Recently someone I know who works for a great program for up and coming musician kids, Grammy Camp, sent me an old photograph of a guitar player. It originated from the now defunct Museum of Rock Art in Hollywood. He wanted to know if I could identify the musician either just by knowing him or at least identify the guitar he was playing. I hadn’t a clue so I sent it out to some knowledgeable music folks on my twitter page and got a bevy on answers from some great people (by the way check them out on my twitter list called “music peeps“). Here’s the photograph:

In looking at the hat and the size of the guitar, I’m thinking the musician is Caribbean. Other ideas people had: Django Reinhardt, Tommy Johnson and Robert Johnson. We all agreed he was none of the three, but I did find the commonality of the mystery and legend surrounding all these guitarists quite interesting.

Django Reinhart

Jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt (1910 – 1953) has an aura of legend and awe rather than mystery, as his history is quite intense. Born of Belgium gypsy heritage, he grew up extremely poor in the gypsy encampments surrounding Paris, never having lived in an actual house until the age of twenty. He was a child prodigy with violin, banjo and guitar, astounding adults as he rapidly picked up fingering by watching those around him. At 18 years of age, he was in a devastating fire that threatened to have his leg amputated and paralyzed his fourth and fifth fingers. He refused the amputation and did walk again. Rather than stop his guitar playing, he developed his own unique style soloing with his index and middle fingers and went on to become a musical legend. Later during World War II, he survived the fate of many of his gypsy brethren, who were killed in Nazi concentration camps. His compositions went on to become jazz standards and influence on other jazz, swing, and rock guitarists is legendary. Here is a rare video of his finger work:

Tommy Johnson

The mysterious Tommy Johnson (1896 – 1956) was a talented guitarist and delta blues singer from Mississippi who was known for his vocal acrobatics; he would go from a growl to a high falsetto. He was also was a really bad alcoholic who wrote the song in 1928 “Canned Heat Blues,” from which the 60s blues-rock band, Canned Heat, took their name. Johnson wrote the song about drinking methanol from the cooking fuel Sterno. Johnson created a sinister persona by claiming, as told by his brother LeDell, that he made a pact with Ol’ Scratch at the crossroads, a story either attributed wrongly or also used by the more famous bluesman Robert Johnson (no relation).

In the movie, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? there is a character named Tommy Johnson who sold his soul to play guitar. I’ve read in various places that the character was based on Tommy Johnson, Robert Johnson, or a composite of Tommy Johnson, Robert Johnson, and Skip James; he sings the songs of Skip James throughout the film. He was portrayed by New Orleans musician, producer and actor Chris Thomas King, who subsequently put out an album inspired by the film, called The Legend of Tommy Johnson, Act 1. As a side note, Chris Thomas King also gave a haunting performance as Blind Willie Johnson in the Martin Scorsese produced PBS Blues documentary by Wim Wenders, “The Soul of Man.” Here is Tommy Johnson doing his song, “Cool Drink of Water Blues”:

Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson (1911 – 1938) needs no introduction. He is one of the most famous blues legends in history yet one of the most mysterious. There are only two photographs of the man! He has a sparsely documented life and death at the young age of 27. Martin Scorsese said “The thing about Robert Johnson was that he only existed on his records. He was pure legend.” Eric Clapton, who recently did an album of all Robert Johnson songs, has called him the most important blues guitarist who has ever lived. He has influenced pretty much any blues or blues-rock musician since him. As far as his famous “deal with the devil” at the crossroads, that myth is murky. It could be just a widely told folk tale (used to describe many highly skilled folks in that era) or a tongue and cheek bravado to develop a persona. Even as recently as this week Robert Johnson continues to make stories. An article by the Associated Press five days ago, talks about finding and restoring Robert Johnson’s birthplace home. Movies are being developed and many books have been written searching for some answers about this man’s life and death. Here is “I’m A Steady Rollin’ Man”:

I’m so curious about Robert Johnson! I think I’ll pick up one of those many books written about him. Truly fascinating…a mystery and a legend… Meanwhile, that brings us back to the mystery that remains. Who is the man in the mystery photo playing the guitar? If anyone knows or at least has some ideas, please let me know!

1. Star Trek, especially the Original Series and Deep Space Nine
2. The animated Batman universe created by Paul Dini
3. Ridiculous Britcoms, especially As Time Goes By (not very ridiculous, actually) and Are You Being Served? (probably the lowest point of British humour)
4. Redheads of both sexes
5. Strong black tea with abundant milk and sweetener
6. Early jazz, such as Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, and Django Reinhardt
7. Big band and swing music
8. Chocolate
9. Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse novels, but no other novels featuring vampires
10. Male Submission Art (you may not want to click here if your boss, your little child, or your mom or dad is hovering around)
11. Diane Duane’s Young Wizards novels
12. Colin Morgan and Bradley James of the BBC’s Merlin
13. Swords

…reinhardt

JA!!! we zijn uitgenodigd om op tournee te gaan naar Indonesië.
Reinier, Jet, Hermine en Jan vertrekken op 1 december aanstaande. En komen weer terug op 11 december.

Waar spelen we zo allemaal?
JakJaz in Jakarta, Bandung World Music Fest, een concert in het Erasmus en zo nog wat.

Hopelijk kunnen we tijdens de reis jullie al bloggend op de hoogte houden!

*WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

http://ia310819.us.archive.org/0/items/JonHammondLUDOVICBEIERonHammondCastKYOURADIO/LudovicBeieronHammondCast.m4v

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1607465800898440799&ei=1WbxSs3QLdX5lQei4NjRAw&q=%22Ludovic+Beier%22+hammondcast#

LUDOVIC BEIER chromatic accordion virtuoso Jazz Musician from France is Jon’s guest here on HammondCast KYOURADIO. Interview
recorded in New York City while Ludovic was in town to play the annual “Django Birdland Festival” produced by Pat Phillips. Ludovic speaks with Jon about his new album “Live @ Jazz Standard” and his musical influences which brought him to playing Gypsy Jazz and many other styles, also on an instrument called Accordina, small but mighty! *Special thanks to Ludovic’s Manager Sebastien Smits and Pat Phillips and Ettore Stratta Productions & Gianni Valenti of Birdland NYC © http://www.HammondCast.com http://www.ludovicbeier.com

Chromatic Accordion, Accordina, Django Reinhardt, Gypsy, Jazz, Accordina, Citroen, Renault, Jon Hammond, HammondCast, French, KYOURADIO, Paris, Accordeon

*WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

http://ia310819.us.archive.org/0/items/JonHammondLUDOVICBEIERonHammondCastKYOURADIO/LudovicBeieronHammondCast.m4v

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1607465800898440799&ei=1WbxSs3QLdX5lQei4NjRAw&q=%22Ludovic+Beier%22+hammondcast#

LUDOVIC BEIER chromatic accordion virtuoso Jazz Musician from France is Jon’s guest here on HammondCast KYOURADIO. Interview
recorded in New York City while Ludovic was in town to play the annual “Django Birdland Festival” produced by Pat Phillips. Ludovic speaks with Jon about his new album “Live @ Jazz Standard” and his musical influences which brought him to playing Gypsy Jazz and many other styles, also on an instrument called Accordina, small but mighty! *Special thanks to Ludovic’s Manager Sebastien Smits and Pat Phillips and Ettore Stratta Productions & Gianni Valenti of Birdland NYC © http://www.HammondCast.com http://www.ludovicbeier.com

Chromatic Accordion, Accordina, Django Reinhardt, Gypsy, Jazz, Accordina, Citroen, Renault, Jon Hammond, HammondCast, French, KYOURADIO, Paris, Accordeon

The All About Jazz website in the article “Dreyfus Jazz to Release 7 Guitar Albums in Celebration of Django Reinhardt’s 100th Birthday” notes that Dreyfus Jazz celebrates the 100th Birthday of one of the most influential guitarists–Django Reinhardt–with an expansive series of new albums by today’s jazz guitar masters.

A Dreyfus Jazz lançará uma série de discos para comemorar os cem anos do nascimento (23/10/2010) da lenda da guitarra Django Reinhardt.

Para mais informações acesse: dreyfusrecords.com .

Though it’s hard for me to believe, The Guitar Show is now a year old. This week, as I prepare a special program to mark this first anniversary, I’ve been reflecting on my dream of having a weekly radio show, and where my efforts have led thus far.

It all started in fall 2008, when my producer, John Haring, offered to “loan” me his two-hour, Thursday night slot on Radio Free Nashville. I’d already visited the station’s website several times and toyed with the idea of pitching a guitar-centric show, but had never taken any action. Having a time slot dangled in front of me was all it took to get things rolling.

After discussions with the station’s program director, Beau Hunter (who also hosts several intriguing shows of his own, including a psychedelic beauty called “Strange Daze” that precedes mine each Thursday night), I was given the green light to launch my program.

Originally, I called it Guitarmania, and this moniker lasted for 32 shows. When John Haring was alert enough to grab the domain name theguitarshow.com when it came up for renewal, we decided that The Guitar Show better reflected the diversity of the music I was playing and would have less of a shred-fest, monster truck rally, or professional wrestling vibe. To differentiate my show from other events, such as vintage guitar conventions or TV programs in other countries, we tacked my name onto the program title and The Guitar Show with Andy Ellis was born.

Right from the start I’ve included interviews with guitarists along with eclectic music. At first, the interview clips came from my personal archives, recordings I’d made during my 15+ years at Guitar Player magazine. As the show gained momentum, I began recording new interviews specifically for each week’s program.

In addition to being exciting for me—I’m an active guitarist and have an insatiable curiosity about all things guitar—interviewing guitarists provides a way for their music and ideas to be heard in an increasingly restrictive radio environment. As commercial radio becomes more rigid and conservative, it falls to community stations—as small as they are—to provide a forum for creative musicians to be heard. I want to know what Kelly Joe Phelps or Mike Keneally is thinking, and how such adventurous players approach music in the early 21st century. I know I’m not the only one out there who enjoys exploring music that crosses stylistic borders and eras. If the big girls and boys aren’t going to let this happen, then indie broadcasters are going to step up to the plate and do the job. I’m honored to count myself among them.

There have been several milestones in this broadcast year. The first was a Q&A that Guitar Player published in their March ‘09 issue about my show (which was still called Guitarmania when the article was written), called “On-Air Guitar.” You can download a PDF of this piece at our site. The article expanded my audience tremendously—thanks GP!

We passed another milestone when a second station picked up my weekly program. Broadcasting out of San Antonio, Texas, Dewberry Jam also increased my audience by broadcasting the program on Friday and Saturday nights. Between Radio Free Nashville and Dewberry Jam—both of which stream online—The Guitar Show can currently be heard three nights a week, around the planet via the web. Like Radio Free Nashville, Dewberry Jam is an indie operation with a big soul. Click here for their program schedule.

Over the course of 52+ shows, I’ve slowly discovered my voice and refined my programming instincts. Of course, I’ve got a long way to go before I’m satisfied, but, just like playing in a band, you get better the more you step up to the mic.

I’ll let you decide if I’m going forward or backward in my hosting skills. Here’s my intro to show 01, broadcast on October 23, 2008.

And this is my intro to show 53, broadcast a year later on October 22, 2009.

Okay, I don’t possess that “big DJ” voice. (Frankly, I abhor that hyped-up sound.) But nerdiness aside, one thing I’m proud of: Each week I play music that stretches back to Blind Blake and Charley Patton and forward to Explosions in the Sky and Russian Circles. No barriers!

I’m also happy that amazing players like Shane Theriot, Cindy Cashdollar, and Monte Montgomery, who don’t get much love from commercial radio, get equal time on my show with such legends as Wes Montgomery, Andrés Segovia, and Django Reinhardt.

Coming up in The Guitar Show’s second year are several new features, including “New Faces”—a segment designed to spotlight up-and-coming guitarists—and various special programs modeled after our Les Paul Tribute, which remains the most popular show we’ve done so far and ranks as another milestone in our brief history. We’ll also keep expanding our interview archive. Here you can stream at your leisure the conversations I’ve had with a wide variety of guitarists.

If you’ve been tuning in online to The Guitar Show, thanks for listening, and I hope you continue to enjoy the interviews and music. And please tell your friends about the program. If you haven’t heard my show, I invite you to check it out (the broadcast times and streaming links are below).

With a little luck and several gallons of midnight oil, I’ll get to do this for another year. Cool! ♦

The Guitar Show with Andy Ellis streams online. Here’s our weekly broadcast schedule:

• Thursday 10:00p-12:00p CST streaming on WRFN Radio Free Nashville
• Friday 10:00p-12:00p CST streaming on AM1670 Dewberry Jam, San Antonio, TX
• Saturday 11:00p-01:00a CST streaming on AM1670 Dewberry Jam, San Antonio, TX

• For weekly playlists, archived audio interviews, and more guitar lore visit theguitarshow.com.
• Follow The Guitar Show on Twitter … our name is theguitarshow.
• My Twitter name is twangmon.
• andy@theguitarshow.com

Wij hebben geen kind, wij hebben een stuntman!

Dave Brubeck’s 1959 album Time Out is one of the landmark recordings in jazz history. For that reason alone, the 50^th anniversary of its release merits celebration. But, on a larger scale, Time Out represents a major development within American culture, one that was crucial to inducing the seismic shifts to occur in our country during the tumultuous 1960s that followed. While it is likely that such shifts would have occurred anyway, with or without Brubeck’s contributions, a strong case can be made that his group, and its most important work, helped accelerate progress on several fronts, advancing the cause of racial harmony while opening the door for later musical innovations.

It is further worth noting that Brubeck’s achievements represent, to a surprising degree, a triumph of conservative values: faith, family, hard work and self-reliance. His ideological compass has always remained pointed toward the California ranchlands of his youth—the kind of environment that was later famously embraced by President Reagan, who fully understood the symbolic value of his years of public brush-clearing and horse-riding. Reagan’s retreats to the ranch implied a desire to escape the Beltway’s rarefied air and reorient himself to the pioneer spirit which drove America’s development in its first century of existence. The simple beauty of such areas communicates an austere dignity that would surely impart perspective on the serious issues all Presidents must grapple with, and so it is make perfect sense that men as different in personality as George W. Bush, Richard Nixon and Teddy Roosevelt would embrace them.

For most of his early life—from childhood, through his years in the US Army and as a music student at Oberlin College—Brubeck existed firmly within the Tradition. Had he not caught the jazz bug early on, he might have ended up as a concert pianist working with symphony orchestras, or a composer of string quartets. He did eventually do a lot of work in these areas, but it was the worldwide acclaim earned as a jazzman that gave him the freedom to expand his musical horizons. Indeed, if his legacy could be summed up in one word, despite all his formalistic trappings, it would be “freedom”.

This legacy of freedom is being celebrated by Columbia Records, which recently reissued Time Out in a special three-disc package, on occasion of the 50^th anniversary of the album’s original release. Suffice to say that, if you have never heard this music, then you owe yourself the pleasure of doing so; likewise, people for whom this music is old hat will still find value in its enhanced sound quality and the wealth of bonus material, including photos, performance footage and eight songs recorded live at the Newport Jazz Festival between 1961-64. The highlight is an interactive tutorial in which Brubeck, now 89 years old, talks viewers through the melodies as he plays them.

The point of Time Out was to break out of the creative restrictions imposed on the jazz musician by strict adherence to the steady 4/4 beat that had characterized jazz since it first emerged from turn-of-century New Orleans. For the first 30 years of recorded jazz, that beat was maintained by the bass drum, replicating its role in the standard marching band, whose cadences and instrumentation were the basis of jazz early bands. Drummers of the 1940s New York scene, led by Kenny Clarke and Max Roach, shifted the burden of time-keeping from bass drum to the ride cymbal, which opened up the sound and set the standard for what modern jazz would sound like. (The upright bass, adapted from symphonic orchestras, evolved to replace the tuba as a rhythm instrument early on, and typically reinforced the 4/4 beat; its time-keeping role expanded in modern jazz, as the drummers went further beyond the beat, leaving its reiteration to the bassist.) By the early 1950s, all instrumentalists had unprecedented creative freedom in jazz, and the race to find the next great innovation was as competitive as the Space Race.

The introduction of long-playing (LP) records in 1948 quadrupled the amount of time available on an individual record, opened up song structures and brought a vaster range of material to the marketplace. Traditional American musical forms—jazz, blues, gospel, folk—predominated; rock was growing commercially, but did not become a creative force to rival the others until 1964.

The singer Ian Svenonius noted years back that the largest jazz groups are only a quarter the size of symphony orchestras, which are roughly 100 people; Swing Era bands could be half that size, while modern jazz groups of the ‘40s and beyond are usually between three and six people. Today, many artists do huge business as solo acts. Prince, for example, played all 27 instruments on his debut album and for years only used his bands for performances. Computers allow many pop singers and rappers to make albums without using any actual instruments at all.

Traditional European and early American music is labeled with the catch-all term of “classical” largely because of our nation’s record stores. It doesn’t seem to rankle so badly as certain artists who reject the idea of “jazz” as an organizational concept, maybe because the LP ensured that such music would remain in circulation as the country went more toward smaller (and logistically cheaper) groups. Most Americans today would know nothing of classical music if not for LPs and their CD reissues, particularly of the versions recorded in the 1950s and ‘60s. Likewise, although one can see top-notch jazz music anywhere in the world most nights, the closest that most jazz fans can usually get to experiencing serious big-band stuff is CD, or the occasional festival.

Brubeck, who studied with Darius Milhaud at Oberlin, did the industry a favor by wearing his classical affinities on his cuff-linked sleeve. His grounding in that tradition was the impetus to bust out of the 4/4. Max Roach had recorded an entire album, Jazz In ¾ Time, in 1957, and several songs on Time Out are rooted in ¾, as well as the standard 4/4. “Three to Get Ready” is in 3/4 and 4/4. “Kathy’s Waltz” starts in 4/4, then goes into 3/8, while “Blue Rondo ala Turk” starts in 9/8, with Desmond’s solo in 4/4.

Other tracks switch-up the rhythms more explicitly. “Everybody’s Jumpin’” and “Pick Up Sticks” are in 6/4. “Take Five” stays in 5/4 over its five-plus minutes, with Morello’s drum solo the definitive explication of that beat. “Strange Meadowlark” opens with a Brubeck solo running over two minutes with no set time whatsoever—a nod, perhaps, to the nascent free-jazz scene, or to Lennie Tristano, whose solo recordings “Spontaneous Combustion”, “Requiem” and “Turkish Mambo” anticipated much of this.

Take Five has no shortage of highlights, staring with “Take Five”, which is simply one of the greatest songs ever recorded. A masterpiece of dramatic tension, it was an instant classic when released as a single, becoming the first million-seller in jazz history; the album itself would soon follow. To this day, media references “Take Five” to invoke feelings of class and sophistication; it was famously used to launch Infiniti automobiles in America, with cool narration by British actor Jonathan Pryce.

The Dave Brubeck Quartet functioned as a unified whole, working together 16 years, yet each member has distinguished himself as a master of his own instrument. Bassist Eugene Wright is easily overlooked, as he played with little flash and almost no solos, but a close listen reveals how crucial his work was. He kept the group’s forward-reaching sound rooted in the fundamentals, which he learned from the best in hot spots like Kansas City and his native Chicago. Together, Wright and drummer Joe Morello comprised one of the all-time greatest rhythmic tandems, easily ranking up there with such towering twins as Walter Page and Jo Jones (Count Basie); Jimmy Blanton and Sonny Greer (Duke Ellington); Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones (Miles) Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones (Coltrane); Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins (Coleman); Mingus and Dannie Richmond; Scott Lafaro and Paul Motian (Bill Evans).

Naturally, a record built around rhythmic complexity puts special pressure on the drummer, and Morello attained legend status with his work on Time Out. His brush-work on “Everybody’s Jumpin’” anchors a brilliant piece that holds up just fine against its adjacents. “Take Five” is one of the rare examples of a major pop hit built around a drum solo; the other notable case would be “Sing Sing Sing”, an epochal Swing Era anthem by Benny Goodman (and a star-making vehicle for drummer Gene Krupa), recorded in 1937. Like Desmond’s earlier on the same track, musicians and students know their solos better than some know their best friends.

As for the leader himself, Brubeck’s playing is spare but efficient, each note pressed for maximum resonance. His solo on “Kathy’s Waltz” is strictly old-school, with hints of Ragtime, while those on “Three to Get Ready” and “Everybody’s Jumpin’” sound downright modernistic, with overt references to future label-mate Monk.

Ultimately, the real star of the album is alto saxophonist Paul Desmond (1924-1977), a fellow Californian whose musical partnership with Brubeck lasted over 30 years. His sound, which typically enters after a few bars’ introduction by Brubeck, dominates the quartet’s output. Desmond is often dismissed by purists for a coolness of tone that can sometimes border on the antiseptic, but the quiet intensity of his playing can be lost on ears trained to listen for strain, sweat and other signifiers of serious effect. If Desmond’s style sounds effortless, it is only because of rigorous practice. After his death, the author of “Take Five” left his split of royalties to the American Red Cross, which receives annual royalties in the low six figures.

1959 was a year of explosive growth in jazz, and Time Out was just one of at least three major events that year. Columbia also issued Miles Davis’ seminal Kind of Blue, which marked the emergence of a new approach to harmony based on modal scales; this gave the soloist—Davis himself, most notably, as well as collaborator Bill Evans—access to unprecedented emotional range, a major factor in the current perception of jazz as a “romantic” music. Due to the constant reissues over the decades, the prevalence of bootlegging and the pervasiveness of digital downloading, it may be impossible to determine which of these is, in fact, the most successful jazz album of all time; yet both helped shift the business model firmly toward the LP, which had only been around for about a decade at that point.

John Coltrane, who spent five years in Davis’ group, played on Kind of Blue, but his sideman work was soon eclipsed by the Atlantic Records release Giant Steps. After years of rigorous experimentation, 1959 saw the emergence of Coltrane’s mature sound, and he would go on to be, arguably, the last true giant of jazz music, a figure whose very name still inspires devotion that borders on the religious, over 40 years after his death. On the surface, it would be impossible to find two more different men, in terms of tone, technique and temperament, than Coltrane and Paul Desmond—but at the intersection of their styles, as heard on these three albums, one hears the future.

1959 also included major works by Ornette Coleman, who along with Coltrane helped bring Free Jazz to fruition, and Charles Mingus, who recorded three brilliant albums for Atlantic that year. Max Roach had already been first to record pianoless groups, and among the first to openly lobby for civil rights through his music; and Thelonious Monk, whose rhythmic and harmonic innovations made him, in essence, the father of modern jazz. The fact that all these men, with volatile personalities and deep-set musical tastes, all gave respect to Brubeck speaks to his chops and credibility.

Brubeck is rightfully lionized by the left for his role in helping to shape a world defined by JFK’s “New Frontier” and Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society”. In generational terms, the Baby Boomers’ collective self-definition is rooted in the 1960s, for better and for worse, and jazz artists like Brubeck, Coltrane and Davis are thus regarded almost as highly as the rock bands that would ultimately dominate the American music scene.

 The primary beneficiary of the commercial growth of jazz music was the African-American community, which got its first taste of the free market and was soon able to alter the widespread perceptions of the white majority, and ultimately obliterate many vestiges of racial prejudice in this country. Jazz was the wedge that forced integration; as more and more of the top draws—Goodman, Krupa, Artie Shaw—integrated, and others insisted on playing for integrated audiences, bigotry took a backseat to box-office. By the time of Time Out, integrated bands weren’t exactly commonplace in the US, but they were hardly unusual. Norman Granz’ “Jazz At the Philharmonic”, for example, toured the country with all-stars of all races.

The other major beneficiary of jazz music’s global presence was the United States government, which quickly recognized the value of a uniquely American cultural export. Brubeck, who served briefly under Patton in the Army, would become a front-line soldier in a war of ideas, spreading his vision of musical and personal freedom around the world, often directly in collaboration with the State Department.

The arrival of Louis Armstrong in Europe in 1927 basically introduced jazz to the world; a handful of devoted critics and musicians had imported stacks of jazz records from New York for distribution in London and Paris. By the time Duke Ellington’s band made the same trip, in 1932, jazz had become its own cottage industry, with magazine and radio shows catering to the market, as well as the first generation of European jazz musicians. For the first time, America had a cultural product to compete with Europe, and in this realm we remained well ahead.

The assault on jazz by totalitarian regimes—first the Nazis, then the Soviet Union—only enhanced its appeal to youth across Europe, many of whom risked death to continue playing such music. By this point, the old world had produced its own masters like guitarist Django Reinhardt, while American musicians like Benny Carter and Sidney Bechet had emigrated (not unlike the Japanese who brought judo to the west). World War II brought hundreds of current and future jazzmen into Europe and Asia, either as combat troops or in some musical capacity. The music of the war years deserves its own category in the lineage, but by decade’s end American jazz had become the new music of choice not only throughout Europe, but also in Japan.

Like rock and rap, which came along later, jazz began as an indigenous form of expression within the minority community, then “crossed-over” to become the primary vehicle of white rebellion—a means of drawing cultural lines between generations. Jazz was viciously attacked by the mainstream in the 1920s and ‘30s; such criticisms read now as time-capsule pieces of hyperbolic calumny. By the 1950s, the US State Department saw fit to give jazz its ultimate stamp of legitimacy by backing some leading musicians on international tours conceived as propaganda for post-war America. It was a textbook example of how “soft power” worked in the nascent Cold War.

Penny Von Eschen’s excellent 2002 book Satchmo Blows Up the World: Jazz Ambassadors Play the Cold War (Harvard University Press) offers a definitive look at the program, organized in 1955 by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and US Rep Adam Clayton Powell (D-NY), whose district encompassed the epicenter of modern jazz. Dizzy Gillespie’s second great big band took the first trip in March 1956, covering parts of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. According to the program’s website: “In 1956, 1960 and 1961, Louis Armstrong [toured] Ghana (then the British Gold Coast), Congo, Senegal, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Sudan, and the United Arab Republic. In 1963, 1970 and 1972, Duke Ellington toured the Soviet Union, Southeast Asia, and Africa.”

These musicians and others—including Carter, Coleman, Davis, Goodman, Mingus, Charlie Byrd, Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman, Earl Hines, Quincy Jones, Roland Kirk, Gerry Mulligan, Anita O’Day, Oscar Peterson, Clark Terry, Sarah Vaughn and Randy Weston—traveled to the far corners of the musical world before the program ended in 1978. Many such areas were suspicious of western interests, and sometimes openly hostile. George Wein, impresario of the Newport Jazz Festival, was enlisted for logistical support. Brubeck was, of course, a major attraction.

In 1958, his quartet toured Sweden, Turkey, Ceylon, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. Brubeck’s gigs in Poland that year, repeated in 1970, are considered key moments in the spreading of jazz into the Soviet Bloc. Cadres devoted to “improvised music” began sprouting in Czechoslovakia, Germany, Poland and Hungary soon after, while at least one major group (the Ganelin Trio) made great jazz in Russia itself. He and Armstrong later collaborated on The Real Ambassadors, a musical and recording based on their experiences, in 1961-62.

The musicians and artists in Eastern Europe (with support from sympathetic parties in the west) drove the engine of progress away from Communism and became totems in the way Charlie Parker was for the Beatniks, or Coltrane was for the Black Power movement. Their records were being smuggled into the West long before the Iron Curtain finally fell, at which point those scenes exploded into the creative powerhouses they are today. When Brubeck and other older jazzmen appear in Europe today, they are held to a similar status as their own native masters.

Japan got its introduction to jazz from occupying American soldiers, and has never lost its taste. As domestic sales of jazz records slumped hard in the 1970s and early ‘80s, the Japanese (typically) provided a vital commercial lifeline, helping to keep it vital long enough for the resurgence driven by CD technology. CDs, of course, were invented by the Japanese, while companies like JVC, Polygram and especially Sony bought up all the major jazz catalogs (Verve, Mercury, Blue Note/Capitol, Columbia) to be reissued in their new format. Every American who values their native culture owes a debt of thanks to those Japanese who rescued all that music from likely extinction.

Leading the way among the reissues that began flooding the market, well past the point of cultural saturation, were Columbia’s valedictorians from the class on ’59, Kind of Blue and Time Out, each of which has been re-released in increasingly completist form at least a half-dozen times (including box sets), while their lead singles, “So What” and “Take Five” have become standards. Both retain almost all of its original freshness and potency, despite three generations of innovation that followed its release. In the case of Time Out, time itself has only burnished the luster of an album dismissed by many top critics upon its release; very few would bother to raise any objection now.

sdh666@hotmail.com

October 9, 2009

1. Robert Johnson

Right let’s get the obvious one out of the way first – want to learn blues – listen to Robert Johnson – period – cited as influence from everyone from Clapton to Page – he is the delta blues – listen to any best of Robert Johnson and you could be forgiven that there are two guitarists playing.

2. BB King

Picking up an Electric Guitar where Robert Johnson left his acoustic – BB King is electric blues personified – once again revered by everyone – distinct tone and sound – a gem!

3. Chuck Berry

Picking up the blues and turning it Pop – classic riffs – a classic “loose” style – You can hear Chuck Berry in everyone from Keith Richards to Radiohead.

4. Scotty Moore

If Elvis was “The King” then Scotty Moore was a prince – completing Elvis’s early line up – Scotty’s country licks echo’d through the next 50 years.

5. Jimmy Page

The first true heavy rock guitarist? Arguably – listen to any Led Zep track and listen to a true rock god.

6. Eddie Van Halen

“Eruption” – need we say more – an influence for over 20 years of speed freek fingerboard tapping axe wielders.

7. Charlie Christian

World renowned jazz guitarist – early adopter of the electric guitar and someone who could hold their own against any horn section he was confronted with

8. Django Reinhardt

Virtuoso jazz player renowned for his gypsy style fingerpicking

9. Steve Jones

Not technically proficient by any means and without a bucket load of albums but this sex pistol guitarist created a whole army of followers in the late 70’s

10. Steve Cropper

Soul maestro – riff meister and writer extraordinaire – Steve Cropper has played with the best from Booker T, Bill Withers and Otis Redding he is Mr Soul Guitar.

After being devastated about missing what was, as I knew it would be, an amazing concert by Daniel Kahn and the Painted Bird on the 12th (my sister went and gave me the full report), I at least got to see another Klezmer-laden band last weekend, of equal talent. That would be The Underscore Orkestra , who played a double-bill with The Blue Ribbon Boys at the Basilica Industria in Hudson, NY on Sunday night.

There are actually two performance spaces at the Basilica, one large, the other more intimate. The show on Sunday was held in the smaller of the two, which is a cozy room consisting of a rug thrown over the floor, couches and lounge chairs set up along the walls, and dim lights hung from the ceiling. It was a perfect setting for the music that took place. The Blue Ribbon Boys opened the show, and they sounded incredible. Kip Beacco was outstanding on clarinet, his playing beautiful and clear, Lukas Schwartz played fiddle and had some great solos, Seth Travins sang lead on a number of songs and played guitar, Matt Downing kept things steady on upright bass, as did Scott Marks on drums, and Evan Paluzzo played some honky tonk piano.

The Blue Ribbon Boys’ rousing set was chock full of Balkan sounding music, jazzy swing numbers, and originals written by Seth. I love his songwriting not only lyrically, but musically as well. Both aspects sound as though they’re from another era (in a good way), yet the songs display a timelessness. The Blue Ribbon Boys also played a crazy polka, followed by a gorgeous instrumental ballad. Midway through their set, the band called two friends to the stage who are also musicians: Jonothan Talbott on violin, and Evan Randall on vocals. Evan has an amazing voice and sang “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” while Jonathan’s duo fiddlin’ with Lukas added a new dimension. As the night progressed, the room got hotter and so did the musicians. They were creating music like an old-time improvisational band, and by that I mean the likes of Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France. Such sweet sounds came from the Basilica stage! The Blue Ribbon Boys’ set was over much too soon, but at least more great music came after…

The Underscore Orkestra just got back from playing in Europe, and this is their first time touring the East Coast. The band didn’t have all of it’s usual members at the show on Sunday, but the music was certainly not lacking in richness. Their style and use of guitar, fiddle, and tabla drums create a heavily gypsy sound, while saxophone and electric bass add a somewhat modern feel, blending the energy of history and tradition with that of the 21st century. The “orchestra” does a marvellous job of creating a balance between the two, and they easily fascinate the listener with their intriguing music. Playing on Sunday were Jorge Kuchmari on violin, harmonica, and vocals; Cody Pratt on guitar; Leslie Wacker on sopranino saxophone; Joe Correia on sousaphone and bass; and Enrico Solano on tabla and drum kit.

For the opening tune of The Underscore Orkestra’s set, Leslie did not play sax but instead performed a fluid dance while twirling a hula hoop around her entire body from neck to ankles. After that she joined the others, and the sopranino sax contributed a great deal to the mystique of the music. During the show Enrico alternated between tabla and full drum set, as did Joe with bass and sousaphone.  Sousaphone, you might ask? Heck yeah. When Joe first picked it up the crowd cheered, but he set it down without playing it and picked up his bass again, to the dismay of the audience. They yelled out that he was teasing them, to which he responded, “Yeah! You like that, don’t you!” making everyone laugh. He finally did play the sousaphone, and it gave a great sound to the songs. Jorge has a really interesting voice and a naturalness with his violin, meanwhile Cody blew me away. His playing closely resembled that of a classical master, and his hands moved so fast they were nothing more than a blur.

I went to the show expecting to be impressed. What I did not expect was to be rendered speechless by the band’s music and playing — that was a pleasant surprise. The end of the night became a casual party among friends, for that’s what audience and bands alike were by that point, and The Underscore Orkestra brought a couple of The Blue Ribbon Boys back onstage to jam. The show was exciting, and The Blue Ribbon Boys and The Underscore Orkestra were a perfect match for each other. I can’t wait to hear the latter again tomorrow at the New Paltz Cultural Collective! I’m told the band will be bigger (although Leslie won’t be at the show), and I look forward to hearing them in their expanded glory.

*I unfortunately didn’t get any videos of The Blue Ribbon Boys, but I did get two of The Underscore Orkestra:

Mazel Tov

Horamare

© RUBRICA “SGUARDI E ASCOLTI DAL MONDO” a cura di M. Lizzadro

Ascoltare questo disco degli Elisir, “Pere e Cioccolato”, del 2009,  è come entrare in un vortice Felliniano. E per capirlo basta ascoltare la prima canzone:  “Mondo Storto”, che con quei flauti e quel tempo da marcia surreale dà proprio la sensazione di una canzone da colonna sonora di film di Fellini. “Pere e cioccolato” contiene canzoni variegate che passano dal tango di “Dentro un tango”, al valzer di “Dove sei” a situazioni dove la voce della cantante fa mostra delle sue doti vocali. Fellini ma sicuramente anche altro, infatti si respira in tutto il disco una “sorta” di atmosfera francese anni trenta e mi pare ovvio che l’implicito omaggio sia a Django Reinhardt ma anche a certa musica cantautoriale italiana. “Pere e cioccolato” è impreziosito dall’apporto di musicisti del calibro di: Fabrizio Bosso, Bebo Ferra, Javier Girotto, Stefano Bagnoli e Piero Salvatori. Le canzoni degli Elisir spaziano attraverso il mediterraneo e l’Europa arrivando fin in America, confermando con le loro melodie come la raffinatezza possa accompagnarsi alla semplicità. I testi e la voce di Paola Donzella narrano di situazioni e mondi reali o immaginari, in cui si muovono personaggi intriganti e pittoreschi. Il progetto Elisir parte da lontano e precisamente dal 2002, muovendosi silenzioso e lontano dalle luci della ribalta fino a giungere con questo “Pere e cioccolato” a toccare cime elevate. La prima impressione è di leggerezza. Quasi di motivi semplici, poi però ci si accorge che la musica è sghemba, i suoni assortiti con passione e competenza musicale e i testi molto più complessi. Non si trova una canzone banale neanche a cercarla col lanternino. Questo disco scivola via lieve e delicato e senza esser per questo banale. Un disco che si può ascoltare tante e tante volte senza stancarsi come un dolce che si scioglie in bocca e ti stupisce per gli aromi mischiati, appeso tra un nord ed un sud, tra una cassata siciliana ed una sacher torta viennese

Mariano Lizzadro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUbAeJOQR-g

Django

So, I’ve had thing for Django Reinhardt and, the music of the 80’s. Usually, these are mutually exclusive music interests. Imagine my excitement when I heard this band interviewed on MPR last night-the Lost Fingers!

The Lost Fingers are a Canadian trio that rock out 80’s covers in english and french, to the stylings of 40’s gypsy jazz, popularized by the likes of Django.

I dare you to not fall in love with the Lost Fingers,along with these amazing 80’s songs again! (Plus their adorable suits!)
Enjoy!

**
PS: I am subbing for Laura on Saturday am at YogaFresh at 9:30. Plan on a rocking level 2 class, maybe with some fun Lost Fingers music!

Donnerwetter! Das kannte ich ja bis eben selbst noch nicht – “J’attendrai” in einer Version von Django Reinhardt:

Enoy!

Walking down to grab the paper this morning and everything was shrouded in fog.  It was very early, before 6, and the morning light was still trying to gather,  giving the scene a haunting, ghostly appearance.  Chill in the air.

September.

It really made me think of one of my favorite songs, September Song, the beautiful old Kurt Weill song that has been performed by hundreds of artists over the last seventy years, from Sinatra to Willie Nelson, who does a lovely, delicate version.  On this cool, misty morning I am reminded of one of my favorite versions, that being the one from Django Reinhardt, the jazz guitarist from the middle of the last century whose distinctive gypsy-tinged plucking, the result of basically playing with only two fingers on his left hand as a result of an injury received in a fire in his youth, has influenced artists long after he passed away.

Here’s Django’s September Song.  Hope you’ll enjoy…

In 1934, Reinhardt and Parisian violinist Stéphane Grappelli formed the “Quintette du Hot Club de France” with Reinhardt’s brother Joseph and Roger Chaputon guitar, and Louis Vola on bass. Occasionally Chaput was replaced by Reinhardt’s best friend and fellow Gypsy Pierre “Baro” Ferret. The vocalist Freddy Taylor participated in a few songs, such as “Georgia On My Mind” and “Nagasaki”. Jean Sablon was the first singer to record with him more than thirty songs from 1933. They also used their guitars for percussive sounds, as they had no true percussion section. The Quintette du Hot Club de France was one of the few well-known jazz ensembles composed only of string instruments.

In Paris on March 14, 1933 Reinhardt recorded 2 takes each of “Parce que je vous aime” and “Si, j’aime Suzy”, vocal numbers with lots of guitar fills and great guitar support, using 3 guitarists along with an accordion lead, violin, and bass.  August of the following year recordings were also made with more than one guitar (Joseph Reinhardt, Roger Chaput, and Django), including the first recording by the Quintette.In both years, it should be noted, the great majority of recordings featured a wide variety of horns, often in multiples, piano, etc.

Reinhardt played and recorded also with many American Jazz legends such as Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, Rex Stewart (who later stayed in Paris), and a jam-session and radio performance with jazz legend Louis Armstrong. Later in his career he gigged with Dizzy Gillespie in France. Reinhardt could neither read nor write music, and was barely literate. Stéphane took the band’s downtime to teach him.

Truly great outdoors, and truly great beer, right here close to home. Make sure to support Desert Botanical Garden’s Biergarten. It takes place on Friday, September 25 from 7 to 10 pm in the beautiful gardens, includes limited free beer samples, commemorative sampling mug, a cash bar for more, and the event is catered with German festival inspired food. And yes, vegetarian and vegan options are available! If you’re familiar with the jazz in the desert series you know that music plays a big part of Desert Botanical Garden events; for the Biergarten there will be no less than FOUR bands. One of them really stands out for me: Hot Club of Phoenix. This is a play on Hot Club of France, the incredibly revolutionary band that Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli played for in the 1920’s and 1930’s. These people were the Eddie Van Halens (trend-setting fast players) of their time, and to see guitarists and violinists play in their style today still blows people away. If Hot Club of Phoenix can play anything like Django and Stéphane everyone at Biergarten will be in for a major treat. Not only that, you’ll be getting great beer, great food, and will be supporting the Garden and all its educational outreach projects. Tickets are available here.

Wir sind ja gar nicht so. Wir tun nix, wir wollen nur spielen. Obwohl… Nein, Spaß beiseite. Wenn wir schon einen Preis vergeben an Musikmenschen, denen vielleicht mal ein Licht aufgehen sollte, so erwähnen wir natürlich auch die, die Licht in die Welt gebracht haben.

Les Paul, der ja leider kürzlich die Bühne des Lebens verlassen hat, war einer derjenigen Menschen, denen im Laufe ihres Lebens so einige Lichter aufgegangen sind. Seine Verdienste um die Entwicklung der Stromgitarre, die schließlich in dem Rockbrett schlechthin gipfelten, sind hinlänglich bekannt. Dass Les Paul aber noch ganz andere Betätigungsfelder hatte und sich ebenso in anderer Weise einen Platz in der Musikgeschichte gesichert hat, ist vielleicht nicht ganz so in aller Munde und Hirnwindung.

Les Paul © gibson.com

Im Gitarrenbauwirrwarr geht beispielsweise manchmal unter, dass er seinerzeit ein bekannter Jazz-Gitarrist war und durchaus in einem Atemzug mit Django Reinhardt genannt wurde. Und Les Paul war ein Tüftler: Er gilt als Pionier der modernen Aufnahmetechnik, im Speziellen des sogenannten Overdub-Verfahrens. Für alle Nicht-Recording-Nerds: Eine Spur wird aufgenommen, z.B. Gitarre, und nachträglich kommen neue Spuren wie Schlagzeug, Bass, Klavier etc. dazu. Zwar hat Les Paul diese Technik nicht originär erfunden. Jedoch hat er durch seine Basteleien an einer Ampex-Tonbandmaschine die erste praktikable Mehrspurbandmaschine der Welt entwickelt. Und seine Platte »Lover (When You’re Near Me)« war somit im Jahre 1947 die erste kommerzielle Veröffentlichung einer Mehrspuraufnahme auf Magnetbandbasis überhaupt.

Bekannter ist aber wohl seine Aufnahme von »How High The Moon« mit seiner Partnerin und zeitweise Ehefrau Mary Ford. Da waren ihm auch acht Spuren längst nicht mehr gut genug

Für heutige Ohren klingt diese Aufnahme vielleicht doch etwas komisch, aber damals war es schlicht eine kleine Revolution. Und ohne Frage hat Les Paul damit den Grundstein für die moderne Studiotechnik gelegt. Denn seit den 1960er Jahren sind Aufnahmen im Overdub-Verfahren ja eigentlich der Standard. Oder denken wir an gedoppelte Gitarren und Vocals. Klar kann man auch ohne gedoppelte, getripelte, gequadrupelte Spuren tolle Tracks produzieren – siehe AC/DC – aber manchmal ist es halt schon ganz nützlich. Sonst hätten wir auch nicht Meilensteine wie Sgt. Pepper oder ABBAs Vocalträume.

Danke, Les!

http://www.lespaulonline.com/
Nachruf auf der Gibson-Seite

Hoje é dia de Django, o moço dos dedinhos deformados, um dos pioneiros do jazz na Europa.

Ah, ele aparece na abertura do Belleville Rendez-Vous. Se você não viu a animação, recomendo! Essa é a abertura:

Django Reinhardt (violonista – gipsy jazz)

Feito com lápis pastel, enquanto escutava a coletânea The Best of Django Reinhardt (Capitol/Blue Note).