MTH-V: Zwan @ Pinkpop 2003

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This is a real nice trip down memory lane for yours truly. I intended to post some Charles Lloyd this time week, but for whatever reason decided to a (more than) slight detour and opt for Zwan.

Zwan was the first big post-Smashing Pumpkins musical foray for Billy Corgan, and arguably his most successful. 2005’s “solo album” (what large BC project isn’t Corgan-centric?) was interesting, and quite compelling in concert, but nowhere near the mild commercial success Zwan attained. Overall, Zwan highlighted Corgan’s sunny side, which in a way reflects some of the early Pumpkins ethos. However, Zwan was overall more pop-oriented than SP, as evident in most of the songs on their only album, 2003’s Mary Star of the Sea. Zwan was a supergroup of sorts formed by Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin (both of Smashing Pumpkins), including Matt Sweeney (Chavez), David Pajo (Slint), and Paz Lenchantin (A Perfect Circle). Corgan’s vocals and guitar work alongside Chamberlin’s signature manhandling of the drumset give it a particular SP flair, but the overall music is different (for the active SP fan). I of course championed the band, acting as a walking commercial via joining its street team. I still have a few of those stickers left… 🙂

[Note: It should be clarified for those other hardcore Billy fans that when I write Zwan I of course mean The True Poets of Zwan, the better-known electric incarnation of Billy’s overall Zwan concept. Djali Zwan, the acoustic “yang” featuring the same personnel plus cello, also performed but never completed a studio recording.]

I was fortunate enough to see Zwan twice, 12.17.02 at Cobo Arena in Detroit and 05.06.03 at Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. The latter performance not only turned out to be the band’s final US show, but also proved to be, if I sat down and really thought out the list, one of the ten best live shows I’ve attended (of any genre). It was truly special. Despite the band’s inner turmoil (another BC trademark), they were a solid ensemble and absolutely destroyed the hall that night. Also, with Billy being from Chicago, he was pretty laid back and even jovial.

This video is of the band’s performance of “Mary Star of the Sea” (the album’s title track), closing their 2003 Pinkpop Festival set. (This song closed the first show I saw and opened the second…one of the best opening numbers I’ve seen. I’ll never forget the feeling of their hitting that first big downbeat at that second show.) Now, with all of my defending the distinct stylings above, this particular song is somewhat reminiscent of the more exploratory jams found on SP’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. That being said, this live band features an even greater wall of sound. The three guitars comping and soloing in and around one another is one of my favorite features of Zwan. (Corgan is nothing if not epic.) Now, I’ll be the first to say that Billy’s singing isn’t too hot here – that’s unfortunately often the case, though he’s been better on recent Smashing Pumpkins tours – but the vocals are but one part of this piece.

Watching this just takes me back to seeing that final Chicago show, and I can’t get enough…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMQEZx9PqSo

“Mary Star of the Sea” – Lyrics
Rooms full of salt
Fault my pluck
And a poet’s charm so far, ever far
Little stars that burn the holes in my soul

And everything just feels like rain
The road we’re on, the things we crave
And everything just feels like rain
The nights I sleep, what’s left to dream
When everything feels like rain

Drift as i dive
Find the deep
Out of reach of all light
Stars, ever far
Listless tides along the changing shore

And everything just feels like rain
The road we’re on, the things we crave
And everything just feels like rain
If I should sleep, what’s left to dream
When everything feels like rain

MTH-V: GD’s “Shakedown Street” Live

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I’m busy with a lot of playing this week, so I’m posting another vid that doesn’t require too much annotation: a live performance of The Grateful Dead‘s “Shakedown Street” from 1989. This particular performance has been one I’ve returned to time and again for the last few years.

Although I don’t quite consider myself a Deadhead, I am a fan. (Since I’m the equivalent of a Deadhead for DMB, I know what’s involved in such a moniker, and wouldn’t claim to be such for The Grateful Dead when I’m obviously not.) A number of my friends and musical partners past and present are Deadheads, however, so I’ve been around their music for about a decade. I have a number of albums and live recordings, and actually consider my attending concerts of both The Dead and Phil Lesh & Friends to be some of my more profound live music experiences. I’ve also played their music in a number of groups: Teag & PK, Zentropy, The French Henchmen, and all of my musical endeavors with Pat Harris (including The Dirty River Jazz Band & The TCQ – two iterations of what I consider to be my first real band).

“Shakedown Street” is a great song. It’s definitely a dance number, which is a big reason I enjoy it so much. That also makes it fun to play – if done right, the crowd gets moving, further fueling the band. (I played this quite a bit with Zentropy; it was always a fun time.) It’s the title track of their tenth album (1978), and is also the namesake of the fan-run vendor area, selling items legal and “otherwise,” found in the parking found at their shows. (The name has since been extrapolated to other bands and fan communities – the vendor area for any band/festival is generally referred to as Shakedown Street nowadays.)

As mentioned, I don’t consider myself a Deadhead. I can’t get too deep into the minutiae of X month of Y tour being my favorite, etc., but I do have a relatively active knowledge of the band’s history. (What recordings I have span their output.) Hopefully I won’t cause too much controversy by saying that I really dig the late-80s live material, the lineup for which included the late Brent Mydland. This video’s performance comes from July 9, 1989 at Giants Stadium. (Recorded just days after Truckin’ Up To Buffalo – I mention that because I own that recording, and I love Buffalo – it’s my wife’s hometown and where we got married. :)) As is evident in this video, the band can not only jam, but groove. Hard. Jerry, Bob, Brent, and Phil snake in and around each other’s lines and ideas, all while maintaining the ensemble’s forward momentum. Jazz snobs take note, because the Dead display improvisation and group interaction as well as most any other jazz ensemble…

I hope you dig it. I have for a while, and will for a long time to come.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr_MuJlVHs0

MTH-V: Eric Dolphy w. Trane

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I’ve been focused on my doubles – flute, clarinet, and piccolo – recently, as I’m performing in an upcoming production of Annie. Even though flute’s my primary double instrument, I’ve been playing it more than usual for this gig. And as a result, I’ve had notable doublers on my mind, one of jazz’s greatest being Eric Dolphy.

Dolphy was one of jazz’s great all-around woodwind masters. Most remembered as an alto saxophonist, he was also a landmark bass clarinetist (the first to really establish it as a jazz instrument) and flautist. It’s not only that he was tremendously skilled, but that he conveyed an original, idiosyncratic voice through each instrument. And while he was a respected bandleader in his own right, his associations with Charles Mingus and John Coltrane – two of contemporary music’s forefathers – were historic. (And speaking of being a sideman, he steals the show on Oliver Nelson‘s The Blues and the Abstract Truth.)

Like many, I was introduced to Dolphy through Trane. Even with holding Trane’s entire legacy on a pedestal, his later work – the sixties in general, but especially ’64-’67 – is my primary wheelhouse. When I first bought The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings box set, I remember being taken aback by Eric Dolphy’s ubiquitous presence and coming to really enjoy the contrast between the two frontmen. (It really sets the stage for Coltrane’s late quintet with Pharoah Sanders.)

This video of Trane’s almost-Classic Quartet (Steve Davis is on bass), augmented by Dolphy, features a 1961 German television performance of “My Favorite Things.” While it’s still steeped in the flavor of the famous studio recording – unlike late renditions – it’s definitely further out. When it comes to this level of artistry, all I can say is to sit back and enjoy…

[In case you’re interested, a performance of “Impressions” from this same TV appearance, with Dolphy on alto sax, is available on iTunes. It’s quite nice.]

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

 

Serendipitous Blogging

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My somewhat rambling article on style from Sunday night/Monday morning found some serendipitous company today in Colin Holter’s article on NewMusicBox.org. The piece was his reaction to a bad review by Pitchfork and a discussion of “indie-classical,” also written about by Pitchfork here. I of course know I’m not the cause of the article – it’s on a separate topic, and I’m not that narcissistic. What really piqued my interest was that it provided a good example (I think) of just what I wrote about: style, jargon, and canon.

I’m not here to be snarky. While that generally creates more traffic, this isn’t that kind of blog. But I do find it curious that instead of critically avenging the abysmally-reviewed musical work, Holter goes on to nit-pick the meaning of a style via unloading jargon and canonical references. At the end of the article I was left with the following thoughts:
• What about Travis Morrison’s “extraordinary solo debut”? Why is o.o stars offensive?
• I’m on the same page as Colin concerning a “definition” of indie (and the mention of the protohipster!)
• Why is everyone so caught up on the stylistic label? Whether a composition is labeled “indie-classical” or “progressive grindcore” (a description of TOOL I once read in the late nineties, its absurdity is why it’s stuck with me ever since) should be secondary to whether or not it’s musically good. Once again, unfortunately, the style has trumped the content.

—

On another front, there were a couple links I intended to mention last week but decided against it. (Again, I’d rather this blog not be reduced a Tumblr-like series of links.) However, since I’m on the subject of timing, I thought it was funny that my MTH-V post on Tricky in early January was followed a few weeks later by this NPR article on trip-hop. (Why they don’t link to Tricky’s main site in the first paragraph, since there’s no NPR page for him, is beyond me.) Then, a few weeks later (or, rather, last week) there was this Rolling Stone announcement about an upcoming Tricky performance. While I’d like to think that cosmically I was somehow involved in those other two posts, I know it’s simply a coincidence.

Just some interesting nuggets from my RSS aggregator. 🙂

MTH-V: James Carter

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Have I really gone this whole time without featuring James Carter? Shame on me!

I remember the first time I heard Mr. Carter: I was listening to Lazaro Vega’s Jazz From Blue Lake one night in early 2000 (a nightly ritual at that time), and that night’s featured artist was James Carter. Every night featured a different musician, composer, or other theme, but Vega was especially enthusiastic about Carter for a few reasons:
1. He was getting ready to release both Chasin’ The Gypsy and Layin’ In The Cut. You’d be hard pressed to find two more disparate simultaneous releases by the same artist. (Gypsy, a tribute to Django Reinhardt featuring his cousin Regina Carter, is one of my absolute favorite jazz albums. I’ve pretty much had it on repeat for twelve years.)
2. James Carter is a proud Detroit native, and lets everyone know it.
3. Carter attended Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp while a student (although he was featured in faculty groups).  (Read that last link if you have time. Neat stuff.)

I was immediately hooked while listening to Lazaro Vega’s program that night. I’d never heard anyone do anything on the saxophone (just pick one) until that point. And in a number of ways, I’m still waiting to see/hear another saxophonist – jazz, classical, or otherwise – make some of those noises. I really do think that, as a sheer technician of the instrument, James Carter is the top in the world. It’s easy for any musician to recognize his chops, but, saxophonically speaking, he’s on another level – his own level. The horn (saxophone, clarinet, flute, etc.) is simply an extension of him, sounding whatever he hears in his head. Of course, such skill can be a dangerous. In his early work, especially the first two albums, he seemed more interested in showboating than making music. But as his music has matured right along with him – he recorded those first albums at 23 and 24, respectively – and his artistry now complements his talent.

I have most of his albums, and while I’m not as much of a blind fanboy as I was in my late teens and early twenties, JC remains one of my favorites. I’ve seen him (I think) seven times, and each one was a real treat and quite different from the others. He’s one of jazz’s most exciting performers, always giving 110% and bringing the audience TO ITS FEET. (I seriously thought the crowd would lose it at 2004’s Detroit Jazz Festival.)

The following videos should serve as a good sampler for JC newbies. And if you’re a fan, enjoy anyway. 🙂 The rhythm section – all Detroiters – is the same for both videos featuring a full band: Gerard Gibbs, Ralphe Armstrong, Leonard King. (They KILL IT live.) [NOTE: Correction: the pianist for the first video is not Gerard Gibbs, but I believe it is another Detroiter, the late Kenn Cox. Got mixed up with all the different videos I contemplated for this post.)

“(I Wonder) Where Our Love Has Gone”
A trademark opening cadenza.
[NOTE: A studio recording of this same tune can be found on Gardenia’s for Lady Day.  He’s playing Cannonball horns for this performance, not Yamaha, his then-signature brand. And yet he still tears it up…didn’t I just write about this? :)]
*Embedding for this video disabled; please view here – it’s well worth the click*

“Nuages”
Burnin’ – Cater’s solo in the latter half (7:27) is indicative of his pedal-to-the-metal live style. Go hard or go home…
[NOTE: A very different but wonderful studio recording can be found on Chasin’ The Gypsy. This recording also features Chicago’s Corey Wilkes.]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufkuda8qfJk&

Some fun on bass… 🙂

No better way to close it out than with some Yuletide cheer…