Business Blast
on tour with James P. Johnson and John Coltrane + summer gigs + links
Next up: The Jazz Gallery on Thursday, June 25.
The blurb:
James P. Johnson and John Coltrane are from different eras, so it is comparatively rare for compositions from each to be placed next to each other. It’s possible they could have met, for many of the circa-1950 NYC jazz musicians knew James P. personally, and Coltrane’s first records with Miles Davis were made in 1955, the year of Johnson’s death.
This unique program is essentially two sets of etudes. Posterity remembers James P. Johnson for composing the anthem of the Jazz Age, “The Charleston,” although the jazz pianists still work on his serious stride piano classics like “Carolina Shout” for they are both very beautiful and very nutritious. It is uncommon for a modern jazz pianist to play James P. In concert; is also uncommon for a solo pianist to tackle themes from John Coltrane, for part of the Coltrane style is a fierce and interactive rhythm section. Iverson treats iconic Coltrane themes as etudes for expanding the possibilities of solo jazz piano, an approach that naturally aligns with the restless exploration of the saxophonist.
I’ll also be playing solo James P. + Coltrane next month at Umbria Jazz Fest on July 9.
The Billy Hart quartet with Nicole Glover, Ben Street, and myself will play Jazz in July at 92NY on Wednesday, July 15.
I will lead a trio with Herman Burney and Nasar Abadey at Blues Alley in Washington D.C. on July 18 and 19 playing the music of Thelonious Monk.
July 31: Walter Smith III and myself will play duo at Arrow Street Arts in Boston, presented by New England Jazz Collaborative.
August 1: Billy Hart quartet with Walter Smith III, Ben Street, and myself at the Newport Jazz Festival.
Amazing story by Aidan Levy in The Nation: “Sonny Rollins Lived to See Justice for His Wrongly Convicted Father.”
Kat Rosenfield: “I Was Canceled Before It Was Cool.” Great article, although very sad to read.
Sam Wiebe: “Collateral and Miami Vice.” Interesting comments about Michael Mann movies. Neither of those two made an impression, but I’m overdue for a rewatch. Hot takes: Heat is overrated; Manhunter is underrated; Thief is rated just the right amount.
I stayed at a place with an interesting instrument. Two videos:
“Heliotrope Bouquet” was composed by Scott Joplin and Louis Chauvin in 1907. (This piano was also apparently last tuned in 1907.)
Bach two-part Invention on the same scruffy piano. (The low “C” doesn’t work, thus I’m playing the one in B minor.)
I think Heat is a little less than the sum of its parts; a little baggy in a way that doesn't help the movie out. But so many of the parts are so good. This isn't an obscure take, but when you rewatch, if you haven't before, consider Tom Sizemore, who I think has the film's two best moments* and in general delivers a fascinating performance of a type I don't remember seeing so evocatively portrayed elsewhere.
* Staring down the potential Good Samaritan in the diner with Waingro; the silent moments before he says "for me, the action is the juice".
Miami Vice-the-movie is definitely less than the sum of its parts, thought some of them are good parts. Collateral I thought was solid top to bottom. Manhunter was great but I think much further from capturing Thomas Harris' spirit than Silence of the Lambs. Probably the best of his movies that I've seen (about half of them) is The Insider, but if I'm going to watch half of a Mann movie to unwind, it's going to be my favorite stuff from Heat.
EDIT: Okay, so old school html-coding doesn't work for italics, etc., in these comments. I guess I'll have to go back to _The Old Ways_ of marking the title of a book/movie/album.
Thanks as always for the reading recommendations. Here's one for you and your readers: Kinda' hot: the making of Saint Jack in Singapore. This is an account by Ben Slater of the somewhat secretive making in Singapore of a Peter Bogdanovich movie following the suggestion of Orson Welles, financed by Roger Corman and produced in part by Playboy to settle a lawsuit by Cybil Shepard (also a producer) for publishing nude photographs of her without permission and based on a novel (also excellent) by Peter Theroux who was persona non grata by the Singapore government.