4 in 3

Moving house

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 18:26:37 +0100

I’ve decided to move on from this Tumblr blog and relocate myself to a new site. I’ve really enjoyed writing here but more and more over the past couple of weeks I’ve had gigs and people have googled me either before or afterwards. That web search comes up with this website which is not always ideal. Most people don’t care about which YouTube video I’ve recently posted. So my new website will (hopefully) be a more professional place as well as somewhere that I can continue to write and blog.

So thank you very much to everyone who has visited this site. There were far more of you than I ever thought there would be.

I look forward to seeing you over at my new site.

All the best.

"So, what’s she like?” began Pete Williams … This was the moment we cheered more..."

Fri, 11 May 2012 18:24:00 +0100

““So, what’s she like?” began Pete Williams … This was the moment we cheered more loudly than any other. We cheered because no one has written a song like This Is What She’s Like before or since. We cheered for the 12 scintillating minutes it portended. And, perhaps without even fully realising it, we cheered to atone for the hostility that greeted Don’t Stand Me Down, the 1985 album from which it came.”

- The Guardian

A short clip of me playing ‘Fly Me To the Moon’ with Ian Shaw

Thu, 10 May 2012 16:13:04 +0100

A short clip of me playing ‘Fly Me To the Moon’ with Ian Shaw

Dexys: What’s she like Kev? (Taken with Instagram at O2...

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:10:38 +0100

Dexys: What’s she like Kev? (Taken with Instagram at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire)

BADBAD ... GOOD?

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 19:04:23 +0100

There’s lots of talk around the jazz corner of the Internet about a certain Canadian band.

BADBADNOTGOOD are certainly creating a lot of waves as they go but I’m not sure for the right reasons. This article from NOW magazine literally left me frothing at the mouth for a myriad of reasons. I can’t really pick out any specific bits. It’s just top quality bullshit. Has the author ever listened to Jazz?

NOW Magazine

Thankfully Peter Hum is around to offer a calm and level headed critique.

I still have more listening to do but so far I found their bold claims over the top, in spite of what so-called “sonic prophet” Giles Peterson would like you to think.

Also just because it’s a rock influenced piano trio does not mean the comparison to TBP needs to be made. They are, at least for the moment, mere shadows of The Bad Plus.

Read and listen. It is, at the very least, interesting.

Saxophone (Taken with instagram)

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 20:27:00 +0000

Saxophone (Taken with instagram)

Glasper’s ‘Black Radio’ - Review

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:41:39 +0000

Glasper’s ‘Black Radio’ - Review:

I wrote a review of Robert Glasper’s Black Radio for the student newspaper, The Mancunion. If you don’t read the review please just listen to the album.

Its bloody excellent.

Sonny Rollins - Beyond the Notes

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:08:00 +0000

Sonny Rollins - Beyond the Notes:

A film on iPlayer about Sonny Rollins’ music built around his 80th Birthday concert. I was absolutely sick with jealously when I heard who turned up on this gig - Christian McBride, Roy Haynes, Jim Hall, Ornette Coleman (The first time they ever played on stage together!) and Roy Hargrove. Now you can, and should, watch this gig. Just beautiful music. This is why we have BBC 4.

I was lucky enough to see Sonny Rollins several years ago and I hope to have that opportunity again. I found it a truly inspirational experience

Stop what you’re doing and watch this! Rober Glasper and...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:37:00 +0000

Stop what you’re doing and watch this!

Rober Glasper and ’Smells Like Teen Spirit’ is just the dream team. 8 mins 15 secs is so intense.

Eat your heart out Nirvana.

I've Got You Under My Skin: Why I love Jazz

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:21:43 +0000

I've Got You Under My Skin: Why I love Jazz:

A little something I threw together for our student newspaper. The original title (above) must have been a bit too wordy. I would also point out that I do not endorse the labelling of a bass player and a saxophone player as a “typical jazz combo”. That would be more of an ‘unusual credit-crunch jazz combo’

“Black Gold” from Esperanza Spalding’s upcoming album Black...

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:28:09 +0000

“Black Gold” from Esperanza Spalding’s upcoming album Black Radio

This genre we call ‘jazz’

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:49:18 +0000

A post by my friend Alex Hitchcock over at the Cambridge Varsity Blog has got me thinking about Jazz and genre. Jazz is a genre that I love as well as a word that I hate to use.

“What is jazz?”

A reasonable question you may argue. Not so. Forget genre. It won’t even begin to inform you about the richness of music.

For me, genre is a by-word for a watered down stereotype. It is a reductionist term that does help anyone. Musicians, listeners, fans or those whose minds and ears are open enough to search for new music. People don’t discover music by genre anymore. When was the last time anyone typed ‘rock’ into Spotify?

I’ll repeat the tired old line. In the past jazz has been the popular music, the current music of the young generation. The music of today is a shadow of its former popularity and glory.

That may be the case but my experience is that it is a vibrant music with a huge amount to offer to those willing to roll up their sleeves and find it. But they are not willing to make that effort because of the preconceptions they have about the genre. It stands for cocktail piano, it stands for chaotic noise and it stands for stuffy black and white music from the past. How could such a thing be relevant to the young Radiohead fan?

Time and time again I’ve had ‘the music’ conversation with someone. You know how it goes. Someone asks you what your into and for some reason you say jazz. Perhaps you say it in the desperate hope you’ll find a kindred spirit but more often than not you’re met with a sigh or at best a slight feigning of interest. Next time you’ll make the same mistake again. How else are you supposed to describe your music tastes?

It shouldn’t be that way. Jazz is a much wider church than people would imagine - actually forget about the whole church thing, just pull it down - and hope is on the horizon. Robert Glasper is being positioned as some kind of saviour of jazz, bringing his crossover influences and crossover fans to the genre. In a sense this is true but I would be tempted to argue that there is nothing ‘crossover’ about his music in a world where there are no genres to cross-over.

His upcoming album ‘Black Radio’ is the perfect example. The artists he is collaborating with have all made their names in other genres apart from Jazz but Glasper argues that they are all jazz musicians at heart. Jazz is the background and the spirit to the record even though it touches on a huge range of influences. The ‘jazz’ is the spirit of collaboration, mutual respect, and sense of the unknown which permeates the record.

Playing someone Glasper’s collision of Maiden Voyage and Radiohead’s Everything In Its Right Place gives them a taster of the huge amount of history, innovation and tradition that is present in the one track from ‘In My Element’. It begs the question. What kind of music is that? Well iTunes calls it Jazz. Whatever that means.

In the postmodern world that we live in, art and music can’t be neatly collected together anymore. I offer no alternative name for ‘jazz’ but I do know that it is time to find some way of removing all those negative stereotypes so more people can discover this amazing music. #BAM may or may not be the answer but its time to stop trying to box jazz up into a genre. It represents so much more than that.

Update: I’ve been pointed in the direction of a pertinent quotation from Kassabian’s ‘Ubiquitous Listening and Networked Subjectivity’.

as John Hartley puts it: “genres are agents of ideological closure—they limit the meaning potential of a given text, and they limit the commercial risk of the producer corporations” (128). In this sense, genres might be understood to discipline reception.

Should have just quoted this instead and saved everyone some time. Anahid Kassabian is spot on.

merlin: Call Guinness Because no movie has ever sucked this...

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:38:49 +0000

merlin:

Call Guinness

Because no movie has ever sucked this fast.

(Also? Jesus Christ, the justification. Nice river, Steamboat George.)

Any fans of Jazz and Tea Pots out there? (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:39:19 +0000

Any fans of Jazz and Tea Pots out there? (Taken with instagram)

So Killing, Man!

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:46:10 +0000

So Killing, Man!:

A new website

dedicated to the study of improvisational music through the transcription and analysis of “killing” solos.

Chris Potter’s Boogie Stop Shuffle is already up there. What more do you need?

Update:

Maybe Brad Mehldau’s Wonderwall?

What I’ve been reading ...

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:50:46 +0000

Its been a very hectic few weeks leading up to the end of the first term at Uni so I have not had much time to write. So here are a few things that others have been writing. The Jazz world is buzzing with debate at the moment. Its a really exciting time and whatever people tell you, Jazz is not dead … or whatever you want to call it #BAM.

Part one of the year end roundtable discussion over at The Gig, hosted by Nate Chinen. They’re up to part 6 now and counting. Not to be missed
Ethan Iverson weighs in on Nicholas Payton. Often its hard to find the energy to read Payton in his own words. Its never a struggle to read Iverson. Also - his follow up post with some interesting things to say about leaders and collectives in jazz.
‘Why Does It Feel Important To Like Rap? (As A Jazz Fan)’ - ‘Like’ seems like a strong word. I might stick with ‘appreciate from a distance’.
Great interview with the wonderful Christian McBride. One of my favourite musicians. So much more than a just a bass player.
The late, great Paul Motian was remembered in many places. This is my favourite - honest, intimate and heart-rending.
Not current exactly but I’d not read it before. Keith Jarrett is at it again … in 1997. ”I’m not a perfectionist, and I’m glad I’m not. But if there were perfection, I would be.’’ wow.
Finally, its all about NPR’s Jazz Piano Christmas 2011. Enjoy with mulled wine.

Merry Christmas

Being congratulated by Steve Reich after our performance...

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:17:25 +0000

Being congratulated by Steve Reich after our performance of Music for 18 Musicians last weekend.

I’ll be writing more about it once i’ve had a chance to order my thoughts after what was a once in a lifetime experience.

Robert Glasper Experiment

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:34:51 +0000

The Robert Glasper Experiment - Band On The Wall, Manchester - 21st November 2011

The evening opened to the outlining of A Love Supreme from subtle bassist Derrick Hodge before the powerful influence of drummer Chris Dave set down a groove that formed the base of the group improvisation.

Robert Glasper (below) is supremely talented pianist able to go from smooth gospel voicings to breathtaking runs that feel as if they could go anywhere. Often he sat back and let others lead, instead happy to provide careful colouring from the piano or electric keyboard. The performance was about the group, not one individual and it showed through the music.

Casey Benjamin (below) mesmerised the audience with his singing through the always surprising Vocoder, a sound that is much more effective live than it is on record. A slew of effects meant that alien sounds were never far away. A dazzling, aggressive soprano solo, that was in no need of electric effects, came towards the end of the second set. It came as quite a shock from the sensitive, trance-like groove that preceded it.

An expansive introduction from Robert Glasper ushered in The Experiment’s take on the Nirvana classic, Smells Like Teen Spirit a track which Mr. Glasper assured me would be on their new album. From the glimpses we were given at Band On The Wall, its sure to be a great album. Make sure you catch this group if you ever get a chance. They’ve got a lot more left to say.

And as a personal plea to the man who talked so loudly throughout the set that he had to be told to shut up by the band - Just stay at home next time. For the sake of the rest of us!

Teach me Bob

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 18:15:02 +0000

Earlier this week I was privileged enough to go to a masterclass at the RNCM given by the Yellowjackets.

As you can see from the above, we were all quite excited to see the saxophonist in the Yellowjackets - the simply legendary Bob Mintzer.

The three hour masterclass covered all sorts of topics interspersed by some of their repertoire to illustrate points. Drummer William Kennedy spoke emphatically on the importance of the emotional content in your playing and how to access it. Russel Ferrante demonstrated how he brings all his music making in to influence his composition and his improvisation and Jimmy Haslip teased us with anecdotes of the ‘little known’ bassist Jaco Pastorius. Mr. Mintzer talked a lot about improvising compositionally and going beyond patterns and ‘vocabulary’ to find your own voice. A question about playing over unusual time signatures prompted Mr. Mintzer to demonstrate how he would take a Michael Brecker lick, adapt it, alter it and bring it into his own playing of a simple blues. This was the only mention of a figure who for me was clearly the elephant in the room!

The session was rounded off with an interpretation of a standard which as very interesting seeing as the Yellowjackets only play original material. We all left with much to think about and I think I was not alone in feeling both utterly inspired and de-motivated at the same time.

Later that night was their gig at Band On The Wall and it was fascinating to hear them in concert after the acoustic numbers of earlier in the day. The whole band were on fire and audience were appropriately appreciative. Mr. Mintzer also spent much of the evening playing his EWI which I really enjoyed in spite of the sound which could be called ‘dated’ at best!

For me the show was stolen by Mr. Mintzer’s inventive and technically dazzling solos and the chemistry and virtuosity of bass and drums. Together they really proved the rhythmic impetus behind the pieces.

A closing blues brought the packed house down.

This video should provide a taster. Sick around for the seriously tight head out.

After the gig I was privileged enough to meet Mr. Mintzer in person and he was very gracious to me and my friends, taking the time to chat to us individually. The projects that he has worked on and the musicians that he has played with is staggering. To be able to listen to, and learn from such a giant of the instrument was such an honour and a unique experience.

"The story goes that Jarrett was on the phone to ECM boss Manfred Eicher barely before the applause..."

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 13:22:59 +0000

“The story goes that Jarrett was on the phone to ECM boss Manfred Eicher barely before the applause had died down, convinced this was his best gig in years – and he’s right.”

- Rio is coming tomorrow. I’m excited.

Guardian