Tampa Calling

After repeatedly hearing this new disc hyped by The Mars Volta leader Omar Rodriguez-Lopez in recent interviews as their “acoustic record,” TMV fans might be a bit surprised when they finally get to hear Octahedron.

Acoustic guitars highlight only a couple of the tracks on the new album, primarily the single “Since We’ve Been Wrong,” the over-7-minute “With Twilight as My Guide,” and “Copernicus.” The rest of the songs feature as much of the bombastic guitar and keyboard-driven rock as their fans are used to.

A special five-on-the-floor shout-out goes to track 2, “Teflon,” where vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala wails, “Let the wheels burn/ Let the wheels burn/ Stack the tires to the neck/ With the body inside.”

What strikes me as particularly “acoustic” about Octahedron is the lack of dense, arpeggiated guitar overdubs that typically define the Volta’s sound. In fact, the only guitar “solo” is placed at the end of “Luciforms,” the last song on the record.

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A few Fridays ago, I had the pleasure of seeing the Ghetto Love Sugar reunion. The band — a local experimental jazz jam outfit that enjoyed its heydey several years ago and played their last show in ‘03 — re-banded for a single show when drummer/percussionist Jon Priest returned to town for a weekend of performing. Priest (now a resident of Boone, N.C.) sat in in with pretty much every band he helped shape over the course of his many years that Friday night: Middle Rhythm Session, GLS, the funk-jazz foursome Infinite Groove Orchestra, and reggae masters Rocksteady@8.

That night, Priest told me he was going to play “until I can’t play no more.” And he did. The GLS set was, IMO, one of the most spirited parts of the night, though IGO pretty much KILLED it. (If you haven’t seen IGO perform, sans Priest, they play Yeoman’s Road Pub every first Friday of the month.) Anyway, I’ve been meaning to post some video from that night that a local music lover sent me, but just didn’t get the chance until today. Here’s two, parts one and four, the latter featuring GLS playing a smokin’ cover of The Beatles’ “Within You, Without You” from the May 8 show. Read the rest of this entry »

Having proclaimed 1959 “Jazz’s Greatest Year,” Sony Legacy will release three multi-disc, expanded-edition sets marking 50th anniversaries next Tuesday, May 26: Dave Brubeck’s Time Out, Charles Mingus’ Ah Um/Mingus Dynasty and Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain. The label stole some of its own thunder by last year releasing the landmark album of ‘59, Miles’ Kind of Blue in several lavish editions.

This troika of diverse albums certainly belongs in any discussion of jazz classics. Personally, I find Sketches of Spain the least satisfying of Miles’ four orchestral collaborations with arranger/conductor Gil Evans. Its neo-classical centerpiece, the 16-and-half-minute “Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio),” kind of crawls along through atmospheric movement after atmospheric movement.

Overall, the album includes tons of gorgeous horn textures, but never finds much rhythmic traction, and Miles’ trumpet work sounds a bit unfocused outside of a swing setting. An extra disc of outtake does not provide much in the way of revelations.

Brubeck’s Time Out famously explores different rhythm signatures, and includes Brubeck’s signature tune “Take Five.” This disc is not on my list of favorites either, but I admire its chamber-like subtlety, Joe Morello’s simpatico drumming and Paul Desmond arid-toned alto sax. Read the rest of this entry »

My buddy Wes Price from Polysound Studios sold me on the fact that this handwritten note was created by Jazz God Thelonius Monk in 1960 as an advice sheet for his new drummer. I think that most of the advice here is valid for anyone in the music business. This is a great companion piece to Quincy Jones’ SXSW Keynote speech. Enjoy!

Leilani joins Stephen and Joran in the studio to welcome Jim Morey and his band as they perform two tracks live and talk about their strange brand of Neo-ragtime, NOLA jazz, stumblin’ roots rock.

Yes, they brought in a monkey, and yes, we got it on video.

Download the MP3s of Gypsy Wind and Wishing Well after the break.

Download

Read Leilani’s interview with the band here.

Watch the Video for “Gypsy Wind”

MP3s:

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My men’s league basketball game ran into overtime, so I arrived at the Palladium’s Side Door club just in time for boogie-woogie piano master Bob Seeley to go on break. I was surprised, and pleased, to see a sell-out audience of 150 lingering around the tables, the crowd made up mostly of retirees.

Seeley, based in Detroit, is 80, but doesn’t look it — and he certainly doesn’t play like you might expect an 80-year-old to play. He’s a firebrand with remarkable technique. After doing brisk CD sales at the merch table, and a set by locals Liz Pennock & Dr. Blues, Seeley took to the baby grand and wowed the joint.

Whereas most jazz piano features the player’s right hand, with the left hand laying out chordal accents, boogie-woogie highlights the left hand, which pounds out a steady stream of eighth notes.

Not to say that Seeley’s other paw was sub-bar; he used it to execute some marvelous runs.

Boogie-woogie, played on solo piano like last night, is one of the most exuberant, joyous sounds to emanate from the annals of American music. Seeley sure proved that.

His show-stopper piece was “Mama Don’t Allow,” an old-time number that Seeley used to strut his skills in boogie, ragtime, stride, Charleston, Ellingtonia (”Take the A Train”), Gershwin (”I Got Rhythm”) and more. He blasted through the piece with supreme confidence and good humor.

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Improvisational collective Legatto Staccato has released an exclusive new track entitled “Lemonjello’s Birthday” recorded sometime last year at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Tampa.

This recording is an excerpt from a half-hour session the band recorded using drums, bass, guitar, saxophone, percussion and various analog sound effects (including assorted balloons and toys). No word yet on whether the entire session will be released, but it’s likely. No word yet if this means more performances from the group, but keep checking their site and this blog for updates.

Leg Stac on MySpace

Legatto Staccato – Bounce.mp3

Wednesday, March 18: I arrived to Austin by 9:30am, exhausted from the previous night’s St. Patty’s Day festivities. On the plane Flee and Jo Ellen (from WMNF and The Globe respectively) had the privilege to watch me zonk out with mouth agape for most of the 2 hour flight.

Excitement was high as soon as I deplaned. Dozens of people carrying guitar cases were scurrying about the terminal as if late for a very important meeting. I took a shuttle to the “Little” Ramada on the far ass north of town, where I would be staying during my visit. The driver ran me down the key places to visit in Austin (Bat Country, The Capitol), the great restaurants to visit (Guero’s) and that I shouldn’t walk the streets around my hotel alone at night. At first impression Austin seemed tired and run down, with haggard bums adorning every street corner.

Upon arriving to the hotel, I met two bands off the bat: Colombia’s Raton Perez and London’s Little Thief. I took advantage of my “journalist status” and did a quick interview with each:

Raton Perez (Screamo Heavy Metal)

Little Thief (Pop Punk ala Arctic Monkeys)

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Gerald Cleaver/Willliam Parker/Craig Taborn: Farmers By Nature (AUM Fidelity)

This is full-immersion music — on the part of players and listener alike. Farmers by Nature captures a live performance by three of the most accomplished improvisers to be found anywhere — drummer Cleaver, bassist Parker and pianist Taborn — in a completely extemporaneous setting. The level of interactivity is at a ridiculously sophisticated ebb, each player leading and reacting equally, the trio moving organically from minimalist solo forays to manic, almost violent, crescendos.

There aren’t a lot of pretty notes here, but the music is not the non-stop, high-dudgeon cacophony that informs most free jazz. During a good portion of “The Night,” Taborn fixates on the middle range of his piano, wringing all he can from a limited palette of notes. On the ensuing two pieces, “Cranes” and “Not Unlike Number 10,” he murders his instrument, spewing out fusillades of sound like he’s a deranged octopus.

Very little of Farmers by Nature grooves, but most of it finds a shifting but discernible pulse. A section of “In Trees” features Taborn’s scattershots over something akin to a frenetic bop rhythm. Occasionally, Parker gets a bit enamored with plumbing the sonic possibilities of his acoustic bass and devolves into lone noodling, but soon enough the trio rediscovers its collective momentum and (dis)order is restored.

The trio has no particular destination during the set — and is in no particular hurry to get there. But the immersed listener, with sensibilities geared to this sort of music, will find it a most invigorating ride.

—Eric Snider

A couple of weeks ago, my brother in Seattle called and asked if I could recommend a few jazz CDs for his 20-year-old son who had expressed an interest. A starter kit, if you will.

I’ve had like requests many, many times over the years, and so it dawned on me: Why not publish one?
Here’s a 10-CD jazz primer designed to lure those curious about the genre into being, if not hooked, at least satisfied enough to continue a jazz quest. Being a jazzbo like me can be lonely these days, so the more folks I can recruit the better.

Before we get started, a few words about criteria. I didn’t attempt to cover all the bases in jazz history. The idea here is seduction through listenability, while offering a solid overview. I may love 1930s Duke Ellington, but to the uninitiated it tends to sound like music from old cartoons. Likewise, I dig Albert Ayler, but most people would hear it as squawky noise and want to plug their ears.

That said, this is no dumbed-down list. Most of the titles are recognized classics, and a few will pose a challenge, especially for those who like their music sensible and orderly.

There are many overlapping players on these discs, but I purposely limited artists to one title.

Miles Davis: Kind of Blue (Columbia/Sony, 1959)
This is always the first album I recommend to the jazz curious. The ultimate gateway drug — gorgeous, intimate and expansive at the same time. Kind of Blue is probably the most widely revered jazz record of all time, and for good reason. Simple, grabby melodic sketches give way to extended solos by one of the greatest lineups ever assembled, including Miles on trumpet, John Coltrane on tenor sax, Cannonball Adderley on alto sax and Bill Evans on piano. The music is dark and moody yet somehow comforting.

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Hankshaw & Friends

The annual New Granada Christmas Show at New World Brewery featuring King of Spain, Davey von Bohlen, Hankshaw and Jarvik 7 was a splendid night of reunions with a grand soundtrack.  The show has a reputation for unique elements (including in past years the reunions of Scrog, Pohgoh and appearances by elusive bands like The Blackwoods Orchestra) and it’s a place to meet up with friends from near and far.

King of Spain… Read the rest of this entry »

This weekend, I am practicing restraint and missing not one but two awesome Florida festivals in favor of plunging my backed-up toilet of duties. Three if you count RibFest — but despite the fact that I could walk to it from my house, the lineup is so unappealing I can’t even manage to drum-up excitement over all that mouth-watering barbeque all in one place. But I digress.

Tonight marks the start of the Anti-Pop Music Festival in downtown Orlando, a four-day celebration of alternative indie music. This evening’s schedule is ripe with the possibility of greatness. Singer/songwriter/former Soul Coughing force-of-nature Mike Doughty and Cali singer/songwriter Matt Costa headline a show at Plaza Theatre, goodtime tongue-in-cheek rockers Black Lips perform over at The Social, and sweet-voiced acousti-folkman Jay Brannan makes tender melodies at the Gibson Showroom. Other weekend highlights that haven’t or aren’t already making stops in Tampa include Los Angeles rap artist Murs, Brooklyn electro-pop all-girrl threesome Au Revoir Simone (pictured, photo by Imma Varandela), and Mississippi bluesman Ben Prestage. Sun Kil Moon and Red House Painters frontman Mark Kozelek plays a solo set as well.

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