After reading a few reviews and seeing some pics of the Wilco-curated festival out east, I realize now that I should have hunkered down and driven out. Ah well. Hope there’s a next year, guys!
Check out the NY Times write-up for a good overview of what went down.
I happened on Lurie’s music in college when I heard his soundtrack work in Jarmusch films. Maybe that’s backwards since Lounge Lizards is most of the time the first band that people mention when you say John Lurie. But those stark string quartets, and Moondog-esque urban-americana on Stranger Than Paradise, African Swim/Manny & Lo (my favorite), Down By Law, and the Fishing with John series stand as some of my favorite music.
So this week’s New Yorker magazine article was full of welcomed information on Lurie and his absence from new music. Titled Sleeping With Weapons; subtitled: Why John Lurie Disappeared. Link to article (need user/pass to read in full).
Besides a few sections relating to how he started the Lounge Lizards, his roots of playing in the East Village, and such, most of the article focuses on his health conditions and a rift between him and a one-time friend that has sent Lurie away from New York for a long time. It’s a wild story, full of hilarious quotes, sad and startling details, and two sides of a story of which you never know who is bending the facts more.
Luckily, Lurie has been painting recently. But the absence of his music from today’s scene–something he seems less interested in revisiting–is a serious loss in my opinion. Here’s hoping he can find that writer’s streak in him again. It’s most assuredly still there.
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Oh, and here’s a Justin Bieber song slowed down 800%.
J. BIEBZ – U SMILE 800% SLOWER by Shamantis
Way better that way me thinks.
A killer set from Brass Ecstasy. A new tune called “United Front” is part of the setlist. It’s a burner. And “Bowie”… C’mon!
We’re working on getting you Subscribers the lossless audio to download. That would bring the third complete Brass Ecstasy set to the Subscriber Download archive (not to mention all the other full sets from the Quintet and Keystone). As always, more exclusive music coming your way in the coming weeks/months/years. Here’s a list of the current tracks/sets.
Non-subscribers can check out some of a couple live Brass Ecstasy sets at the webstore. Brass Ecstasy: On Stage chronicles the 2009 Spirit Moves record release shows at Jazz Standard.
East-coasters, be sure to check out the Brass Ecstasy set this Sunday at the Newport Jazz Festival. Those not able to attend can check out WBGO’s live broadcast from the fest. Gonna be great.
The last two Brass Ecstasy shows this year are at the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Israel. Click here for more info on those concerts and the clinic with Dave.
I always love following along with visual charts like this. Wish that iTunes would have something like this for a visualizer option for new music compositions. Maybe a more nerdy software will come to be with charts accompanying the music.
Hat tip to Crooks and Liars for pointing us to this great vid.
Plenty more on the Tube. Been digging this playlist from the user d21d34c55.
It’s no secret that I’m an iPhone user. I post about cool new apps as much as I think people are interested. I do find that most apps that I download just sit there after the week-or-so honeymoon period. There are a few exceptions. A camera program called Hipstamatic (thanks Max) is a recent purchase that’ll have some legs — different film types, lenses, and flash options for the iPhone camera.
But the one I go back to again and again is Shazam, the app that listens to your surroundings and tells you what tune is on the speakers you’re listening to. I’m always interested in new (to my ears) music. Part of why I did the alphabetical listening project way back — maybe I’ll pick that up again; Dave interrupted my listening habits by giving me 3 records to release of which I’ve been listening to on repeat a lot.
Anyway, Shazam. I thought it’d be cool to post a playlist chronicling my recent tags. Feel free to chime in. Part of getting into new music is word of mouth. Post yours in the comments if you so choose.
12 Tracks from recent Shazaming:
Posted at the LA Times…
In a rumpled shirt and straw hat fit for a Brooklyn block party, downtown New York trumpeter Dave Douglas showed a different side to his always eclectic tastes, leading his band through fluid, expansive selections from “A Single Sky,” an album released last year that was Douglas’ first big band recording.
Arranged by keyboardist [Jim] McNeely, Douglas’ lyrical set departed from the usual big band sound with energetic flashes of Latin jazz and funk, gaining strength as it slowed to an atmospheric purr for the evocative “The Persistence of Memory.” With the bandstand bathed in red light, Douglas and crew took the Bowl to a dark, noirish place highlighted by a giggling, gurgling trombone solo by Ed Neumeister, whose deft work with a mute had his horn occasionally resembling Peter Frampton’s talk box.
Frampton, eh? Man, wish I could have been there.
Willem Breuker, the Dutch composer sadly passed away last week in Amsterdam. The Willem Breuker Kollektief’s music has been described as “throwing Kurt Weill into the blender with ragtag circus music” which does a good job of telling some of the story but for me, this music somehow goes beyond any kind of written expression.
As a young musician, I was lucky to hear/see this group along with many other musicians who were a part of the Dutch improvised music community. There was an important era in the late 80’s and 90’s where a variety of groups like the Kollektief, the Clusone Trio and ICP orchestra would come and perform at the Vancouver jazz festival. As nerdy jazz fan, I was doing my best to see as much music as I could and just happened to stumble across a WBK concert. I had no idea what I was witnessing. It was just…wild…and ridiculous…and utterly amazing. Click here for more about Mr. Breuker’s passing.
Just wanted to thank this great group of musicians who will join me Wednesday, July 28 at the Hollywood Bowl. Really looking forward to this performance, honored to share the bill with Dave Holland’s Big Band and the Count Basie Orchestra.
Matt Zebley – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, clarinet
Katisse Buckingham – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute
Bob Sheppard – tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute
Robby Marshall – tenor saxophone, clarinet
Damon Zick – baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Pete De Siena – lead trumpet
Brian Swartz – trumpet
John Daversa – trumpet
Michael Stever – trumpet
Jacques Voyemant – trombone
Ed Neumeister – trombone
Vikram Devasthali – trombone
Craig Gosnell – bass trombone, tuba
Hamilton Price IV – contrabass
Mark Ferber – drums
Jim McNeely – piano, arranger, conductor
Dave Douglas – trumpet, composer, arranger, conductor
As we roll out the preorder for the second piece of Spark Of Being, we also launch a new Subscribercast. The newest addition is a continuation of Dave detailing tracks from the aforementioned trilogy release. This time, subscribers get an in depth look at the Creature Theme — from the morse code rhythmic breakdown, to isolating some of the many sound sources used, to the final versions.
Be sure to check out the Travelogue subscribercast as well, if you missed it.
More Subscribercast updates coming soon. More exclusive downloads as well. For now, enjoy the new podcast and the exclusive first listen of Expand.
