Herbie Hancock Quote

"A great teacher stimulates his students creativity so that they go out & find the answers themselves." - Herbie Hancock

I found this quote lurking somewhere online a while back. I like it.

Spring Listening

Sam Newsome: "Blue Soliloquy" (self release)
Newsome's solo soprano sax outing released in 2009.
Throughout The album Newsome incorporates techniques such as Multiphonics, Microtones, Slap tongue, and the Doppler effect.

I feel that the pieces are very arranged and perhaps a little more spontaneity would loosen things up a little. However, this highly organized manner of playing presets these techniques in a very approachable way for the uninitiated. The track lengths also helps -  of the 14 originals and a Monk tune, the majority fall in the 2 - 4 minute range ( with only two over 5 mins)
This is his second (of three) solo soprano albums - in time I will check out the others.

Trance Formation: "In Concert" (New Artists Records)
Connie Crothers (p) Ken Filiano (b) Andrea Wolper (v)  Don't expect your run-of-the-mill vocalist out front of a rhythm section here - Tranceformation are a collaborative trio performing eight free improvisations taken from two live performances in 2009/10 (a souvenir for me as I was at The Stone concert in 09... perhaps there's another post - live albums from gigs you attended?). Risks are taken, but never at the expense of the music or group sound - the three blend so well together resulting in pieces and an album that have wonderful continuity. I'm looking forward to hearing more from this exciting trio.  Recommended for those looking for more adventurous vocal recordings.

"Fo[u]r Alto: 4 Compositions by Frank Gratkowski" (Leo Records)

Saxophone quartet Four Alto playing Four Compositions For Four Alto Saxophones... oh, and the Anthony Braxton reference too. I think that covers the title.  The group is led by Frank Gratkowski and is rounded out with fellow German's Florian Bergmann, Benjamin Weidekamp & Christian Weidner.
I first heard this group in 2009 (fairly early in its life) during Hayden Chisholm's annual workshop in Greece. It took a little time but their first album was released at the end of 2012 (two other discs from Gratkowski were released at the same time). Microtonality looms large - you have been warned. I will post a bit more on this one later.


Miles Davis: "Kind of Blue" (Columbia) - see this entry.

Record Store Day

As you may have heard Saturday April 20 was Record Store Day. I took it pretty easy and only went to the Jazz Record Mart. I timed my run to coincide with the in-store performance of Nick Mazzarella (as) Devin Hoff (b) & Mike Reed (d).

Nice to see a decent crowd in the store (the pics below are from after the trio's set and the crowd had thinned a bit). It was quite pleasant strolling the aisles accompanied by a live band.

I picked up two solo saxophone albums - Anthony Braxton's classic "For Alto" (Delmark 1969) - not sure why it has taken this long for me to get it - and Evan Parker's "Chicago Solo" (Okka Disc 1995) - Parker's first album dedicated to solo tenor (after many solo soprano albums).

Easing Back Into It

This week I have been getting back into regular practice. Due to tendonitis, the last few weeks have been quite sporadic. Trying to keep everything as loose as possible whilst playing - awareness. Following each session I have been massaging my hand and forearm. Doctors orders were to keep sessions brief. Have been doing each thing (singing & mouthpiece ex. aside) for about 5 mins each. Anyway here's a run down:

Monday:
Singing: Billie Holiday's "Sun Showers"
30mins playing:
Starting with air letting held note emerge then fading out to air
5ths against drone
playing/singing D major slowly playing bach inv 1 (D)
mouthpiece only - d major

Tuesday:
Singing: "Sun Showers"
Mouthpieces exercises: D Major signing and playing with drone. Stuck at it longer than normal today.
20mins playing:
Playing with done (D): Long Tones (5ths) D major scale 60 met.
Overtones: "letting it fall" (aka descending octaves without octave key)
Bach Invention 1 - slowly with metronome

Wednesday:
Singing: "Sun Showers"
Mouthpiece Exercises: with drone... felt bottom end open up a bit today
15mins playing: (morning)
Overtones: "Letting it Fall"
Scales/long tones: D Major with drone. Held notes
Tone Tracks: tone matching with recording (I'll probably write more on this later)

Planned on doing more in the afternoon but following a mammoth dish washing effort my shoulder advised me otherwise..... Lesson - don't let the dishes build up/practice before dishes!

Thursday:

Singing: "Sun Showers" - I've been focusing on Billie Holiday's vocal today I finished off singing with Lester Youngs solo too.

Mouthpiece exercises: warmed up a couple of reeds while playing D Major Scale and chord

17 mins playing:

Overtones: Letting it Fall - chromatically F thru Bb. Was feeling good so I worked my way up and ended with chromatically C thru Bb. Doesn't take long and is a great starting place.

Scales: D Major with and without drone. Quarter notes at 40 and 60bpm. Also fooled around a bit with playing 4 over 3.
Packed up (and wrote these notes) listening to Doha.

Had a second session in the afternoon

More Mouthpiece Exercises (great warm up)
Breaking in some reeds
Then moved onto working slowly on Bach's Invention #1 for about 15mins

Friday:
Singing: "Sun Showers"
Mouthpiece Exercises: playing against a drone (breaking in a couple of reeds)
15mins playing
Scales: D Major against drone - 60 bpm alternating quarter notes and 4 over 3

Bach Invention #1 - 60 bpm and then finished off with 100bpm drum metronome cd
Packed up listening to "Sun Showers" on loop

More mouthpiece exercises for a warm up.
15mins playing
Overtones: Letting it Fall and Tone Matching
Étude: worked on one of the Lacour Messiaen Etudes  - I had been working through some of these earlier in the year. Was nice to get back into it.

All in all it has been nice getting back in to some regular work on the horn. The plan now is to slowly increase the time each day.

Ned Rothenberg Solo

Last week Ned Rothenberg was in town performing and recording with James Falzone's "Renga Ensemble" - thankfully there was time for a Saturday afternoon solo concert.
Performing on Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, and Shakuhachi the set at Corbett vs Dempsey flew by - one piece on each horn and an encore on clarinet. I have only recently started getting into his work in the last 6-7 months - via some of his solo albums. I really enjoyed his playing here and with the Renga Ensemble (in fact for me, he was the standout in the group).

For the sax nerds..... his alto has been modified (or retro-fitted, if you like) - it now has two octave mechanisms (like the original saxes had) allowing him to by-pass the auto opening and closing of the upper and lower vents. Without going into much detail he said it helps with some of the techniques he uses. For some reason I didn't ask who did the modification.

James Falzone's Renga Ensemble

L-R Vandermark, Stein, Rothenber, Goldberg, Jackson, Falzone

The Renga Ensemble made its debut last week. An all reed group conceived and led by clarinetist James Falzone. I got to two of the three performances - Wednesday night at The Hideout and Thursday at the Chicago Cultural Center (later that night they played at Elastic but as much as I wanted to go I thought it was better for me to stay at home and fight off the cold I had picked up).
All of the pieces were written by Falzone and each member had a feature piece. Alongside some of Chicago's finest, Falzone also drew on talents from San Francisco (Goldberg) & NYC (Rothenberg)...

James Falzone

Anyway, the full line up was:
James Falzone (Clarinet, Eb Clarinet)
Keefe Jackson (Tenor Sax, Bass Clarinet, Contrabass Clarinet)
Ben Goldberg (Clarinet, Contraalto clarinet)
Ned Rothenberg (Alto Sax, Clarinet)
Jason Stein (Bass Clarinet)
Ken Vandermark (Bari Sax, Bass Clarinet, Clarinet)

The instrumentation ranged from 6 clarinets through to 3 clarinets & 3 saxes with pretty much every combination in between. A very enjoyable couple of performances -  dynamic with sustained interest throughout. Hopefully it's not a one-off and they are able to get together and develop their group sound. Also, it would be interesting to hear compositions from the rest of the ensemble. The group spent Friday in the studio so keep your ears peeled for a future release.

Chicago Cultural Center April 11 2013

David Liebman Masterclass

Last weekend PM Woodwind hosted a master class with David Liebman. A good turn out - pretty much a full house - but (surprisingly for me) less than at the Ernie Watts master class late last year.

Mouthpiece Exercises!!

He spoke about touring as a single and playing with local pick up rhythm sections (as he did the previous night at the Green Mill) and finding common ground with musicians around the world via the jazz reportoire that he broke into two categories: Standards (Great American Songbook/Broadway Tunes etc) & Jazz Standards (works by Miles, Coltrane, Monk et al).  He also spoke about the legacy of the jazz masters and the STANDARD they set when playing the standards - a nice point. 

When the conversation turned to the saxophone the emphasis was on sound. No surprises there for those of us famlilar with Liebman's books and DVDs. Demonstrations of various long tone, overtone, mouthpiece, and oral cavity exercises that Dave came to via Joe Allard's teachings. I explored many of these during my time studying with Richard Tabnik - another saxophonists profoundly influenced by the teachings of Allard. I find working on tone a lot of fun most of the time - The exercises Richard shared with me have stayed part of my ongoing work. They will be with me as I ease back in to regular practice. 


It made a change to hear (and see) someone demonstrating overtones and mouthpieces exercises on soprano - Dave.... you don't need to be so apologetic about sounds emminating from the soprano during these exercises!

Earlier in the year I got up close up view of Sam Newsome playing at smalls however some of the nuance was lost in amongst the quartet. Sunday was a different story  - up close (front row) with his soprano just a few inches away, unaccompanied, everything was clear and present.

He's quite the storyteller too.... the crowd favorite being a recollection from his early days when he headed to Philly and sat in with Rahsaan Roland Kirk's group.... "All The Things You Are, first note is F#, 1,2,1,2,3,4....."

Impact Records: Miles Davis "Kind of Blue"

Part Two of the ongoing series of records that made an impact on me as a young musician. Read Part One Here.

Recommended by my first saxophone teacher, "Kind of Blue" was the first jazz album I purchased (as seems to be the case with many budding jazz musicians).  I liked the saxophones but they were too darn fast for me! Miles' playing stood out and eventually I started playing along with bits and pieces of his solos - his solo on "So What" must rank high on the list of 'most transcribed solos'... though I didn't write out the solos I tried learning from records. Along the way I tried picking up bits & pieces from Coltrane and Adderley too.
The couple of listenings I have given it this week have been the first for a while. In fact, I don't remember listening through the entire album in a sitting since the initial listening after replacing the original cassette (!) with CD some years ago. This week my ears have been drawn to the rhythm section - Cobb's ride cymbal, the chordal work and comping of Evans, and the simplicity and clarity of Chambers. There's something about the running time of LPs that I enjoy - not too long, not too short. It seems many people feel the need to fill the 80 minutes of a cd when often it's not necessary. Perhaps with vinyls revival and digital domination this will change.

A Message From Han Bennink

Han Bennink asked who the bass clarinetist was.... I scribbled down "Jason Stein"... Han thanked me and wrote a note in my gig book...
A sweet guy.

An ICP Weekend

The Instant Composers Pool (ICP) Orchestra have been in town this weekend - there has been plenty to keep me busy.

ICP Orchestra

Saturday night was the much anticipated opening of Constellation - Chicago's latest venue for creative music and the arts. A full house (not sure the exact number but there were more than 120 people) was on hand for the ICP Orchestra - Han Bennink (d) Tobius Delius (ts/cl) Michael Moore (as/cl) Ab Baars (ts/cl) Wolter Wierbos (trb) Thomas Herberer (trpt) Mary Oliver (Violin/Viola) Tristan Hosinger (cello) Ernst Glerum (b). The space got a real workout with everything from solo drums through to the 9-piece group in full roar with plenty of other combinations in between - one of the great things with the ICP Orchestra is that throughout a performance the group breaks down into various duos/trios/quartets etc - don't expect your typical large ensemble gig. From where I was sitting the sound was nice - perhaps some definition was lost when the full group opened up but nothing too major. My third time hearing them live and each time has been a rewarding experience. A very fitting group to open the venue.

Sunday was particularly busy...
First up was Ab Baars playing an afternoon solo set at Corbett vs Dempsey. A modest crowd (a little over 30... I was expecting more) were nestled amongst the glass sculptures of David Hartt's "For Everyone A Garden". Half a dozen pieces - free improvisations and his own
compositions played on Tenor Sax, Clarinet and Shakuhachi. A powerful, full-throttle sound on both tenor and clarinet Baars leapt between dynamic levels with great effect. He exploited the live acoustic of the gallery nicely too - intense high register notes bouncing around your head. I enjoyed his presentation too: relaxed and with some humour he gave the pieces a little background - tunes inspired by/dedicated to John Carter, Misha Mengelberg, and Sidney Bechet. In the case of Bechet he mentioned an Evan Parker interview in which he related the story of Bechet practicing scales/long tones (all the usual saxophonic things) and then finishing off by exploring the instrument creating animal sounds etc. When as why he did it Bechet replied he was contemplating the nature of sound and music - What is music? What is sound? ... I must track down that Parker interview.
Baars finished off with a piece of his titled "Von" - a tribute to tenorist Von Freeman. I have enjoyed both concerts I have attended at Corbett vs Dempsey - nice, relaxed atmosphere, with a audience keen to listen and plenty of warmth from the gallery owners. Looking forward to Ned Rothenberg there this weekend.

ICP meets Links Hall at Constellation

That evening it was back out to Constellation. This time members of the ICP where performing with dancers from Links Hall dance company. The set could be divided into 3rds - first up Han Bennink (perc) Mary Oliver (Viola/violin) and dancers Lisa Gonzalles & Julie Ann Graham. Followed by Michael Moore (clar) Tristan Honsinger (Cello) and dancers Taisha Paggett & Travis Robb. Ending with both groups sharing the stage. Quite a contrast between the two groups - the unpredictability of the first and the continuity of the second. Not as packed out as the previous night - 50 or so there at a guess.

I had the added bonus of getting there nice and early - sitting by the door listening to Han Bennink warm up with brushes on snare. Michael Moore joined in on clarinet for an informal duo too - sweet.

I look forward to getting back to Constellation - Roscoe Mitchell is there in a couple of weeks but I may be out of town for Joe McPhee & Peter Brotzmann in J
une... need to double check my calendar. If you are in Chicago be sure to check out there performance calendar.

Set 1 Hungry Brain April 7 2013

Following that it was off to the Hungry Brain (just around the corner) for Sunday night sets presented by Umbrella Music. Two quartets mixing the ICP with Chicagoans:

Set 1: Thomas Heberer (trpt) Ernst Glerum (b) Tomeka Reid (cello) Jason Stein (B.Clar)

Set 2: Toby Delius (ts/clar) Wolter Weirbos (trb) Nate McBride (b) Michael Zerang (d)

Set 2 Hungry Brain April 7 2013

Whilst both sets had their moments I wasn't as into it as I would have liked - perhaps I ears needed a break! I'm still glad I got along to it though. Sitting next to Han Bennink added to the experience - shouts of approval, percussive stamps of the feet, and grunts of disapproval - the only person who can get away with talking through a set at the Brain??

Recent Purchases - NYC

I got to a few record stores but didn’t go overboard on the record buying front - even went to the Jazz Record Center and managed not to buy anything (I was this close to getting a Johnny Hodges disc)......I haven't got around to listening to any yet. Anyway, here’s what I picked up.

J&R: J&R have significantly downsized the jazz selection - still plenty of gems there though
with the bonus that you pay less than the sticker price.
Frank Gratkowski “Fo(u)r Alto” (Leo) I heard this group during 2009 in Greece. This is their first album - released at the end of 2012.

Downtown Music Gallery: hadn’t been there for a while. It’s small but you could spent a lot of time (and $$) there. Bruce is always friendly & helpful. I wanted to pick up a couple of solo sax discs and found these two....
John Butcher “Resonant Spaces” (Confront)
Sam Newsome “Blue Soliloquy”  (Sam's Blog)
Bonus purchase of the day was a book I had be looking at buying online.
Joe Morris “Perpetual Frontier: The Properties of Free Music”

While I was in the neighborhood I had some cheap and greasy dumplings for lunch.

Stetson & Gustafsson

Other Music: Another I try to get to while I’m in town. The jazz selection can be a bit hit and miss but there is usually something of interest this time it was solo & duo saxophones.
John Butcher “Bell Trove Spools” (Northern Spy)
Colin Stetson & Mats Gustafsson “Stones” (Rune Grammofon)

Academy Records (18th st): Jazz selection isn’t huge but I couldn’t pass up this “used” (still sealed) disc - recordings from two live performances in NYC.
Tranceformation: In Concert (New Artists Records)

Strand:
John Corbett: “Extended Play: Sounding from John Cafe to Dr. Funkenstein”
Sean Mac Erlaine posted a quote of Derek Bailey’s from this book on his Facebook page. Strand had it for a nice price so I picked it up - looks very interesting...includes interviews with improvisors such as Evan Parker, Anthony Braxton, Derek Bailey, Han Bennink, Peter Brotzmann & Sun Ra.

The week in NYC

I’m back in Chicago after a week in New York City - great view of the city and its surrounds on the way home yesterday afternoon. In fact it was quite clear all the back to Chicago with wonderful views of the great lakes. Anyway.... Here’s a quick run down of the last week.

Got straight into things on my first night in town. The New York Jazz Workshop held an interview with saxophonist John O’Gallagher. The two hours served as an introduction to O’Gallagher’s workings with twelve tone techniques in jazz composition and improvisation and coincided with Advance Music’s publication of O’Gallagher’s book on the subject - available this month... It’s a thick volume accompanied with two CDs. An interesting talk but don’t expect this method to be a quick fix - it is very involved and I imagine would take many years to absorb and use these ideas spontaneously.

A number of my friends have been playing at the Friday evening jam session hosted by pianist Galen Pittman at Tender Trap in Williamsburg. It’s nice and low key without the ego you associate with some jam sessions around NYC. It was great hearing them play again but the evening was somewhat frustrating as the soreness in my arm (I had been playing a little in the afternoon and it didn’t agree with me) was stopping me joining in. The guys really enjoy playing there so hopefully it continues to develop.

Richard Tabnik Trio

A few of us left the session early to head out to ibeam for the Richard Tabnik Trio - RT (as) Ken Filiano (b) Roger Mancuso (d). I was stoked to be in town when Richard had a gig. The trio improvised on standards and played a couple tunes from Richard’s later album. These three are full of surprises - Mancuso & Filiano are great pairing and there is something about Richard’s tone that needs to be experienced in the flesh for its full spectrum to be revealed.

Tagged along with some friends to another Williamsburg jam session on Sunday night. This one is hosted by saxophonist Matt La Von at Ba-sik. There’s a little attitude on show here (mostly from just 1 or 2 players) but for the most part it’s pretty good. We arrived in time to hear Nick Lyons tearing it up. Nice to hear some flute too (hi David). Afterwards there was a fun hang over falafel sandwiches.

Ba-sik Jam Session

About nine of us got together for a session at Carol’s on Monday night. Over the span of the evening I played four pieces - three free improvisations (duo & trio) and “Out Of Nowhere” with a larger group. I was careful to pace myself leaving time between tunes to rest my arm - there was some aching towards the end of the night .... I would have loved to played more but I'm glad I didn’t over do it. Lorenzo was quick to sense the tiger balm. Considering the lack of playing of late I was pleasantly surprised - sure, my execution wasn’t always top shelf but I feel I contributed to the music. Great company too.

I was glad to be in town for Connie’s opening class at Jazz at Lincoln Center. This week the focus was on Billie Holiday (Lester Young got a bit of attention too). Many of my favourite tracks were played including.... "All of Me", "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", "Them There Eyes", "God Bless The Child", "Body & Soul", "Foolin' Myself", "Laughing At Life", "A Sailboat In The Moonlight" among others.

The message from the night - "Sing with these recordings!" - Tristano said that singing with records was his greatest teaching discovery and the key to transmitting jazz feeling to the student.

If you are a student of the music and want your playing to open up invest some time into singing with the great jazz soloists - it's a blast!

Played a duo session with Pianist/Vocalist Carol Liebowitz - a mix of standards and free improvising. Again, I took things pretty easy so as not to aggravate anything. Similar feeling to Monday night - while I wasn't at 100% we still made some nice music.

Roulette was the venue for my last night in NYC and then scene of a spellbinding set of solo piano improvisations from Connie Crothers. The next morning I made a few notes in the gig book - Mesmeric, Relaxed Intensity, Nuance, Sound Transformation, Clarity, Surprise, Dynamic. It really was a thrilling experience... I could go on and on.
This was my visit time at the new location - very nice space. Thankfully the roadworks out front didn’t bleed into the concert hall.

Lots on this weekend too. The ICP Orchestra is in town - they have gigs on Saturday & Sunday night and Ab Baars is playing a solo set on Sunday afternoon.

Impact Records - Kings of Swing

Here’s and ongoing series that I am devoting to albums that made an impact on me as a young musician. Starting with the first jazz LPs given to me as a 10 or 11 year old and moving on through my high school and college years.

'Kings of Swing' & 'The Big Band Era'

These two LP box sets produced by Readers Digest were the 1st jazz recordings I owned - a gift from my Nana when I started learning clarinet. Lots of classic stuff on there.. Ellington, Basie, Harry James, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw etc. Here are three tracks that stood out to me as a kid.

- James P. Johnson's stride classic "Carolina Shout" played by Fats Waller (1941). Puts a smile on my face to this day.
- Gene Krupa "I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music" (1936). I didn't know who Roy Eldridge was then. I remember loving the introduction by the drums and trumpet as well as the solo breaks.
- Lionel Hampton's "On The Sunny Side of the Street" (1937)- featuring the alto of Johnny Hodges. When I started alto a couple of years later I tried playing along with this... tried!

Occasionally I have a listen to these three tracks. The box sets are back in NZ otherwise I would still break out the whole set every now and then (its been a while since I did that).

I seem to return to music from this era - Billie Holiday & Lester Young in particular - more than any other.