CrazySexyCool and HardJazzSwingBop

Is a great album, and I'm going to write a blog post about it right now.  About a half a year ago I thought that it'd be a good idea to try it make it through Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.  (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531)  It is a few years old, but I'm still having a good time chugging through it.  Of course, making a list of the 500 greatest albums of all time is impossible, but I'm looking at it as a reason to listen to music that I might not otherwise.  TLC's CrazySexyCool is a great example.  I've been keeping notes on some other album highlights that I will share at some point, for now this will have to do.

In a nutshell, CrazySexyCool is a funky throwback from a great era of history.  It was the same year that the world series was cancelled, Nancy Kerrigan got hit really hard in the knee (ridiculous), Tiger Woods was still innocent and Microsoft ruled the world.  I was 9ish when the album first came out, so I don't know much about it's immediate impact on society, but today I wish people would bring it up more often.  I haven't heard a more honest album in a long time, and everyone needs a reminder to stop chasing waterfalls, they are dangerous.  Listen to it, I guarantee you will love it.  Babyface, cheers to a job well done.

Moving on, another thing that has been on my mind lately is how hardjazzswingbop comes across to the people that haven't grown up listening to, or playing the music.  What is hardjazzswingbop you ask?  It is basically any instrumental song that is played over a standard jazz form.  A few weeks ago I had some friends in town, and decided to pick their brain a bit about instrumental music.  I'm not the biggest fan of musical genres, but I'd rather use them in this post instead of naming individual musicians. The responses from my friends were generally the same when I played them songs from a wide range of era's, so it makes it a bit easier to lump them together in this post(hardjazzswingbop).  Welcome to the world HardJazzSwingBop!

To make a long story shorter, one night we saw a great modern jazz group, and the next night we saw a talented group playing hardjazzswingbop.   Both were instrumental, and in my opinion both were of high quality.  So when I asked my friends what they thought, the general consensus was that the modern music was actually much easier to follow because the difference between sections were more clearly defined.  This confused me a bit, because these same people probably know more words and melodies to older tin pan alley era songs than I do, but found hardjazzswingbop to be some of the most confusing music that they have ever heard.

So I'd like to start a conversation about why people think this is so, and how much it matters to the future of instrumental music.  Making another long story short, it seems like many people today have just completely skipped over the hardjazzswingbop era, and have labeled it as slightly introverted and confusing basically in the same exact way that many musicians view the direction of modern instrumental music.  Weird?

I've wondered for a long time about what would happen if a DJ suddenly decided to play a a swing track at a crowded bar or dance club late at night.  Would people be confused?  Would they dance?  Would they leave?  Would they do heroin?  To me, exposure to instrumental hardjazzswingbop music in dance settings is a big reason for it's decline in popularity.  When I would play "funkier" hardjazzswingbop (I love this word) examples, their reaction was still confusion, but not as much so.  What was most interesting was that my buddies all agreed that they would be more open to dancing if; 1.  The music was played in a setting that was more dance appropriate than a small club  2.  Other people were dancing as well.

So my idea is that we as improvising instrumental musicians start buying DJ's drinks and asking them to play some funky swing, and then live music will be saved.  My laundry is done drying, more on this later.

Leon

Deerhoof Interview

Many times in my life I have been part of a conversation about a band that I have never heard of.  Sometimes I pretend like I have, others times i don’t.  After minutes of careful thought, I’ve decided that I really like these conversations.  My hope is that this blog will be a starting point for many different types of musical discussions.  Some of it you may like, some of it you may hate.  Isn’t that’s what makes life fun?  

Ever hear of deerhoof? I spent a lot of my subway riding time this summer listening to them.  Turns out I liked what I heard.  It was a perfect end to a day of carrying heavy boxes and couches.  Check out their myspace page, and take a listen for yourself.  (www.myspace.com/deerhoof).

So what happens next?  

Greg Saunier, deerhoof drummer, was gracious enough to answer some of my questions about their music.  For this I am very grateful.  

Here she goes:  (blue/red is me, black is greg)

When you return to touring it looks like you are playing venues

ranging from small taverns, to large festivals? In which setting do

you feel more comfortable as a performer? Do you think your music

fits better in one venue over another?

-You never can tell! Our band has a few idiosyncrasies that make small venues kind of a challenge… Satomi sings very quietly, and although all four of us love the sound when she sings that way, it's a constant struggle to make the instruments quiet enough on stage. Her mic is cranked up so high that it's picking up everything on stage, and often the sound engineer will complain that they're getting more snare in the vocal mic than vocals. We've been playing for something like 15 years and still after almost every show Satomi will tell me I played too loud tonight! So in a way playing big and especially outdoor shows can feel like a breeze, I can bash away and there's no sound bouncing off a wall and into her mic. But when we can pull off a show on a small stage it's one of the greatest feelings in the world.

Would you call songwriting for the band a collective process, or

do you handle most of it yourself?

-Neither actually, we have four distinct songwriters in the band. Each person writes their own songs separately from the others. That person usually has a very good idea of how they want it to sound. But then when the group gets their hands on it, that composer is quickly unburdened of the idea that they can control how it will sound. So actually songs get changed around pretty drastically. We don't have a system - We never know what kind of song anybody is going to bring in and that person never has any idea how it will end up after everyone's made it their own. A lot of times though the person who writes the lyrics is not the same person who wrote the music.

Do you make attempts to explain your music to listeners before

their first listen? Or do you just sit back and let the music speak

for itself?

-Ha, I don't even make attempts to describe it after they listen, I don't like describing it. In fact I don't like describing any music very much, I never agree with the way stuff get categorized. To my ears a certain "jazz" recording might have much more in common with a particular "classical" piece than it does to the rest of the "jazz" genre. Another way to answer your question would be to say that yes, I do explain our music, I explain it through the music, the music is an explanation of itself. So we don't really sit back, we work pretty hard at trying to make the musical ideas as clear as we can.

When I listen to your music I'm very intrigued by your use of

melody, and rhythm. A strong melody is always present, but it seems

like the importance of the lyrics vary. Every time I listen to your

music I tend to walk away singing the groove and melody. Can you talk

about how you view lyrics in your music?

Hard to sum it up! Every song sort of has its own story. We have songs where the melody was written way before the words, we have others where it all appeared at once. Sometimes the lyrics are really difficult and take forever, sometimes they just flow right out. We all have written lyrics at different times. For my lyrics I tend to like extremely simple but also ambiguous, like you could map the words onto a variety of different possible topics. You don't know if they are about a personal relationship or a political situation. I get excited by a certain kind of irony, where the mood of the words seems at first glance to contradict the mood of the music. I'm also always trying to write lyrics that use very simplified English, partly because we have so many fans from countries where English is not the main language, and also we have some very young fans.

In the fall you are doing a lot of shows with brooklyn based xiu

xiu, and father murphy. What qualities do you look for in bands that

you share gigs with? Are the selections usually music based, or crowd

drawing based? Or both?

-Well we would never choose to have other music on the bill that we don't like. But whether or not we worry about their draw depends on the size of the venue. If we're playing smaller places then we often bring totally obscure acts. Also it's more than a question of simply whether we like the music, we also look for something that makes your ears excited and ready for more, because we're next! For our New York show coming up we are playing with Axiom Ensemble which plays contemporary classical music, and they and I have been involved together in deciding which pieces they might play, which is so exciting for me. We don't always play with "bands".  (I would love to see more shows that include music of different “genres”)

Currently it seems like your music has a concentrated set of

listeners. Is this something that you are happy with?  (not the best question, sorry about that)

-That's probably true but it never seems that way to me. We have always had more listeners than I thought we would! And our fans, bless them, are such a wide-ranging group in terms of age or what other music they like. We've always been so lucky in that way, we've never ended up in any clique or subgenera.

Do you have any questions for me? Any band, or person you would

like to see in future interviews?

-Jim Black! What a drummer…

Lets all give Greg a round of applause.  Please check out their music and tour schedule at http://deerhoof.killrockstars.com/.  

I look forward to your comments/questions/concerns.  

-leon

Step in the right direction?

     First off, sorry that it has been so long since I last updated this blog.  From now I will post at least once a week.  Next, about a week ago, CBS news named Wynton Marsalis their cultural adviser.  (http://wyntonmarsalis.com/news/entry/wynton-marsalis-named-cbs-news-cultural-correspondent)  I've been thinking about this for a few days now, and would really like to hear what you guys think.  Like most newsworthy events surrounding jazz lately, the public seems to be quite divided on this issue.  Also, as usual, most of this debate has been done via facebook, by the same people that have been arguing about the BAM movement (refer to last blog post for info on the BAM movement).

Before you read on, check out these two links;

-http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/153047-wyntons-blues/

-http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57359636/wynton-marsalis-my-relationship-to-mlk/?tag=mncol;lst;3

     The first is a blog bashing everything about the decision and Wynton.  The second is a link to Wynton at work in the CBS studio.  It is the only link that I have been able to find.  I'm not sure how often he appears on the show, or how many of his segments will be available on the internet.  If any of you have more information on this, please share  Anywho, the video is enough to get a sense of his role at CBS.

      ...And welcome back.  I'm just going to dive right in and say that I think this is a great move for the music industry.  Not just jazz, but the music industry as a whole.  In the opening seconds of the video you see a clip of Wynton playing his trumpet.  I don't know about you, but it is not that often that I see a musician playing an instrument unaccompanied on national television.  One point for live music.  Next, the guy really does know what he is talking about, or at least it seems that way to me.  At first I thought it was a little odd that he starting talking about this background in New Orleans.  Then I realized that he was simply referring to a time, and experiences that aren't discussed in public every day.  One point for culture.

     I do understand most of the complaints of the pop matters blog guy.  However, I don't think they are worth stressing over.  Yes, it is true that Wynton's concept of jazz has been, and isn't the most forward looking.  But, we also have to keep in mind that he is working for CBS, not pitchfork.  (www.pitchfork.com)  People that tune into CBS aren't looking for the cutting edge, and this is not a bad thing.  

     Here is how I see it.  Wynton is the face of Jazz at Lincoln Center.  This new position gives jazz at Lincoln Center more exposure than ever before.  I also feel that Lincoln Center is doing a better job than in the past of diversifying their performances.  Most of their early sets feature the veterans of this music.  In my opinion they deserve such a setting.  Next, most of their later sets consist of New York's up and coming musicians.  I see nothing wrong with giving either of these crowds more exposure.  So to make a long story short, I feel that any exposure to jazz is good exposure.  That is why I see nothing wrong with CBS and their new cultural adviser.  Again, music is a business.  Wynton and Jazz at Lincoln Center have done their part to build a following.  Instead of bashing that following, the rest of us need to figure out a way to do the same.  CBS is not the only avenue to accomplish this goal. 

     Lastly, if you want a great work out, buy this (http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-a-shake-weight?utm_medium=email&utm_source=channel_goods-deals&sid=11077792&user=4fec0d2fb8b476b1072a138e088aa1bbb230004c18225cc6138ef6e7c0a467d9&utm_campaign=11077792&s=body&d=gg-a-shake-weight&p=1&c=deal_button) and read again, and again, and again.














 



 

BAM

     There has been a lot of talk lately regarding the word “jazz”.  Im sure most of you that play improvised music for a living know what I’m talking about.  For those of you that don’t, google search the Black American Music, or BAM movement.  I’m sure it isn’t hard to find.  It has created quite the stir.  A panel discussion was held in response to the movement yesterday, so I decided to go.  Why not?  Many musicians and non musicians that I respect, talking about something that I care about.  Sounds better than sitting on my futon and watching lost.  (Don’t give away the ending, I’m only on season 3)  After some thought, there are a few things that I would like to throw out in the open, and it seems like starting a blog is a good way to do that.  
     To me, this entire BAM (Black American Music) movement is very confusing, and also not effective in accomplishing a positive goal for music, or anything really.  Kind of reminds me of the tea party.  As far as I understand, BAM is mainly a movement that seeks to remedy the problems created by labels, by creating another label.  Really not sure how that makes sense.  I am all for giving credit where it is due, but changing the name of jazz to BAM really does nothing to erase the stereotypes that some people still have of people that play this music.  That is also part of what the movement wants to accomplish right?

  There seems to be a huge disconnect between what is actually going on in society and what people of the BAM movement think is going on in society.  For example, stop 10 random people on the street and ask them what the word jazz means to them.  Maybe one person will say Kenny G (a name that is  brought up quite frequently, and bashed), not the overwhelming majority like was discussed at the panel discussion.  Also, I’m pretty sure that nobody is going to start talking about a poor dude that does a lot of drugs and lives in the streets.  Maybe this would’ve happened 50 years ago, but the musicians of this music have done a lot of hard work in diminishing the negative connotations that have been associated with the word jazz.  Why decide to ignore this now?  Love it or hate it, but nobody that walks out of Dizzy's near Central Park West thinks poor when they think of jazz.  Honestly I feel like that same can be said for people that walk out of any other jazz venue in New York City.      

Instead of actually giving credit to those of us who are “enlightened”, or whatever you want to call it, the movement only makes gross generalizations based on those in society who simply don’t get it.  During the conference the panel had two opportunities to show respect to members of the public that are doing exactly what they want.  They respect the music, have done their research, and are willing to spread this positive knowledge to others.  The first was a woman who grew up in an Irish home.  In her time, it was very rare to grow up in a home like hers and come out supporting jazz music.  But somehow this is exactly what she accomplished.  Yes ladies and gentlemen is a positive thing.  As a result, throughout her life, the music has stuck with her.  So why not say thank you?  Why just blow her off?  For whatever it means, I thank you.  

Next, was a young man who just graduated from music school.  Whether you guys like it or not, he is the future of this music.  And he couldn’t of said in a more clear way that he respects, and has spent much time studying the history of this music.  Again, instead of giving him credit, everyone just shot him down.  If I were either of these people, I’d be much less likely to buy, or support the music of anyone on the panel after the talk, than before.  This really does nothing but hurt the music.  So in reality the BAM movement is doing nothing but distancing themselves from many of us that actually respect what jazz music has become.   

Instead of worrying about a name, how about turning to education?  A fellow bassist brought up a great point at the discussion, that was again brushed aside.  Lets be real here.  Music is a business, and there is nothing that any of us can do about it.  The reason why other forms of music dominate jazz in the charts is largely because of youth participation.  Every other form of music spends countless hours brainstorming ways to make the youth more aware to their cause.  Any successful pop artist today can reach millions of people by the simple act of sending an email.  Jazz doesn’t do this.  Right now jazz can’t do this.  In no way am I completely in support of the label system, but I do realize that it is how our society works.  And because of it, I have never felt like I had to compromise my art in an attempt to conform to a label, and I know that there are many that agree with me.  

     So, Instead of having a conversation about jazz in front of a bunch of jazz musicians in a jazz club, jazz supporters need to have a conversation about jazz in an elementary school that has had their arts program cut.  Or maybe actually take the late great Ray Browns advice, pool some money together and start a radio station.  

     Doing this would solve two problems.  First, it would begin to diminish the lack of awareness that some members of the society have towards improvised music.  Second, it guarantees the presence of young minorities in the future of this music.  Both of these results are supported by the BAM movement right?  I feel strongly that this education can be done with or without the word jazz, so why waste time trying to erase it?  Comments welcome.