Friday, August 31, 2007

Zwerin Still Alive & Well


I'm thrilled to see that my buddy Mike Zwerin, Bloomberg News' jazz columnist, is out of hospital and still smiling.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Columbia University Jazz Symposium

As noted in an earlier post, I'll be part of a day-long symposium on globalism and jazz at Columbia University's School of Journalism in New York City on Saturday, September 29. Others featured throughout the day include Gary Giddins, Greg Tate, Francis Davis, Howard Mandel and Stanley Crouch, all from the U.S., and a raft of international jazz journalists, including fellow Canadian Ashante Infantry from The Toronto Star.

The symposium is part of a festival of music and jazz films sponsored by Columbia's jazz studies program and the community of Harlem, among others. You can get more details here.

Drop by if you're in the NYC area.

The Jazz Journalists Association will also be blogging live from the symposium, and I'll post more details on that as they develop.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

A Bad August

What a terrible month it has been for jazz creators and commentators of the first order.

First it was Art Davis, Max Roach and Herb Pomeroy, and now word has arrived of the death of British journalist Richard Cook, following a brief and very secret battle with cancer. Cook, probably best known for the series of Penguin guides he co-wrote with his friend Brian Morton, was only 50 years old.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Now Spinning


I thought I would introduce a new, ongoing section to catalogue what I'm currently listening to, any comments, and sometimes why.

Two drummers have my attention right now (perhaps because I'm missing Max Roach so damn much):

John Hollenbeck's new Claudia Quintet CD, For, on Cuneiform, because anything John does is worth hearing, and a friend just reminded me what a brilliant and original composer John is. So far I'm loving it.

Paul Motian's new live CD featuring his Trio 2000 with Greg Osby and Masabumi Kikuchi added. Motian's touch is just so great.

Friday, August 17, 2007

An Ear Hiatus

My vacation took me to Canada's east coast, and travelling with my aged parents meant that my wife and I didn't indulge in much music -- apart from catching a nice accordion duo at the famous Ship Pub in St. John's and a great, raucous reggae/ska band that my daughter loves.

I haven't gone this long without music in many, many years, and it creates an interesting effect that I relate to one of those palette-cleansing thimblefuls of sorbet you get at some restaurants. Everything sounds cleaner, deeper.

Thus refreshed, it's back into the fray. It promises to be an interesting fall, with a terrific lineup at the Guelph Jazz Festival, an international conference on jazz journalism at Columbia University, and an Ottawa gig (his first, I think) by John McLaughlin.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

There's A Sign Upon My Door

No new posts until after August 15.

Like Louis sang to Papa Bing: "Gone fishing, by a shady, wade-y pool."

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Dog Days

The weeks after the initial blast of jazz festivals in June and early July are always a bit of down time for me. The only live music I've seen is George Clinton & The P-Funk All-Stars, by special request of my younger daughter. That was a lot of fun, almost as much for the audience of 20,000+ as the assembled Clinton crew. The funk was thick, but I couldn't help wishing for a rhythm section as tight as Miles' circa 1972. Always the critic, even on holiday!

I've been enjoying Maria Schneider's new CD in preparation for a DownBeat review, and just today dug into the new Nostalgia 77 release for the same reason. On the first couple of spins, I thought it lived up to the promise of "Portishead meets Charles Mingus." That was while driving, though; it might come in for harder criticism when I sit down with it in earnest tomorrow.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Closing The Curtains On Two Jazz Venues

The end of the main batch of Canada’s jazz festivals also marks the last festival shows in two of the country’s most-venerated rooms: the Vancouver East Cultural Centre (“the Cultch” to one and all) and Montreal’s Spectrum. Both are slated to close this fall – the Cultch for major, much-needed, renovations; the Spectrum for demolition.

While neither venue has attained the kind of shrine-like status that the Village Vanguard, The Five Spot or Birdland hold, each has generated its own share of memories among jazz fans, and raise the issue of what gives a musical venue its character.

Personally, I never cared much for The Spectrum as a listening room, though I’ve heard some great sets by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, James Carter with D.D. Jackson and Masada there. Outside of the jazz realm, I also recall a show by Devo – their first performance outside the U.S. – when the buzz in the room was as tangible as any I’ve ever felt. What the place always had for me was a great funky vibe, owing to its roots in the early ‘50s, when Montreal was a hotbed for nightclubs and the neighbourhood on eastern Ste. Catherine Street was really marginal. The terraced sections in the club remind me of photographs I’ve seen of the classic Manhattan clubs from Damon Runyon’s day.

My experience with the Cultch is much briefer, dating only to 2003, but it immediately won a place in my heart because it is so definitively West Coast without even trying. First, there’s its location up the hill from the cross-cultural buffet that is Commercial Drive. Then, there’s the hip, little snack bar with great coffee and local artisan beers, and the ability to order your intermission drinks before the show starts. The portico’ed entrance and side parking lot invite patrons outside to chat and critique opening sets. And all that says nothing about the sheer intimacy of the performing space itself, with its cozy, U-shaped balcony and small stage. Even the bad shows I’ve seen there – are you listening In The Country? – have felt personal if nothing else. Put a big group, like the Dedication Orchestra, in there and the place literally fills with sound, creating an unforgettable experience.

I haven’t heard about what the new Cultch will look like, though John Orysik tells me the renovation will be substantial (the place will be closed for two years). Hopefully, it will retain its best qualities while adding things like modern washrooms and some type of air conditioning.

None of this is to say that jazz rooms have to be decades old to have that certain something. The Fourth Stage at the National Arts Centre here in Ottawa has a great vibe, terrific sightlines, first-rate sound and good bar service. Although the building is now 40 years old, the venue is less than a decade old and it’s wired with a state-of-the-art fibre optics system for broadband simulcasting. Iridium in Times Square manages to re-create that classic New York jazz bar feel without resorting to the faux-nostalgia that permeates so many other “attractions” in the area. On the other hand, The Knitting Factory, despite being wired for the Information Age, never really did it for me. Unless you score one of the four good seats in the balcony of the main room, watching music being made there has always been somewhat uncomfortable.

Here’s hoping that festival organizers in Vancouver and Montreal can find substitutes for what they’ve lost. Like all good things, they’ll probably only know what they’re looking for when they’ve found it.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

JJA Awards


While I was in Vancouver my colleagues at the Jazz Journalists Association were feting the winners of our annual music and media awards.

For a full list of winners, check out the JJA site.

Here's Maria Schneider accepting her award for Arranger of the Year. The photo is by Enid Farber.

Day & Night

The weekend found me at two ends of the musician/audience relationship spectrum.

First, drummer Matt Wilson, as generous a performer as you’ll find anywhere. Despite a horrendous travel day that began before dawn for a performance that ended after midnight, Wilson was both warm and witty as he led his recently re-constituted Arts & Crafts quartet at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre. Paraphrasing Phil Woods, Wilson said: “You don’t get paid to play; you get paid to get there. My hourly rate is pretty low today.”

Flash forward less than 24 hours and listen to Keith Jarrett threaten to skip an encore after several audience members at Montreal’s Place des Arts had the temerity to take his photograph as his trio took their bows. After cussing out the photographers, he further ingratiated himself by dumping on the city’s dominant French-language media. No word on whether he threw the mattress out of his five-star hotel room and ordered a new $2,000 one in, as he did during the Toronto stop on his tour.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Vancouver Day Five and Out

My last day in Vancouver was full! I moved from a long lunch with one of my oldest friends to dinner with fellow DownBeat critic Greg Buium to a very satisfying -- and exceptionally well-mic'ed -- set by The Bad Plus. By then I was sated, and ready to find an outdoor cafe to settle into the soft Pacific air with a copy of David Lee's new book on Ornette Coleman.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Vancouver Day Four


One of the most enjoyable parts of any jazz festival is hanging out between shows with fans, listening to them talk about music and musicians. You get a feeling for the draw of various festivals, for one thing. Tonight, between shows by a pair of superior trumpet quartets -- led by Jens Winther and Brad Turner respectively -- I met a guy who travelled all the way from Regina for the festival. You also get a feel for the quality of the local fans, just like you can for fans of hockey or baseball by how well they grasp the nuances of the game. Last night, I overheard two guys discussing how the Vancouver festival has changed drum suppliers. Now that's nuance!

And when jazz journalists aren't hanging at concerts, they can usually be found schmoozing. There's never any shortage of that in Vancouver, thanks to the great hospitality of festival co-founder and media guru John Orysik. Here's our host (right) with Larry Appelbaum, JazzTimes and the Library of Congress, (left), yours truly, and fellow DownBeat critic Greg Buium, who was covering the Vancouver fest for the Globe and Mail newspaper.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Vancouver Day Three

Such is the spectrum of life in Vancouver that in a single day one can move easily between the deck of a multi-million dollar house with a spectacular view of the city and a torturous folding chair inside the elegantly distressed "Cultch."

I have to thank my old friend Peter Grainger for the entree into the view of how the top one percent of Canadian income earners live, and Danish guitarist Pierre Dorge for a show that encapsulated everything the Vancouver jazz festival represents: humour, adventure, a world view, and what can only be termed spirituality through music. Dorge's New Jungle Orchestra travels contrasting worlds rapidly too, swinging easily between the blues and South African township jive.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Vancouver Day Two, Part Two

How do you tell when a show's really good? Even the drum solo works.

Bad drummer jokes aside, tonight's Sten Sandell show with guest John Butcher was really first rate: one long, textured piece that climaxed with a rumbling solo by Paal Nilssen-Love, and a shorter one that was equally interesting.

That was the opener for an explosive set by Cuong Vu's regular trio. Vu had originally planned to split his set between songs from his last album, It's Mostly Residual, and a couple of new pieces he's about to record in Mexico City, but after the first of the two new ones he apologized that he was "out of gas" because of a lack of recent practice. A refreshing admission when he might just as easily faked his way through it.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Vancouver Day Two

I've written before that Vancouver's festival is somewhat unique in that it is a number of festivals within a festival; you could spend an unmatched 10 days just hanging out at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, the Commodore Ballroom, the Orpheum, or any combination of about a dozen key venues. Size is also an important factor in how good this festival is. As excellent as the Montreal festival can be, I have never been drawn to joining 10,000 people trying to hear a free show on Ste. Catherine Street, and pushing through the mob -- which can range up to 100,000 depending on what's going on can really be crazy (gee, can't wait 'til I'm there again next week). Here, the scale makes more sense. This is the first time that I've been at the Vancouver festival during opening weekend, when free shows are held in the main tourist area of Gastown. I was pleasantly surprised to find small stages, especially a really nice one erected at the bottom of a natural, grass-covered amphitheatre (shades of the old Ottawa jazz fest in the days when I was involved with it). It that respect, it reminds me of the San Jose jazz festival, one of my favourites and a sadly under-rated one.

Vancouver Day 1

I flew to Vancouver early yesterday morning for the start of the jazz festival. Always a treat coming to my favourite city for what many consider to be the best-programmed festival in North America.

Jet lag took the edge off my enjoyment of Aki Takase's Fats Waller Project -- with Rudi Mahall, Eugene Chadbourne, Nils Wogram and Paul Lovens -- but it was a terrific, energetic and humour-filled show. I've never been a huge fan of Chadbourne's, but he fits well into this band, bringing some of Waller's nonsensical manic energy. Lovens is the perfect drummer for this, too; just a powerhouse, but never too loud.

The show, at the funky Vancouver East Cultural Centre, began with a set of duets between Takase and Mahall, which illustrated their great rapport. They both have a great sense of the absurd, and both the music and between-song banter between them was filled with humour. To say nothing of the fact that their both among the best technicians on their instruments.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Avant-Garde Economics

A couple of years ago, guitarist Marc Ribot wrote an essay about the dark future he saw for music that lives on the margins of popular taste.

Now, he’s re-positioned his thesis against the backdrop of the death of the Lower Manhattan club Tonic and the general shrinking of commercial fortunes for improvised music. He makes a particularly cogent argument for how socially/culturally conscious European countries have supported the avant-garde movement in New York City.

Very interesting, if somewhat depressing, reading.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Hot Enough to Melt a Plastic Saxophone

Scary news about Ornette Coleman, who collapsed during a set by his band at the Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. The temperature at the outdoor venue was close to 100 degrees, and Coleman, 77, was reported to be suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion. After receiving some water, he was helped from the stage.

While it’s great to see Ornette getting a venue to reach a younger generation again – as he did with Prime Time in the ‘80s – you’d think festival organizers would make provisions to take better care of their aging stars. How about installing some of those cool-air mist machines they use on the sideline at NFL games?

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

A '90s List

Destination: Out just published the results of a poll of musicians and journalists to determine their favourite recordings from the 1990s. Looking back, it was a pretty good decade for improvised music. For most of the decade I was reviewing for a daily newspaper as well as DownBeat, Coda and a handful of other magazines, so I listened to a lot of music critically. This list brings back some fond memories. Be sure to check out the site because there is a ton of related and supporting material, including the individual ballots of some people like Gary Giddins.

Here are the top vote getters:

1 Sonny Sharrock, Ask the Ages - 9 mentions
2 Anthony Braxton, Willisau (Quartet) 1991 - 6
3 Ornette Coleman, Tone Dialing - 5
Henry Threadgill, Too Much Sugar for a Dime - 5
4 Charles Gayle, Touchin’ on Trane - 4
5 Ornette Coleman, Sound Museum: Hidden Man - 3
Bill Dixon, Vade Mecum I/II - 3
Dave Douglas, Constellations - 3
Bill Frisell, This Land - 3
David Murray, Shakill’s Warrior - 3
Maria Schneider, Evanessance - 3
David S. Ware, Flight of I - 3
David S. Ware, Go See the World - 3

Monday, June 11, 2007

Festival Funk

Is it time for a new model for jazz festivals?

That question came up this weekend when I was going over a couple of schedules for upcoming events with a friend who I frequently hang with at these things. There’s little doubt about the validity of George Wein’s original idea: essentially, bring together a bunch of musicians on the same stage to get fans out of the hot city and dark "jazz basements" for a couple or three days. More than 50 years later there’s still few things better than lounging outdoors while great music wafts through the air.

But increasingly, festivals have ballooned up to 10 days (two prime weekends) and added layers of programming on side stages and at satellite sites. At some events – Montreal comes to mind above all others – scheduling can prove to be a major headache, as you rush between sites trying to hear everything you want to catch, or worse, miss things. Even when festivals lay things end to end, a few days at one of these events can leave you wrung out and struggling to recall just what you heard. (Back when I was something of a jazz journalism martyr I tried filing more than a dozen stories from a 10-day festival. By the end, I felt like I might explode if I heard one more Monk tune.)

These days I try to take a longer view in festival coverage, but I have the advantage of doing this for fun and profit. What about the average fan? Does the model still work for him or her as festivals increasingly push package deals (“passports”) as a way of maximizing attendance?

I don’t think I’m just being jaded when I look at most festival schedules now and start humming Peggy Lee’s “Is That All There Is?”. There just doesn’t seem to be much creativity in the programming these days at most festivals. Often, it seems to be programming by rote – Who’s on the road? What are the other festivals doing? – without much outreach from artistic director to musician. The result for the jazz fan is akin to surveying a large-but-boring buffet table.

A musical form as creative as jazz deserves a business model that’s equally creative. It’s time for someone to come up with something as innovative and popular as Wein’s Newport model.