Links
Fred Anderson Makes First Trip to Kansas City:
“I just try to play clean notes so it comes out so people can get it. You can’t throw just anything out there. Audiences are very intelligent, and they know what’s happening. You just have to be honest with them. And they know when you’re being honest with yourself.”
Ten Questions with Jeff Parker
Ten Questions with Matana Roberts
Slave To The Ism: a new site launched by the Black Rock Coalition
Digg"As for consciousness, it has neither past nor future and knows only present moments; it is the continuum of a present moment being transformed into another present moment, whereas with external objects the present disappears in favour of notions of past and future. But further pursuit of this logic will lead to absurdity, because to situate past and future we need a frame of reference which, in this case, is the present, and we have just lost its trace in fractions of milliseconds." - Dalai Lama
Music as a frame of reference that allows us to experience a continuity and continuum of the present moment.
Meta explorations of a title:
Time consciousness and listening experience as organizational principles of counterpoint: a processual approach to the sixteenth-century Venetian imitative ricercar.
Other planes of there:
Music lists from Tape + Vijay Iyer
Sun Ra: I think of myself as a complete mystery. To myself.
Two more write ups of George Lewis' new book on the AACM: Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader
FIMAV lineup announced and previewed
Ethan Kaplan, VP of Technology at Warner Bros. Records asks some interesting questions about how we value art
Nicole Mitchell is profiled and interviewed briefly
Delmark Records founder and Jazz Recort Mart owner Bob Koester is interviewed. Part One, Part Two.
Myra Melford is profiled, and interviewed. I've been listening to Trio M quite a bit recently - expect a review of it here in the near future.
Matana Robert's Chicago Project CD is reviewed, confirming my suspicions that I need to pick this up ASAP.
Vijay Iyer is interviewed.
Bamako Is A Miracle - "In 2001, jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd, and producer Verna Gillis/Soundscape went to Bamako, Mali to record a cd for Universal - this unique collaboration between Roswell and Toumani Diabate, the world's greatest living kora player, was released as MALIcool." That's the official blurb. Foday Musa Suso might take issue with Diabate being crowned world's greatest living kora player, but nitpicking aside, this is a great little documentary. You can YouTube it in 6 parts: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six.
If you haven't already done so, check out the Alice/John Coltrane post at D:O. It's well worth repeated listens.
Following the protracted silence around here, things should begin picking up again shortly. I have been busy dealing with deeds and actions rather than words. That includes launching the new AACM website that I collaborated on, which you can now check out. There's a few more little changes to be made but it's live and 95% done.
I've also been doing a lot of listening. One of my new years resolutions was to listen to all of Ornette Coleman's discography from start to finish in 2008, and I'm on my way.
In a brief attempt to wrap up the year that was 2007, the recordings that I found most rewarding and interesting, and which I expect will have the most longevity in my listening rotation were:
- Fred Anderson and Hamid Drake - From the River to the Ocean
- Indigo Trio - Live in Montreal
- Nels Cline Singers - Draw Breath
- Taylor Ho Bynum - The Middle Picture
- Muhal Richard Abrams - Vision Towards Essence
- Amir ElSaffar - Two Rivers
- Rob Wagner Trio
- Harris Eisenstadt - The All Seeing Eye + Octets
There are some other recordings that might make the list upon reflection, but haven't had the time to sink in yet, and only time will tell.
On the off chance any readers here are in the LA area, you should be aware of the upcoming CalArts Creative Music Festival, curated by Wadada Leo Smith, and featuring performances by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and Mark Feldman and Sylvie Courvoisier.
Welcome to the new year - forward ever.
Anthony Braxton interview: Part One, Part Two
This next one is new to me, but not new in the just-published sense:
Amina Claudine Myers article/interview by George Lewis
A video preview of an upcoming documentary about Teo Macero
The Listener: "As Oliver Sacks observes the mind through music, his belief in a science of empathy takes on new dimension."
I just finished Oliver Sacks' book Musicophilia: interesting if not as engaging as the other reading I've completed recently on music cognition, most notably in a similar accessible writing style, Daniel Levitin's This Is Your Brain On Music. Heavy on the case studies, which are fascinating, but a little too light on presenting new or interesting theories and ideas about the cases themselves. If you're interested in all things music cognition, there's a blog that might be of interest to you.
Critical Improv Intensive by David R. Adler: An article about Ajay Heble and the "Improvisation, Community and Social Practice" (ICSP) research project.
Woody Herman opens for Led Zeppelin (05/1969)
There's lots of great music to be had in Chicago around the holidays.
Nicole Mitchell is playing the Chicago debut of her Xenogenesis suite that she debuted at the Vision Festival this year at the Chicago Cultural Center this Friday on December 7th at 7 PM.
At the Velvet Lounge we have two rare appearances by Famoudou Don Moye of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, playing with his own group on the 10th and the 17th.
Dee Alexander and Warren Smith are doing an Abby Lincoln/Max Roach Freedom Now Tribute on the 14th and 15th.
Adam Rudolph and Hamid Drake are leading a group including Nicole Mitchell, Josh Abrams, and Jeff Parker on the 21st and 22nd.
Ms. Mitchell will also lead her own groups on the 28th and 29th.
Gerald Cleaver makes a rare Chicago appearance to play the Gallery 37 Downtown Sound series on December 17th.
Hamid Drake and Michael Zerang will play their annual Winter Solstice concerts at Links Hall on December 21st through 23rd, bright and early at 6 AM at Links Hall. If you've never been, it's a fantastic event and a great way to welcome the winter.
Peter Brötzmann continues his run of shows all over the city this week, including many members of his Chicago Tentet.
The Engines will play a record release show at the Hideout in support of their new release on Okka Disk.
Von Freeman will ring in 2008 at the Green Mill, as has become the tradition.
Not a bad run of music to close out the year.
In the meantime:
George E. Lewis is profiled in advance of a trip to Glasgow
Tyshawn Sorey is named a rookie of the year by Francis Davis. Mr. Davis also agrees with my assessment of Amir ElSaffar's Two Rivers recording, which you may have read about recently here on the 'slope.
Dave Douglas has offered up a track for remixing. You can be sure I'm going to dub Moonshine into the stone age, and I'll post the results here.
The New York Times writes about what I've always suspected: rocks may have consciousness.
Amina Claudine Myers was profiled in advance of her visit to Vancouver.
More soon!
A slew of interview links I've been hoarding
Paul Berliner, author of Thinking In Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation. He's also an expert in the mbira music of the Shona of Zimbabwe. A lot of the interview relates jazz and mbira music to each other:
Despite the features that distinguish the languages of jazz and mbira music, there are similarities. You might think that because the interlocking aesthetic of mbira music dictates a very tight mesh between the kushaura and kutsinhira parts, that that might inhibit improvisers, compared with the parameters jazz musicians typically work within. Paradoxically, when mbira players establish a powerful groove within the complementary interlocking relationship, it generates a great feeling of mutual support which inspires greater freedom of expression. At such moments, artists describe a flood of ideas coming to them, and they begin departing from their pre-composed parts to experiment with developing new figures, trying out new cross-rhythms, taking harmonic liberties.
Ornette Coleman - "I just keep trying to find better notes. For me, better notes make my day." Ornette on the word jazz:
That's not a bad word. It's not the only word in English. And probably for sound, when you say jazz, that's a style. It doesn't represent sound. It just represents style. And that's the same for classical music. It represents a style. But sound itself doesn't really have to have a title for it to have meaning. I've heard "it sounds good" and "it sounds bad." You'll know if it sounds good or sounds bad because of how it makes you feel emotionally.
Ben Ratliff on his new Coltrane bio. Discussing the topic of Fear of Jazz:
I think because it’s serious, because it has a long history, because it has intellectual overtones, but also because it’s sort of earnest. Part of the reason jazz doesn’t fit within pop culture anymore is because it can’t really be self-consciously rebellious and shocking, which is very standard stuff now. And I guess that’s why there’s this cliché that you turn thirty and all of a sudden start to think, “Maybe I should learn about jazz, because now I’m old enough.”
An interview with producer Don Was. The Was (Not Was) album What Up Dog? still gets some play on my stereo. Sounds like Detroit was a happening place in the 60s, where Was grew up:
I remember going downtown [in Detroit] where there was a poet [and] cultural leader named Jon Sinclair in Detroit who had Pharaoh Saunders jamming with members of the MC5 on acid one night. And it was a rich culture. George Clinton played at my high school. Biggie and The Stooges played at my high school. All these guys were doing something that no one had ever done before. So that’s the aesthetic that I come from. My band, Was Not Was, is kind of an amalgamation of all those disparate elements, and we’re always looking to break down the barriers.
A report from Columbia's Harlem Festival of Global Jazz. I wish there was more detail but it certainly sounds like a conference I would have liked to attend.
A rare Kidd Jordan interview. Also check out this 2006 account of helping clean out Kidd Jordan's hurricane ravaged home.
There's a David S. Ware blog with updates about his whereabouts, pictures, etc.
Sun Ra interviewed in 1981. Wynton Marsalis interviewed in 1996.
A fascinating look at possible parallels between the work of Ornette Coleman and the Dutch Situationist architect known as Constant.
The Turtle Island String Quartet is interviewed in regards to their album covering John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. [youtube].
Black Jazz in the Digital Age by Greg Tate.
It's a bit difficult to read, but David Adler has been blogging from Columbia's Jazz Journalist conference today. You can see what happened here, but you have to login: the username and password are guest/guest.
More of substance and a new look for Soundslope.com coming this week.
Steve Coleman is M-Base blogging
Deconstructin(g) Jazz Improvisation: Derrida and the Law of the Singular Event
Making money out of music: how can regional music economies remain successful (who wouldn't want to know that!)
Rudresh Mahanthappa interviewed
Apologies for the tumbleweeds around here of late. Life and daily responsibilities have grabbed me by the proverbial cajones (without my permission might I add) and left behind very little in the way of spare brain cycles or luxuriant blogging time.
“My own feelings about the direction in which jazz should go are that there should be much less stress on technical exhibitionism and much more on emotional content, on what might be termed humanity in music and the freedom to say all that you want.”
~ Booker Little
Bill Dixon's recent Chicago performance is reviewed by John Litweiler:
"This concert was mostly quiet, dark, slowly moving, yet it teemed with irrepressible life. The three compositions he offered were devoted to pure sound, texture and shape, for Dixon's music is now a wholly abstract art. Each piece was a subtle, meticulously sculpted setting for improvisation. Again and again his long trumpet tones, somber and brooding, hovered above his mates.
[...]
The flowing textures were so finely balanced that insensitive choices by anyone could have destroyed these pieces. Instead, the changing ensemble weights sustained an almost miraculous tension."
Essential Tones Of Music Rooted In Human Speech
"The use of 12 tone intervals in the music of many human cultures is rooted in the physics of how our vocal anatomy produces speech, according to researchers at the Duke University Center for Cognitive Neuroscience."
Jazz Compared to Web 2.0 (for any geeks/programmers out there)
Another report from the Vision Festival: Part one, Part two
A review of Fred Anderson's CD release at the Velvet Lounge, which was the night after the show I saw at Stop Smiling Headquarters
The fine folks at 50 Miles of Elbow Room have a great William Parker interview up (it reads more like an essay, with only one question prompt given).
Some of the content is particularly interesting given recent discussions about the do-it-yourself ethic, surrounding the recent publishing of Marc Ribot's essay. From the WP interview:
When I was in high school, there was always a community center that was there for us - "us" meaning the kids who lived in the projects - to play basketball and have some activities[....]There was that and then later on, on Boston Road, up the hill from where I lived, there was the Black Panther office. They were organizing things. There were the Black Muslims in the Bronx who used to sell Muhammad Speaks, a newspaper that my father used to buy every week. In this paper Elijah Muhammad would talk frequently about black economic power and self-determination, having your own land, your own houses, your own base of operations. Those ideas were around in that time, to be self-motivated and to do for yourself, because if you didn't do for yourself, who would provide for you? You really couldn't depend on the government or what they call the system to provide the things for one's survival.
[....]
That crossed over to the ideas laid out by John Carter and Bobby Bradford. They recorded a record called Self-Determination Music. Charles Mingus had this track called "Fables of Faubus". Archie Shepp put out a record called Fire Music. All of these things were on the perimeter of doing for one's self, self-promotion, and self-development, and to mirror self worth, which was very important at the time.
[....]
Bold gestures are always inspirational. I read about Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in California, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Music, the Liberation Music Orchestra. So politics were in the air but also politics of human beings were in there too, spirituality and all that. But the motivation was to do, to get up and move and make things move when you got up.
There's more at the interview, which is definitely worth reading.
Peter Gannushkin of downtownmusic.net fame, the foremost visual documenter of the New York downtown scene, is interviewed.
John Jack, owner of Cadillac Records in the UK, is interviewed at Wall of Sound. There are some interesting insight and thoughts on the European scene.
Fred Anderson and Hamid Drake are interviewed on Chicago Public Radio (nice juxtaposition with my rant below - lots of talking about music, not much music itself).
Kidd Jordan is profiled before a gig in Austin, TX.
David Murray is going to appear at indie-jam-rock fest Bonnaroo, and the show is previewed.
The Toronto Jazz Fest is previewed with an article on the Chinese act
In the good news department: "The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that it will change the visa processing rules to allow employers and agents more time to file visa requests for foreign guest artists." More here.
In the bad local Chicago news department: contrary to what was previously reported here, Pete Cosey will NOT be appearing with Ari Brown on June 23rd. No word on why. Anyone who was planning on going should still do so, to see the great Ari Brown and his band.
Summer has hit full force here in Chicago, which means a few things: busy season at work for me, and beautiful weather outside. Both of which conspire to reduce my posting output here. There are some great shows coming up though that I will be writing about and reviewing though, so the lull around here should only be short lived.
In the mean time:
Rob Wagner, Hamid Drake and Nobu Ozaki are reviewed by Jeff Albert, New Orleans Nation (scroll down about half way) and at the New Orleans Times Picayune (the latter review also includes a review of the Ophelia Orchestra). I'm not familiar with Rob Wagner, but I've never made a secret of my admiration of Hamid Drake's drumming, and if Mr. Wagner keeps company with him and Kidd Jordan, I'll have to check out his new disc.
Hamid Drake is also profiled in conjunction with his appearances in Montreal. Panpot has some initial writing on the festival available, and David Ryshpan will be writing more on the shows in the near future (he has already reviewed Marc Ribot).
Rudresh Mahanthappa is interviewed by Mike Heffley as part of Mr. Heffley's continued research for a forthcoming book. I find the South Asian jazz axis to be a particularly fascinating syncretic hybridization, and Mr. Mahanthappa explains his positioning eloquently.
Rastaman vibration...you can buy Bob Marley's seminal Exodus album on USB memory stick:
"The limited edition run will be issued in the Rastafarian colors of red, green and gold in the UK only, and contain the 10 original “Exodus” tracks, plus three videos taped at London’s Rainbow Theatre in June 1977."
Chant down Babylon indeed.
The discussion of the '90s over at Destionation: Out continued through the week, so if you haven't checked back in recently, there are more comments worth reading.
Close up videos of the sun. Mesmerizing.
More soon...
I'm a little late on this one, but Tzadik has decided to leave eMusic.
Mwanji has a nice roundup of more blogs for your feed reader.
The American Composers Forum podcast has a cool interview up with Odean Pope, Phillip Schroeder, and Laurie Des Marais. The topic? I'll let them describe:
"What do a jazz sax star, a post-Minimal composer, and a Deep Listener have in common? They once all served on a panel to decide commissioning grants for the American Composers Forum. Here they talk about life on the inside and dispel those tired myths about faceless bureaucrats deciding your future."
An interesting case study of UK Jazz distribution.
The Montreal Gazette has a nice write up about the Suoni Per Il Popolo festival.
I went and saw the Rob Brown Trio with William Parker and Gerald Cleaver on Friday night at the Velvet Lounge. Sometimes I don't have the stamina to write up a full review, and this is one of those times. Briefly, the music was excellent, and they played some very interesting pieces of music written by Mr. Brown for his quartet that includes Craig Taborn, but were altered for the trio format. I had never seen Gerald Cleaver live before and he was absolutely excellent, and had an ease and economy of motion in his drumming that was particularly enjoyable. His rhythmic repoire with William Parker was excellent, and Rob Brown was on fire all night, spitting out intriguing improvisations and leading his compositions with poise.
Tatsu Aoki's upcoming performance in Chicago is previewed.
Muhal Richard Abrams is profiled. He will be performing with Roscoe Mitchell and George Lewis, the Streaming Trio, as part of this year's Edgefest in Ann Arbor, MI, which also includes shows by Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthappa, as well as BassDrumBone with Gerry Hemingway, Mark Helias and Ray Anderson. I might have to make the drive for that one.
Roscoe recently played a show at UMass and it was reviewed.
Henry Grimes was interviewed after his show with Cecil Taylor and Andy Bey.
"Jazzmen" want to save internet radio.
Others want to save jazz.
As a follow up to my last post, here's some more on the Destination: Out lists:
Pat Donaher delves in depth into some of his picks with detailed and insightful analysis.
Carl Wilson over at Zoilus asks some probing questions about these list making exercises and how we define vibrancy. I think I'll go into the question more in depth in the future, but to briefly address the issue, while I share many of his concerns, I see the venture mainly as fun and exploratory rather than revelatory.
Dig this incredible 1960 interview with John Coltrane. It's audio only so the video element is only a series of pictures and album covers, but the interview is incredible.
I'm back in town after a week of traveling (I have so much respect for musicians who travel a lot - airports really drain me) and I've got some catching up to do. There are some posts of substance coming this week, but in the mean time here are some links that I missed while I was gone:
The wonderful Nicole Mitchell was interviewed by AAJ.
Guy Hasson wondered why most artists are liberal (and some good discussion followed).
David Ryshpan posted his thoughts on the process of composition.
If you're in Tel Aviv, The Jazz Ear record store is putting together a great show for it's 20th anniversary.
Joe Germuska ponders the meta layer of links.
David Murray's performance in St. Lucia was reviewed.
Do The Math remembered Dewey Redman's birthday (a birthday I happen to share...good company), and also got a snazzy new redesign.
The start of FIMAV got two reviews.
The LA performance of Mingus' Epitaph (I missed the Chicago performance as I was out of town...curses) was reviewed.
Stanley Zappa gave me the dialectic treatment in an ongoing discussion on Theodor Adorno.
Peter Breslin interviewed JA Deane and reviewed the recent Roscoe Mitchell performance in New Mexico.
If you're in Chicago, the (insert multiple superlatives here) Fred Anderson is making a return to performing after a long hiatus. I will definitely be at these shows as I never miss an opportunity to hear Fred do his singular, unique thing that only Fred does.
6 to 8 pm. Sunday, June 10
Velvet Lounge, 67 E. Cermak Road, Chicago, (312) 791-9050
Guest soloist with the AACM Great Black Music Ensemble.
http://www.velvetlounge.net
7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 12
Stop Smiling magazine HQ, 1371 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, (773) 342-1124
"From the River to the Ocean" Thrilljockey record release party.
Fred, Hamid Drake, Harrison Bankhead, Jeff Parker and Josh Abrams.
8pm. doors, 9 pm. show, Wednesday June 13
Velvet Lounge, 67 E. Cermak Road, Chicago, (312) 791-9050
"From the River to the Ocean" Thrilljockey record release party II. Fred, Hamid Drake, Harrison Bankhead, Jeff Parker and Josh Abrams.
I was just thinking about Pete Cosey after reading an article in an old Signal to Noise profile of him. I was marveling at his history and talent, and subsequently the fact that he never plays around town even though he still resides in Chicago. If you want to hear some early deep cuts from Mr. Cosey, seek out the Phil Cohran Artistic Heritage Ensemble discs recently reissued by Katalyst. Just as Mr. Cosey had crossed my mind, I got a press release from Delmark stating that he'd be playing at the Green Mill for a CD/DVD recording session with Ari Brown:
Local unsung heroes of Chicago jazz and blues unite for a special Green Mill engagement for future Delmark DVD/CD!! JUNE 22, 23, 2007 ARI BROWN Quartet with very special guest, PETE COSEY (June 23rd only) Live at the Green Mill, Friday, June 22nd and Saturday, June 23rd (Cosey only on 23rd)
Some exciting news just confirmed, Delmark’s next recording for future DVD/CD will be the Ari Brown Quartet - Kirk Brown (piano), Yosef Ben Israel (Bass), and Avreeyal Ra (drums). with Pete Cosey on guitar at the Green Mill. Special guest Pete Cosey on “electric mud” guitar will be performing with Ari Brown on Saturday the 23rd only.
I hope nothing conflicts with my schedule so I can make it to the show.
Roscoe Mitchell's latest album with what he calls the Transatlantic Art Ensemble is reviewed.
Steve Smith does an excellent write up of the Bad Plus and their new album Prog.
The new issue of Jazz Times has a nice Anthony Braxton write up by David Adler that's worth reading. The new issue of Downbeat has profiles of 25 up and coming trumpet players. Names off the list that I'm familiar that caught my eye: Chicago's own Maurice Brown and Corey Wilkes, Mr. Taylor Ho Bynum representing for the cornet, and Jonathan Finlayson, who I haven't heard other than on record but shows a lot of promise.
If I was in New York, I would be here tonight:
MUHAL RICHARD ABRAMS (Tonight) In addition to being a venerable pianist and composer, Mr. Abrams is one of the original architects of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. He performs tonight in a duo setting, with the guitarist Brandon Ross, and with a dynamic quartet featuring Aaron Stewart on tenor saxophone, Brad Jones on bass and Tyshawn Sorey on drums. At 8, Community Church of New York, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan, (212) 683-4988, aacm-newyork.com; $25. (Chinen)
But then again, my AACM bias is already very well documented. I love that Muhal Richard Abrams is still playing with and engaging up and coming young talent, and inviting them into his world of music.
We'll get a solo performance from Mr. Abrams in Chicago this summer which I anxiously anticipate.
Also, you might notice a re-shuffling of the links on the right (RSS readers, you'll have to click through to soundslope to take a peek) into two categories: read and listen. Pretty self explanatory. There are some new additions to the blogroll in the listen category worth exploring.
More later.
The new NYC issue of All About Jazz has an interview with Jimmy Cobb, a spotlight on the Black Saint and Soul Note labels, a nice Ted Panken feature on Muhal Richard Abrams, a piece by Marc Ribot about the Tonic situation, a feature on Alvin Batiste, as well as the usual assortment of reviews and listings. You can download a PDF of it here.
As an aside, Mr. Abrams will be gracing Chicago's Millennium Park stage this summer to play a solo set of piano music, in a double bill with MacArthur grant winner and ragtime revivalist Reginald Robinson. Should be an interesting juxtaposition.
And speaking of Black Saint and Soul Note, All About Jazz has an article up about the label.
If you subscribe to the American Composers Forum podcasts here, you can listen to a recent interview with Susie Ibarra.
I'm going to see Douglas Ewart and Inventions at the Velvet Lounge tonight, also featuring Ed Wilkerson, Mwata Bowden, Dee Alexander and others. Will report back with details and maybe even some pictures if I remember to bring a camera.
Greetings to anyone who has wandered their way over here via Destination: Out.
There has been a dearth of posting the past few days due to a few looming deadlines, both professional and personal, and also because the weather in Chicago has been absolutely sublime.
I've got a few things in the works though that should make their way to onto the Soundslope in the coming days.
A few links of merit:
An audio profile of Sonny Rollins by Howard Mandel on NPR [via Rifftides]
The table of contents for George E. Lewis' forthcoming fall release of A Power Stronger than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music, a 672 page tome on the AACM that I am anxiously anticipating. Reading the table of contents got me excited about getting it into my hands so I can begin reading.
Of note to New Yorkers: Professor Lewis will be performing as a part of Robosonic Eclectic: Live Music by Robots and Humans LEMUR’s First Annual Commissioned Works Concert taking place May 31-June 2, 2007at the: 3-Legged Dog Art and Technology Center.
Apparently there is unrest in Estonia, at the same time the annual Jazzkaar Festival is going on. Here's a brief history of the reasons behind the riots.
Mwanji has a nice review of the Exploding Star Orchestra show he had the pleasure of seeing. It's a rarity, mostly because of the size and personnel to get the whole band in one place at the same time. I had the honor of helping produce their first show in Millennium Park two years ago, which was the show the band was formed for. It wasn't received particularly well by the audience - I'd say half of them or more got up and left in the course of the show. The critical reception was actually much better. It was praised for its adventurous spirit and for taking chances, described in the title of one review as "quietly cosmic."
There's a rare article about Charles Gayle in the Boston Globe. Nice to see him getting some press - I remember the first time I saw him and he stole the show.
A fascinating interview by Mike Heffley with Mei Han at his new blog - I'm glad to see Mike is doing some new research and I am excited to see the fruits.
It's always interesting to see the entire history of jazz in a few paragraphs.
I'll have some substantial posts up this week, some with some music - including a couple tracks of the AACM big band, the Great Black Music Ensemble doing a tribute to Fletcher Henderson from earlier this week - not to be missed.
The conversation about jazz, its boundaries, and its definition has produced some great posts and conversation in the blogosphere. Pat wrote two related posts yesterday, and David wrote another. A recurring theme in these posts and in the discussion at large is whether jazz's essence (if I may so presumptuous as to assume there is one, an essentialist attitude...) lies in something that could be notated, such as rhythm/pitch/harmony, or in an attitude or approach to music. A real important issue then becomes how we recognize the musicians who follow the latter trajectory of the jazz tradition, when they get very little respect or acknowledgment from the system that only values the former.
Related to this is a post by Taylor Ho Bynum about a recent Ben Ratliff review of the Cecil Taylor/John Zorn show at Lincoln Center. I read the article before I read Mr. Bynum's post, which echoed all of the sentiments I would have written here. Ratliff is dismissive that the music needs institutional support, having created their own framework to present their music, and noting that: "The MacArthur Foundation has honored almost all the major figures of the jazz avant-garde with fellowships. Academic presses are pumping out books about their achievements. What’s the big deal, for them, about a gig at the Rose Theater?" I don't really know where to start with this - needless to say, the fact that Ratliff believes this to be the case boggles my mind.
The Vision Festival schedule is going to be announced soon. I'm really hoping to make it out there this year - we'll see if I can make it happen. Nicole Mitchell told me she's going to be bringing her Black Earth Ensemble out to perform a commissioned piece, and Corey Wilkes' Abstract Pulse will be playing, featuring some young Chicago talent that you're probably not familiar with but should be. In addition, Hamid Drake's usual presence will be in effect, so there'll be a nice Chicago contingent represented this year. Hopefully I can make it out there to support them and see some music I don't get to see out here.
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