The JAZZ COMMONS Blog

I had a composition lesson yesterday with Darcy James Argue, best known for his grammy-nominated Secret Society steampunk-inspired big band. The lesson was my selected Kickstarter reward for donating to Adam Schatz's Search & Restore project. I'm very grateful to DJA for generously sharing his time and knowledge, so I figured I'd post here about the lesson and his music.

Darcy James Argue – photo by Ben AnamanI've been motivated to start writing music again. I'd like to develop an album's worth of new sextet music and record it, but feel that I need to find a fresh approach composition. It's part of a larger creative exploration I began a few years ago. So when I signed in to donate to Search & Restore, this was a serendipitous opportunity that actually made me laugh out loud.Read more

Watching Clark Terry "mumble" is guaranteed to put you in a good mood. This is his trademark variant of scatting which lets his sense of humor shine through:

Clark Terry is 90 now. He's been doing this for a long time:

Some showmanship aboard the S/S Norway. Love how he plays the flugelhorn upside-down and looks at it like he's trying to figure out what's wrong with it. (And he is a true genius on the flugelhorn — please do take a YouTube excursion through his other videos!)

Here's a great interview that explains the back story. He's got the interviewer in stiches:

That great interview was posted by National Visionary Leadership Project who's mission is to "Ensure that the wisdom of our country's extraordinary African American elders is preserved by and passed on to the young people who will lead us tomorrow." They have 1575 videos posted on their YouTube channel. Incredible work!

And finally, an interesting spinoff featuring master jazz vocalists Jon Hendricks and Gege Telesforo:

Because it was a huge and expensive coffee-table-style book, I didn't buy Doug Ramsey's incredible book Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond (2005) until a few weeks ago, thanks to a piano student's Christmas gift card from Barnes & Noble, and the Tacoma, WA Goodwill Store.

The tireless research that must have gone into this book astounds me. Desmond was extremely private, and any information he gave you may have been a joke, apocryphal, or embellished by his peerless wit. But Ramsey has interviewed everyone who knew Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld), collected correspondence, and assembled the definitive story and summary of his life, and impact on the world of jazz.

But actually, this isn't about that, it's about a little tidbit of information I happened to catch towards the end of the book, as I was skimming through the massive tome. There is a picture in the back of pianist Renee Rosnes, who, though she has no connection to Desmond's life (she was 15 when he died in 1977), is pictured sitting at "Paul's Baldwin grand piano at the Jazz Gallery in New York."Read more

I was entirely pleased to attend the first night of Chick Corea's guesting with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. I could go on about the brilliance of this pianist, the melodicism of both his compositions and improvisations, his rapport with the band, the excellence of the hastily thrown-together arrangements for the band (only a week! Just shows what you can do when you're up against it), and the poignant beauty of Gayle Moran Corea taking the stage to sing "You're Everything," my current favorite Corea song. Hmm... I appear to be going on about this.

It suddenly dawned on me when Corea took the stage (casually strolling out with the band; it took a moment for the audience to realize he was already there, and we immediately swelled in our applause), looking very fit, his curly dark hair showing signs of grey, that... wait a minute, Chick must be heading towards 70! I later confirmed that, this summer, he will indeed turn 70. How did that happen?

My obliviousness to the inexorable passing of time made me laugh and shake my head (I am fully aware of Dave Brubeck's recent 90th birthday), but this particular hero of mine seems to exist only in a time loop that circles back between roughly 1966 and 1973. It made me very grateful that I can still see my heroes live and alive, but also made me more aware of the timeline of their existence and evolution.Read more

I'd just like to take a moment to urge every aspiring musician to spend at least some time each week recording themselves, especially if you do not have much experience in the studio. There's something delightfully humbling about process of recording. Laying down tracks makes you realize you're not as good as you think you are. If you don't record frequently, the red recording button can get in your head and trip you up a bit. Think about how relaxed you are when you're just sitting around shedding.  Soon as the tape is rolling, you've got "okay, this is it..." on your mind, and that can really disrupt any creative flow you may have mustered.  This is especially detrimental to the art of jazz improvisation, which thrives in spontaneity — and collapses when you start thinking too much.

You don't need to use fancy recording gear. A simple cassette recorder can psych you out, especially if you're the kind of person who needs a few takes to record a satisfactory voice greeting on your cellphone. The proliferation of affordable home studio equipment, though, puts within reach the ability to record studio-quality material. Use nicest setup you've got, but remember it's the process rather than the equipment that counts.Read more

Not so long ago, Search and Restore began an ambitious fundraiser to raise $75,000 through Kickstarter. The money will be used next year to document the New York City new jazz scene and build a new online home for the community.

Search and Restore is a 501c3 non-profit organization formed by Adam Schatz to build the jazz audience through amazing concerts and online activity. Part of the goal for next year is to film 208 jazz concerts. Four concerts a week – that's a lot of filming and editing and production work! Money raised will help make that possible, as will a lot of work by talented people dedicated to jazz in the city.

I've already participated in one of Adam's documentaries: a raid on Prospect Park by Stefan Zeniuk's outlandish Baritone Army. Adam spent the entire afternoon running all over Park Slope with us capturing footage. For sure he's serious about his commitment to the jazz scene (even weird crap like this!)Read more

The only documentary film about alto saxophonist and jazz educator Jackie McLean is the fine work Jackie McLean on Mars by Ken Levis, filmed in 1976. I would love to see this reissued, but for now you can watch a low-resolution version on Vimeo.

I hadn't seen this film since Jackie showed it in history class in 1990. I watch it now with a completely different perspective, having seen many changes in the world since then. This film is essentially master class by Jackie McLean in that his teaching was as much about politics, racism, the mainstream media, the plague of drugs, and the education of young people as it was about jazz music itself. Here's a time capsule from the mid-seventies, yet the messages are shockingly relevant today. It's deep. You should really watch the whole thing.

Jackie McLean on Mars from Ken Levis on Vimeo.

Golden quote of the film:Read more

Last week, while browsing at the Lincoln Triangle Barnes & Noble, I noticed that Bill Frisell was scheduled for an appearance on Monday, August 30th. While in town for his annual two-week Village Vanguard gig with Paul Motian and Joe Lovano, Frisell is promoting his new Beautiful Dreamers CD. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to see Bill Frisell for free!

Events at Lincoln Triangle are held in a large, glass-walled room on the third floor. When I arrived a half hour before the 5pm appearance, the first two rows were already occupied by eager fans, but most of the space was empty. Frisell's guitar sat quietly upon a chair on a slightly raised stage, plugged into an amp and a few effects pedals. During the next few minutes, the room filled quickly to capacity. I had arrived just in time to get a prime seat. By the time Frisell took the stage, there was standing room only. He expressed pleasant surprise over the turnout, and was warmly appreciative.Read more

Yesterday, June 26^th, I attended a memorial service at The Abyssinian Baptist church in Harlem for the legendary pianist Hank Jones, who passed on May 16^th.  Congregating in a far corner, close to the pulpit and to a grand piano, were a select group of elder statesmen and legendary jazz musicians which included Dr. Billy Taylor, Jimmy Heath, Frank Wess, Ron Carter, Frank Foster, Barry Harris, and many others. Some spoke about their early meetings with Hank, many of which occurred on 52^nd St. in the mid 1940s, and a favorite bar on 6^th Ave. called The White Rose, (nicknamed “The White Nose” by some) where apparently all of the major players on the scene would hang out, drink, and share tips. Some were so visibly moved by the passing of Mr. Jones, they could barely speak.  The musical performances were beautiful, and several videos were shown of montages depicting various photographs and anecdotes, one of which was regarding the famous Marilyn Monroe performance of “Happy Birthday,” sung to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden in 1962. Hank, who was her accompanist, recounted that the 16 minute performance required an 8 hour day of rehearsal which was, in his words, “Very trying.”Read more

Seventeen years have passed since I first heard Wayne Escoffery play saxophone in the halls of the Hartt School in West Hartford, CT. Wayne and fellow freshman Jimmy Greene were quickly dubbed the "Twin Towers" in Hartt's jazz program headed by the legendary Jackie McLean. The nickname wasn't merely an obvious reference to their physical stature, but a nod to their seeming inseparability as they dedicated themselves to jazz mastery, propelling themselves forward like cycling teammates drafting in a Grand Tour.

Since the Hartt years, Wayne has followed his own course with unwavering resolution. Through college and beyond, he led a weekly jam session for six years at Rudy's in New Haven, CT, with the finest local musicians. These were intense, serious sessions, each a master class in and of itself. I distinctly recall one Rudy's session including prodigal drummer Jim Oblon that particularly showcased Wayne's steep trajectory. The lesson that night was clear. There's no better way to improve at jazz than sheer dedication and immersion.Read more