Support Jazz
8:39 PM EDT Thursday, April 3 2008
If you like Jazz, you should check out the In the Groove, Jazz and Beyond podcast. They are running a pledge drive right now, so donate a few bucks to help support Jazz.
Brad Mehldau - Largo
8:30 PM EST Friday, November 16 2007
It's been too long since I've had a music post, so here's one. If you like jazz, specifically piano jazz, the album Largo by Brad Mehldau is one you have to pick up. It has a mix of originals and covers, but the covers have a unique feel. The first track is "When it Rains", an aptly titled song that gets the album off to a somber mood, but builds energy throughout the track. The next track "You're Vibing Me" features extensive use of a vibraphone. It's not my favorite song the album, but it does fit within a common motif, a common sound that is throughout the album, which I like. I don't like albums that aren't cohesive and sound like a collection of songs, rather than one body of work.
So the next track "Dutsy McNugget" is one of my favorites. It has a catch lick and upbeat tempo. After that is the tune "Dropjes", which has kind of an odd, Avant-garde sound. The next track is a cover of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android". I think it's a fantastic rendition that has a dramatic feel. "Franklin Avenue" is nice, but doesn't particularly stand out. "Sabbath" breaks from the mood of the album a bit with a heavy, industrial, rock sound.
Up next is another cover, this time it's the Beatles "Dear Prudence", which much like "Paranoid Android" has a dramatic feel, giving a different sounds than the original. "Free Willy" starts of with some ambient sounds, then adds a frenetic bass line, and maintains a quirky style throughout the song. "Alvarado" has a tribal beat and a somber feel. The next track is titled "Wave / Mother Nature's Son". It is fast paced, features the vibraphone again and eventually transitions into another Beatles White Album cover "Mother Nature's Sun". The final track "I Do" is solo piano, in stark contrast to the drum and bass grooves present on every other track on the album. It's a great closer to a great album and you owe to yourself to check this album out.
Jazz Portrait
1:20 PM EDT Saturday, August 19 2006
I just discovered the website harlem.org. The main page shows a photo taken by Art Kane in 1958 called Jazz Portrait. It was taken in Harlem and has many of the great innovators of jazz music. The site also has an index of eacn person with a bio for that person and what part of the photo they appear in. I have seen this photo in many places, but one place a remember it distinctly from is Detour. Detour is a jazz bar in New York City, on 13th street between 1st and 2nd. It used to be no cover, but now it is a $5 cover on friday and saturdays. It is a great place, I used to love going there when we lived in New York. There were a lot of good musicians that I saw there in an intimate setting, one I remember specifically is Will Sellenraad. I recommend his album Star Hustler. Anyway, the point about Detour is that they had a framed copy of Jazz Portrait hanging on the wall right behind where the artists play.
Miles Davis, Hall of Fame rock star
10:44 AM EST Monday, March 13 2006
There is an article in the Times questioning the decision to induct Miles Davis into the rock and roll hall of fame. I haven't made up my mind yet on this, there are compeling arguments on both sides as to whether this is the right thing to do. Why do you think?