tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35683720744699547972024-03-05T04:07:54.844-08:00Crazy Bent Brass TubeDexter Gordon: "You know, in the life of every tenor player there always comes a moment of fear. And that is when the tenor player must play Body and Soul." Crazy Bent Brass Tube is a blog about saxophones, jazz, and creative improvised music containing rants and occasional wisdom, original performances, reviews, interviews, gig notices, and links to helpful and interesting resources.
tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-72936410493568564342015-06-12T09:02:00.000-07:002015-06-12T09:06:58.537-07:00Ornette Has Left the Planet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Sad day if somewhat inevitable. Ornette Coleman passed yesterday in New York, aged 85. I can't think of anything profound to say about Ornette that hasn't been said before. He has been praised up and down, called everything from genius to legend, recognized financially with a MacArthur fellowship. Thousands of student musicians will hear him but none can imitate him because he did not play by the numbers; there are no pattern book exercises you can memorize and play at high speed that will teach you harmolodics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">I found seven different articles about Ornette on </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">The Guardian</i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;"> today while searching his obit. Some choice snippets:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">"Having bought his first saxophone with money he had earned from shining shoes, Coleman learned to play it as if it were a toy. “I didn't know you had to learn to play,” he told the Guardian. “I didn't know music was a style and that it had rules and stuff, I thought it was just sound. I thought you had to play to play, and I still think that."</span><br />
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"Coleman was given an alto saxophone by his mother at the age of 14, but there was no money for lessons. It did not occur to the boy that this might matter. As Coleman once put it: “I thought music was just something human beings done naturally, like eating. I thought [the saxophone] was a toy and I just played it. Didn't know you have to learn something to find out what the toy does.”"</div>
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"His playing was by now a partly planned, partly serendipitous mingling of tonal, atonal and microtonal music (the exact pitch of Coleman’s notes defy the tuning fork), infused with the blues."</div>
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How about that? Music as sound? Something human beings done naturally? You mean you don't have to painfully kvetch out years of lessons, exams and competitions to become a player? You have to play to play? Defy the tuning fork? Blasphemous. One of a kind. Irreplaceable. Listen to his records.</div>
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Here are links to the full articles:</div>
</span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2015/jun/11/ornette-coleman-ourage-and-rightness"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2015/jun/11/ornette-coleman-ourage-and-rightness</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/11/jazz-great-ornette-coleman-dies-aged-85"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/11/jazz-great-ornette-coleman-dies-aged-85</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/gallery/2015/jun/11/ornette-coleman-life-in-pictures"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.theguardian.com/music/gallery/2015/jun/11/ornette-coleman-life-in-pictures</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jan/24/ornette-coleman-seb-rochford"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jan/24/ornette-coleman-seb-rochford</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/11/ornette-coleman"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/11/ornette-coleman</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/from-the-archive-blog/2015/jun/11/ornette-coleman-ronnie-scotts-jazz-1966"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.theguardian.com/music/from-the-archive-blog/2015/jun/11/ornette-coleman-ronnie-scotts-jazz-1966</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/11/harmolodics-and-ham-sandwiches-meeting-ornette-coleman"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/11/harmolodics-and-ham-sandwiches-meeting-ornette-coleman</span></a></div>
tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-50694320263119673652015-01-08T04:29:00.000-08:002015-01-08T04:29:04.133-08:00Coming to America (Shola Version, 2015)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I just heard from Nigerian saxophonist extraordinaire Shola Emmanuel, who is currently fulfilling a lifelong dream by travelling to the U.S. with horn. He spent a few weeks in Atlanta and is currently jamming away in D.C.</span></div>
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Shola's impression is that "Jazz Musicians work so hard but most time struggle everywhere." The more things change, the more they stay the same. I trust the U.S. meets Shola's expectations musically and he earns some lasting international recognition while there, because many I know define success by the mere act of relocation to a more developed economy.</div>
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2014 was musically fruitful for Shola, evidenced by a baker's dozen of links to YouTube videos he's done over the last year. Here is an improvisation on clarinet backed by bass which has a montage of stills in the background (pay particular attention to the photo of Shola with a certain tenorist which shows up at the 1:05 mark):</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/KgYKeI9JdyE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And here are the other dozen links for your listening enjoyment. Comments are welcomed and will be passed on to the musicians:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQbwnh26zAE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQbwnh26zAE</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiUlX66ke_o">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiUlX66ke_o</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFpqbrLV_Uo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFpqbrLV_Uo</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9qI1664ups">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9qI1664ups</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w2Vy4LeTaM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w2Vy4LeTaM</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDUqwIzdZMo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDUqwIzdZMo</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40pN4K1CAcQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40pN4K1CAcQ</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjBoL1E1esk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjBoL1E1esk</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE-h09zFQf8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE-h09zFQf8</a><br /><br /><a href="http://youtu.be/RHhelh9ogAg">http://youtu.be/RHhelh9ogAg</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn36DLTXFxQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn36DLTXFxQ</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qecFHrRjU4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qecFHrRjU4</a></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm told a new song is on the way and will post it as soon as received. Be on the lookout.</span></div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-4035134622221366832014-12-14T00:07:00.001-08:002014-12-14T00:20:19.299-08:00Quick Trip to Madagascar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioGwhXld0Zaj2E6MiB7f52KGz4ikpushGVuUbF_zG1Yn3kb1CDuyJO2kgSEI2JXb258ME3Nhgqy-icJ3Jn8unzCxQcms_tYYeLoXPGvzzWFny-osaWcZHsM0u8FeKdsBDT6aQV80OFGT0/s1600/Deux+Chevaux+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioGwhXld0Zaj2E6MiB7f52KGz4ikpushGVuUbF_zG1Yn3kb1CDuyJO2kgSEI2JXb258ME3Nhgqy-icJ3Jn8unzCxQcms_tYYeLoXPGvzzWFny-osaWcZHsM0u8FeKdsBDT6aQV80OFGT0/s1600/Deux+Chevaux+1.jpg" height="300" title="Deux Chevaux in Antananarivo" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Deux chevaux rounds a corner in 'Tana</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Last week, I had the opportunity to spend a few days in one of the world’s less-visited backwaters, Madagascar − probably better known for the eponymous cartoons than for anything going on there these days. The Red Island is a quiet throwback to 1962. Antananarivo, the hilly capital, is one of the last remaining outposts of colonial France, evidenced by the ubiquitous presence of bald-headed, board-shorts-wearing 80-year-old Frenchmen sporting desperate local nieces in every hotel lobby. The city has a grungy charm despite obvious deep poverty. The taxis are mostly <i>deux chevaux</i> that have long seen better days, now kept alive with wire and duct tape, usually started with a push. Unfortunately, visitors to ‘Tana have no chance to see Madagascar’s iconic lemurs and baobabs in their natural habitat, as those few that remain on the largely deforested 21st century island are far from the city.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQJgshyphenhypheny68igWehh9LWlWGMRFRRIr_zOK_Mk8fw3_pxqrD2Rxa2SuZvsusOc_2XP87ecLyL7YvaHHph3mUCet0Hp2XBmsF0L10jq6O5WPMH2rib4h8ZM64WdH1tpKG1Dk6Fxlkq3Im8M/s1600/Deux+Chevaux+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQJgshyphenhypheny68igWehh9LWlWGMRFRRIr_zOK_Mk8fw3_pxqrD2Rxa2SuZvsusOc_2XP87ecLyL7YvaHHph3mUCet0Hp2XBmsF0L10jq6O5WPMH2rib4h8ZM64WdH1tpKG1Dk6Fxlkq3Im8M/s1600/Deux+Chevaux+2.jpg" height="300" title="Deux Chevaux in Antananarivo" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Two popular modes of transport in Madagascar</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Happily, Madagascar does have some jazz, unlike much of nearby East Africa; there is even a jazz radio station in ‘Tana (granted, playing mostly tinkling lounge music and doobie-doo vocals). The popular outdoor restaurant <i>Buffet du Jardin</i> in Place de l´Independance posted handbills for an upcoming live “Madajazz” event which featured photos of a local altoist. I can only hope he’s advanced his listening beyond 1980’s David Sanborn since I had to leave before I heard the show. A lively venue, although every time I visited the police stopped me and shook me down for ‘tea money’ upon departure. On the positive side, one beneficial legacy of French colonialism is that great food is everywhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The trademark instrument of Madagascar is the valiha, a stringed instrument belonging to the zither family, constructed from a large bamboo tube with strings of various lengths from end-to-end around the circumference. Valihas of various sizes are available in local markets for around $10; I am certain that more are sold to tourists to hang on the wall than are actually played by locals these days. As in most of today’s Africa, rappers with big sunglasses dominate the local music scene, with nary an instrument to be heard beyond guitar, electronic keyboard or drum machine when you turn on the TV or radio. Nonetheless, last summer I picked up bootleg DVDs of Dexter, Hawk and Rahsaan as I strolled through the park near Place de l´Independence. Somebody in Madagascar knows the good stuff.</span></div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-16306914700636018662014-11-11T19:55:00.000-08:002014-11-11T19:55:46.989-08:00Remembering Keystone Korner<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Picked up the book <i>Keystone Korner: Portrait of a Jazz Club</i> yesterday, although I still have trouble calling any e-version a proper book. I was attracted to the book because it reminded me of visiting the famous San Francisco music haunt a few times back in late 1977 or early 1978, when I was newly out of college and hanging out with my engine-nerd brother in the Bay Area. Last laugh is on him, I guess, as he is an early-retired millionaire while I am still down at the steel mill chucking steel like a slave.</span></div>
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I remember it as a relatively small, unremarkable space where I could always manage to get front row seats. Cover must’ve been about 8 bucks then since it was before both jazz and San Francisco became exclusive domains of the upper crust. At that price I was able to see and hear some great acts, usually either going alone or with my long-lost friend Dave, another young jazz-obsessed white guy saxophonist who played some tenor. I played alto in those days. Wonder what ever happened to Dave? I can’t even remember his last name or I could Google him up. What I do remember is the rat on the floor under the bed when I stayed over at his Oakland apartment after one late night performance.</div>
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Back at Keystone Korner:</div>
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Cecil Taylor on solo piano. Cecil played that piano like he had three hands. I am not a big piano fan but he was amazing. Last I heard of Cecil, now an octogenarian, is that he was 419’d last year out of something like half a million dollars.</div>
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Max Roach, the greatest jazz drummer in history, with his second great quintet featuring smokin’ Billy Harper on tenor and Cecil Bridgewater on trumpet. This band is relatively unsung but probably second only to the Clifford Brown-Sonny Rollins group of the mid-50’s (kind of like Miles’ mid-60’s Wayne Shorter band in comparison to his late-50’s group with Trane). Max was professorial. Billy Harper never played a bad note then and still hasn’t, one of the best tenors alive and one of my perennial favorites.</div>
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Dewey Redman, at the peak of his creativity. This was <i>Ear of the Behearer</i>-era, all originals before he (like many masters who must get frustrated with their own creativity) regressed to playing standards. At the time he was at the top of my list of active tenor players and I really looked forward to hearing him live. Unfortunately, Dewey was not friendly.</div>
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Dave, where are you now? Do you still play tenor?</div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-29981235401810254952014-10-22T21:37:00.001-07:002014-10-22T21:41:07.650-07:00Jackie Hits the Daily Mail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Not quite music, but Jackie's first month at St. Andrews has been memorialized in the UK tabloid <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2800435/foam-sweet-foam-students-university-celebrate-freshers-week-messy-fight-traditional-raisin-monday-party.html" target="_blank"><i>The Daily Mail</i></a>:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-sexZwmzjUtNPr-bC6bl-JvoC9uu7KuljibsIA8R95pkRjACLKRBbq7m0eJkKnKV42BI4MFlwOw0LYgnckV6KxR8_KdEqC9oebvS9EeA68SVZBdF8ReXLe2fm3N7vV_if_GAYOSm4tk/s1600/1413821916340_wps_103_Hundreds_of_students_many.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-sexZwmzjUtNPr-bC6bl-JvoC9uu7KuljibsIA8R95pkRjACLKRBbq7m0eJkKnKV42BI4MFlwOw0LYgnckV6KxR8_KdEqC9oebvS9EeA68SVZBdF8ReXLe2fm3N7vV_if_GAYOSm4tk/s1600/1413821916340_wps_103_Hundreds_of_students_many.jpg" title="Jackie Ashkin St. Andrews Raisin Monday 2014" /></a></div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-90246671376622875482014-10-10T23:17:00.000-07:002014-10-10T23:18:31.437-07:00Keep Calm and Listen to Jazz<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-77882658742914699062014-06-25T21:58:00.000-07:002014-06-26T06:39:46.559-07:00Shola Emmanuel - Paris Recording Session<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I awoke in the middle of the night to a rooster call from my fancy new hand phone, a call from an excited Shola Emmanuel announcing that he had just returned from a recording session in Paris. In the fog of sleep I couldn't catch too much detail, but in the morning I found a link to a professionally-produced YouTube video in my email. Here it is, kind of a chamber-jazz thing with a French rhythm section. I am promised that there is more to come; a new album is being mixed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The musicians in the video are:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Shola Emmanuel : Alto Saxophone</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Matteo Pastorino : Clarinet</span></div>
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Jean-Baptiste Pinet : Drums</div>
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Rafael Paseiro : Double Bass<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">Recorded at Bopcity Jazz-Studio, Paris, June 2014.</span><br />
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Bertrand Beruard - Double Bass<br />
Femi Paul - Alto Sax<br />
Michèle-Anna Artiste - Vocals</div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Michael Williams - Drums</span></div>
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Johan Blanc - Trombone</div>
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Ruairidh - Bagpipe</div>
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Shola also played tenor sax, baritone sax, clarinet, trumpet, and piano.<br />
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In this day and age where every music school student has more recordings under his belt than some of the historic saxophone legends, I truly hope that Shola's European adventure gets him some international exposure and leads to some gigs outside of Nigeria. He is one of the only contemporary Nigerian saxophonists playing original improvised music as well as music in the tradition of the Parker-Coltrane axis, swimming against the tide of crappy hip-hop and African MTV big-sunglass videos. I've known Shola for more than six years now and he was already introduced to me as "the best saxophonist in Abuja" on day one. I will update with more video and sound files as I get them.</div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-82198933371457540192014-06-06T08:48:00.000-07:002014-06-06T19:37:24.998-07:00Tempus Fugit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">“We know you've got talent, but do you have the natural ability?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jackie garnered three major all-school awards at Dalat International School’s end-of-year awards ceremony this morning – two in the performing arts plus an academic one – along with two course awards. Later in the evening she was awarded a scholarship for the performing arts, completing </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ten </i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">awards today overall. Talk about proud dad (and no doubt engendering some green glances...).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jackie was honored with the Band Director’s Award as Dalat’s outstanding instrumentalist for her saxophone performances in both concert band and jazz band; she started on alto five years ago and progressed to learn both tenor and baritone, tenor being her instrument of choice these days. She then won the school’s Fine Arts Award for her triple – no quadruple – threat in singing, dancing, and acting on top of playing mean horn. She recently played and sang the lead in Dalat’s musical theatre production </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Boardwalk Melody</i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, not only acting but also contributing to the original script and music. I actually think she is more talented as a vocalist. To cap off the day she was named the recipient of the school's Doug Brokaw Memorial Scholarship for further study in the performing arts, presented by one of her musical mentors, Valeri Brokaw. One of the course awards was in digital media which means she understands how to use technology as well as create quality content. Wow.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCi00Heq5_kk-YkuOjJ7avLAFqyiBenOQnN5RGQeNFEBvDRbGTMiApHqz8aaGXbtofpJzary7MPwUqrpHkRwH-AYfC_mbeI_X7-pRu1PhDoVfoaVEWIwa4n4heSZgKeXdffr2BQU3SR0/s1600/322101_316610245054807_265963826786116_849817_1122172243_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCi00Heq5_kk-YkuOjJ7avLAFqyiBenOQnN5RGQeNFEBvDRbGTMiApHqz8aaGXbtofpJzary7MPwUqrpHkRwH-AYfC_mbeI_X7-pRu1PhDoVfoaVEWIwa4n4heSZgKeXdffr2BQU3SR0/s1600/322101_316610245054807_265963826786116_849817_1122172243_o.jpg" height="320" title="Jackie Ashkin on alto sax" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
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I started taking Jackie out on gigs when she was 14 and she just started to improvise on stage in performance situations. She never did have stage fright and has become a comfortable if self-critical performer. I've never had to force her to practice, she just likes to play. She already understands that the journey is its own reward.</div>
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Some heavy duty rites of passage happening at the moment as she graduates high school and moves on to university, probably in the UK. But I really believe it is onward and upward for this girl who has always been good at everything she does but humble and in-touch as a person.</div>
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It’s nice for her to be recognized so highly but I truly believe you ain't seen nothing yet, and I'm looking forward to watching her flourish in a wider, higher level environment with even more creative performance possibilities in both theatre and music. </div>
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Bud Powell’s crazy tempo 1949 piano composition nails it: <i>time flies</i>. Just yesterday she was first picking up the instrument. I'm looking forward to jamming with her later today. Go girl!</div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-9164406789911606752014-06-04T21:18:00.004-07:002014-06-04T21:20:20.208-07:00Jazz in Transit - Zurich<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">May 12, 2014, 8:00am Central European Time. </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Getting most of my jazz in transit these days. On my way from Africa to Europe, transiting through Zurich this time. Like a different world in cleanliness, orderliness, efficiency and population density from the day-to-day world I inhabit. “Africa Rising” has a long way to go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Stuck in an early morning change of planes, the only place to get a coffee was the “Montreux Jazz Café” in Terminal D. Only airport I have ever been to that has a 3-meter-high photo of Miles on the wall (granted, a near-death Miles in a track suit and big sunglasses caught eating a sandwich). I sat down and had a $25 latte and baguette. Am I really out of it or has money lost its value – particularly the dollar?</span></div>
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There was a wall-sized TV playing video from the 2012 Montreux Jazz Festival. Most of the acts were far from my idea of “jazz”, but I did manage to catch one clip of Dave Liebman playing a Trane tribute with Swiss pianist George Gruntz. Liebman looked like <i>Bad Grandpa</i> on soprano but sure sounded sweet. Almost everything else I saw consisted of middle aged white men wearing black, lots of vocals, stuff I would call pop/lounge with little improvisation (other than the memorized kind of course), swing, or dissonance/blue notes.</div>
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Well what do I know? Picked up the program for the upcoming 48th Montreux Jazz Festival in July and Stevie Wonder is one of the headliners. A couple of decent acts – Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette with John Coltrane’s and Jimmy Garrison’s “kids” in his band (both now older than their fathers when they tore up the sky), Dr. John – great but not jazz. But about 50 other rock, pop, and lounge acts. Ugh.</div>
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Aha – a jump-suited Herbie Hancock now on the video playing <i>Chameleon </i>on some kind of toy-looking shoulder-slung electronic keyboard. I guess he knows what side his bread is buttered on because what I am watching is far from groundbreaking. Bar band music for a big paycheck. Borderline embarrassing. Herbie – Nooooo!</div>
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I am carrying my horn today for the first time in a while so somehow feel compelled to stand up for the music for its own sake. A ticket for Montreux this year? An All Music Pass “valid for standing room access during the entire festival” is a mere CHF 2,000 – more than $2,200! Festival sponsors include SOCAR – the state oil company of Azerbaijan, a friendly family dictatorship (where is Rain Sultanov, then, Azerbaijan’s premier horn man?), and UBS, the bank famous for assisting money launderers worldwide that has paid huge sums to the US Government to settle tax evasion charges.</div>
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Has jazz just become another way the self-appointed elites of the world express their exclusiveness and erudition? Another form of classical music? So far from its roots in exactly the opposite – the cry of freedom. Where is the cry of freedom in jazz today? How do we purge the music of its conservatory-trained <i>enfants terrible,</i> doobie-doo vocalists and middle aged men cashing their checks? How can auditorium-loads of human beings sit through this pap – especially at ticket prices higher than the annual GDP per capita of most of the countries I work in? How did these acts get on the bill in the first place? And I just read that last year’s Montreux Jazz Festival attracted 250,000 visitors. George Clinton might ask, where is the funk?</div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-83729931535775931912014-04-06T10:38:00.000-07:002014-04-06T10:45:12.592-07:00Brief Encounter with Guitarist Nels Cline at Istanbul Airport<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Standing in the passport queue at Istanbul Airport - modelled after a Disneyland switchback and just as crowded - I noticed a group of four or five arty-looking Americans in the row in front of me, two of them carrying guitar gig bags on their backs. It is easy to spot Americans when travelling internationally these days, not because of their loud mouths as in days of yore, but because we are few and far between in airports bursting at the seams with first time travellers from the so-called 'emerging world'. Anyway these Americans truly looked like artistes among the crowd of laptop, hand-phone and iPad twiddling tourists and businessmen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The queue stalled endlessly and the tallest of the lot, a thin 50-something guitar-carrying traveller, stopped in front of me with the name tag on his gig bag dangling in my face: "Nels Cline. New York, NY". Nels Cline - Nels Cline Singers - guitar not my musical bag but he is known for creativity and my Google search a day later showed him playing alongside Ellery Eskelin and William Parker, Julius Hemphill and Tim Berne. Apparently he has hooked up with a rock band called Wilco (whom I have neither heard of nor heard), apparently a big deal which has exposed him to a much larger audience than his avant-garde jazz playing ever did. I've listened to his music without paying enough attention.</span></div>
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Ron: I see being a famous guitarist doesn't help you get through the passport line any faster.</div>
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Nels: No.</div>
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Ron: Its not easy travelling carrying your instruments and stuff.</div>
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Nels: Its not too bad.</div>
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Ron: Well anyway, congratulations on making it to this point in life playing music for a living.</div>
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Nels: Its the only thing I've ever wanted to do. Thank you.</div>
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Security opened the gate and let the line pass; he was gone.</div>
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Well, maybe I have to give his music a serious listen now. Humility and talent seldom go together. As Jackie said when I told her about the incident, "reasons to like musicians 101".</div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-7402954775689777562014-01-28T07:22:00.003-08:002014-01-28T07:22:51.949-08:00Shola Eml – Jazz Africa Fusion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I phoned my sax playing buddy Shola Emmanuel in Abuja a few days ago to wish him Happy New Year and he asked me if I got the link. Link to what? A mystery until this morning when his email arrived.</span></div>
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The link inside led to an excellent three-minute video of Shola and his music shot by French filmmaker Libero Films. I don’t know too much about the clip’s genesis – possibly waiting for TV – but wanted to get it out as soon as possible. Apparently there is a second part in the works. If you are not familiar with altoist Shola from previous posts, we first met in Nigeria six years ago and have been on the same musical wavelength ever since. He is gifted with one of the quickest ears I've ever come across.</div>
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View Shola Eml – Jazz Africa Fusion below, or watch it in your browser by clicking the link <a href="http://2c5865a710b983948bac-80f91e95b1aaf39749cc9366998eb69e.r78.cf1.rackcdn.com/Shola%20Eml%20VDEF.mp4" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyOlYzyJACsBQmka0r-QY2zaNqKG7c3xxUZfo9fuvmz_qW5lt9AIhSiyA277dqUznNpLx2eaxsrgTT14992HA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Shola’s web site <a href="http://rhythmandsax.com/" target="_blank">Rhythm and Sax</a> has a contact form if you'd like to get in touch with him directly.</div>
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You can read about Marseille-based Libero films <a href="http://liberofilms.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">here</a> (French language site).</div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-16953167443006770812013-12-26T03:08:00.000-08:002013-12-26T03:08:13.573-08:00Au Revoir, Yusef Lateef<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’m seriously getting tired of this. Seems like every horn man I admire has passed on. Maybe it is a function of the fact that I do not especially like neo-con jazz and do my best to avoid those young conservatory players who approach the music in the same way a classical violinist does, following the rules, loaded with technique but void of creativity and innovation. This week Yusef Lateef left the earth. At least Yusef made it to the advanced age of 93 – unlike most musicians of his generation, he must have had some health care.</span></div>
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Jackie mentioned to me last week that her high school concert band was chock-a-block with saxophonists and as one of the seniors she was asked to diversify and play either oboe or bari. At one time I played oboe in school and told her that my inspiration to do so was Yusef Lateef, maybe the only jazz player in history to do anything worthwhile on that cool-sounding but testy and inflexible double reed. I asked her to seek out some of Yusef’s music on YouTube. A premonition?</div>
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Yusef came up in 1940s bebop and blues when cities like Detroit had a thriving scene of their own; he was a tenor player at the core, but by the 1950s he began to introduce other instruments to his repertoire, pioneering what came to be labeled as “world music”. Unlike many pioneers, however, he was not shot dead in his tracks and survived to play music that nobody else had in their head. Like contemporary Rahsaan Roland Kirk, many admired him but nobody copied him. And he stood out from Trane’s mighty shadow.</div>
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In reading obits in the <i><a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20131223/NEWS08/312230128/yusef-lateef-dies-obituary-jazz" target="_blank">Detroit Free Press</a></i> and <i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/25/arts/music/yusef-lateef-innovative-jazz-saxophonist-and-flutist-dies-at-93.html" target="_blank">New York Times</a></i>, I find it ironic that Yusef gained academic music degrees only after he had already been one of jazz’ leading hornmen for decades. Who could possibly have been good enough to teach him? And subsequently, what became of his own students? Apparently he turned to academia to eat well, teaching at U. Mass. Amherst in the 1970s, a period when luminaries like Archie Shepp and Max Roach were on the faculty.</div>
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Although Yusef’s music took off for outer space, he was rooted in the blues, no better shown than in the 1960 recording <i>'Teef</i> under Louis Hayes’ name on VeeJay, a straightahead workout which is a favorite of mine. I also particularly like <i>Live at Pep's Vols. 1 and 2</i> on Impulse from the mid-60s. Yusef continued recording until earlier this year, his last, <i>Light </i>by the Universal Quartet, done in Denmark just this past spring at age 92.</div>
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One less legend around to inspire us. Jackie ended up choosing baritone.</div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-73858324253780736222013-12-12T02:36:00.001-08:002013-12-13T04:19:20.587-08:00Unfortunately, I Was Right About Stan Tracey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I wish there would be some news in the jazz world other than the greats leaving us one-by-one. My premonition last July was correct in the case of Stan Tracey, as I went out of my way while in Scotland last summer to see him at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival, only to be disappointed when he was a no-show at his own gig. I thought it perhaps my last chance to see the legendary house pianist from Ronnie Scott’s, and unfortunately I was right; Stan passed away this week. No more to be heard from the man for whom accompanying the likes of Dexter Gordon and Ben Webster every night for seven years was like "Christmas every day" (shades of Elmo). <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/06/stan-tracey" target="_blank">See his lengthy <i>Guardian </i>obit here.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Jim Hall left us this week as well. Most notable in my book for joining Sonny Rollins’ 1962 re-entry-from-outer-space album <i>The Bridge</i>, Jim played subtle guitar with virtually everybody in jazz, proving that you don’t have to be a million-note-a-minute twiddler to be a great player. If only more would listen and adopt his approach. From his <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/11/arts/music/jim-hall-jazz-guitarist-dies-at-83.html" target="_blank"><i>New York Times</i> obit</a>: Mr. Hall never took his mastery of the guitar for granted. “The instrument keeps me humble…Sometimes I pick it up and it seems to say, ‘No, you can’t play today.’ I keep at it anyway, though.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">To think that someone whose mastery of the instrument appeared so effortless was actually still intimidated by it after playing for 73 years. I don't feel so bad now on those days when practice seems like work and I feel like a small child picking up my horn for the first time.</span></div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-83495548639623582252013-11-10T06:17:00.003-08:002013-11-10T06:17:33.246-08:00Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, R.I.P.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A fallow period for me musically and a shame to break the blogging silence with a report on the passing of yet another one of my favorites, A.A.C.M. tenor saxophonist Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, at the age of 77. I found the news in an obtuse reference on a music blog I occasionally visit, but haven’t seen an official obituary yet. Kalaparusha was the subject of the great </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Guardian </i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">video “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/video/2010/sep/13/kalaparusha-maurice-mcintyre-horn-starvation-box" target="_blank"><i>That’s Not a Horn, It’s a Starvation Box</i></a>” in 2010, which I have previously referenced in my rants about true musical creators being underappreciated. I've told <a href="http://crazybentbrasstube.blogspot.com/search/label/kalaparusha" target="_blank">my own stories about Kalaparusha on this blog</a> before.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Kalaparusha, </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"</span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Humility in the Light of the Creator</i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">", </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">rest in peace</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. Your sound and your message did touch those who paid attention, and they live on.</span></div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-35260284441398542582013-09-19T08:41:00.000-07:002013-09-19T10:11:40.176-07:00Blue Lester<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In Penang to see Jackie perform at Short + Sweet Theatre 2013, I phoned journalist-cum-harpist Kim Gooi and asked him to come watch the show at Penang Performing Arts Centre. Kim came down and we talked music of course; blues, blues, and more blues. Kim had the idea to invite guitarist Joe Goh up from KL for one of our epic jams. The Penang Blues Brothers ride again.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHgEjpJbSl6ViX868k_C0ydnqy6b5MFsF2QowyxTI_HB6zBNDixfVklHGk_nFNyFzTzwAhgsXsJVw2HLVZhHcdN29p9IWNtpWtrfTaiCd0TpXd2auhceGoEmpJmU1uNXlLwoVSV6qQVs/s1600/P1330049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHgEjpJbSl6ViX868k_C0ydnqy6b5MFsF2QowyxTI_HB6zBNDixfVklHGk_nFNyFzTzwAhgsXsJVw2HLVZhHcdN29p9IWNtpWtrfTaiCd0TpXd2auhceGoEmpJmU1uNXlLwoVSV6qQVs/s400/P1330049.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><b>The Penang Blues Brothers jump and wail: Joe Goh, Kim Gooi, Ron Ashkin</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Joe caught the Katy up from Kuala Lumpur last Friday. I dropped by Kim’s and the three of us spent the afternoon working out on only three tunes – <i>T-Bone Shuffle</i>, <i>Kidney Stew</i>, and <i>Blue Lester</i> – all from the mid-to-late-1940s. I was on a roll a couple of weeks ago in Lagos and transcribed <i>T-Bone Shuffle</i> and <i>Blue Lester</i> from the original records and this was my chance to play them with others.</span></div>
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I particularly have had an ear worm for <i>Blue Lester</i> and I just can’t get that 1944 slow F-blues out of my head, Count Basie on piano backing Lester Young just prior to his military nightmare. I had first admired the tune on Von Freeman’s <i>The Great Divide</i>, where he calls it <i>Blue Pres</i>, and had half-transcribed it at the time – Vonski plays it at an even slower pace than Pres. A few weeks back I pulled up the original on my iTunes and re-discovered 10 choruses of pure bliss – Pres blows two choruses on the head, a single solo chorus, back to the head again, then Basie enters for three and Pres takes it out with three more, not bothering to return to the theme. Freddie Green anchors the proceedings with his steady rhythm guitar. Not a sound wasted. Nobody plays like that these days, when apparently both pianists and saxophonists are paid by the note. I can’t get the theme and Lester’s first solo chorus out of my head. I've transcribed that chorus and find Lester’s note choices deceptively simple, making me feel like I've been over-thinking my own improvisations.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJ_D7OGEO5iNyWdrrUnVu3ghRnSGvK6VS0xlU6gQvBdfdDUvdK-xo3k5xOeCkeF3cHGS-yKG6mVxsT1hc_FidxPpUdXmaoERp1ci2uLBysKlSer0Hb3Vc_10NKlQbFNMKlCtPqz5jgLQ/s1600/P1330051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJ_D7OGEO5iNyWdrrUnVu3ghRnSGvK6VS0xlU6gQvBdfdDUvdK-xo3k5xOeCkeF3cHGS-yKG6mVxsT1hc_FidxPpUdXmaoERp1ci2uLBysKlSer0Hb3Vc_10NKlQbFNMKlCtPqz5jgLQ/s320/P1330051.jpg" width="283" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>PPAC echoes (literally) with the sound of 1944.</b></span></td></tr>
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Unfortunately I left my trusty Zoom recorder back in Lagos and couldn't catch our version on tape. But on Saturday night, the three of us were invited to play for the cast party after Short + Sweet closed and we had a chance to perform <i>Blue Lester</i> in public for the first time. The tempo was set a bit fast and a young crowd more attuned to hip-hop got up and danced. Lester Young’s 16 bars connected with 2013 ears in Malaysia just as they had almost 70 years earlier in WWII-era America. It was not just me with the ear worm.</div>
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As Kim is fond of saying, if blues was money, I’d be millionaire.</div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-10100602305244584452013-09-14T20:39:00.000-07:002013-09-18T11:18:54.151-07:00Jackie Awarded Best Supporting Actor (Female)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><b>Best Supporting Actor (Female) 2013<br />...also Playwright and Director</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Short + Sweet Penang 2013 culminated in an awards ceremony on Saturday night and Jackie won the judges' prize for Best Supporting Actor (Female) for her role in Mark Sasse's <i>'No' In Spite of Itself</i>,<i> </i></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">despite her limited on-stage time</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. Congrats! Jackie's behind-the scenes role as director helped that play win Best Script for the series, helped out immensely by Ciera Nash and Joseph Stoltzfus doing strong work as the leads. Congrats to all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Penang Blues Brothers entertained with some jump and urban blues both before the performance and afterwards at the cast party. Special thanks to KL guitar hero Joe Goh and harpist Kim Gooi for the down home sound.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here is the final night's performance of </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">'No' In Spite of Itself </i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">on YouTube:</span></div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-74971565252396504472013-09-13T10:19:00.000-07:002013-09-13T10:52:24.282-07:00Short + Sweet Theatre 2013 @ Penang<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><b>Joseph Stoltzfus and Jackie Ashkin<br />"You talkin' to me?"</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Short + Sweet Theatre has returned to Penang Performing Arts Centre for the second year, with Faridah </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Merican and Joe Hasham overseeing production of a series of ten original short plays for a four-night run. Jackie’s original script </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Noticed </i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">was selected as one of this year's ten plays, and Jackie chose to direct another play and act in it as well. Her script <i>Smart Phones Stupid People</i>, which was so popular at last year's Short + Sweet in Penang, is being produced independently in Kuala Lumpur this year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ironically, although scripts were selected anonymously, the script Jackie chose to direct turned out to be written by her Dalat International School drama coach Mark Sasse, and Mark’s choice as a director turned out to be Jackie’s script.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><b>Director Jackie takes a bow<br /></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This year's run began on Wednesday, September 11 and finishes on Saturday, September 14. Jackie made her directorial debut with </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">‘No’ In Spite of Itself</i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> and also plays a supporting role, with Dalat friends Ciera Nash and Joseph Stoltzfus as the leads. Hope to have some YouTube clips up before long.</span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-69149041936015853332013-09-01T02:40:00.001-07:002013-09-01T03:36:13.499-07:00Biodun & Batik Afro Jazz Band at Freedom Park - Audio Tracks<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdtceIJpXwSbHNJmoAfR4DfAkUT4OaqS03C4Rn0oEdR8E49TOFUHZJGZhEo1FmWo_UveSnmtY18RD5u0PH_thzvvzexq6Ylm2PrCEiTGqtn3VFinu9Dl6GpJpur-2kxDI5mrpL0FN779w/s1600/P8301311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdtceIJpXwSbHNJmoAfR4DfAkUT4OaqS03C4Rn0oEdR8E49TOFUHZJGZhEo1FmWo_UveSnmtY18RD5u0PH_thzvvzexq6Ylm2PrCEiTGqtn3VFinu9Dl6GpJpur-2kxDI5mrpL0FN779w/s320/P8301311.jpg" title="Ron Ashkin on tenor sax at Freedom Park Lagos" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><b>On Stage at Freedom Park in Lagos<br />with Biodun & Batik Afro Jazz Band</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I was invited to Freedom Park on Lagos Island on Friday night to perform as the guest of trumpeter Biodun with his Batik Afro Jazz Band. Freedom Park is a relatively new venue on the site of the former colonial prison, an open air stage inside a walled prison courtyard that has been converted into a green space – an urban performance place in a sculpture garden surrounded by food stalls. I had heard of Freedom Park as the site of occasional Seun Kuti gigs, but it is relatively far from where I stay and I had not previously ventured down there. It is a very nice spot to spend an evening and I recommend it to music fans in Lagos. Biodun met me at the gate and introduced me to the park director, who turns out to be Fela Kuti’s son-in-law.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Biodun is a fine Hugh Masakela-influenced trumpeter – I </span><a href="http://crazybentbrasstube.blogspot.com/2013/05/jamming-with-trumpeter-biodun-batik.html" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">wrote about him when we first met</a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> in May of this year. His pedigree includes stints with Fela and Lagbaja. At Freedom Park, he fronted his Batik Afro Jazz Band of keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, and occasional girl singer. I had met bass player Mike before at Biodun’s home studio, but the rest of the rhythm section was new to me, fairly young but highly competent players. When Biodun phoned me to make the gig, I asked for a set list. He said not to worry, no set list, they probably would not play any standards, just some pop tunes and highlife in I-IV-V progression, and I could just jam along.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfly_ptnzPogA2p-MWIMLlTYNRgIkDDdHS_nXwV4F_0Pa0R5ifntlQ_PAUeOMmb-J39WIIn8fkLg3suSpCVe4YTXXQ3PuZgI_CVvkNPwh3OZgl3YQli4zWzcVu3jIKD968hg6FkKq_ag8/s1600/P8301312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfly_ptnzPogA2p-MWIMLlTYNRgIkDDdHS_nXwV4F_0Pa0R5ifntlQ_PAUeOMmb-J39WIIn8fkLg3suSpCVe4YTXXQ3PuZgI_CVvkNPwh3OZgl3YQli4zWzcVu3jIKD968hg6FkKq_ag8/s320/P8301312.jpg" title="Ron Ashkin and Seun Olota at Freedom Park Lagos" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Two Tenors -</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>With Saxophonist Seun Olota</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I realized the morning after the gig that Biodun and Batik play an incredible diversity of music – from jazz tunes by John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter to reggae, Fela's afrobeat, Igbo and Yoruba highlife, Afro-pop, originals, 60’s rock, and even some requisite smooth jazz hits and pop covers by the likes of Whitney Houston. I played tenor on the jazz tunes, most of the highlife, and had my first experience performing a Fela tune live – <i><a href="http://db.tt/RJkT4CT3" target="_blank">Water No Get Enemy</a></i>, which I learned from Showboy last year and actually remembered. During the second set, another tenor player, Seun Olota, joined the group, making it an octet. He and Biodun looked to be old friends and Seun fronted the band on two Fela tunes, singing and dancing <i>Water</i> and <i>Lady </i>to the crowd’s delight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have posted a few audio tracks from my Zoom: here are links to </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://db.tt/RJkT4CT3" target="_blank">Water No Get Enemy</a></i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://db.tt/dpFONQmn" target="_blank">Footprints</a></i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, an </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://db.tt/ibr2w1iw" target="_blank">Igbo highlife</a></i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> of unknown title, and </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://db.tt/e8jksZRI" target="_blank">Equinox</a></i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> (320 kbps MP3 sound files). That’s the good. The bad is that the sound system was not great, with the bass dominating, the snare drum too loud, and the piano down in the mix. The lead instruments were somewhat buried all night – especially the tenor sax, of course, which particularly gets drowned out by loud bass guitar since their frequencies overlap. But the music itself is nice.</span></div>
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There was no ugly.</div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-88861822810066252882013-08-22T14:03:00.000-07:002013-08-23T07:22:00.242-07:00Saxophone Colossus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My tenor-playing compatriot Alan Breen, now located in Phnom Penh, sent me the <a href="http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/sony-rollins-the-colossus-20130819" target="_blank">link to this noteworthy article about Sonny Rollins</a>. Rather lengthy in this short-attention-span world, but definitely worth the read.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One of the first jazz LPs I bought when I was a college student was </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Saxophone Colossus</i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, and I remember playing it sparingly because it was so great I was worried about wearing it out. Sonny is just the best ever. Imagine jamming with Bird while still a teenager and keeping up, and now at age 82 still having the urge to practice every day – to get better. One of the only times Bird recorded on tenor was alongside young Sonny on <i>Serpent's Tooth</i> in 1953 (try to pick out who is who on that record). Sonny has produced just too much good music through the years to credibly say that one piece, or one era, or one band, or one album is his best. I particularly love the story about the classic </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Tenor Madness</i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> session</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">with John Coltrane</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> in 1956 where Trane reputedly grumbled that Sonny was just messing with him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Reviews of Sonny’s 1960s RCA recordings – including the article in the link above – usually focus on his comeback album </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Bridge</i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, which is a jewel but ultra-conservative for 1962. I prefer the band from later that year with Don Cherry on trumpet, and the album from the following year alongside founding father Coleman Hawkins, which I find incredible. Sonny took some unique approaches during that session – some reviewers describe them as odd – merely to emphasize that he was not Hawk. Not long ago I came across some bootlegs from Ronnie Scott’s in the mid-60s that are undiscovered fun, where Sonny shares the stage with Ronnie himself (recently-discussed master Stan Tracey is on piano).</span></div>
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I've had the chance to see Sonny live twice through the years; once in 1981-82 in Philly in a club where I sat so close I could have shined his shoes. That night he was smokin’. In the mid-90’s I caught Sonny at Symphony Hall in Chicago. The venue was just wrong, the sound was bad, and the tickets were expensive. That gig was a disappointment, an off night.</div>
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2011’s<i> Road Shows Vol. 2</i>, where fellow octogenarians Sonny and Ornette Coleman have their first-ever meeting, is notable because Sonny mirrors Ornette’s style when they play together. Unbelievable that they never performed on the same stage before this.<br />
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There is a <a href="http://elleryeskelin.blogspot.com/2012/09/post-summer-catch-up.html" target="_blank">wonderful photo of Sonny on Ellery Eskelin’s blog</a> from about a year ago where Ellery met Sonny sitting in the waiting lounge of Detroit airport. Here is the living link to every major jazz player since Coleman Hawkins and a player who is on absolutely everyone’s best-tenor-saxophonist-in-history list flying coach class and sitting on a hard seat in the public area. This man should be up in First Class and in the VIP Room. A sad commentary on the economics of a playing horn for a living, even at the top.</div>
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According to Mark Jacobson’s article, Sonny is suffering from a lung ailment and hasn't touched his Mark VI for a couple of months. Not good news at age 82. Here’s a prayer that he makes it back. We can’t do without him.</div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-88651090334461126622013-08-19T06:43:00.000-07:002013-08-19T08:45:36.562-07:00Bands With Horns<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Before I forget, a few words about the live music scene in Glasgow, which appears like a foggy memory now that I have been back to the hustle of Lagos for a few weeks. Glasgow is a town of pubs and many of them support live bands. While in Glasgow I stayed in the city centre district known as Merchant City, serendipitously the hub of the live bar band scene. There was a pub called Maggie May’s right downstairs from my hotel room with live music (where I watched a stand-up comedy show one night and confirmed that we are indeed two nations separated by a common language); on the next corner was Blackfriar's, where I saw a rockabilly band on a Tuesday night replete with lead singer in red cowboy hat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Not all the live music in Glasgow is precisely to my taste but live music in pubs has an inherent value of its own, and Glasgow is a great place to visit if only for a sampling of one of the world’s best bar band scenes. Local music in 2013 is all the more valuable in light of </span><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/musician-calls-for-big-bands-to-come-clean-on-secret-backing-tracks-8773412.html" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">today’s article in <i>The Independent</i></a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> about so-called big name acts using pre-recorded backing tracks during their (well-paid) “live” performances…</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My best memory of Glasgow’s bar scene came about on a night when Blackfriar’s was dark; I asked the mountainous bouncer where there might be live music and he directed me a few blocks away to McChuill’s Public House. It didn't look too promising from the outside, like just another neighborhood pub, but when I entered and turned the corner two tenor saxes and a trumpet were staring me in the face. One of the tenors was a Mexi-Conn. Bar band heaven. The group was </span><a href="http://www.republicofsoul.net/" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">Republic of Soul</a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> and they put down two sets that took me back to Chicago. Almost an entire set of Wilson Pickett. Wicked.</span></div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-9440308356149710622013-08-01T02:59:00.000-07:002013-08-19T11:57:55.566-07:00Mark VI Overhaul by Top UK Tech Bryce Ferguson<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><b>Bryce Ferguson cradling my freshly<br />overhauled Mark VI tenor</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Just returned to Lagos after two and a half weeks in the UK, primarily up in Scotland where I was attending a professional training course at the University of Glasgow. Believe or not, the weather was spectacular; I heard it was the best weather recorded in Scotland for 200 years!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My Mark VI tenor has had its Eb spring broken off in the post for about nine months now and I've been playing that primo horn with a rubber band wrapped around the key ever since. Nobody in Nigeria could fix it as the spring stub had seized up in the post; attempts to repair it there damaged the horn worse. Once I knew I would be travelling to Glasgow I started looking for a tech who could repair it properly. I had an email exchange with Alastair Haydock, who owns Glasgow’s leading music shop, and Alastair was forthcoming enough to refer me to Bryce Ferguson in neighboring Edinburgh, saying he knew what my horn was worth and Bryce was the best sax tech in Scotland, better than his own repairmen. Edinburgh is about an hour by train from Glasgow so I schlepped my horn to Scotland from Lagos on the plane and then took the train over to Edinburgh after class one night to drop it off with Bryce’s apprentice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Talk about the importance of trust in business: I had never met Bryce before and here I was leaving an instrument worth as much as a small car with him, based on a couple of Skype conversations where it was obvious that he loved horns and knew exactly what to do. Bryce phoned me in the morning with the bad news – the horn needed a complete overhaul in his opinion, not just a new spring and a few adjustments. Cost would be about as much as the last horn I bought. Oh well – it would be like arguing with a brain surgeon. I asked him to go ahead and do the overhaul. It would mean not having my horn with me for the remaining days I was in Scotland, and any chance of sitting in at a local venue went out the window.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Got the horn back on Saturday. Bryce had disassembled it, fixed the bad spring and re-soldered the post, cut off the keys on two stacks and straightened the rods as much as possible (he said nothing on a Selmer is straight to begin with), laser levelled the tone holes, and did an ultrasonic clean of the entire horn. This horn sounds righteous so it has been played intensely throughout its life, but previous owners were perhaps not so careful with repairs and maintenance. Springs were mostly OK but corks and felts had to be replaced and the finishing touch was installation of a set of Prestini pads, which Bryce said are the best and should last ten years. Play testing, adjustment, settling in overnight, testing again, and final tweaks. The horn is now set up like a “modern” horn. It always played easily but now its quirks are gone, lazy keys and such. Funny, because it always played great to me and I never would have suspected that so much work needed to be done. My friend Dotun Bankole from Femi Kuti’s band always preferred playing my Mark VI to his, and that was before the overhaul. It now blows effortlessly from top to bottom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now I have to make up for about three weeks without practice. It will be back to running laps and doing push-ups for a while.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here’s the link to Bryce’s shop in Edinburgh, Scotland, </span><a href="http://www.brassandwoodwind.co.uk/" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">brassandwoodwind.co.uk</a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span></div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-32865749162647282212013-07-23T14:50:00.001-07:002013-08-02T07:52:42.769-07:00(Almost) Saw Legendary Pianist Stan Tracey in Concert<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><b>Brian Kellock (piano), Bobby Wellins (tenor sax), Clark Tracey (drums) in Edinburgh</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am currently in Glasgow, Scotland for a couple of weeks. Last Wednesday I brought my ailing Mark VI to nearby Edinburgh for overhaul by Bryce Ferguson, Scotland’s top woodwind tech. It has had a spring broken off in the Eb post since last September and was in general need of maintenance attention. Hope to have it back later this week. Bryce promises it will play amazing. If I thought it played well before...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Edinburgh positions itself as the world’s festival city and luckily this week is the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival. As such festivals go these days, it is large, well-produced, and well-marketed – but hardly any of the acts suit my taste in music. Wacka wacka.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Of all the acts on the bill over ten days, my choice was to see pianist Stan Tracey, legendary leader of the house rhythm section at Ronnie Scott’s club in London during the halcyon days of the 1960's. Stan has backed a virtual pantheon of saxophonists: Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster, Roland Kirk, Dexter Gordon, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Stan Getz, Don Byas, Lucky Thompson, and Ronnie Scott himself (quite a mean tenor player). Stan is 86 now and I figured I’d better see him now while I can. His regular quartet features tenor saxophonist Bobby Wellins, one of Britain’s finest and up in years himself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I took the 50-minute train ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh after my business was done for the day and went straight to the venue at 3 Bristo Place, a church converted to performance space. When I arrived, the doorman informed me that Stan had cancelled due to illness and pianist Brian Kellock would substitute, leading Stan’s quartet for the evening’s show. Hmph. Not my day. I heard that the organizers actually knew Stan has been ill for the last month and were hoping he would get well in time for the festival gig. Not to put Brian down, since he is a fine musician, but I stayed anyway, having travelled to Edinburgh specifically for the gig. Unfortunately the box office sold me a ticket for the same £17.50 that I would have paid to see Stan himself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Bobby Wellins and his BA</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The show started and ended with Monk – </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Monk’s Mood</i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> was the opener and </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Blue Monk</i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> the encore. The highlight of the first set was </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lover Man</i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> done as a fast samba. Bobby Wellins sounded his best and got the best audience response when he played a couple of straight-ahead blues shuffles. Bobby and his Selmer Balanced Action look to be about the same age.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The music was nice but frankly a bit too conservatory-perfect for me – well done, professional, enjoyable, musically correct, but it didn't get me up out of my seat despite the fact that I have been starved for good live jazz for ages. Maybe a bit too perfect. 8 out of 10. Bobby didn't even break a sweat, perhaps a function of playing for such a sedate and well-mannered audience. I was one of the youngest people in the crowd. Kudos to the sound engineers – the sound was </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">finely balanced and </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">crystal clear. Bassist</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Andrew Cleyndert was a standout. </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well done.</span></span></div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-12094884362043263632013-06-24T09:04:00.001-07:002013-06-24T09:04:27.777-07:00Two of Jackie's Original Monologues on YouTube<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Our YouTube channel has been rather dormant lately but </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">today </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I convinced Jackie to post a couple of brief clips of her solo acting. Having been out of the country, I didn't get a chance to see these live; these two clips represent only a fraction of her theatre work this year. Both of these monologues are original scripts she authored. At risk of being labelled a dragon parent, I let the performances</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> speak for themselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">First, <i>Fading River of Life</i>: </span></div>
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Next, <i>Calypso's Prophecy</i>:</div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-9793555832893042562013-06-16T05:04:00.001-07:002013-06-16T05:04:27.633-07:00Visual Artist Gilbert Hsiao is Busy This Summer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My lifelong friend and music lover, the New York-based visual artist Gilbert Hsiao, is hitting his stride after about 57 years and has a busy exhibition schedule this summer. You can (and should) catch his work in the U.S., Germany, Holland, and Thailand according to the following schedule. This post comes by way of Gilbert's mailing list; you can subscribe by <a href="http://www.gilberthsiao.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">directly accessing his blog</a>. Oops, I think we missed the first one.</div>
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<b>UPCOMING SUMMER SHOWS (NEW YORK & VICINITY):</b></div>
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<b>Lumen Festival, Staten Island, June 15, 6 PM-Midnight.</b></div>
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One night only, a quick walk from the Staten Island Ferry. This festival features installations, video and perfomance by over 60 artists, curated by David Terry and Esther Neff. I'll be spinning painted records on turntables under black light in public for the first time. This festival is a great excuse to take the Staten Island Ferry (check the times; the ferry is still free but runs on an hourly schedule). For more info go to the Festival website at <a href="http://statenislandarts.org/lumen-2/">http://statenislandarts.org/lumen-2/</a></div>
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<b>Phaedo, Storefront Bushwick, June 28-July 28</b></div>
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16 Wilson Ave, Bushwick near the Morgan Ave Stop on the L <a href="tel:%28917%29%20714-3813">(917) 714-3813</a> </div>
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My first show in Bushwick. Looking forward to this; however I won't be at the opening because I'll be in Berlin (see below). With Emily Berger, Benjamin Echerverria, Nate Ethier, JJ Garfinkel, Elizabeth Hazan, Osamu Kobayashi, Dominic Mangila, Laruen Portada and Anne Russinof. For more info go to <a href="http://storefrontbushwick.com/">http://storefrontbushwick.com/</a></div>
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<b>Dynamic Invention: Abstract American Artists at 75, Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, VT.. June 29-October 30</b></div>
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This is the first exhibition of the 75th Anniversary Edition of the Abstract American Artists Print Portfolio, featuring the work of 48 of its members. Unfortunately, can't make this opening, either. For information on the Art Center, go to <a href="http://www.brattleboromuseum.org/">http://www.brattleboromuseum.org/</a>. For Abstract American Artists, go to <a href="http://www.americanabstractartists.org/">http://www.americanabstractartists.org/</a>. For images of the portfolio, go to <a href="http://www.americanabstractartists.org/publishing/editions/2012/aaaprints1.html#adams">http://www.americanabstractartists.org/publishing/editions/2012/aaaprints1.html#adams</a></div>
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<b>Doppler Stop, Parallel Art Space, July 13-August 18</b></div>
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1717 Troutman, Ridgewood Queens near the Jefferson stop on the L</div>
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The 2013 version of this show organized by Mel Prest. Last year this show was seen in a number of different venues in Europe. This year, I'm proud to have been asked to do my first wall piece to be seen in a NY gallery. Artists include Steven Baris, Richard Bottwin, Edgar Diehl, Kevin Finklea, Brent Hallard, José Heerkens, Gracia Khouw, Sarah Klein, Stephen Maine, Gay Outlaw, Mel Prest, Debra Ramsay, Albert Roskam, Karen Schifano, Iemke van Dijk, Henriëtte van 't Hoog, Ruth van Veenen, Don Voisine, Nancy White, Guido Winkler, and Patricia Zarate. For more info go to <a href="http://www.parallelartspace.com/Parallel_Art_Space/Current.html">http://www.parallelartspace.com/Parallel_Art_Space/Current.html</a></div>
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<b>FURTHER AFIELD:</b></div>
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<b>Rituals of Exhibition II curated by Light Space Projects, H Gallery, Chiang Mai, Thailand, June 16-August 25</b></div>
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Truly international show featuring artists from four continents. John Aslanidis/Pedro Boese/Merric Brettle /Katja Brinkmann/Nate Ethier/Wolfgang Flad/Ludovica Gioscia/Brent Hallard/Nithiphat Hoisangthong/Jan Holthoff/Franziska Hünig/Mit Jai Inn/Isabel Kerkermeier/Jeremy Kibel/Andrew Leslie/Julie Oppermann/Rob de Oude/Mel Prest/Debra Ramsay/David Rhodes/Giles Ryder/Gunna Schmidt/Andreas Schmid/Alexandra Schlund/Mark Sengbusch/Jessica Snow/Elisabeth Sonneck/Nicola Stäglich/Michael Swingle/Klaus-Martin Treder/Tilman/Anke Völk/Nancy White/Patricia Zarate. For more information go to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/549256791793429/">https://www.facebook.com/events/549256791793429/</a></div>
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<b>Two Person show with Don Voisine, dr julius austellungen \ projeckten, opening June 27</b></div>
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60 Leberstraße, Berlin, Germany</div>
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I'm pleased to be returning to Berlin to show work alongside Don Voisine, whose work I have admired for a number of years. I'll be showing a wall painting. To our Berlin friends: Don and I will both be at the opening; hope to see you them. For more info go to: <a href="http://www.dr-julius.de/">http://www.dr-julius.de/</a></div>
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<b>the great BIG little graphic Art Show, PIT, Eindhoven, Netherlands, October 3-November 1</b></div>
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Curated by Linda Arts of Project Initiative Tilburg, whose work and curative endeavors I've always admired. In this first opportunity to work with her, I will show a piece from a series of prints done in 2005.</div>
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<b>Unlikely Iterations of the Abstract, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, opening October 31</b></div>
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Curated by Bill Arning, who gave me my first solo show back in 1986 at White Columns. More spinning records.</div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3568372074469954797.post-77338740295124625712013-06-09T05:28:00.000-07:002013-06-09T05:28:23.325-07:00New Africa Shrine, Revisited<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Being accused by one of my readers of not keeping my blog up, I feel compelled to post today. Sometimes we take things for granted. I suppose I fall into that boat about the New Africa Shrine, which is no more than 400 meters from my doorstep in the estimation of a colleague from London, who was simply amazed at the music coming out of what is ostensibly my neighborhood bar. I haven’t been going there so often lately as the show has become repetitive for me. However, on Thursday I had a contingent of work visitors from the U.K. and U.S. who wanted to pay homage at the Shrine, despite its rough reputation among the Nigerian professionals in our office. The Shrine’s star shines much more brightly overseas than it does locally.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The three foreign guests were simply stunned by the show that Femi Kuti and Positive Force put on at the Shrine that night. The glow of first experience. The place itself, the front-row table, the band rocking its warm-up set, the full horn section, the percussionists, the dancers both on stage and in cages alongside, the crowd, Femi’s star power, his rap, his circular breathing shtick on alto. All things that have become less impressive to me after dozens of times in the same seat over the past year or so. Time to take a fresh look. I will return tonight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I saw tenor saxophonist Dotun “Dotsax” Bankole up on stage; he sounded excellent in his one solo feature during the first set. Dotun dropped by my house yesterday for a jam. He doesn't get to showcase his talent on stage as much as he might like and always cuts loose whenever I see him privately. We jammed for about an hour and a half before he had to leave for his far-away home in neighboring Ogun State. Free association, <i>Lester Leaps In</i>, and <i>Milestones</i> were all we had time for. As last time we met, we swapped tenors; we both have silver-plate Mark VIs of about the same vintage and he swears mine sounds better because the silver plate is gone and the bare brass resonates differently. <a href="http://db.tt/HLIs8LwA" target="_blank">Here is a brief track of Dotun improvising unaccompanied on tenor</a>; he is working on a new album of originals which he expects to be complete in about two months.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Femi and the band will be leaving for a summer tour of the U.S. in a couple of weeks, beginning late June. Tenor fans, look for Dotun on stage if you want to hear one of contemporary Africa's best saxophonists.</span></div>
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tinearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14679047697668231729noreply@blogger.com0