Category Archives: MTH-V

annotated video series

MTH-V: JDJ Special Edition’s “Third World Anthem”

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Last month I dove head deep into Jack DeJohnette’s Special Edition, his solo project that released four solid albums on ECM: Special Edition (1980), Tin Can Alley (1981), Inflation Blues (1983), and Album Album (1984). They’ve recently been re-released in a great retrospective box set, which I bought from Chicago’s Jazz Record Mart last month. (Highly recommended.) Special Edition released later albums on other labels, and I’ll definitely be seeking those out now…

I’ve long been a fan of Jack’s playing, and have a quite a ton of his sideman recordings (especially considering my Miles Davis and Keith Jarrett collections). This has been my first foray into Jack’s material as a leader. And this will definitely be the beginning, because I am LOVING it thus far. Jack’s keyboard skills are often on display – on piano, melodica, organ, clavinet, and more – as well as some occasional vocals. The melodic is a particularly nice touch, as it really thickens the horn lines. As for the rest of the band, DeJohnette, like Duke, writes for the strengths of his musicians, giving each album its own unique stamp.

In brief, Special Edition is more of a collective than a singular band. The personnel changes to some degree with each record and tour, but the overall ethos is maintained. DeJohnette’s music is pretty horn-friendly, with the debut album including tunes dedicated to Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane, and Duke Ellington. Not surprisingly, the groove is always deep and intact. Though, depending on the tune and personnel, the music can get out pretty quickly, there’s often a pervasive joy throughout the music. Sometimes it’s energetic (e.g., “One for Eric,” “Zoot Suite,” “Festival,” “I Know”) and other times it’s relaxed (e.g., “Ebony,” “Pastel Rhapsody,” “Inflation Blues”), but it’s always joyous. Mingus‘s spirit definitely resides in Special Edition’s discography, with the eclectic instrumentation and persistent ebullience. 

I’ve come across quite a few solid clips, and decided to start with the final number of this 1988 performance at the Jazzfest Berlin. “Third World Anthem” covers a few of the aforementioned bases: groove, intensity, joy. (This video comes from a television broadcast, explaining the announcer that emerges halfway through to name the musicians.) This particular lineup features:

Jack DeJohnette – drums
Mick Goodrick – guitar
Vincent Herring – alto saxophone
Lonnie Plaxico – bass
Gary Thomas – tenor saxophone

“Third World Anthem” (1988)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D19OPPpTKJQ

MTH-V: Dave Matthews & Friends

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Almost ten years ago, Dave Matthews released his Some Devil, his first solo album separate from DMB. Featuring a more standard rock instrumentation of guitars, keys, bass, and drums (with occasional horns, etc. in the studio), the songs were more straight ahead than the usual DMB fare. Winter 2003/04 saw a brief tour in support of the album with Dave Matthews & Friends, a powerhouse consisting of:

Dave Matthews – guitar, lead vocals
Trey Anastasio – guitar, vocals
Brady Blade – drums, vocals (brother of another drumming Blade…)
Tony Hall – bass, vocals
Ray Paczkowski – keys
Tim Reynolds – guitar

Just the other day I was thinking of what a great time I had at the 12.22.03 show outside of Chicago – the band’s last show of the year. It remains one of the best concerts I’ve attended (and not just Dave Matthews-related). For one, we (the audience) got a lot of show that night for the price of one ticket. Not counting Emmylou Harris‘s opening set, DM&F played for over 3 hours 20 minutes, and the energy continually built throughout the evening.  This of course begs the question on how/why the band would play such long shows while touring to support one album. Well, the show was broken down into a few segments:
• ~30 minute acoustic opener by Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, performing acoustic renditions of a few DMB songs
• …transitioning into a 2+ hour set by DM&F, performing songs from Some Devil as well as select covers from The Beatles to to Peter Gabriel to Led Zeppelin to The Band to Sly & The Family Stone and more
• Opening the encore with a brief acoustic set by Dave Matthews & Trey Anastasio, playing a few DMB and Phish numbers a la Billy Joel & Elton John
• …transitioning into a finale by the full band

One of my favorite parts of the show was just how fun it was. The band was solid, locked in with one another and playing as a unit. And they all seemed to really enjoy playing together. And the mix of originals and covers made me feel like I was watching them in a bar as opposed to an arena. I’d love to see the band hit the road for another brief tour sometime. I’d definitely attend. (DM&F later appeared at Bonnaroo 2004, Vegoose 2005, and a special Dave Matthews & Friends cruise in 2006.)

It’s worth noting that the full band only performed one nearly forgotten DMB song, “Sweet Up and Down.” And, oddly enough, except for “So Damn Lucky,” Some Devil‘s songs didn’t start creeping into full DMB sets until recent years. I’m glad to see that latter firewall start to erode. (They’ve always been a part of the acoustic Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds canon.)

Below are some live clips of both original and cover songs. If you’re a fan, you’ll dig ’em. If DM&F is new territory for you, I suggest checking them out even if you don’t like DMB. Different band, different vibes.

“Up and Away” by Dave Matthews | Allstate Arena; Rosemont, IL 12.22.03 
• My favorite tune on the studio album. I was at this show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHnON49WQao

“Fool in the Rain” by Led Zeppelin | Madison Square Garden; New York, NY 12.17.03
• Final song of the night, hence Dave’s voice being shot at the end. At the beginning, the crowd is continuing to sing Phish’s “Bathtub Gin,” which was just sung by Dave & Trey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu5eCbWvOgM

“Will It Go Round In Circles” by Billy Preston | DM&F Cruise 02.04.06
• Bob Weir comes out at the end of the video after the song ends. They next played a cover of Grateful Dead‘s “Iko Iko.”

MTH-V: Mike Stern & Bob Berg’s “Games”

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Here’s a nice little gem I came across a couple months back. This same configuration of the Mike Stern Group w. Bob Berg was featured here in December 2011. Then it was a couple of renditions of “Friday Night at the Cadillac Club.” I like that tune and those videos, however I think that this tune is more fitting of the group. All four of them stretch, explore, and play with intensity. This performance is from the 1990 Jazzfest Wiesen.

I suppose the real feature for this video is Dennis Chambers’s drum solo, however I think it’s much too long. But a good video overall nonetheless.

Personnel:
Mike Stern – Guitar
Bob Berg – Saxophone
Lincoln Goines – Bass
Dennis Chambers – Drums

MTH-V: ‘Einstein’ Unplugged

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Okay, okay. This will be my last Einstein on the Beach-centric post for a while. Promise. (At least I’ll try…) But I must share this.

While assembling links, etc., for the last MTH-V post on Einstein, I came across the below series of videos and giddily watched them all. Along with the 2012 Brooklyn run of EOTB last fall, part of the company (chorus, lead actors, violinist/Einstein Jennifer Koh, and keyboardist/director Michael Riesman) gave an “unplugged” performance of much of the opera: the five Knee Plays and the second “Trial” scene. The pieces are abbreviated, the instrumentation is much lighter (for most of them), and it lacks the staging and bizarre atmospherics of the full production. However I find these performance intriguing nonetheless. Granted, the audience members all likely knew what they were in for, but it’s nonetheless an interesting way to introduce the material to newcomers. Also, it begs the question that for an opera without a plot, how much difference does it make to hear certain selections out of context?

I’m glad there’s quality video footage of Kate Moran’s nuanced rendition of “Trial/Prison.” This was something that really stood out when I saw it last year. Ditto for Charles Williams‘s closing monologue in Knee Play 5. (I was completely out of my body at this point when I saw it in person.)

(Other EOTB posts here, here, here, and here..)

And now for the oratorio-like rendition (posted in order in full)…

Knee Play 1

Knee Play 2

Knee Play 3

Act III, Scene 1: Trial/Prison

Knee Play 4

Knee Play 5

MTH-V: Philip Glass Ensemble’s ‘EOTB’ (1982)

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Regular readers know of my fondness for Einstein on the Beach. (And if you’re curious, go here, here, and here.) I won’t sit and gush about my seeing it live last year. But it’s still with me. Constantly. I’ve been on the road a lot this last week for gigs and EOTB has regularly kept me company in the car. There are a number of videos I’d like to include, but I’ll instead be breaking this up into separate posts.

This week’s videos are clips of a 1982 concert performance by the Philip Glass Ensemble of “Train” and “Spaceship.” They’re the first and last scenes, respectively, of the work (save for the knee plays). There are interesting interview segments with Philip Glass at the end of each clip.

Of course, keep in mind that these are abbreviated versions. 🙂 The staging is fascinating for both sections, but it’s interesting to see this in concert performance. Excuse the fuzzy video quality; this is from a VHS transfer.

“Train”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl0BSh7RXPc

“Spaceship”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0SgFg7OstI