…but I needed to stop in and say you need to get the new Wayne Shorter record, Without A Net. I’d like to say I’ll have a full review up soon, but looking at the half written reviews in my drafts folder I know that that’s 50/50 at best.
Seriously, though. Get it.
PS- Fuck this guy.
Posted in Uncategorized
I’ll start off by saying I’m a fan of Treme, David Simon’s series about post-Katrina New Orleans. I think the show is ambitious in its scope and courageous in its assessment of the problems faced by a devastated city and the people who inhabit it. Simon’s newsman background serves him well here, as it did on The Wire, as he isn’t only able to see the individual stories but he can connect the dots to show how all of the small problems compound each other and the solutions undercut each other, adding up to one insurmountable mess. The word “Dickensian” gets used frequently to describe Simon’s shows, and a lot of very smart people consider The Wire to be the greatest television series ever made. Having him helm the series that would dissect this great American tragedy seems like a match made in heaven. Why, then, is the show so…meh?
Posted in Words
I’m so far behind in listening to the records I’m buying I haven’t even thought about reviewing them, but this first new release got me plenty motivated.
Posted in acquisitions
Tagged christian scott, joe lovano, linda oh, ravi coltrane
Monk in Paris, 1965
Paris is supposed to be one of the great jazz cities. They loved Monk before New York did, hailed Miles as a genius and provided a fertile, non-segregated arena for greats like James Reese Europe, Josephine Baker and Django Reinhardt between the two World Wars. There’s a great documentary called Harlem in Monmartre, based on the book by the same name written by William A. Shack, that does a good job exploring the scene that sprung up there between the wars. So when my wife and I decided that Paris would be our next big trip, I was excited to see if the old reputation held true.
Posted in acquisitions, Words
Tagged Birelli Lagrene, Brad Mehldau, Herbie Hancock, jaco, Jaki Byard, Miles Davis, Miroslav Vitous, NHøP, Ornette Coleman, paris, Paul Bley, Rashid Ali, Steps Ahead, Thelonius Monk, vinyl
I’ve been interested lately in music that exists on the outskirts of jazz, especially where accomplished musicians attempt to bring jazz ideas to music that is decidedly not jazz, or attempt to bring outside elements into a traditional jazz setting. While fusion is nothing new, for the most part it has been limited to jazz-rock or jazz-funk, and that idea started over 40 years ago. With the explosion in new and interesting styles in the decades since, jazz players have been slow to adopt the ideas of hip-hop, techno and other more modern (and often electronic) styles. Here are a few groups that can show them the way.
There are a lot of bands and musicians trying to stake their claim in the new musical landscape, and a lot of gimmicks being employed to further those efforts. The grassroots hype machine so expertly developed by indie rock has been adapted by jazz bands trying to coerce young listeners to leave the confines of pop and explore more experimental music. One band riding a huge wave of this hype is Kneebody. The quintet rolled into L.A. for a three night stand at The Blue Whale, and I made the arduous trek downtown for night two.
It’s pretty rare that I’ll be listening to mostly newly recorded music for any significant stretch, but the three records here all grabbed my interest on my last trip to the store.
