I Hear Music

Recently, I got about two-thirds of the way through sorting out my collection of vinyl record LPs.  I’ve been accumulating this music since I was a teenager and I’ve got quite a few old “records.”  A lot of them, I got for free or for very cheap.

My wide-ranging musical tastes add to what I’ll listen to and what I’ll keep.  Blues and  jazz are big favorites.  But I love much of the twentieth century pop music including show tunes, tin pan alley, oddball novelty tunes and some country and western.  In this, I go way back.  I love a lot of music pre-1950, even pre-1920.

I enjoy some movie soundtrack music.   I love much world music including gamelan, reggae and much from Brazil and Africa.  I keep trying to broaden my horizons, to hear new stuff.

Then there’s the vinyl version of “books on tape” with  authors or actors reading “classic literature.”  Most of  my “non-musical” vinyl is humorous.  A few favorites include the Firesign Theatre, Lord Buckley, Lenny Bruce,  Richard Pryor and Monty Python.

I try to listen to classical music now and then.  My tastes lean toward the more modern or “avant-garde” but I try to give everything a listen.

It’s always fun digging out good music that I haven’t heard in a while.  Eventually, I’ll decide what to get rid of.  For now, I’m just enjoying the listening.  There’s plenty of great obscure music on vinyl LPs.  Examples include the Insect Trust, Kaleidoscope, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jesse Fuller, the Holy Modal Rounders, Herbie Nichols,  Peetie Wheatstraw, Odetta, Captain Beefheart, James P. Johnson, the Jungle Brothers, Memphis Minnie and Esther Phillips.

Then, there are all the people who were really popular in their day but are obscure now.  There are also those who were unpopular in their day, but have solid reputations now, whose work has stood the test of time (at least to some degree). 

Digging for good music is part of digging good music.  Some of us refuse to be “spoon fed the latest hits.”  Some popular music is wonderful and some far less so.

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The needle floats in a vinyl ocean.  Sometimes it dances.  Sometimes it skips.  The sharp point rides the grooves and sends out music, singing and talking.

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I’ve listened to music over the computer, but haven’t really got into downloading music or I-pods as yet.

Vinyl, of course, isn’t very portable.  But that doesn’t stop thousands of DJs from carting turntables and crates of records.

I find good music on the radio, rarely.  I still listen to CDs and cassettes as well.  They have their good points and their bad points.  Cassettes are great for taping your own music and interviews with people.  I used to make the wildest mix-tapes: like thirty songs about rain, songs about food or dreams or insanity or animals.

There’s great music on 78rpm discs that never made it to vinyl.  There’s great stuff on vinyl LP’s that never made it to cassettes or CDs.  I don’t think everything’s really available for download or on the internet but I’m sure there’s a lot there too.  Music, music: dig deep!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramophone_record

http://www.history-of-rock.com/record_formats.htm

The “modern LP” arrives:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LP_album

http://www.vinyl-record-collectors.net/history-of-vinyl11-part6.htm

Vinyl:

http://www.lovevinylrecords.com/page/1106051

http://www.vinyl-record-collectors.net/history-of-vinyl11-part12.htm

How to listen to music? One opinion:

http://www.furious.com/perfect/vinyl50.html

Photos of music-carrying mediums:

http://library.osu.edu/sites/sel/seldisplays/scienceofmusic.php

The Detroit Jazz Festival just celebrated its 30th anniversary.  I’ve been attending since the beginning.

There’s always a lot of quality free music, in Detroit, in the Summer.  This year I’ve seen a lot of good shows including, Buddy Guy, Willie Nelson and Aaron Neville.  There was an all-star Motor City Revue at the Concert of Colors.  That was pretty wonderful.

"the Divas" from Cleveland

My old friend James O’Donnell (on trumpet) led a marching-band ensemble.  They wove their way throughout the crowd (with the dancers) in grand style.

band getting ready to lead a second-line parade

Friday night featured a piano trio led by 91-year-old Hank Jones.  He has Michigan roots (from Pontiac).  His late brothers Thad and Elvin Jones were also jazz greats.  George Mraz was on bass and Carl Allen on drums.  I love his music and he sounded great.

That was followed by Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White.  It was a good set (I heard most of it).  I’m a fan of Corea’s experimental jazz group Circle and his work with Miles Davis.  There were some beautiful moments here.

I missed Saturday entirely.  I almost caught the last three hours.  I waited a whole hour for a bus that never came and that was that.

Sunday, I got there early.  In the “jazz talk tent” I caught an interview with Wayne Shorter.  It was led by his biographer, Michelle Mercer. 

He opened by saying he was 76 but feels like 17.  She asked him to name a letter and he said “A.”  She went through all his musical compositions whose titles begin with “A.”  He was often very funny and it was a lively interview.

He told of Bud Powell sitting in with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in France.  Later, Powell visited Shorter in his hotel room and asked him to play a bit for him.  This puzzled him and he wondered about it for years.  Later, Powell’s daughter (Celia?) said that he’d do this saying it was because he was concerned about the future (the future of jazz.). 

After the interview, they took questions from the audience.  He spoke of playing  jazz solos like Humphrey Bogart, like a “John Wayne punch.”  He remembered Miles Davis (commenting on someone’s playing) by asking “Do you dance with your girlfriend like that?”

He reads a lot and talked about that (sci-fi, history, good fantasy etc.).

He also spoke of “standing alone and dealing with the unexpected” and trying to “give back something original” to life.  It’s important to be spiritual, creative and daring.   “To dare!” is central.

Marcus Belgrave (right) and his band

Next I caught most of a strong set by Detroit music hero, Marcus Belgrave.  I used to see him play in New York and he’d recognize me here, and say “Been to New York lately?”  I just saw an old photo of him when he was quite young.  He’s played in a wide variety of contexts, in Ray Charles big band, as a leader and much more.

I caught a bit of Charles McPherson’s set.  Then I caught a good part of the Gerald Wilson Orchestra.  He was premiering a six-part suite called Detroit (dedicated to our city).

In the “jazz talk tent” again, I caught an interview with Sheila Jordan.  She talked about Charlie Parker and growing up as a young be-bop fan in Detroit.  She believes that one should “do your thing with heart and feeling and try to do it well.”

There were other good acts playing at the same time.  Yet I had to catch Wayne Shorter’s entire set.  It was amazing.  This was my favorite set in a festival that had its share of strong performances.  He was with his regular quartet and they seemed to have a real “ESP thing” going.  Wow!

I caught some of the Heath Brothers, the Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra and the Detroit Jazz Festival Orchestra, then headed home.

On Labor Day, the rain came in.  It was sprinkling off and on all day and I got a bit wet.  Yet it was tolerable, never a big downpour.

A year ago, Barack Obama spoke at the jazz festival site, on Labor Day.

Sheila Jordan sang with the Tad Weed Trio.  Weed plays piano, Kurt Krahnke played bass and Sean Dobbins drums.  I really enjoyed this a lot.  I remember Kurt from years back.  He’s been on the local scene for ages, in many contexts.  Jordan has a unique style and still sounds great.

On the same stage Bucky Pizzarelli played duets with his son, John Pizzarelli.  They also did some songs with John’s band.

John Clayton, Christian McBride and Rodney Whitaker played a trio of stand -up bases,  The bass switched from lead to back-up to “chorus” to rhythm (just like that).  This was really something.

I closed out the fest with the T.S. Monk sextet.  Thelonious Monk’s music was played by this group led by his son (on drums).  The band included Helen Sung on piano and Howard Johnson on tuba and baritone sax.  Everyone was swinging.  They closed out with a wild, raucous version of Four In One.  It was beautiful chaos in ways but very precise and on point. 

a Detroit Jazz Festival History:

http://www.detroitjazzfest.com/history.html

The Detroit Jazz Festival website:

http://detroitjazzfest.com/

A review of Wayne Sorter’s set:

http://www.freep.com/article/20090907/ENT04/90907009/1322/(No-heading)

Here’s a nice History of the Montreux Jazz Festival (including the posters).  Not too much information about the partnership with Detroit, but interesting:

http://www.montreuxjazz.com/?lang=en&cat=festival&subcat=history

with Cloud-Chamber Bowls/ photo by Fred Lyon

I’ve long loved the work of Harry Partch. At first, I had trouble finding his work. Then I found the 3 LP set of Delusion of the Fury. This included a booklet showing photos of his various instrument creations. One LP disc had samplings of various instruments. You could listen to the instrument being played and match it to the photo of the instrument.

Then I found a lot of Harry Partch music at my local public library. Some of this was on CDs and some on (somewhat) scratchy old LPs. Since then, I’ve tracked down more of his music, until I think I’ve heard most of what he recorded. I’m always searching for more.

I’ve read the biography of Harry Partch by Bob Gilmore. It helped me to get a better sense of his life. I’ve read some of Partch’s own writings and am trying to read more. I know that there are at least two books of those, probably still in print. I’ll try to track them down.

His nephew Virgil Partch was one of my favorite cartoonists. He was a really wild artist and often very funny. I’ll probably write more on him someday.

They both have a certain “surreal sensibility” in common (whether they knew of or believed in surrealism or not).

Partch’s music seems very influenced by “world music” before it was common or fashionable. There are often oriental or African overtones. He used unusual tunings and combinations of instruments.

In one of my musical projects, we design and build our own instruments at times (in “the Space Band”). We hope to take this further eventually. So Partch’s work’s a direct inspiration on some of the music I play. It’s but one inspiration among many, true, but not to be discounted.

Writing this makes me want to listen to his music. I’ll add it to my list of things to do soon.

Further information:

http://www.harrypartch.com/

http://www.corporealmeadows.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Partch

http://musicmavericks.publicradio.org/features/essay_partchworld.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgil_Franklin_Partch

I heard on NPR last night that Michael Jackson had been take to the hospital.  It sounded serious.  It crossed my mind that maybe he died, or would die.  He hadn’t seemed healthy in awhile.

Then, I went to Wayne State University for a free night of entertainment.  Detroit’s having a month long festival, to make up for not having the usual Detroit Festival of the Arts.  They showed the movie A Great Day in Harlem, about the famous 1958 photo of 57 great jazz musicians.

The piano, bass and drums trio, The Bad Plus played.  I’m not very familiar with their music but they were in good form.  They have a sort of “free jazz” edge to what they do.  Anyway, they mentioned Michael Jackson and I’m thinking “He must have died or else is at death’s door.”

They said that musicians will appreciate Michael Jackson for his music, not for strange spectacle of his life as he lived it, the hoopla, the troubles.  I agree with that.

Then, this morning, getting ready for work, I hear that he did die.  Details:  he was broke and in debt and that he was getting ready for a huge comeback tour (did he record any new music?)

Then, a lady from Gary, Indiana remembered him as a small child, one of the neighborhood kids, playing.  She said that he had signed something for her about six years ago, on a visit to Gary.

Then, on the bus to work, we drove by the old Motown building on Grand Boulevard here.  There was a crowd and a memorial, with flowers, a giant teddy bear etc.  There were tv crews too, broadcasting and interviewing.

He may go down as one of the greats.  He’s not as prolific as James Brown or Ray Charles.  He’s not a great songwriter like Smokey Robinson or Stevie Wonder.  Michael Jackson was a talented, sometimes magical performer and singer.  Some of the Jackson 5 material is wonderful. 

Off The Wall is probably my favorite.  Thriller and Dangerous had plenty to like or to love, some fine sounds.  I even liked his 2001 record, Invincible.  There were some weak songs but most of it sounded fine.

Yes it’s all quite sad, but I’ll keep going back to his work.  He was some kind of singer, dancer and musician, with a real “sense of swing.”

I can name thirty or forty music writers, just of the top of my head.  But Robert Christgau’s an old favorite.  For years, I read his “Consumer Guides” and other writings in CREEM Magazine and then in the Village Voice.  I use his three Volume (1970-1999) books of reviews quite a bit.

I don’t alway agree with him, of course.  Sometimes he loves stuff I don’t like and vice versa.  Yet in many ways, his tastes are similar to my own.  His writing has led me toward a lot of music that I love.

He writes primarily about modern popular music.  Yet he does have reviews on pre-1970 music.  You can look up Chuck Berry, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk or Fats Waller and he’ll have a few reviews.

He was enthusiatic about early, “old school” rap and hip hop and still keeps up with that.  Also, he was into “world music” (especially African) when not many people were.

To quote: “The Consumer Guide database has graded 14354 albums from 6149 artists on 2577 labels, with 12393 reviews.”

It’s easy to navigate, with everything listed by surname or band name.

New reviews are posted on MSN and soon enough end up on his own site as well.

old format:  http://music.msn.com/music/consumerguide/2006/12/

new format: http://music.msn.com/music/consumerguide/

I’ve read Ashley Kahn’s Kind of Blue book.  I’ve done other research about this record as well.  Yet I still haven’t heard the Kind of Blue bonus disc (with outtakes and a live version of So What). 

Suffice to say, this lives up to its reputation as a classic, a great record.  I’ve played it hundreds of times.  It’s always good “concentration music” to spin while drawing,  painting or writing.

Miles Davis on trumpet.  John Coltrane on tenor saxophone.  Cannonball Adderly on alto saxophone.  Jimmy Cobb on drums.  Paul Chambers on bass.  Bill Evans on piano.  Then on one cut, Freddie Freeloader, Wynton Kelly on piano.  1959.  Produced by Irving Townsend.  Jimmy Cobb is the only surviving musician from the session.

The drawing is from my “blue series.”  This one’s in color pencils, in a partial state and then “finished.”  Blue, the color of ocean, sky, of certain eyes.  Blue as “in the blues” and blue as certain flames…

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10862796

http://www.npr.org/programs/jazzprofiles/archive/miles_kob.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBpLKm8vw4M

Jack Wright and Bob Marsh played here in Detroit last weekend.  It was at the CAID Gallery, behind Wayne State University, not far from my home.  They played two sets, some solo, mostly duets.

It was an excellent show, a lot of fun.  They play in that mode of unrestrained, loose, wild, free-form improvisational music. 

I’d see them play before, years ago.  Separately, I think, in other contexts.  With improvisers, it’s often a good thing to have played together for years.

The CAID’s a good space.  I’m currently in an exhibit there, as well as another exhibit at its sister gallery, The Ladybug.  Unfortunately, there was a small audience, only 10 or twelve people.  About half of these were my cohorts from the Space Band.  Of these, Jim Puntigam is an old friend of Bob’s and has played music with him, in times past.

Jack’s been doing improv music for nearly 40 years.  He’s a multi-instrumentalist whose main ax is the alto saxophone.  He’s also a good visual artist, judging by his painting on their CD cover.  It reminds me of some of my own work (a sort of surreal/abstract expressionist mode).

Bob plays cello and many other instruments.  These include unique instruments that he put together/designed himself.

I hope that they get to play the Detroit area more often.  Further information:

http://www.thecaid.org/thisweek.html#wright

http://www.redroom.org/documentation/wright.html

http://www.myspace.com/bobisadoctor

http://www.springgardenmusic.com/jack-bob_marsh_duo.htm

Hello!  This is my drawing.  I’ll occasionally illustrate this blog with my own art work.  I’ll find other things to throw in as well.

I’m a huge music fan but my tastes are a bit wild, maybe eccentric.  As in much of my life, I certainly cast a large net.

I like everything, especially jazz and blues.  I’m not too studied on classical music but I get around to it now and then.

I’m in two musical groups.  Since 1992 or so I’ve been in The Don’t Look Now Jug Band.  Since 1998 or so I’ve been in The Space Band.

Both groups get together and play because we love to play music together. It’s all pretty informal.  Yet I have played in public, plenty.

Before these adventures, I used to do music for my improvised puppet shows (in-between the dialogue).

But yes, listening to music is one of the best things there is!  Wow!  Most of the time, I’ll be writing about lesser known, more obscure music.  There will be exceptions to this, of course.

I Hear Music is an old standard pop tune.  The most well known version is by Billie Holiday.  It was composed for the 1940 movie “Dancing on a Dime.”

The music’s by Burton Lane with lyrics by Frank Loesser.

http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/lyrics_i_hear_music.htm

Then there’s a pretty amazing clip of Sister Rosetta Tharpe singing “Up above my head, I hear music in the air…” :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeaBNAXfHfQ