I’m starting to dig into Le Carré for the first time. Many (including Philip Roth!) rate A Perfect Spy highest, but I see you don’t share that opinion. Is it his most pretentious?
One of the things I love about you is that you are always working on making everything, as you say, "available," to yourself as a musician and critic. Even things you once cast some shade at! Which means now I am excited about you someday doing a deep dive into Gary Burton or, especially, John Zorn...
The Roushauw interview was rich. You lauded Vierielles, Diehl, and Fortner. Any thoughts on Sean Mason? I dug the streams of his late night duo sets at Mezzrow’s, particularly with Giveton Gelin, and found The Southern Suite remarkably mature. That he is a Marsalis protege adds texture to the return to the Jazz Wars conversation. Thanks for the playing and the writing.
I'm interested in any opinions you might have about Django Reinhardt and his relationship to jazz and modern jazz. To me he's a confusing character in that regard. His compositions are high quality and remind me in a lot of ways to Monk. He was a brilliant improviser and played with a fair amount of notables. The early and middle jazz guys seemed to really respect him.
But he seems to be relatively unknown to modern jazz musicians with little influence. Guitarists generally know him but it doesn't seem to go much past there. Oddly it seems he was very influential in American jazz adjacent genres like Western Swing. Willie Nelson I think says that Django was one of his favorites, likewise BB King.
I'm assuming a lot of that comes from geography, some from the weird violin/guitar combo that was uniquely his and didn't really mesh with American jazz, maybe some language and cultural barriers.
Anyway, just wondering if Django has a place in your brain?
Tanx for the pointer to the amazing slow downer: it might just be the tool for my attempts to transcribe the Washingtonians' Take It Easy. Of course, better quality ears would also help.
Wanted to mention that the public radio organization in Cleveland has launched a 24-hour jazz channel and it can be accessed from anywhere around the world:
I was listening to it the other day, and a tune I liked caught my ear, so I used Shazam to identify it. It turned out to be some guy named "Ethan Iverson." The tune was "The Feeling is Mutual" from the new album, "Technically Acceptable."
biggest bang for buck jazz solo to learn to sing+ transcribe? for me, it's Pres on "Lady Be Good". most Charlie Christian and Chet Baker also fall solidly into this category.
there are two sort of "canonical" performances of Águas de março--the one featuring Tom Jobim and Elis Regina dueting. And the hypnotic, off-kilter version done by João Gilberto on acoustic guitar.
Which is superior? I've had many debates about this very subject.
Lee Morgan B note dates from ‘69 with Herbie, Ron C et s as l issued after his death I think.
love E Hines’s version of Caravan. Totally agree that S Fortner knows his Hines. It was fascinating to hear Mehldau on the recent Beato interview talk about how he felt his L hand was weak in the stride dept and how much he dug Fortner’s taking the style forward...
60 years ago this week Earl Hines emerged from West Coast hibernation to record a concert in NYC that revived his career - do you think pianists today can learn anything from his playing?
Only recently have I become acquainted with the works of pianist Yosuke Yamashita, and I really love his attitude, "chops" and his range - from wild avantgarde with his Japanese trio in the 60s through his beautiful solo & duo albums, to the more polished New York Trio with Cecil McBee and Pheeroan Aklaff in the 90s. I wish I could read more about him, as there's so little on the interwebs. I'd love to hear what you think about him
Thank you so much for Technically Acceptable! In addition to this wonderful addition to your recording goldmine, your musical commentary and analysis is also just invaluable. On another cultural front where you clearly excel, is there any recent crime fiction which you would recommend to an avid Crimes of the Century devotee?
I’m starting to dig into Le Carré for the first time. Many (including Philip Roth!) rate A Perfect Spy highest, but I see you don’t share that opinion. Is it his most pretentious?
One of the things I love about you is that you are always working on making everything, as you say, "available," to yourself as a musician and critic. Even things you once cast some shade at! Which means now I am excited about you someday doing a deep dive into Gary Burton or, especially, John Zorn...
Have you read Paul Steinbeck’s books on the Art Ensemble and the AACM? I really enjoyed both of them.
The Roushauw interview was rich. You lauded Vierielles, Diehl, and Fortner. Any thoughts on Sean Mason? I dug the streams of his late night duo sets at Mezzrow’s, particularly with Giveton Gelin, and found The Southern Suite remarkably mature. That he is a Marsalis protege adds texture to the return to the Jazz Wars conversation. Thanks for the playing and the writing.
I'm interested in any opinions you might have about Django Reinhardt and his relationship to jazz and modern jazz. To me he's a confusing character in that regard. His compositions are high quality and remind me in a lot of ways to Monk. He was a brilliant improviser and played with a fair amount of notables. The early and middle jazz guys seemed to really respect him.
But he seems to be relatively unknown to modern jazz musicians with little influence. Guitarists generally know him but it doesn't seem to go much past there. Oddly it seems he was very influential in American jazz adjacent genres like Western Swing. Willie Nelson I think says that Django was one of his favorites, likewise BB King.
I'm assuming a lot of that comes from geography, some from the weird violin/guitar combo that was uniquely his and didn't really mesh with American jazz, maybe some language and cultural barriers.
Anyway, just wondering if Django has a place in your brain?
It's the nerd with a box, it's the multi-colored rocks, it's the crest of a hill, it's a shoe, it's a car, it's a hug, it's a poem...
Love your writing(words and music) and your playing and your bands. Carry on!✌🏽🙏🏽
Tanx for the pointer to the amazing slow downer: it might just be the tool for my attempts to transcribe the Washingtonians' Take It Easy. Of course, better quality ears would also help.
Thank you.
Wanted to mention that the public radio organization in Cleveland has launched a 24-hour jazz channel and it can be accessed from anywhere around the world:
https://sanduskyregister.com/news/508178/public-radio-launches-northern-ohio-jazz-channel/
I was listening to it the other day, and a tune I liked caught my ear, so I used Shazam to identify it. It turned out to be some guy named "Ethan Iverson." The tune was "The Feeling is Mutual" from the new album, "Technically Acceptable."
biggest bang for buck jazz solo to learn to sing+ transcribe? for me, it's Pres on "Lady Be Good". most Charlie Christian and Chet Baker also fall solidly into this category.
See you in Albuquerque!
In a nod to the subhead of this post:
there are two sort of "canonical" performances of Águas de março--the one featuring Tom Jobim and Elis Regina dueting. And the hypnotic, off-kilter version done by João Gilberto on acoustic guitar.
Which is superior? I've had many debates about this very subject.
Lee Morgan B note dates from ‘69 with Herbie, Ron C et s as l issued after his death I think.
love E Hines’s version of Caravan. Totally agree that S Fortner knows his Hines. It was fascinating to hear Mehldau on the recent Beato interview talk about how he felt his L hand was weak in the stride dept and how much he dug Fortner’s taking the style forward...
60 years ago this week Earl Hines emerged from West Coast hibernation to record a concert in NYC that revived his career - do you think pianists today can learn anything from his playing?
Only recently have I become acquainted with the works of pianist Yosuke Yamashita, and I really love his attitude, "chops" and his range - from wild avantgarde with his Japanese trio in the 60s through his beautiful solo & duo albums, to the more polished New York Trio with Cecil McBee and Pheeroan Aklaff in the 90s. I wish I could read more about him, as there's so little on the interwebs. I'd love to hear what you think about him
Thank you so much for Technically Acceptable! In addition to this wonderful addition to your recording goldmine, your musical commentary and analysis is also just invaluable. On another cultural front where you clearly excel, is there any recent crime fiction which you would recommend to an avid Crimes of the Century devotee?