Update: In Transit

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I didn’t originally intend to take the blog on hiatus these last couple weeks, but work and travel got the best of me.  I had to trek to Michigan State University for meetings and recruiting for next summer’s study abroad course.  Also, with Thanksgiving approaching, I’ve also been trying to squeeze many things in while working on the road.  At any rate, I have number of new albums I’d love to review soon, as well as quite a few ideas to extrapolate.  Everything should be “back to normal” after getting back to TX at the end of the week.

Social Media: Stifle Yourself

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As you know, this is the “Social Media Age.”  In fact, I’m sure that’s how most of you got to this entry.  It’s obviously a very useful and arguably necessary component of our personal and professional lives.  However, even in social media there’s such a thing as too much.

I’m a compartmentalizer; always have been.  I like to be organized and keep things in their separate places.  The same goes for all things digital.  Where I’m going with this is that most of my colleagues – past and present – and interests tend to mix the personal and professional.  Consequently, when I’m wanting to learn about new music, tour dates, album releases (yes, LPs do still exist!), or any piece of useful information, I tend to also read about their last meal, how they feel about athletes and politicians, and various emotional assessments.  I can empathize, as about 10 times each day I think hey, that’d be funny/insightful/thought-provoking/[you fill in the blank].  Then after about 1.5 seconds I consider the reader.  Will they care?  80% of the time the answer is no.  Hence this blog’s musical focus.  I could write endlessly about comedy, politics, social commentary, and the infamous “vexatious minutiae” (to quote a past professor), but it’s best that I be consistent and maintain some sort of constant thread throughout.

While I don’t expect everyone to be completely black-and-white mechanical, everyone should realize that everything has its place.  Even in a digital environment.

New Listen: Rolf Lislevand’s ‘Diminuito’

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Artist: Rolf Lislevand
Album: Diminuito (2009)

Reinforcing the aforementioned eclectic nature of this series, this week’s selection comes from the Italian Renaissance.  Actually, it’s a quite modern taken on music written during the Renaissance.  Here, Rolf Lislevand, a leading Baroque and Renaissance lutenist, leads an ensemble of early music performance specialists through stirring renditions on centuries-old music.  (I emphasize “performance specialists,” as there’s often a distinct difference between performers and researchers in academia – a topic I’ll likely return to in the near future.)  As with Manu Katché’s Third Round, this was a completely blind purchase, having known neither the main performer nor any of the pieces – only the style.  While many early music recordings can be hit or miss, I considered this worth the chance for two reasons:

1. It’s part of ECM New Series, the classical branch of ECM.
2. It includes vocalists Linn Andrea Fuglseth and Anna Maria Friman, two-thirds of Trio Mediaeval. I blindly purchased their Folk Songs – a collection of Medieval Scandinavian songs – this past spring and thoroughly enjoy it.

The instrumentation varies throughout, with particular feature on plucked strings.  It includes lutes (many, many lutes), nyckelharpa, clavichord, organ, percussion, voice, vihuela de mano, triple harp, and more.  Not every instrument is used for every number; this helps keep the ensemble sounding fresh for the album’s entirety.  As mentioned above, much of the music comes from the Italian Renaissance, specifically the Veneto region (north).  In listening to the recording and reading the liner notes (written by Lislevand himself, and directed toward a more musicologically-informed reader, perhaps unintentionally), it’s quickly evident that all involved are very historically informed.  They interpret the music not only as well-rehearsed performers but they also offer a musicological rigor.  (This goes beyond simply using an urtext edition!)

Furthermore, what maintain the listener’s interest are not only the technical or the intellectual aspects, but the visceral.  This album is FUN!  For those familiar with Renaissance music, you likely know that many texts discuss the music’s – often fun – role in court life.  However it’s often hard to sense much fun when listening to it.  (Rigid interpretations of transcriptions and/or arrangements are often the weapon of choice.)  Diminuito, on the other hand, helps Renaissance music live up to the hype.  The ensemble, under Lislevand’s leadership, take liberties and focus heavily on improvisation, something often discussed academically but forgotten in “practice” (i.e., historical reconstruction).  Much like jazz standards, the pieces are often given some variation of the “head-solo-head” treatment.  Also, Lislevand takes liberties with the compositions, often combining multiple pieces to create new arrangements.  My personal favorites, and those that perhaps best exemplify Lislevand’s approach, are “Petit Jacquet/Quinta Pars” and the whirlwind “La Perra Mora.”  Simply close your eyes and you’ll feel like you’re at a soirée with the local nobility!  (500 years ago, that is.)

Breathing fresh air into centuries-old music, Lislevand & Co. prove that Renaissance music was lively and full of spirit.  Most of all, they prove it is still relevant!

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New Listen: Elton John & Leon Russell’s ‘The Union’

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Artist: Elton John & Leon Russell
Album: The Union (2010)

For a little change of pace, this album is not only a new listen for me, but for everyone.  Being the Elton John fan I am, I had to go out and snatch it up on its release date last Tuesday.  (Note: I’m familiar with some of Russell’s work specifically, but mostly I’m coming at this from an Elton-centric perspective.)  I must say I was a little leery at first – this album received much hype over the last few months. That, coupled with Elton’s overall new material throughout the last decade or so, made me wonder if it could actually meet its expectations.  Luckily for this listener, it exceeds them.

First, it’s worth noting that I often take issue with fans or critics that constantly live in the past.  Overall this album has received quite positive reviews, but occasionally you’ll come across someone complaining it’s not the same as such early EJ efforts Tumbleweed Connection (1970, perhaps my personal favorite), Elton John (1970), or Honky Chateau (1972), or Russell’s early work.  Of course it’ll be different – forty years have passed for the performers!  Artists constantly evolve.  If you don’t like a new direction, that’s understandable, but I’m always amazed when people are disappointed by those who don’t constantly repeat the past.  (Yet, I’m sure those same folks would complain about just artists who only did one “thing.”)  Anyway, this album may not make you think it’s the late 1960s or early 1970s, but it does display a strong influence of their early styles, and it does so quite well.  That being said, for Elton fans reading this post, consider this album to be a nice combining of the styles of Tumbleweed Connection and The Captain and The Kid (2006).  [This topic of living in the past will likely come up again and again; it’s a source of great frustration.]

The major players here are Elton John and Leon Russell, obviously, and also Bernie Taupin – John’s career-spanning lyricist – and producer T Bone Burnett.  Without getting too much into the album’s lore, Russell was a great influence on Elton’s early career, both stylistically and in featuring him as an opening acts in the early ’70s.  Since then, Elton had wanted to collaborate and pay tribute to his idol.  The end result is a nice rock-country-gospel hybrid with a modern twist.  The ensemble here is substantial: standard rock rhythm section, two pianos (John, Russell), full horn section, various keyboards and guitars, and gospel choir.  Also, special appearances are made by Neil Young, Robert Randolph, Booker T.,and Brian Wilson.  Overall there’s a pretty big sound present, however the mix oddly buries the pianos at times.  (Unusual, considering they involved a very in-demand producer – you’d think someone would have caught that.)  For variety, the instrumentation changes somewhat throughout, and also John and Russell distribute vocal duties nicely.  While trading verses and sharing choruses on many of the album’s songs, they also each have “solo” numbers, with the other joining in on backing vocals for the chorus.  (Even though Elton sings at a lower octave nowadays, he’s the stronger voice here, and often takes over when it gets high or powerful.)

Though there is an overall aesthetic, the songs themselves vary stylistically.  They range from those on the far end of the country/gospel spectrum – “A Dream Come True” and “Jimmie Rodgers’ Dream” – to groove-based rock/gospel – “Hey Ahab” and “I Should Have Sent Roses” – to funky country-rock a la Tumbleweed Connection – “My Kind of Hell” and “Monkey Suit” – to more pop-based fare – “Never Too Old (To Hold Somebody),” “Eight Hundred Dollar Shoes,” and the über-ballad “When Love Is Dying.”  As for the special guests mentioned above, perhaps the best part is that there’s no real song and dance about it when one does appear.  It’s mentioned in the liner notes, but not next to song titles (e.g., “with special guest”).  As you listen to the album, occasionally you’ll hear a new/different voice or instrument (Young or Randolph, for example) and likely recognize it, but it won’t at all be jarring or take you out of the listening experience.  Each one fits; they’re only used when necessary, which is the best way to use musical guests.  As an Elton fan, perhaps the biggest issue with the album is that a few of the songs sound like chordal reworkings of a few numbers from The Captain and The Kid.  However, all I can say to that is that the songs on The Union are much better – consider them improved second drafts.

For the old-school “purists”/enthusiasts, perhaps this album is disappointing because there is a touch of modern Elton. However this is mostly laced with the styles that made him initially famous and solidified his status as a rock legend.  The best part of this album is that is sounds FUN.  Yes, I imagine there were many separate takes and overdubs (there’s often more science than magic in recording studios), but the end result sounds like one big ensemble having a genuinely fun time in the studio.  It’s an infectious feeling that’ll pull you in if you just let it.

(NOTE: I purchased the CD/DVD version, which does include bonus tracks.  FYI in case you come across an album missing a song title or two.)

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New Listen: Dave Liebman’s ‘Joy’

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Artist: Dave Liebman, w. James Madison University Jazz Ensemble
Album: Joy: The Music of John Coltrane (1993)

I found this rare gem at Chicago’s Jazz Record Mart a couple months back. Being a big Dave Liebman fan, I was taken aback because I hadn’t before heard of this album. (That’s not surprising, though, considering the depth and breadth of his output.) This immediately stood out to me for two reason:

1. The album is the delayed companion to his earlier Homage to John Coltrane (1987), perhaps my favorite studio album of his. Most of the arrangements here are modeled after his combo arrangements from its predecessor.
2. The personnel includes Butch Taylor and John D’Earth, two Virginia-area heavy-hitters who at different points in time have been integral in the evolution of the Dave Matthews Band as sidemen. I was excited to hear both of them, especially Butch, play in a pure jazz environment. At the time this was recorded, DMB was still relatively unknown outside of Virginia.

Without doing a “double entry,” it’s worth noting that this album is most fully appreciated if you’re familiar with Homage to John Coltrane. Liebman, a strong champion of Coltrane, especially his later work (1964-7), often features creative, original arrangements of Coltrane pieces, especially of the lesser-known works. (In both albums’ cases, the combined “Joy/Selflessness” is a prime example.) In the spirit of homages and champions, it’s also worth noting that the band here is led by Gunnar Mossblad, a strong proponent of Dave Liebman’s musical contributions. Now that you have an idea of this album’s somewhat convoluted “bloodline,” I can discuss some of the music.

The album opens with ominous percussion and rain-like effects, going a few extra steps to set the mood for the first piece (“After The Rain”). However the first number doesn’t feature big band, but rather flute choir (JMU Flute Choir, including bass clarinet) featuring Liebman’s soaring soprano (which he plays exclusively throughout). It may look odd on paper but it works nicely. (It’s also fitting if you’re aware of Liebman’s penchant for flute.) The big band kicks it into high gear on the next selection, almost as if they’d been waiting in the wings for the flute choir to finish. They plow through an engaging arrangement of “Untitled Original” (an unnamed Coltrane tune caught on several recordings before he died). It’s worth noting that while this is mostly a student ensemble, the rhythm section is “stacked” here with local pros (including Butch Taylor on piano), with John D’Earth filling in the trumpet section. Gunnar also is featured on tenor saxophone as occasional dual-soloist with Liebman on the dark, unsettling “Alabama.” They two wind men also display their skills on wooden flutes in “India.”

For those familiar, this album is classic Liebman – complex, intense, eclectic, equal parts soothing and inaccessible, and original. For those looking for a more traditional “college big band” sound, the only thing that comes close is the arrangement of “Naima.” Otherwise the arrangements aren’t your typical big band pieces. My personal favorite is the closer, “Joy/Selflessness” (a combining of two Coltrane numbers), the arrangement of which – done by Liebman and Jim McNeeley – is modeled closely after Liebman’s on Homage. They take an already altered chromatic progression for “Joy” and add even more color, with the winds providing a nice counterpoint to Lieb’s soprano. Including the “help” in the rhythm section really helps to keep this album from seeming like just another jazz artist sitting in with college students. (The students do a fine job of handling these difficult ararngements.) Instead the ensemble works as a whole, and it’s a nice end product.

For those DMB completists (like myself – this album was a dream find, combining my two Daves, Liebman and Matthews), Taylor and D’Earth do get their time to shine. Keep in mind, however, this is Dave Liebman’s album. Butch gets decent solo space on “Untitled Original” and “Naima.” It’s great to hear him play changes, divorced from a more rock-based setting. As for D’Earth, he helps take “India” into another realm, hanging with Lieb every step of the way.

I highly recommend this for any fans of Liebman, late Coltrane, or progressive jazz in general. (And any DMB completist looking to widen his/her palette, of course!) It’s quite difficult to find physical CD copies, but it’s easily accessible via purchased download online.

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