Month of March , 2008

What does it mean to refer to music as "cinematic"? That it is evocative, mood setting, and apropos of a complimentary relationship with visual imagery? Or that in some way it provokes mental imagery, creating the cinematic scene without concrete visual aid? I would make both the former and latter assertions in listening to Adam Rudolph's Moving Pictures release Dream Garden, with both the band name and album titles encouraging this line of thought. 

What does it mean to refer to music as belonging to some concept of "world music"? That it signifies the other through use of exotic instruments and foreign timbres? World music seems to simultaneously refer to any music made by the other, as well as incorporation of the musical other into our own musical processes. Are timbres or rhythms the sole property of any culture? Is there anything that isn't world music in this age of post-modern pastiche and tapestry musical collages?

Moving Pictures is an ensemble that certainly embraces the world of music through its use of varied instrumentation, rhythms, and timbral palette, but I'm not sure what would be gained by calling it world music. It simultaneously asserts the individual voice of jazz through the art of the solo, the egalitarian ideal of free jazz through collective interplay and improvisation, as well as the emphasis on the composer's primacy in the process of music creation. It is certainly worldly music, well traveled and versed in several foreign languages, but the end result is less a patchwork quilt and more a coherent whole.

Adam Rudolph's music embraces a wide tonal and timbral palette to create cinematic, evocative music. No musician plays just one instrument on the album. In addition to his own arsenal of hand percussion instruments, he adds fellow percussionists and Hu Vibrationalists Brahim Frigbane and Hamid Drake to the rhythm team. Graham Haynes plays cornet, flugelhorn, and slide whistle, Kenney Wessel plays both electric and acoustic guitars (different instruments entirely, trust me on this), Ned Rothenberg plays shakuhachi, bass clarinet, bass flute, C flute, and alto sax, Shanir Blumenkrantz (say that ten times fast) plays acoustic bass and sintir, and Steve Gorn plays the bansuri bamboo flutes (yes, plural), clarinet, Indian penny whistles, and the Pakistani oboe, which I'm told is more prone to political instability than its more tame, European oboe counterpart.

Quite a palette indeed. I see this as not only an expression of a "world music" aesthetic, but also a logical outgrowth of Rudolph's Chicago roots, coming out of the AACM multi-instrumental ethic, which approached this very issue of musical range very seriously.

The resulting music is rhythmically vibrant and animated. Who would expect less knowing the rhythmic brotherhood that exists amongst Rudolph, Drake, and Frigbane? Anyone who has heard the Hu Vibrational records (you have, right?) knows that they possess an impeccable sense of the deepest groove. This music moves at all costs and at any tempo tackled. Even the more meditative pieces retain a heart-beat pulse.

It's also exquisitely composed. There is always a sense of underlying composition, with interesting backgrounds during solos and consciously asserted contours. There is plenty of improvisation throughout, but it always take place within a carefully constructed musical scene (cinema).

In addition, it's joyful and fun to listen to. All in all, a great release from Adam Rudolph and Justin Time records.

Stop Smiling, a Chicago based magazine for high minded lowlifes (their tagline, not mine), has just released a Jazz issue, and it's well worth your attention for a number of reasons.

First, and perhaps foremost, is the great writing contained within: there are interviews with Ornette Coleman, Bobby Hutcherson, Avreeayl Ra, Robert Barry, Jeff Parker, Ron Carter, and Olu Dara amongst others. There is music writing by musicians: Josh Abrams interviews Avreeayl Ra and Robert Barry, Damon Locks interviews Jeff Parker, Patricia Barber writes about Nina Simone, and Peter Brotzmann writes about Eric Dolphy in an extended tribute to the man and his music.

Second, there are three beautiful black and white covers to choose from (or collect all three, if you're into that kind of thing): Ornette Coleman, Bobby Hutcherson, and Eric Dolphy. Click here to check them out.

Third, this is not a strictly music magazine, but they have the presence of consciousness to devote an issue to the art form of jazz (the covers feature the tagline: Start Appreciating America's Greatest Art Form), a principled act of advocacy on their part. They always cover music, but this is a whole issue; their support of jazz was clear to me last year when I attended a show they put on with Fred Anderson and Hamid Drake, reviewed here.

I love a good magazine. Don't you?

If I've managed to pique your curiosity, you can purchase the magazines online here, or find them in your local spots here. If you buy it online, you also have an option to purchase a Limited Edition 7" Peter Brotzmann single, if you're into that kind of thing.

Pick up a copy, peruse, and support publications that help support and promote the arts.