TT 440: Varied Events, Critiques and OPEN FORUM
Sonatas, John McNeil, MR INBETWEEN, Walter Smith III
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Comments open until Monday. (The comments are now closed.)
My next record is Playfair Sonatas. Cover art by Roz Chast!
The six sonatas are played by Miranda Cuckson, violin; Makoto Nakura, marimba; Carol McGonnell, clarinet; Mike Lormand, trombone; Taimur Sullivan, saxophone; and Tim Leopold, trumpet. (I play piano on everything.)
The release date on Urlicht AudioVisual is November 15, 2024.
Scrolling score of “Music Hall (for Carla Bley)” from the Clarinet Sonata:
Promotional “song” for the first of three gigs this weekend:
Sorry to hear of the passing of John McNeil, artist of the trumpet, fine composer, and skilled raconteur. In the lineage McNeil was somewhere next to Tom Harrell, deep into both bebop and the modal burn, yet also infused with a carefree melodic sensibility and generosity of spirit.
For myself and my peers McNeil was an important conduit to the tradition, someone who could tell you about Woody Shaw from the vantage point of having been there in the club.
Gems from the discography include collaborations with Tom Harrell (a veritable dictionary of modern trumpet) and Bill McHenry (sweet song and rhythm). The DownBeat obituary is by Michael J. West.
Mr Inbetween ran for three short seasons 2018-2021; the collected 26 episodes are only 25 minutes long each. It was written by Scott Ryan, who also stars as the lead, Ray Shoesmith. Every episode was directed by Nash Edgerton.
It’s the best thing in the genre I’ve seen since the first season of True Detective.
Ray is a bouncer, enforcer, and collector for Freddy, a minor titan of Australian crime whose front is a strip club. Ray will also kill people for money; Freddy and Ray occasionally argue about the price of a hit.
There are certain complications on the emotional side. Ray is a father to an adorable child, a saint to his brother who is suffering of terminal illness, and dates a nice woman. In other words, it’s all business as usual for a recent TV show; there are even therapy sessions in the modern manner of explicating a “complex” character.
Nonetheless the use of these standard tropes is exceptionally fresh, partly because it is so bare bones. Mr Inbetween offers just the facts, and big events often happen offstage.
Some of the blurbs call the show a “dark comedy” but that might suggest the kind of comic exaggeration that swarmed the form in the wake of Quentin Tarantino. When Mr Inbetween is amusing, it is amusing just because the little girl is cute in the way that little girls are cute — or because criminals are a bit short-sighted in the way that criminals are a bit short-sighted.
As with Parker in the classic series by Richard Stark, we absolutely root for Ray Shoesmith, even though we really shouldn’t.
What a pleasure to hear the opening set of Walter Smith III’s band celebrating the release of Walter’s excellent new record Three of Us Are From Houston and Reuben Is Not.
The last time I heard Jason Moran as a sideman was 20 years ago with Don Byron and Billy Hart for Byron’s Ivey-Divey project. Jason is always one of my favorites and it was really great to hear him bring his magic to Walter’s music.
Walter is a Texas tenor! I didn’t really put that together before. That tradition might imply big blues, and big attitude. Walter has that, but his Texas thing is really more like wide open spaces in the Dewey Redman lane. Walter also is genuinely funny and genuinely elliptical in his playing.
His music is not easy. Reuben Rogers and Eric Harland made the most of the complex forms, human and loose through the twists and turns. The whole thing felt like a collective experience: four musicians that go way back, using their shared heritage to conjure the latest “now.”
The band is at the Village Vanguard through Sunday.
Again, the comments section is open until Monday. Ask me anything or simply state your piece. If you don’t chime in this time, I will host another open thread next month. (The comments are now closed.)
Sad to hear of John McNeill's passing. A few years ago, Allegra Levy put out an album of her lyrics set to McNeill's music, 'Lose My Number,' and it's absolutely brilliant.
Will there be a physical CD release of "Play fair Sonatas" or will it be digital only?