There are a lot of people spending an awful lot of money trying to cheat the effects of aging; three men are in Birmingham this week who could share with them the secrets of eternal youth.

I’m guessing, but I think they would probably include constant searching and striving for innovation, and would certainly involve keeping working hard. Crucially, they would involve being jazz musicians.

The real veteran of the bunch is 82-year-old Lee Konitz from Chicago. He played in Miles Davis’s Birth Of The Cool band, he followed Lennie Tristano’s particular branch of cool jazz in the 1950s, sat in with Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan, and has continued to form new and exciting collaborations in the US and Europe ever since.

I met him once when he had got to bed after midnight after a gig in Copenhagen, risen again at 4am to catch a plane, had an argument with airport staff and still had the energy to regale me with anecdotes and advice throughout a two-hour drive through the English countryside.

To retire was to go to an early grave, he told me. And all the hotel rooms, the airports, the tedium of travel, all were worth it for those brief hours on stage, playing jazz, improvising, being truly alive in the moment. He was only 79 then.

These days Lee still plays jazz standards, but so absorbed into his psyche are these tunes that they can emerge in all kinds of disguises, stretched, twisted, refashioned by the thousands of times they have been given the Konitz makeover.

He demands sharp ears and a quick mind, not only from his audience, but especially from his collaborators, and his partner for a concert in the CBSO Centre on Tuesday is pianist Dan Tepfer, just 27.

The pair have recorded a CD together, and Tepfer has also played with Paul Motian, Steve Lacy and Bob Brookmeyer.

Tickets are £15 (£13 for members of Birmingham Jazz), are available from www.thsh.co.uk and the fun starts at 8pm.

Before that, on Saturday, and in the same venue, Andrew Cyrille, 70, from Brooklyn, sits down at the drums and Henry Grimes, 74, from Philadelphia, picks up the double bass. With them is the younger Briton, Paul Dunmall, on saxophone.

Together they are the Profound Sound Trio, a transatlantic meeting of the freest jazz minds brought about by Birmingham Jazz, first at the New York Vision Festival last year, then at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival earlier this year, and now on a UK tour.

Cyrille and Grimes have the dust of lofts and cellars upon them, so long have they been working in the demanding and ill-rewarded world of free improvisation in the US. Dunmall has been paying his dues in similar fashion around the pubs and clubs of this island and Europe since the 1970s.

Together they make a fiercely original and extraordinarily powerful music that gets to the very molten core of free jazz.

The band starts at 8pm, and tickets are £14 (£12 for BJ members) from www.thsh.co.uk

Happy Thanksgiving. I’ve got some great food to eat, some football to watch and in general, some serious relaxing and to do. That’s what holidays are all about, right?

But tomorrow, the day after Thanksgiving, is not very holiday-like. Black Friday. It sounds so sinister and evil. Or maybe the day the stock-market crashed or the Hindenburg fell in flames. Nope, just the craziest shopping day of the year. I typically don’t partake in Black Friday madness, but I will take this time to begin putting together a wish list of Christmas goodies that I am dreaming of. Here is what has my attention this year (in no particular order)…

1. Navy Blue V-neck Sweater - I can’t believe I don’t have one as it’s a staple. I retired two of them last year, and this year I have none. I’m not too particular nor do I have a specific brand in mind. Just a nice, no-suprises, classic v-neck in dark blue please. Some exmples:

J Crew lambswool v-neck, $59.00:

L.L. Bean Lambswood v-neck, $59.00:

Lands’ End Drifter Cotton v-neck, $35.00:

2. V-Neck Sweater, not Navy Blue – I wouldn’t mind another v-neck in charcoal gray, heather gray, yellow or possibly even red.

3. Blue striped button-down oxford – Again, just clean, simple and classic for this shirt. Here are some nice options:

Polo Classic-fit Striped Oxford, $79.50:

L.L. Bean Wrinkle-Resistant University Stripe Classic Oxford, $34.50:

Brooks Brothers Traditional Fit Original Polo Button-Down Oxford, $79.50:

4. Penny Loafers – Preferably black, but I can roll with brown or oxblood. The more classic the better. Here’s what I mean:

Bass Weejuns Goodwick, black, $129.00:

L.L. Bean Classic Penny Loafer, $99.00:

And The Ultimate… Alden Shell Cordovan Handsewn Mocasin, $546.00:

5. Cole Haan Hayden Penny – An odd combination of boat shoe and penny loafer, but I dig it.  These are listed on sale on colehaan.com between $79 and $99, depending on color.  I like the brown:

Well, that’s it for today.  Maybe I’ll come up with a few more things I’m dreaming of for Christmas, including a Rolex Submariner, MacIntosh tube power-amps (yes, plural as in two seeing as they are mono), Porsche 911, 1967 Corvette Sting-Ray, etc.  I “need” it!

Vibes player Jim Hart brings his excellent Gemini quartet, featuring fellow Loop musicians Ivo Neame on saxophone, Jasper Hoiby on bass and Dave Smith on drums, to the Yardbird in Birmingham this evening for a gig organised by the Cobweb Collective. Read my review of Gemini’s album, Narrada, here, and hotfoot it to the Yardbird now – more info here.

Shabaka Hutchings (Pic: Russ Escritt)

Jazz Club
The Rainbow, Digbeth, Birmingham
26-11-09
Many bands like to take their time and build to a big finish – not this trio of saxophonist/clarinettist Shabaka Hutchings, electric bassist Neil Charles and, for this gig, Seb Rochford on drums. We were in at the top, at the centre of a churning storm of free jazz intensity, Hutchings on tenor howling and screaming with double notes, harmonics and overblowing, Charles hitting thumb slaps and strumming chords simultaneously, Rochford stirring around the kit playing those accents only he can.

It was pretty full-on for the first three quarters of the set with pieces like Surman Part 2, and even when Hutchings finally switched to the gentler clarinet and tunes like The Forest the storm only abated temporarily.

There is a great amount of delicacy there in the digits of the band’s debut CD, Night Time On The Middle Passage (Babel BDV2982) and the band played nearly all material from it, but in live performance, and in the cruder ambience of the Rainbow’s back courtyard, delicacy needs to give way to power and intensity and, quite rightly, that’s the side of the band it chose to accentuate.

And what intensity! For those of us who remember the young Shabaka Hutchings standing tentatively at the side of the stage awaiting Andy Hamilton’s encouragement, or rising from his chair in the Walsall Jazz Orchestra saxophone section to play a quietly powerful solo, the man who on Wednesday evening turned his silver tenor into a raging bull elephant has come an awfully long way and grown immeasurably in stature. He is surely now one of the most original voices on his instrument(s) in this country today.

The man he most strikingly reminded me of was Pharoah Sanders – for his sheer instrumental force, for his expertise way up in the higher reaches of the tenor saxophone, and also for the way he worked away at fairly simple melodic phrases. So many modern saxophonists are keen to rip up and down the instrument, fitting in as many different notes as quickly as they can. Hutchings can do that if he chooses to – thankfully he chooses to quite rarely and so those lightning runs are always eloquent contrasts to the power of a piece like Chief, in which he restricts himself to a single note for a fair amount of the time, relying on tonal and rhythmic variation to give the interest.

Charles is an original player, too, using quiet wah-wah and a lot of chordal work. He could have been louder for a lot of the gig, but that is a minor carp. Rochford is not this band’s regular drummer but he fits in just fine, having just the right melodic sense and trans-stylistic abilities to do free rhythms when they are needed, or a kind of jazz metal or hip-hop when that might be appropriate.

Very strong playing, especially from Hutchings, but employed to bring out strong writing, too, and that makes it even more rewarding. Great band, great gig.

1. Sébastien Tellier Sébastien Tellier – L’Amour Et La Violence (Floating Points Mix) Lucky Number
2. F – Energy Distortion (Untold Remix) 7even
3. Foreign Beggars – Don’t Dhoow It (Machinedrum Remix) Dented Records
4. King Midas Sound – Earth A Kill You (From the LP ‘Waiting For You’) Hyperdub
5. Data – Liberty City Blues Lucky Devil Music
6. Four Tet Four Tet – Love Cry (Joy Orbison remix) Domino
7. Funkineven – Kleer (Feat. Fatima) Eglo
8. Martin Kemp – After the Night Blunted Robots

9. Mizz Beats

1. Mizz Beats – The Day Before Tomorrow Deep Medi
2. Mizz Beats – Sanctuary Deep Medi
3. Mizz Beats – Sofa Beats Deep Medi
4. Mizz Beats – Dirty Dishes Deep Medi
5. Mizz Beats – Unknown Deep Medi
6. Mizz Beats – Pimpin Deep Medi

10. VHS Head VHS Head – Video Club Mix – Skam Records

11. Sigha

1. Traversable Wormhole – Exiting The Milkyway Traversable Wormhole
2. Function – Variance (Ch-Signal Laboratories Edit) forthcoming Sandwell District
3. Milton Bradley – Beat992 Unreleased
4. Sigha – Untitled#2 forthcoming Hotflush 2
5. Traversable Wormhole – Traversing Through The Asteroid Belt Traversable Wormehole
6. Sigha – Construct forthcoming Lowercase

12. Randomer & Fife – Too Many Times Unreleased
13. Iron Braydz – Golden Legacy Indie
14. Peverelist – Yesterday I saw the Future Punch Drunk
15. Deadboy – Brock Lee Riddim Well Rounded
16. Gemmy – Shanti Room Planet Mu

Download:Mary Anne Hobbs-live on radio 1-11-26-2009

Mirror1::Mary Anne Hobbs-live on radio 1-11-26-2009

]]> http://schnien12.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/sonata-arctica/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:08:09 +0000 Schnien http://schnien12.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/sonata-arctica/

Dienstag Abend war ich zusammen mit Mr.Coffee seit langem mal wieder bei einem Konzert. *freu*
Die coolen Finnen -> Sonata Arctica gaben sich die Ehre im Hirsch-Nürnberg, dazu zwei Vorbands, namens Delain und Winterborn.
Allgemein gesehn war es ein supper cooles Konzert, fand es richtig stark…hat gerockt.
Schade nur, dass es im Hirsch war, weil die Akustik dort fürn Popo ist, was sich auch schnell bemerkbar machte.
Denn die Bässe vom Schlagzeug waren so übelst eingestellt, dass diese BumBum-Vibrationen im Körper zu spüren waren, was sehr unangehm war.
Noch dazu war es fürchterlich laut…(und ich möchte jetzt nicht sowas wie “was für ein Weichei” oder dererlei Gschmarre hören). Es hat teilweise übersteuert geklungen hat und Mißklänge in meinem Ohr ertönten, anstatt cooler Gitarrensound.
Außerdem habe ich persönlich keinen Bock auf  Tinitus…das nächste Mal nehme ich mir Oropax mit.

Wir dachten ja erst, dass die erste Vorband Winterborn keinen anständigen Soundcheck gemacht hat, weil eben der Bass so krank war. Die halbe Stunde, wo der komische Sänger da auf der Bühne versuchte Stimmung zu machen verbrachten wir daher draußen.
Seine Stimme war gut, das wars aber auch schon wieder, meine Meinung nur natürlich.
Aber eineinhalb Stunden später bauten Sonata Arctica ein riesen Schlagzeug auf, aus dem ein noch fetterer Bass kam, durch den meine Nase permantent gekribbelt und gekitzelt hat. Vielleicht waren es auch nur die Mikroben in meiner Nase, die Haedbanging machten.

Ich hatte kurz überlegt, wie diese Bruchbude und Drecksbaracke (bähh, des iss ja soo dreckig und ekllig da drin*schüttel* und mich schockt sonst nichts so leicht, aber der Boden aus jahrtausend-alten-gekauten-und-ausgespukten-Kaugummis ist der Oberhammer), namens Hirsch das eigentlich aushält, ohne zusammenzukrachen. xD

Die zweite Vorband Delain war übrigens spitze. Die Sängerin hat eine wunderschöne Stimme. Ich würde sie gerne vergleichen mit Within Tempation, nur das diese Sängerin hier live echt sauber gesungen hat, trotzdem sie erkältet war.
Dann kamen sie endlich… und ich habe ziemlich dumm geschaut, als sie loslegten.
Ich kenne nur einige Lieder (wohl eher die ruhigen) und hatte daher entsprechende Vorstellungen. Darum war ich recht erstaunt, als der Sänger auf der Bühne herumsprang und metal-mäßig rockte. Besonders der Teil mit den Gitarren- und Keytar-Solo war unglaublich geil.
Hatte ich schon erwähnt, dass es sehr laut war? *gg*

Nachtrag: Abgesehen von einem schönen Abend, gab es für mich noch den kleinen Erfolg, dass ich das Konzert überhaupt durchgezogen habe. Nicht, dass ich nicht hinwollte, ich wollte UNDBEDINGT.
Eher der Hintergrund, dass ich noch immer einige Schwierigkeiten habe, gewisse Dinge – gerade in Umgebung mit vielen Menschen – zu erleben, zurückzuführen auf die psychosomatischen Störungen, die ich einige Zeit hatte.
Zwischenzeitlich war es mir auch gar nicht gut ergangen, aber nach einer kurzen Rückzugsmöglichkeit gings weiter. *bergauf es geht*

Birmingham Jazz doesn’t just put on gigs in Birmingham – sometimes it organises national tours and spreads the jazz word far and wide. Currently BJ artistic director Tony Dudley-Evans is spending some of his time on the road with the Profound Sound Trio. They arrive in Birmingham on Saturday for a gig at the CBSO Centre.

More on them and how jazz can be the elixir of a long life in a while. Before then, read how the Profound Sound Trio tour has been going here.

The Dry Branch Fire Squad has performed bluegrass for over 25 years and the current lineup features some bluegrass veterans. Ron Thomason founded the band in 1976 and has been the bands spokesman and singer since the beginning. Ron’s bluegrass background comes naturally through his childhood start in the Clinch River area of VA. Ron has played with Ralph Stanley and  The Clinch Mountain Boys, The Wilson Brothers, Joe Isaacs, Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley. A big part of any Dry Branch show are the great stories of the origins of the songs and music told by Ron. Brian Aldridge handles much of the harmony singing and guitar playing. Brian learned his style of bluegrass while growing up in another one of the bluegrass hot beds, Central Ohio. Brian’s father was a Howard Aldridge and he helped expose Brian to the best musicians who played in the area-  Bill Monroe, Sid Campbell, Frank Wakefield, Jack Casey. Banjoist and Dobro player Tom Boyd has perfected his part in the band by  playing in bands with musicians like  Larry Sparks, The Allen Brothers, Mac Wiseman, Hylo Brown, Jack Casey, Chubby Wise. The bands bass player Dan Russell is another product of the Ohio bluegrass scene and has played not only bass but also banjo and has even toured with country musician John Anderson. This is a band which will entertain and educate you with great songs, harmonies and stories.   They will be at Wintergrass 2010 on Saturday and Sunday.

Activating star power in Guitar Hero by throwing a mean shape is fun and all, but can you imagine your avatar going bat-shit crazy in real-time, copying your moves as you jump around like a lunatic to the end of Free Bird? If anything it’s a funny image, but one that could be a reality in Guitar Hero 6.

In an interview with the Seattle Times, Guitar Hero founder Kai Huang confirmed that Neversoft were exploring the possibilities of integrating Natal into the next game, which will be due for release next Autumn.

Check out some choice quotes below the jump and a scoop on what rival series Rock Band will be up to for its third instalment. (Cheers to VG247 for the initial find!)

Here’s the short-short version of what Guitar Hero founder Kai Huang said in the interview:

“We haven’t made any specific announcements of what we’re doing with new technologies in Guitar Hero 6 and beyond, but one of the areas we’re exploring certainly is camera technology and what you can do — track your movements and maybe have your characters on the screen do certain things you’re doing, or personalize it more so it can look more like you on stage rather than just be an avatar,” he said.

“There are a lot of possibilities that technologies like Natal will bring, and we’re definitely exploring those possibilities.”

Meanwhile Dhani Harrison, told the Chicago Tribune that Harmonix were going for a much more realistic feel with Rock Band 3:

“I’m working on Rock Band 3 and making the controllers more real so people can actually learn how to play music while playing the game,” Harrison told the paper. “Give me a couple years, it’s going to happen”.

All together now – ‘WHEN TWO TRIBES GO TO WAR!!!’ Is that in Rock Band? No? Ah well….

Joe… no levanto cabeza con el blog…

Este es un video que grabé el 8 de noviembre llendo de pesca con Victor, fué un día de aire horrible, como con el blog con los peces tampoco levanto cabeza, muy mal.

There are two things that hold true, whether you are buying a guitar or an amplifier:

1. A guitar that doesn’t get played is worthless at any price.
2. There is no such thing as bad tone; There are only tones that you may not like.

A common six-stringed acoustic guitar.

A guitar is an excellent instrument for almost anyone. A guitar that is difficult to play is not a good choice for a beginner. While it takes dedication to learn, if the guitar is comfortable for the player, it is easier to learn.

Whether you are buying an entry level guitar for yourself or a parent buying a beginner’s guitar for a child; it is not worth spending any money on a guitar that the player won’t enjoy. How the guitar feels in the player’s hands is more important than how it looks hanging up in a store, and the key to learning to play is being excited about playing.

Be careful about buying a guitar for a person that already plays, unless you know exactly what they want. The best course of action is to buy the guitar with the person. Players who have played long enough know what they like and what they don’t like. If it is not possible to shop with the guitarist, then the best option is to give them a gift certificate.

Always remember (and this will be obvious after playing a few dozen guitars) every single guitar is different. Even if the guitar is exactly the same make and model and color, it may play completely differently than the next. This is because wood is an organic material and is subject to variation and also the way a shop or manufacturer sets up a guitar may add to the differences. This means in some cases one guitar will be great and another seemingly identical guitar will be a dud.

Retrieved from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Guitar:Buying_a_Guitar

Check these guitars at Guitar Emporium Online

One of London’s best bashment nights is stepping it up a gear: Hot Wuk, run by The Heatwave empire. This Thursday (tomorrow) is an extra special dance with Rinse FM’s Oneman and longtime selector Irish Mash longside the reggae-lars. Are u gunna pay doe? Nah, free entry brothers and sisters. Are u gunna  bubble doe? Well Oneman’s on a ragga tip. Are u gunna keep wanting to read this post if I carry on with this funky Q&A ting doe? It’s unlikely.

So here’s a likkle Oneman taster to download: Bish bash bosh

Oneman – Hot Wuk Promo Mix

Or listen over at our friends Mixcloud.

But trust me, The Heatwave kartel has X amount of special guests lined up for the new year as well. Hot Wuk is not one to watch, it’s one to reach!

Posted by Mosca

No, not those kind! This is a reminder that an exceedingly exciting trio plays the Jazz Club, the monthly get-togethers for intrepid jazz explorers at the Rainbow pub in Digbeth, Birmingham, tonight. It sometimes feels in this behind-the-pub courtyard that this might be what it was like in those New York lofts in the 1970s and ’80s – gritty, cutting edge, filled with the excitement of listening to jazz’s future being made here and now.

Providing the excitement this evening is Zed-U: Neil Charles on bass, Shabaka Hutchings on clarinet and, for this gig, Seb Rochford on drums. Among many really interesting young British jazz groups this is one of the most interesting, experimental yet accessible with it. Doors open at 8pm,, the music starts around 9pm, and it’s just £4 on the door to get in. This is a Birmingham Jazz gig. Read my review of Zed-U’s album, Night Time On The Middle Passage, here.

because I’m beautiful

because I love to fish!

Sometimes, people ask me to take their boats for a spin for them when they’ve been sitting up too long.  Such was the case last Thursday, and what a gorgeous day it was to make a late afternoon trip to my favorite lake.

My secret spots were not productive, so I drifted around and trolled around in the lake until I picked up about five trout.  I was ready to try one last spot before heading back in, but the trolling motor was STUCK in the working position.  It would not budge.  I could see the rust on the hinges as I  yanked and tugged and pulled and almost got a hernia.  I bent down and upside down and almost fell overboard trying to coax the little latch with my fingers.  No luck.

Ever so calmly and oh-so-nonchalantly, I trolled over to a gentleman who looked like he was about to pack it in for the day.  The sun was setting fast, and he was the only other boat in sight.

“Excuse me sir?  Could you help me, please?”

He lowered his trolling motor, and trolled over to me, talking, “Oh yea, I could tell you were having some trouble.  I know just what the problem is!”

I held his boat while he made quick work of my problem.  Speaking as he moved, “Oh yea, I had one like this once.  You gotta put your foot down on this piece like this, and turn this like this and then jerk it like so and there you go!  And it looks like it could use some grease.”

“Uh, yes, thanks so much.  It’s my friend’s boat, and it does need some grease!”

As the sun set, casting a bright indigo ring around the entire lake, I decided I would cast care to the wind and spend all day Friday on the water.  I would pack my lunch, water, good book, reading glasses.  I just needed a whole day away.  Guess I should have checked the forecast.

Friday was cold, windy, rough, miserable.  There was one trout in the whole lake, and I caught it and was back before noon.

Yesterday, while cleaning the camp, my neighbor from across the bayou hollered at me, “Hey ya wanna go fishing?  I’m about to leave.”

Roby picked me up on the bank about five minutes later, and off we went.

Please don’t hate me because not only do I love to fish? I love to catch fish and brag about it sometimes.

Like now!

Six reds, six trout, and seven bass all caught in the same honey hole!

And this morning, he called again but I was on tour, so he went without me.   He came in and we had a bite of lunch at the marina before heading out for a mid-afternoon trip.

And I really hate to brag, but

the fish were very plentiful in the marsh the past two days, and they were very, very hungry!  And I know some of you have counted the reds by now and realize that is more than a 2-person limit.  A few of those fish have been on ice since his first trip Sunday evening.

Roby’s lure of choice:  A raggedy old gold spoon that he finally lost to a huge red fish.  The red straightened the hook, and when Roby tried to bend it back, it broke clean off.  He’s so tight, he squeaks when he walks!

BW’s lure of choice:  Blue Moon, Chartreuse Terror Tail on 1/4 ounce red jighead, with eyes.  The bass just love it!

When I’m out fishing, the world has no cares.  Life is good, and sometimes I just hate to step back through the looking glass.

Until next time,

I’m your fishin’ fool BW

At Bass Day 2009 in Manchester I met Polish guitar wizard Adam Palma. He has worked with many of the top pop and jazz artists in Poland and with international names including Chris de Burgh and the Average White Band’s Hamish Stuart.

This is a startling album of solo acoustic guitar played fingerstyle with no overdubs or studio tricks – I say startling because at times you would think there were two or even three guitars. Many of the songs are originals, such as the bluesy opener ‘Rocky Mountains’ which displays dexterity I’ve only heard on records by the world’s finest players. I also love the chord changes in his gorgeous ‘When Tommy meets Chet’ and here Palma’s sense of humour is in evidence.

That same sense of humour surfaces on his rendition of the ‘Inspector Gadget’ theme. And it’s impossible not to smile during his staccato version of ‘Love and Marriage’. I’d love to hear this as part of a movie soundtrack – it really does bring something new, warm and endearing to an old song.

Continue reading I Happened To Hear 12/2009

The Red Garland Quintet with John Coltrane: Dig It! (Prestige PR7229)
Of course it is that crucial “with…” that makes the ears prick up, and pricked ears are just the thing for listening to Coltrane’s dazzling opening solo on Billie’s Bounce, filled as it is with the remnants of bop and the beginnings of the sheets of sound explorations that the saxophonist would increasingly engage in.

This was 1957 and along with Trane, the Miles Davis Quintet pianist had Donald Byrd on trumpet, Paul Chambers or George Joyner on bass and Arthur Taylor on drums. This was an influential band for record collectors but not a live playing unit. Nevertheless it has that late ’50s jazz essence, and Garland remained a favourite for many piano fans.

The tracks are unusually long for the era – Garland’s original composition, Lazy Mae, which concludes this Rudy Van Gelder remastered edition CD, runs to over 16 minutes. It’s a stately blues with the leader laying out the basics in a left hand riff before he adds some treble, and the rhythm team enter for a strong, swinging work through. In fact, it’s not until near the halfway mark that Coltrane enters with another masterful solo, followed by Joyner and finally Byrd, high and lyrical.

The single trio track is Crazy Rhythm, with Garland in exemplary form.

Apparently this disc was originally compiled from the left-overs from sessions which had produced three previous records. Well, what delicious leftovers!