The Jazz Workshop

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Six String
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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby Six String » 11 Feb 2011, 05:36

I'm going to see John Scofield tomorrow night since he's in town playing at a really nice venue (the same one Ornette Coleman played at a few months back). I've never seen Sco and I do like his playing sometimes.
I forgot that Bill Frisell is also playing. :o I thnk they are each doing a set with their own group and then playing together at the end for a little bit. I was able to get a ticket in the center, ten rows from the stage.
Very 8-) . Should be a fun show.

Looks like Bill is playing with his Beautiful Dreamer band (a violist and a percussionist). I can't find anything in the program that says who John's playing with but he's touring a gospel influenced album so that should be interesting.

Bill Stewart is playing drums with Sco so that just raised my interest up 50%. He's got great taste and style and his sound is his own, plus he writes some good songs as well if you've ever heard his own albums.
Last edited by Six String on 11 Feb 2011, 20:02, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby Moleskin » 11 Feb 2011, 11:09

I've been listening to this, which arrived yesterday:

Image

A Shakespeare birthday celebration from 1975, recorded live in Southwark Cathedral, with music by Michael Gibbs, Neil Ardley, Stan Tracey and Ian Carr. Gibbs' 'Sonnet' and Ardley's 'Shall I Compare Thee' (the opening two tracks) are very strong, immediate hits with me.
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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby Balboa » 11 Feb 2011, 12:57

comrade moleskin wrote:I've been listening to this, which arrived yesterday:

Image

A Shakespeare birthday celebration from 1975, recorded live in Southwark Cathedral, with music by Michael Gibbs, Neil Ardley, Stan Tracey and Ian Carr. Gibbs' 'Sonnet' and Ardley's 'Shall I Compare Thee' (the opening two tracks) are very strong, immediate hits with me.


And I saw Stan Tracey last night! Gig review to follow!!

I have that album, some of it is brilliant and some of it requires more give than take I think.
Of course, I was mostly stoned at the time.

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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby Six String » 12 Feb 2011, 16:55

That Bill Frisell/John Scofield show was very good last night. Frisell played first with his Beautiful Dreamers Trio (viola, drums, guitar) playing an excellent selection of songs that went from ethereal to gritty or at least as gritty as one can get with a viola in place of a bass. He didn't do as much looping tricks as he has in the past and he played standards (Tea for Two), some countryish stuff, a little grungy guitar riffy thing and finished with a song from the Intercontinentals album that I really like. The latter was one of the highlights for me even though I've heard him play it before (with the original band). At the end of the set he invited Sco and co. out on stage (both trios were set up on opposite sides of the stage all night). Bill called out for an "old time jam session" and then after everyone was ready there was this big dead space as no one seemed to want to call a song. Bill finally asks John to start something and Sco starts an old bluesy jazz standard which I can't think of the name at the moment but it's a very simple set of changes that any guitar student could probably pull off. It was sort of interesting but you don't need two jazz drummers going ding dinga ding so thankfully they stopped after that one. Everyone left the stage for an intermission and then Sco came back out and played his set. I prefer him when he's not trying to be Mr. Funk and Roll and for the most part he satisfied that itch for me. The highlight for me was a Carla Bley composition "The Lawns".
It showed John's "pretty" side of playing straight ahead jazz which he can do quite well. His set finished with a song off an album he recorded with Pat Metheny which was more of a fusiony style without a lot of hot dogging. Bill Stewart was excellent all night. He's one of my favorite "not so famous" drummers. He's got some interesting tricks that he employs with taste like single handed buzz type roles. He never overplays imo and he gets a nice sound out of his kit. Scofield has a lot more depth than some people give him credit for. His playing on Joe Henderson's So Near, So Far is a good example. He showed a lot of that style which made me happy. He's not someone I listen to a lot but he's got my respect as a musician and a guitarist.
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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby fange » 13 Feb 2011, 00:41

Great write up, SS. What sort of crowd were they playing to?
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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby Balboa » 13 Feb 2011, 10:33

Yeah nice write up Les, sounds like a fun gig.

So I went to see Stan Tracey on Thursday night at a local venue - he was playing in a quartet set up with Bobby Wellins on tenor sax, Andrew Cleyndert on bass and Clark Tracey on drums. A few things - the venue is really small, maximum capacity is 100 people and it is full. Everyone can see and hear the action - you are right on top of the band. Secondly, ticket prices were £20 each, so not exactly cheap, but what the heck. They had brought in a grand piano for the event and they were clearly chuffed to have Tracey there - it normally only has local bands playing and stuff. We were the youngest in there by about 30 years I think! It was interesting to see who had made it out.

It’s always something of a surprise to see the guys in the band when you are only familiar with them from photos back in their day. Stan and Bobby are old guys now and must be over 80 or so. It’s beautiful to see them play together and their respect and admiration was there for all to see - plus they played to sets and each was about 45 mins - 1 hour so they didn’t hold back. Andrew Cleyndert nearly stole the show, what an incredible bass player - every solo he took was pretty breathtaking, but at the same time he was solid as a rock through the set.

The first set contained ‘Bright Mississippi’, and ‘Bye-Ya’, plus a couple of originals. Nicely paced set and it was interesting to see Tracey play - he crosses his hands a lot, and has that kinda Monkish thing where he seems to pause a second before he plants his hands on the keys in a seemingly random manner! It’s fun to watch actually. He doesn’t play scalar runs up and down the keys, but has a more chord based approach - but it looks intuitive rather than thought out.

The second set had ‘Blue Monk’ (which was the encore - they blazed through it and I think it had everyone in the joint smiling), a really nice ballad I didn’t recognise, ‘Angel Eyes’, and another longer track; that one started with just Tracey on the piano for a couple of minutes and it was a real treat to just hear him play on his own. It made me want to see him play a solo set actually.

The rest of the band played great - Clark Tracey is a capable drummer(he didn’t blow my mind or anything, but he played well enough and his solos were fine), Andrew Cleyndhert was incredible and should be playing on a bigger stage, and Bobby Wellins is something of an old-school legend. Wellins and Tracey had a great rapport - and as I said up top, it was really quite moving to see them play together and take their solos. Very humble guys too, no prima donna Jarrett like behaviour on display here!

So a good night was had by all!
Of course, I was mostly stoned at the time.

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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby Six String » 13 Feb 2011, 20:07

Fables of Fangetsibus wrote:Great write up, SS. What sort of crowd were they playing to?


The crowd was quite a mix. The venue is a multi million dollar effort connected to U.C. Davis that was funded by and named after Robert and Margrite Mondavi (yes, that Mondavi). The venue likes to sell prepackaged groups of shows which is everything from music to dance ensembles. The music is only 1/4 jazz I think and I don't like buying tickets up to a year in advance so I've avoided going to the place for the most part. The other thing is that tickets are usually double what they would cost at Yoshi's, a great jazz club ini Oakland. The room seats maybe 1500 I think. Univerity employees get discounted tickets and of course students do too so that leave the general public (me) to pay the higher prices. So the audience is made up of a bunch of grey haired academics who need a little culture in their life mixed with jazz fans who don't want to drive to the Bay Area, something I'm starting to appreciate) who either don't mind spending the money or look at it as a convenience tax to be alble to be home in twenty mintues vs. 90 minutes or more. I saw a lot of local musicians/guitar players/music geeks before the show. The usual crowd that Frisell will draw any night of the week.

The song Frisell played from The Intercontinentals as Baba Drame which has a Middle Eastern flavor to it and it's one of my fave's from that album. The jazz standard the two trios jammed on was Bag's Groove.


NIce review Balboa. I'm only vaguely familiar with Stan Tracy from a comp or two. Nothing beats hearing jazz live imo, especially someone of Tracy's skills and experience. I can see where his playing would sound intuitive. One would hope that a musician like him could trust his instincts and let the music flow out of him instead of "working" at it and trying to force something.
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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby LMG » 19 Feb 2011, 16:35

I discovered earlier this year that BBC Radio 3, the classical station, features jazz on a Saturday afternoon.

Just listening to this great programme on the recordings of Hank Mobley:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yqxqr

Although I have nearly all the recordings, the commentary is interesting, albeit a tad dry in the classic British style satirised by The Fast Show's 'Jazz Club'.

Louis Balfour: 'What tune are you going to play for us, JJ?'
Jackson Jeffrey Jackson: 'Tune?? This is jazz, man!'

Nice.
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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby Spec » 20 Feb 2011, 09:17

LMG wrote:I discovered earlier this year that BBC Radio 3, the classical station, features jazz on a Saturday afternoon.

Just listening to this great programme on the recordings of Hank Mobley:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yqxqr
].


Radio 3 has a good jazz line up. I like Jamie cullum's show, and jezz nelson's jazz on 3 is often worth a listen with some great sets ( tho he likes the prog stuff a bit too much. And then there are a couple of more traditional shows too.

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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby Six String » 23 Feb 2011, 21:51

A local band, The Capital Jazz Project puts on 4 or 5 concerts a year at a local college. They are themed, frequently based on a single artist/composer. The next concert is called The Best of Benny Golson. Benny Golson will not be performing but there is a guest saxophonist from New York, Jim Snidero that will be there.
Any of you East Coast jazz fans familiar with him? Yes I know Muskrat, google is my friend but I'm asking here anyway. ;)

These are usually excellent nights of music as the band members are some of best of Sacramento's jazz society.
Joe Gilman, the pianist has been all over the world with Bobby Hutcherson in recent years. Golson has written so many fine songs, many that have ended up jazz standards sitting next to the songs of Miles, Monk, Powell, etc. so it will most likely be another great evening of live jazz. May 15th they will be playing the music of Lee Morgan which I don't have to explain to people that follow this thread.
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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby T. Willy Rye » 24 Feb 2011, 14:33

Six String wrote:A local band, The Capital Jazz Project puts on 4 or 5 concerts a year at a local college. They are themed, frequently based on a single artist/composer. The next concert is called The Best of Benny Golson. Benny Golson will not be performing but there is a guest saxophonist from New York, Jim Snidero that will be there.
Any of you East Coast jazz fans familiar with him? Yes I know Muskrat, google is my friend but I'm asking here anyway. ;)

These are usually excellent nights of music as the band members are some of best of Sacramento's jazz society.
Joe Gilman, the pianist has been all over the world with Bobby Hutcherson in recent years. Golson has written so many fine songs, many that have ended up jazz standards sitting next to the songs of Miles, Monk, Powell, etc. so it will most likely be another great evening of live jazz. May 15th they will be playing the music of Lee Morgan which I don't have to explain to people that follow this thread.


Benny Golson? Lee Morgan? Sacramento's not that far...

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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby Six String » 24 Feb 2011, 21:23

The shows are always on Sundays at 7 pm. They start on time and they usually play two sets with a break in between of 20 minutes or so. The shows are usually over between 9:30 and 10 and the college is not far from the freeway. The Golson program is March 13th, the Lee Morgan program is May 15th. Let me know if you really want to attend and I'll give you details or you can go to their website.

www.capitaljazzproject.com
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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby Nolamike » 24 Feb 2011, 21:25

I picked this one up earlier today (thank you, Borders bankruptcy!):

Image

I haven't had a chance to listen to more than the first track yet, but I think I'll like it. It's very different from the type of jazz I usually listen to.
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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby Balboa » 24 Feb 2011, 21:39

Six String wrote:The shows are always on Sundays at 7 pm. They start on time and they usually play two sets with a break in between of 20 minutes or so. The shows are usually over between 9:30 and 10 and the college is not far from the freeway. The Golson program is March 13th, the Lee Morgan program is May 15th. Let me know if you really want to attend and I'll give you details or you can go to their website.

http://www.capitaljazzproject.com


Didn't Benny Golson arrange Lee Morgan's early BN sessions - quite a few of the tracks are his I think.

Sorry for not posting here a lot recently - work has been mad busy and I just can't seem to find the time to collect my thoughts. I've been hammering 'Inner Urge' a lot though!
Of course, I was mostly stoned at the time.

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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby Six String » 25 Feb 2011, 17:31

I can't confirm or deny Benny Golson's involvement in any Lee Morgan albums. There are quite a few of his early BN albums I don't have.
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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby T. Willy Rye » 26 Feb 2011, 00:51

He was arranger on Dizzy Atmosphere. He was also responsible for writing a good portion of the songs on City Lights and Lee Morgan Sextet.

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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby Six String » 26 Feb 2011, 02:31

T. Willy Rye wrote:He was arranger on Dizzy Atmosphere. He was also responsible for writing a good portion of the songs on City Lights and Lee Morgan Sextet.



*Does a bad job of imitating Johnny Carson, "I did not know that."*

:)

I don't have either album. Is that a bad thing?
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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby fange » 26 Feb 2011, 06:55

Six String wrote:
T. Willy Rye wrote:He was arranger on Dizzy Atmosphere. He was also responsible for writing a good portion of the songs on City Lights and Lee Morgan Sextet.



*Does a bad job of imitating Johnny Carson, "I did not know that."*

:)

I don't have either album. Is that a bad thing?


I guess it just depends how much Morgan you think you need, SS, and which Morgan period you dig better: the pre-hiatus '56-'60 stuff, or the more famous (and rightfully so, for my money) post-hiatus '63-onwards stuff.
I've gathered most of those early albums over the last few years, and while i've found them all very good, and occasionally terrific, i don't think they reach the same levels as he would achieve from The Sidewinder onwards.

On the Golson-Morgan connection, i've just been reading this book which has heaps of interesting tidbits...

Image

Apart from both being Philadelphians, of course, they were bandmates in the Gillespie orchestra from the time Morgan joined in '56. Golson provided tunes for Morgan's first album, Indeed!, and played and wrote for several of the albums after as Eric said above.
But surely one of biggest influences Golson had on Morgan's career was to suggest Lee as a replacement for Bill Hardman in the Jazz Messengers in '58...

"In the late Spring (of '58), Golson formally assumed artistic control as the band's musical director and broke it to his boss that the band needed drastic changes in order to thrive, or even survive. "I said, 'Art, you're a great man. This pay is nothing for you. It makes me sad.' And he looked at me with his sad beautiful cow eyes and said, 'Can you help me?' And i cant believe what came out of my mouth, this young upstart who hadn't been in New York too long. I said, 'Yes, if you'll do exactly what i tell you.' How dared I? But he went for it. He said, 'What should I do?' And i said 'Get a new band'. I told him there was a young trumpet player from Philadelphia who had worked with Dizzy. His name was Lee Morgan. I said he was young and serious... i told him there was another guy from Philly who played with Chet Baker, named Bobby Timmons..."

And the rest is history.


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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby Six String » 26 Feb 2011, 15:30

I have a few early Lee Morgan albums. One is on Savoy I believe and then I have a few early ones on Blue Note. I prefer is latter Blue Note albums overall and I'm not really interested in owning all of his music. I may even have all I need already.

That reminds me, I need to play his Live at the Lighthouse album. It's been a while and it's one of my favorite albums by him.
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Re: The Jazz Workshop

Postby Snarfyguy » 27 Feb 2011, 18:24

Image

I'm a sucker for Vibraphone, be it MJQ, Bobby Hutcherson on Out to Lunch, Gong or whatever. This is a pretty sweet set, very funky and electric. Nice for a Sunday afternoon.
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