would move on, forming groups from trios to sextets and collaborating with the likes of Betty Carter, Bonnie Raitt, Roy Haynes and Herbie Hancock. 

When I saw him in concert in 2000, he was touring with his big band.  It was his first foray into the larger group and it was a challenging experience for as Holland explained “There’s a fine line for balance, utilizing the band for my composing and arranging, but also keeping the flexibility and freedom in the music.”

Holland was rewarded for his freshman effort.  A few weeks before Holland arrived in the Twin Cities to warm up the crowd, he received a Grammy for the Big Band’s release, What Goes Around.    Not a bad result.  But why stop there?

In 2007 at the age of 61, Holland decided it was time to learn something entirely new.  The idea came at the request of Mario Pachero, director of the musical label, Nuevos Medios.   Pachero wanted to create a musical project where a jazz and flamenco artist collaborated on a new album. 

This request wasn’t a weekend gig.  As Chris May from All About Jazz explains:

“… flamenco is not easy for a non-Gypsy convincingly to perform.  Intricately codified, rich in lore and tradition, its broad mannerisms can be mimicked quickly enough, but to inhabit its soul, its cante jondo (deep song) takes much, much longer.”

Holland’s commitment to his musical partner, flamenco guitarist, Pepe Habichuela, would last longer than most NBA marriages for he approached the project with a humility and openness.  Up until this point Holland was an established jazz elder, mentoring musicians half his age.  Under Habichuela’s tutelage he worked like an intern trying to capture the subtle and complex soul of a folk music that runs passionately through the dry southern regions of Spain.  Practice and play, play and practice, Holland met on and off with Habichuela for more than three years, describing the learning process like a growing young tree “… that will eventually bear blossoms and fruit.” 

In 2010 Holland and Habichuela released Hands, a sprite and joyful celebration of the rich, vibrant sound of flamenco.  Never does so much come from such a small group.   The album is aptly named.  Just listen to “Subi La Cuesta” (Up the Hill) and see if it doesn’t get you on your feet, clapping.

- Dave

JAZZ NOTE #16 – NAME THAT TUNE

Alfredo Rodriguez playing... Esperanza Spalding playing... Roy Hargrove playing...

I’m not a big fan of hastily put together cover albums, especially when the musical cannon comes from the Disney Vault.  It seems every song that has been done has been covered again.  Do we really need another rendition of “It’s a Small World” after hearing Slim Whitman and The Baha Men?  But even with my reservation, I have to say I am pleasantly surprised with Everybody Wants to be a Cat.

This isn’t a Disney album for kids unless they are jazz aficionados.   There was actually thought and possible love put into this compilation as the producers reached out to a broad spectrum of the jazz world.  There are the elders like Dave Brubeck and Dianne Reeves and the established like The Bad Plus, Roy Hargrove and Joshua Redman.  There is even newcomers like the Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez and the tiny gal who carries a big bass, Esperanza Spalding.  Then there is one of my favorites, Regina Carter, playing her violin in a beautiful rendition of “Find Yourself” from Cars. 

One thing I like about jazz musicians is how they can hide the original theme to a popular song.  Some will increase or slow the beat.  Others will play in another key.  Then others will try to go completely into unchartered territory.  The key is can they make it work?  I have included three songs by Rodriguez, Spalding and Hargrove.  I think they find the right balance with varying grades of difficulty.  See if you can guess the song they are playing.  It’s okay to cheat.  I had to look on the CD cover to figure out the third.  I guess I still have a ways to go before I can call myself hip.

Dave

JAZZ NOTE #15 – HIGHLIGHT A TOWN (PART II)

There is a lot of great music in the Crescent City.  More than any other New Orleans is a musician’s town. After all, how many other cities have their airport named after a trumpet player?

If you are looking for music that highlights the rich musical landscape of New Orleans, you can do no better than Dr. Michael White’s Adventures in New Orleans Jazz Part 1.  White’s fifth release on Basin Street Records features a traditional New Orleans sound with influences of reggae, as well as African and Caribbean traditions.  There are also a few nods to 60’s and 70’s pop music. 

FAVORITE SONG:  “South African Medley: Pata Pata/The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Mbube).”  White’s clarinet is carefree, lighthearted and joyful. 

 

Wynton Marsalis has been a global ambassador for jazz for so long, it’s easy to forget his New Orleans roots run deep. 

The Majesty of the Blues reminds us that he never forgot his hometown.  The title track is powerful and tight like a stiff shot of bourbon.  “Hickory Dickory Dock” shows his penchant for setting nursery rhymes to a jazz beat.  And the final tracks demonstrate a very old and established New Orleans’ tradition of the funeral march.  In Marsalis' rendition jazz is the body and its funeral is set in three parts:

The lament can be heard in “The Death of Jazz.”

The remembrance can be found in a fiery sermon, “Premature Autopsies.”

The celebration can not be stopped in the toe-tapping strut, “Oh, But on the Third Day.”

 

Garrison Keillor called BeaSoleil, “The best Cajun band in the world.”  Although from Lafayette, BeaSoleil is very much a part of the New Orleans musical landscape.  Formed in 1975, they are still out there playing at music festivals and town halls or wherever there is a place to put a band and dance floor.  BeaSoleil is in fact the equivalent to Ireland’s The Chieftains, firmly grounded in their own musical tradition, but more than welcoming to other ideas whether it Zydeco, jazz, Tex-Mex, country or blues. 

FAVORITE SONG:  No doubt “Zydeco Gris-Gris” from Bayou Boogie.  The first time I heard it was the beginning of the movie, “The Big Easy,” a crime drama set in New Orleans.  The song set a celebratory tone as Police Detective, Remy McSwain, blared his car radio on the way to a murder scene.  Who knew solving crimes could be so much fun?

 

Preservation Hall’s mission is in its name: to preserve the heritage and culture that is the birthplace of jazz.  Most people would regard this music as Dixieland and have visions of men on steamboats wearing straw hats and bow ties while playing trumpets, clarinets, banjos and trombones.  (Oh yeah, don’t forget the poor guy who has to lug around the tuba.)  That certainly was the past but the hall and its players are always evolving. 

If you are in New Orleans, you can stop by at 726 Peter Street and listen to nightly music.  And if you don’t want to travel, the band may come to you.  They are on the road 150 days a year. Recently, they released a new album with bluegrass legend Del McCoury.  It doesn’t look like anybody is wearing a bowtie on the cover. 

 

After Katrina a lot of people wondered what they could do to help the devastated city.  The town’s musicians knew exactly how to pitch in.  They picked up their instruments.

Sing Me Back Home: The New Orleans Social Club is a compilation of a tight-knit group of artists who call New Orleans their home.  On the album are the Neville brothers, Ivan and Cyril.  There is Dr. John, The Mighty Chariots of Fire and the smooth as can be, John Boutté. 

MORE THAN ONE FAVORITE:

John Boutté singing a heartfelt rendition of the Eurythmics’ “Why.”

Big Chief Monk Boudreaux easing into a reggae-infused “Chase.”

Trombone Shorty riding a Caribbean wave in “Hey Troy, Your Mama’s Callin’ You.”

Then there is The Sixth Ward All-Star Brass Band doing what New Orleans does best in “Where Y’At? Medley.”

Speaking of brass bands, I finally know what second line music means.  Have you ever been to a parade?  Stuffed with mini doughnuts and root beer you feel yourself slightly slipping into the afternoon sun while the classic cars, dairy queens, carnation-covered floats and farm equipment pass by.  But before you doze off, your ears perk for off in the distance you hear a rousing marching band.  For an instant you are pulled from a sleepy haze until the musicians move down the street.  Did you ever wish you could keep listening?  In New Orleans you can.  You can get off the curb and fall in line, the second line.  When you are in New Orleans, why ruin a good time? 

Dave

JAZZ NOTE #15 – HIGHLIGHT A TOWN (PART I)

When TV Creator, David Simon, chose to set his new HBO series in post-Katrina New Orleans, critics wondered if he was going to bring the same Dickensian scope he brilliantly illuminated in The Wire.  The short answer is no.

The Wire showed how  institutions become dysfunctional by following Baltimore’s low-level drug dealers, city cops as well as district attorneys, sleazy lawyers, beleaguered educators and county officials who seem more concerned rewarding constituents than solving the city’s mounting problems.  Simon’s Treme (a neighborhood in New Orleans) stays on the ground level by following people who are trying their best to put their lives and town back together. 

There is a bar owner who needs a new roof and a Mardi Gras Indian Chief trying to get his tribe back.  There is a restaurant owner wondering if she can hold on until the S.B.A. loan comes through and an unemployed D.J. wondering where he will find his next paycheck.  There is a civil rights lawyer who tirelessly searches for a prisoner lost in the shuffle and a Tulane English professor who turns his frustrations into profane rants on You Tube. 

What Treme shares with The Wire is an authentic feel for a city.  But where Lester Freeman of The Wire once said, “All the pieces matter,” Treme is not concerned with solving the puzzle.  Why set a police drama in New Orleans with such great music on every corner?  The characters and their travails may provide a bridge from episode to episode.  But make no mistake, the musicians are what make this show.

A typical episode runs 60 minutes.  If Treme was on NBC, you would be guaranteed 20 minutes of commercials.  Since it is on HBO, commercials are turned into music.  R&B, Dixieland, funk, jazz, second line, funeral marches, street musicians, Cajun, Zydeco, when the musicians play a song, they play the whole song.  No twenty seconds and cut to commercial.  This is the Big Easy and the joyful spirit of New Orleans is fully highlighted.

 My favorite character is an underemployed trombonist, Antoine Batiste, played by New Orleans native, Wendell Pierce.   The way he drifts through the town and interacts with actual musicians is the best part of the show.

There he is playing with trumpeter, Kermit Ruffins, in a smoky low-lit bar.

There he is playing at a strip club while catching the act.

There he is playing in a big band for a wedding party, trying to stay awake while they plow through Ellington’s “Take the A Train” or as he whispers to a fellow trombonist, “Take the Z Train.”

There he is half-inebriated singing with a pair of street musicians.

There he is on the phone trying to get a touring gig with Dr. John.

There he is in baggage claim at Louis Armstrong Airport, playing for visitors from Tulsa and Cincinnati.

There he is doing a funeral march.

There he is working the Second Line.

After he takes some time off to visit his kids in Baton Rouge, Batiste climbs into a bus headed back to his hometown. 

A little old lady sitting next to him asks if his trip to New Orleans is for business or pleasure.

Batiste leans back and smiles, “Pleasure, always for pleasure.”

 

Dave

JAZZ NOTE #14 – CAPTURE AN ERA

We here at We Heart Music are big fans of Putumayo and their focus on music from around the world.  They are like a cool friend who makes really great mixed tapes.  Forget splapdash and haphazard, the selections they chose have something to say and blend so well with the others. 

Anita O’Day: It Don't Mean A Thing Read More Jazz Notes If you don’t know much about jazz, I can think of no better introduction. I especially like Toussaint’s interpretation of “St. James Infirmary”, a traditional dirge of a funeral march, but he picks a pace between a skip and a strut.

If you go to their website www.putumayo.com you will notice they have compilations from every continent except Antarctica.  Espana and Brazilian Café are in my musical rotation and so will Jazz.

Jazz is a pretty broad musical term.  This compilation concentrates on an era when big band was on the wane and rock n’ roll was still on the horizon.  It was a time when jazz musicians were exploring and pushing the boundaries in tightly knit combos and singers were adding their own voice to the classic ballads of Gershwin and Hammerstein. 

What I like most about this record is it’s not the typical collection of usual suspects you’d grab while ordering a latte or picking out furniture.  This is a thoughtful compilation that both beginners and aficionados can enjoy.  There are singers on this record that I’m unfamiliar with like Blossom Dearie and Maxine Sullivan and there are well know icons playing recordings I never heard before: Louis Armstrong and Oscar Peterson in “I Was Doing All Right” and Cannonball Adderly and Bill Evans playing a rather upbeat “Waltz for Debby.”  Then there is Anita O’Day’s interpretation of Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing.”  If any person captured the feeling of jazz in the 5o’s it was her.  Hip, cool and non-conforming, she could swing with the best of them while adding her own sassy spin. 

Dave

JAZZ NOTE #13 – GO GLOBAL

The Girl From Ipanema

If you need someone to blame every time you hear “The Girl from Ipanema” in a hotel lobby or office elevator, you can take it out on Stan Getz.  But how did a Jewish kid from the Bronx usher in a new global sound?

At a young age Getz took to the music of jazz.  Having a photographic memory and a pitch-perfect ear, he could hum Benny Goodman solos after a couple of listens.   By the time he was 18 he had already played for Jack Teagarden, Jimmy Dorsey and Stan Kenton.  And in 1947 he relocated to California to play with Woody Herman. 

But by 1950 Big Band Swing was on the wane and Getz moved onto the Cool Movement, which concentrated on clean lyrical phrasing and a more subdued sound.  But even that movement would give way as musicians started to move further and further from any inherent structure  and into modal and free jazz.

Getz couldn’t go that far into the water.  To him the new music did not speak to him.  So that’s maybe why he was so open to a new sound that guitarist, Charlie Byrd, brought back after a State Department tour of South America.

Bahia (Aka Baia)

Immediately, Getz fell in love with the Brazilian music of Bossa Nova and released Jazz Samba in 1962.  The album was so well received Getz invited two of the founding fathers, Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim to fly up to New York and record Getz/Gilberto.  From there “The Girl from Ipanema” would reach #5 on the pop charts in July of 1964 and the album would go on to win a Grammy, beating out the Beatle’s Hard Day’s Night.

What made the music so popular was at the time it felt like a breath of fresh air.  Getz was the perfect ambassador to introduce this sophisticated rhythmic sound. His saxophone creates a calm and relaxed feeling, like a cool evening breeze coming off the ocean.  Every time I listen to either of these albums I am transported to a sunnier, more happening place, especially when I listen to “Bahia” as Getz floats above the bass that propels the beat like a giant trampoline.  

 

Dave

JAZZ NOTE #12 – FRAME THE MOMENT

Nancy Wilson: Moon River

Growing up in Ohio, Nancy Wilson knew early she wanted to be a singer. After winning talent shows, working clubs, touring with a big band and studying briefly to become a teacher, she decided to make a move to New York City in 1959.

Cannonball Adderly was so impressed with the up-and-coming singer he helped launch Wilson’s career by sharing his manager, John Levy, and his label, Capitol Records.  That’s all the help she would need.  Her debut was so well received she released five albums by her within the first two and a half years.  And for the next forty Wilson would go on to record 70 albums with the last, “Turn to Blue,” winning a Grammy in 2006 for best jazz vocal.

Although Wilson has been described as a blues, jazz and/or cabaret singer, she has always preferred the title, song stylist.  She is definitely one of those artists that can take a standard and make it her own.  With the bright clarity of Ella Fitzgerald, the phrasing of Billie Holiday, the command of Frank Sinatra and the sensibility of her childhood idol, Nat King Cole, Wilson crafts a warm, sophisticated sound or as Time Magazine wrote in 1964, “She is all at once, both cool and sweet, both singer and storyteller.”

Like all the greats, Wilson can bring you in and make you feel at ease.  Take “Moon River.”  Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer’s original is wistful and longing, but Wilson’s interpretation is a breezy.  She doesn’t so much sing as soar, gliding over the subtle percussive beat as to never land on a single note.  No wonder Joe Williams once called her the Thrush from Columbus.

Dave