Click here to see it.
Stan Getz, Stephane Grappelli, Brubeck, Monk, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Joe Pass, Bill Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, and more.
I suspect this music makes conversation smarter and wine tastier.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Dinner party playlist
Click here to see it.
Stan Getz, Stephane Grappelli, Brubeck, Monk, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Joe Pass, Bill Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, and more.
I suspect this music makes conversation smarter and wine tastier.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Ringing Dave King: The drummer talks about his new album, “I’ve Been Ringing You”
 |
| Dave King by John Whiting |
King made Ringing You with pianist Bill Carrothers and
bassist Billy Peterson. King and Carrothers have recorded together before
(Shine Ball, 2007, and The Electric Bill, 2002), but King had never played a
note with Peterson until the day they all convened at a Minneapolis church and laid down
the new tracks.
Ringing You is an album of standards: songs by Cole
Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Ornette Coleman. Songs including "Autumn Serenade," "So in Love," "People Will Say We're in Love," and "Lonely Woman." So this is not the Dave King
of the Bad Plus or Halloween, Alaska or the Gang Font or Dave King’s Trucking
Company or Happy Apple or Junk Magic or Buffalo Collision.
Except, of course, it is.
Except, of course, it is.
PLE: A lot of people
will be surprised by this album. Dave King playing standards?
Dave King: I was
talking to Ethan [Iverson] about some reviews that have come in – “King shows
that he plays brushes!” or whatever – and they always make us laugh because
it’s obvious that the reviewers don’t own any Bad Plus records. Every record has tunes with all of this
language I grew up playing – brushes, swing rhythms. I could name ten ballads
right now, tunes like “Bill Hickman at Home” [on Never Stop, 2010]. The irony
is, even “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on These Are the Vistas [2003] is
straight-up swinging. So it’s not a surprise or a controversy for people who
have really listened, only for those who have never listened.
Twelve years in, there are still people who have read one
article about a rock cover band, and I’m just this guy who sounds like Keith
Moon. As long as I’ve been studying jazz, I’ve played straight ahead. That
doesn’t surprise any of the musicians who know me, or who know the music of the
other groups I play in. Donating a whole record to the idea of noirish
balladry, and using brushes more, just means I was trying to make a different
piano trio record.
But why standards?
I wanted to make a standards record after so many years of
dedicating my life to original-sounding bands. But I still wanted to make a
record that doesn’t sound like anyone else. It would be much more surprising if
I made a record that was totally straight-ahead, without a shred of the
avant-garde or progressive rhythms. Then I myself would go, “What are you
doing?” But this record has all of those open spaces and chances being taken
that the Bad Plus has inhabited, and my work with Tim Berne and Craig Taborn.
I’m always going to inhabit some sort of risk-taking space. It’s part of what I
am.
I’ve never been an irreverent person, with ill will toward
straight-ahead jazz. When I’m at home, I listen to LPs of Carmen McRae more
than Ornette Coleman. I don’t just sit around listening to Sun Ra and shit like
that. I prefer listening to a lot of straight-ahead jazz as a fan.
I hadn’t made a record dedicated to tunes I love listening
and playing. I’ve been turning my kids on to old jazz records and musicals,
spending a lot of time going back, taking in music I love, in different
versions. The version of “If I Should Lose You” I go insane for is Keith
Jarrett’s from Standards, Vol. 2. There’s always some sort of iconoclastic
element. Like in “Lonely Woman.” All of these are forelorn tunes.
So I’ve been spending time going back. And I thought it
would be nice to document, as a love letter, a record I’d like to listen to in
wintertime, that would put me in a mood. I think of jazz that way: fall and
winter. I would make this a total homage. That’s why I wanted it to come out in
October.
You recorded in a
church.
I wanted to do it in a different way so it sounded older. All
of the pop artists are doing retro stuff – Amy Winehouse, Adele – mining soul
influences and old tones. You don’t hear any modern jazz records going for the
old [Rudy] Van Gelder room sound.
Matt Lindquist, the sound engineer for FirstAvenue’s main room, has been experimenting with mobile recording. He offered to find us a room, set up mics, and do it the old way. He found a church in Hopkins off Highway 7, and he knew someone who went there. He asked if it would be OK to rent the church for a couple of hours, and how much would it cost? $200? Fine. It’s a 1960s church, a big room. We went over and tested the sound.
Matt Lindquist, the sound engineer for FirstAvenue’s main room, has been experimenting with mobile recording. He offered to find us a room, set up mics, and do it the old way. He found a church in Hopkins off Highway 7, and he knew someone who went there. He asked if it would be OK to rent the church for a couple of hours, and how much would it cost? $200? Fine. It’s a 1960s church, a big room. We went over and tested the sound.
We played in the eagle’s net, where the choir would be –
above the congregation, near the pipe organ. We had a grand piano. Not a great
piano, but we had it tuned by Gordy Johnson.
How did you decide on
the other musicians?
I knew I was going to ask [Bill] Carrothers. We have a
longstanding friendship and we’ve played together for years. He has a deep love
of music, and he’s a master. He immediately said yes. Then I thought about the
bass. I had a couple of New York people in mind, people I’ve worked around and
with. There’s no shortage of great bass players in my life. But I wanted Bill
to feel comfortable. I never even thought about Billy Peterson, even though I
knew he and Carrothers had a long history.
So Bill Carrothers
suggested Billy Peterson. What was your response?
I trust Bill, and if he’s comfortable with a particular
harmonic relationship or improvising relationship, that means the music can’t
be bad. Everyone around here knows that Billy’s a great musician, but I hadn’t
had any experience with him. I’ve never really fit into the Twin Cities jazz
scene. I’ve lived here for 15 years, but I’ve never played with Billy Peterson,
someone everyone else seems to know. But I called him. I thought – this is my chance
to bring in an unknown element, unknown to me. I called him and he said yeah,
immediately, absolutely.
Can you talk about how the album
took shape?
We met in March, but we didn’t talk about tunes at all. I
wanted Bill [Carrothers] to pick a few things he wanted to do, and I started
thinking, “What would round out this record, this noir thing?” and decided, “We
can improvise one piece – the title track.” We discussed tunes at the session.
We went in late one afternoon, played for a couple of hours, took a dinner
break, played for two more hours, and it was done. The opening tune, “Goodbye,”
was the first thing we played, and we did it in one take. The other tunes were
never more than two or three takes.
And that was it. I went home, sifted through everything, and
set aside a couple takes of “Solar” that didn't turn out quite right.
How did you work with
Billy, since you had never worked together before?
I didn’t want any of this “we’ve got to hook things up”
mentality. I wanted him to be a searching, equal improviser. The bass didn’t
have to play any role at all. It was more about a concept or emotion than
filling some quota. I wanted him to know how I thought as a musician. To me,
the deepest rhythm sections are working on some sort of esoteric level.
You played “Solar” at
the CD release on Saturday. That was also only your second time playing live with Billy.
"Solar" was one of the highlights of the weekend – that sort of
burning, swinging thing we didn’t have on that tune during the recording
session. I had a great time at the CD release. I thought Billy P. sounded
unbelievable. You could tell he really went for it. His ears are so huge, and
he has incredible technique. He was so fired up about just being able to create
like that. I felt really good about having him there, and I thought we played
great together. I was completely comfortable playing with him.
Is I've Been Ringing You a
one-off or the start of a new band?
I think we definitely want to try and play some more. Do
another record in the future. Definitely field offers to tour and stuff. I’m
looking at that.
And what will you
call your newest band?
Not another band name! I would rather have all three of our
names listed.
I’m super proud that this group is all Minneapolis dudes.
This is not some small release. It’s already been reviewed in the New York Times,
DownBeat, JazzTimes. These guys are bad motherfuckers. Carrothers is one of the
greats of all times. His love for the music is so obvious. He’s earnestly in
love with the piano and playing jazz. It’s an added bonus that he’s such an
iconoclastic, controversial, thorny personality – a renegade human being. And
before this record, I didn’t know the depth of Billy Peterson.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Ari Hoenig, Bill Carrothers, and Chris Bates at the Artists' Quarter: Concert review
 |
| Ari Hoenig by John Whiting |
The first time you see and hear Ari Hoenig play a melody on
the drums – a real melody with notes, not the melody you hear, like harmonics,
when an exceptional drummer like Phil Hey plays (Hey’s melodies are implied yet
present, there but not there) – it’s kind of weird. You get distracted from the music, caught up in wondering “How does he do that?” and “Why does he do that?” A combination of sticks and mallets and elbows (to
raise the pitch, he leans on the drum head), it seems like a trick or a
gimmick.
Except it’s not. Like a pianist plucking the strings or a
percussionist bowing a gong or a throat singer chanting chords, Hoenig is
pushing his instrument, pushing himself (and us) to new places,
shaking up our expectations of what’s normal, adding momentum to the whole of music.
Playing melodies is not all he does; that would be a
gimmick, and he would not be doing his job as a drummer. So he usually plays a solo head, then returns to playing rhythms when the piano and bass enter in –
although there are moments of overlap, when all three are playing melody, and
those are thrilling.
 |
| Bill Carrothers by John Whiting |
Hoenig played the Artists’ Quarter in St. Paul last night, the
basement club that remains devoted to jazz. He was joined by the marvelous
Bill Carrothers on piano. In 2007, they made an album together, “Keep Your
Sunny Side Up,” with bassist Ben Street for Carrothers’ French label, Pirouet,
but had not performed together since. The trio was completed by Twin Cities bassist
Chris Bates, who’s on fire this year, having recently released his first CD,
“New Hope,” as leader of his own group, Chris Bates’ Red 5. “New Hope” has been
getting a lot of press and acclaim, deservedly so, but Bates still practiced
like crazy (he said later) for his weekend with Hoenig and Carrothers.
We heard two wonderful sets of music by Monk, Carrothers’
“Church of the Open Air” from “Sunny Side,” a tune that started as “I Got
Rhythm” and wandered freely from there, maybe “Evidence” from “Sunny Side,” a
fantastic “Moanin’” (for which Hoenig played the head, and prior to which he
tuned the snare, thanks to percussionist Peter O’Gorman for noticing this),
something that sounded classical, a few ballads, and tunes so fast and fierce
that sparks flew from the piano. Both Carrothers and Hoenig can play vast
numbers of notes/beats in a short time, but it’s always music, not mere
virtuosity, and sometimes very playful. Midway through the evening, Davis Wilson, the
AQ’s beloved doorman, said later that “Carrothers just pours music out, like pouring it
out of a jug.”
 |
| Chris Bates by John Whiting |
It was one of those great nights at the AQ, and it will be
repeated tonight, only differently. Go if you can.
Hear Hoenig find tunes in
toms and a snare, then surprise you all night long; he’s completely unpredictable. Did he suddenly go from soft to loud, or slow to very fast? Did he really change the rhythm radically mid-phrase? Did he just toss his sticks and mallets onto the drums? Don't expect a groove or a steady, foot-tapping beat. Hear
Carrothers do what he does
best, which is pretty much anything: play beautiful, intimate, and touching
melodies, burn down the house, mine music history, toss in quotes (last
night, mid-Monk, I’m pretty sure we heard a phrase from “I’m Getting
Sentimental Over You,” and later a bit from an old Maxwell House coffee
commercial). Hear Chris Bates more than hold his own with these two crafty
masters.
All three are so good, so on, so tuned into the group, the moment, and the music that at first you
can’t decide where to put your focus, until you give up and do what you should
have done from the start: listen to the whole sound, or as much as your ears and head are capable of grasping.
Again: Go if you can. If you heard this music anywhere in the world – walking
down a street in Paris, maybe, or Buenos Aires, New York or Tokyo – it would
stop you in your tracks.
_______
Related
The Ari Hoenig, Bill Carrothers, Chris Bates trio continues through tonight, Oct. 13. Carrothers returns to the AQ next week with Dave King and Billy Peterson for the launch of King's new album on Sunnyside, "I've Been Ringing You."
Between Sets: A Conversation with Bill Carrothers (2011) (link takes you to the NPR website)
Ari Hoenig and Jean-Michel Pilc Project (2008)
Bill Carrothers: One of a kind (2008)
First must-see of 2008: Bill Carrothers' "Armistice"
_______
Related
The Ari Hoenig, Bill Carrothers, Chris Bates trio continues through tonight, Oct. 13. Carrothers returns to the AQ next week with Dave King and Billy Peterson for the launch of King's new album on Sunnyside, "I've Been Ringing You."
Between Sets: A Conversation with Bill Carrothers (2011) (link takes you to the NPR website)
Ari Hoenig and Jean-Michel Pilc Project (2008)
Bill Carrothers: One of a kind (2008)
First must-see of 2008: Bill Carrothers' "Armistice"
Friday, September 28, 2012
A few more photos from Monterey
 |
| HH doing that thang he does, from the side of the Garden Stage |
 |
| Dee Dee Bridgewater backstage at the Night Club after Gregory Porter's performance |
 |
| HH schmoozing with Don Was and his son |
 |
| Our favorite Monterey usher/volunteer, Paul Aschenbrenner, who guards the Arena gates in many guises |
 |
| Paul in his shark hat, with HH's mascot perched on his head |
 |
| For some reason, F-16s flew over the festival grounds several times during the weekend. They were loud and fast. |
 |
| Not at Monterey, but en route to Monterey from SF, we stopped at a strawberry farm and discovered the SlowCoast Airstream Store parked on the grounds. Purveyors of books, bags, soap, and sea glass. We're considering a career change. |
José James interview
 |
| Jose James by John Whiting |
Read the complete interview at MinnPost.com.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Monterey Jazz Festival 55: A very good year
 |
| Tony Bennett |
And yet, at the 2012 Monterey Jazz Festival, we heard live music almost every moment of the
weekend. From headliners we knew to artists we didn’t, the densely packed
line-up kept us moving from Arena to Night Club, Garden Stage to Dizzy’s Den to
Coffee House, with brief stops for food (Jamaican vegan stew, which was
delicious; black-eyed peas and shrimp with grits; teriyakis; brats) and
shopping (the usual array of eclectic vendors; I brought home a pair of
tortoise-shell hoops and HH got his annual MJF T-shirt). As I
have each year since 2005, when I first attended the world’s longest-running
jazz fest, I arrived home already anticipating next year, when the
artist-in-residence will be saxophonist Joe Lovano.
FRIDAY NIGHT
Our Friday night began at the Garden Stage, where we waited
for José James to
arrive for his 9:30 set. I had managed to get an interview with him (to
my knowledge, the only interview he granted at the festival, and the only one
he had time for), after which we stayed for most of his performance. This was a
big week for James. Having just signed with Blue Note earlier this month, he’s riding
the major-label high-speed train; his song “Trouble” was the iTunes Single of the
Week, his EP launched, and his new album drops in January. During our talk in a
small room backstage, Don Was dropped by with his son. Was seems like a nice
guy. He laughs a lot.
 |
| Jose James |
From the Garden Stage, we headed to the Night Club for a
taste of the Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet, enough to hear the young trumpeter
blow one eloquent tune. We knew we’d catch him again over the weekend -- he
was this year’s Artist-in-Residence – and in fact we saw him several times on the festival grounds. Yet another wonderful thing about
Monterey: random artist sightings. Ours included Tierney Sutton, Chris
Potter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Pat Metheny, Christian Scott, members of various
bands, and (twice) Clint Eastwood, a long-time festival supporter, trailed by his retinue. His son,
bassist Kyle Eastwood, played a set early Sunday evening with the pianist Rick
Germanson. (We missed that, too. Sorry, Rick!)
 |
| Gregory Porter |
SATURDAY
 |
| DownBeat Blindfold Test |
 |
| A small part of Trombone Shorty's crowd |
Pedal steel master Robert Randolph and his Family Band played
two sets on Saturday, the first in the Arena. We caught part of the second on
the Garden Stage. Backstage, I had the chance to look closely at a spare pedal
steel guitar, an odd instrument with a fascinating history. Randolph, whose version has 13 strings, made it moan, wail, and scream,
sometimes pushing it forward on its front legs and bending over it in prayer,
still playing. Bluesy, soulful, fiery, spiritual music. He’s one of the artists
I didn’t know before Monterey and will never forget.
 |
| Bill Frisell's Big Sur Quintet |
 |
| Catherine Russell |
 |
| Tony Bennett |
Done for the night? Not quite. We caught the last half of
the Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour band in Dizzy’s Den. Each year, festival
artistic director Tim Jackson puts together an all-star superband, then sends
them out to spread the Monterey spirit across the land. (The tour
begins January 10 in Santa Cruz and ends April 28 in Anchorage. Check the schedule to see if it comes to your town.) The latest incarnation
is, in short, awesome: Dee Dee Bridgewater, Benny Green, Ambrose Akinmusire,
Chris Potter, Christian McBride, Lewis Nash. At Dizzy’s, Dee Dee (who gets
hotter by the minute) sang a breathtaking “Don’t Explain” with Benny,
Christian, and Lewis, after which the band played Bobby Hutcherson’s dynamic
“Highway One.”
SUNDAY
Our Sunday started late in the day with a Dizzy’s Den
conversation between Jack DeJohnette and journalist/author Ashley Kahn. The
topic was DeJohnette’s life in music; the questions came from other artists at
the festival with whom Kahn had spoken. Kahn began by saying what a challenge
it was to name an improvising musician with whom DeJohnette hadn’t played and
noting that the drummer had been in the lead position of every jazz style since
the 1960s.
 |
| Jack DeJohnette and Ashley Kahn |
After hearing Vernel Fournier on Ahmad Jamal’s “At the
Pershing,” DeJohnette bought his first set of brushes. When his grandmother
passed away and left him some money, he bought a car, a set of drums, and a
portable Wurlitzer keyboard. “That put me on a good path,” DeJohnette recalled.
“The keyboard let me get work in places without pianos.” He never took drum
lessons because “the drums came naturally to me … I learned from listening and
watching, and I started to practice 5 or 6 hours a day.” He finally made a
choice – drums over piano – when he moved to New York City in the 1960s, paying
$27 to send his drums by Greyhound bus (without cases, which he couldn’t
afford). Renting a room at the Y for $2/day, he thought, “I’m going to be a
drummer” and he never looked back.
How did he find his path? “You find your own voice, and the
village of other musicians reinforces it.” When he plays, does he see colors or
shapes? “Sometimes I feel colors … Sometimes I’m transported somewhere else –
I’m in the library of cosmic ideas.” Which album first defined his sound?
“Special Edition” with David Murray and Arthur Blythe (1980), something I’ll
probably have to go out and buy.
 |
| Meklit Hadero |
 |
| Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour |
___________________
Related:
Singer José James does 'the Minnesota thing' and makes music his way (link takes you to MinnPost.com)
Five New Singers at the Monterey Jazz Festival (link takes you to NPR's A Blog Supreme)
Ten must-see events at the 55th annual Monterey Jazz Festival, from one person's point of view
The 55th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival stays true to the music
Click here to view John's photo set on Flickr
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