Grappelli and Grisman’s Gypsy Jazz, or Hot Violin Action Part Deux

June 11th, 2007 by Pete

Speaking of violins, you can’t mention the instrument and the 20th Century in the same sentence without talking about Stéphane Grappelli. Mr. Grappelli, together with jazz guitar legend Django Reinhardt, founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France, the single hottest and most influential European jazz band of the first half of the 1900’s. They played their style of gypsy string jazz between 1933 and 1939, when World War II forced the group to hang it up.

Grappelli stayed very active in music for the rest of his long life (he died in 1997 at the age of 89). He played with many musicians spanning across many genres of music; artists like Jean-Luc Ponty, Oscar Peterson, Yo-Yo Ma, and mandolin player David Grisman.

This brings us to 1978. Grappelli was in San Francisco playing the Great American Music Hall. He and his group showcased Grappelli’s unique style, ripping through many old standards and classics. And joining him for the last few tunes were bluegrass-ers David Grisman and guitarist Tony Rice. Nice show, great sound, and a nice introduction to Stéphane Grappelli.

Stéphane Grappelli - Golden Green (mp3)

Stéphane Grappelli w/ David Grisman & Tony Rice - Tipsy Gypsy (mp3)

Stéphane Grappelli Group
Great American Music Hall
San Francisco, CA
April 25th, 1978

1. It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing
2. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
3. Tiger Rag
4. The Man I Love
5. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
6. Golden Green
7. After You’re Gone
8. Chattanooga Choo-choo
9. St. Louis Blues
10. Unknown
11. Someone To Watch Over Me / I’ve Got Rhythm
12. Pent-Up House
13. Night And Day
14. Pennies From Heaven
15. Grappelli Piano Solo
16. Grappelli Intros Grisman & Rice
17. Tipsy Gypsy (Fisztorza) *
18. Gypsy Swing *
19. Gypsy Baptism tune (Fulginiti) *
20. Limehouse Blues *
21. Sweet Georgia Brown *

* with Tony Rice (guitar) and David Grisman (mandolin)

Check out Stéphane Grappelli’s music on or the Amazon links below…

Posted in Jazz | 2 Comments »

Matt Wilson’s Arts & Crafts

June 10th, 2007 by Pete

It’s always nice to hear some contemporary jazz that harkens back to the classic age of Miles, Coltrane, Parker, Mingus, etc. I’m sure there’s a lot of great stuff out there, it’s only that I don’t expose myself enough to it. Thanks to the Music Choice Jazz channel that my wife plays during my kids’ nap time (dodo music, they call it - “dodo” is creole for sleep), I came across Matt Wilson recently. Wilson is a jazz drummer and bandleader who has played for Lee Konitz, Charlie Haden, and Dewey Redman. For his Arts & Crafts project, he brought in trumpet player Terell Stafford, organ and piano man Gary Versace, and Dennis Irwin on bass.

Their third release, The Scenic Route, was released earlier this year. On this record, they offer their take on tunes by the likes of Ornette Coleman, Thelonius Monk, and Pat Metheny, while offering up some fresh originals like “25 Years of Rootabagas” (check out Versace’s killer Hammond B3) and the title track, which was the tune that caught my ear during a mid afternoon nap with my kids (ah naps, so rare and precious). There’s some great, unique sounds in this track, including Stafford’s trumpet (or is it a flugelhorn in this one?).

Matt Wilson’s Arts & Crafts - The Scenic Route (mp3)

Pick up The Scenic Route on or Amazon

Matt Wilson’s MySpace page and Official Site

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Electric Miles - London, 1971

May 20th, 2007 by Pete

Allow this to push you into the week in mind blowing fashion…

Miles Davis
Royal Festival Hall, London
November 13th, 1971

1. Directions
2. What I Say?
3. Sanctuary
4. It’s About That Time
5. Honky Tonk
6. Funky Tonk
7. Sanctuary

Lineup:

Miles Davis (tp)
Gary Bartz (soprano & alto sax)
Keith Jarrett (keyboards)
Michael Henderson (bass)
“Ndugu” Leon Chancler (drums)
Charles Don Alias (percussion)
James Mtume (percussion)

Posted in Jazz | 4 Comments »

Have you ever had a Garage a Trois?

April 22nd, 2007 by Pete

Howzabout a little Garage a Trois to end the weekend / kick off the week? What we have is a side project of Charlie Hunter on his 8-string guitar, Galactic’s Stanton Moore on drums, and Skerik on sax. On this 2003 release, Emphasizer, they had Mike Dillon help out on percussion and vibraphone.

Laid back acid jazz/funk comin’ your way.

Garage a Trois - Hard Headed Rio aka Rio Cuca Dura (mp3)

Buy Emphasizer:

Garage a Trois’ Official Site.

Listen to a whole GaT show on Archive.org: August 3rd, 2005 at the Fox Theater in Boulder. That’s my birthday, mark your calendars and save your money.

Posted in Jam, Jazz | No Comments »

Love & War

March 19th, 2007 by Pete

It’s easy for me to measure how low long I’ve been married, or how long the war in Iraq has been going on. They both started in the same week. My wife and I just celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary last week (the 14th). And today, of course, marks the fourth anniversary of the wonderful decision to invade Iraq (we were in Jamaica at the time, makin’ love, not war - t.m.i.? sorry).

3,220 American soldiers dead. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead. “There’s been good progress”, our president said today… the same tired rhetoric we always hear from him.

But I’ll jump off the soap box, and let the music do the talking….

Bill Evans - Peace Piece (mp3) - A sparse, beautiful piece by legendary jazz pianist Evans. Appears on several albums, like Everybody Digs Bill Evans.

Michael Franti & Spearhead - Light Up Ya Lighter (mp3) - Franti speaks (sings) his mind on this anti-war track from Yell Fire!.

If you love this land of the free, bring ‘em home, bring ‘em home. - Pete Seeger

THE SANDBOX: Garry Trudeau, creator of the cartoon Doonesbury, has a great site set up called the Sandbox. He created it as a place for military personnel stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan to share their experiences. It’s a military blog, aka a Milblog.

It’s easy to get sucked in and just read and read. It will make you appreciate these brave souls all the more. Check it out: http://gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox

Now can we please figure out a way to get these men and women HOME??

Posted in Jazz, Roots Rock | No Comments »

Ear Fuzz Referral:Miles Davis at the Isle of Wight, 1970

March 15th, 2007 by Pete

This is way too cool not to share. For amazing video of Miles Davis and band at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, go to Ear Fuzz now and take some time to watch this incredible footage.

The lineup: Jack DeJohnette (drums), Dave Holland (bass), Airto Moriera (perc), Keith Jarrett (keys), Chick Corea (keys), Gary Bartz (sax), and of course Miles Davis.

Observe the Stage Presence of Miles. What a badass mother—er. RIP Miles.

Posted in Jam, Jazz | No Comments »

Enter the Mowo

December 26th, 2006 by Pete

Into the “jazz drum & bass” realm we go. Mocean Worker is the recording alias of producer Adam Dorn. He’s the son of well known Atlantic Records producer Joel Dorn, who has produced everyone from Coltrane and Mingus to Roberta Flack and the Allman Brothers.

Adam (or Mowo, his self-dubbed nickname) has a pretty impressive Celebrity Playlist on iTunes. Of his top 10 tracks, he busts out Prince’s “Girls & Boys”, “Early in the Morning” by the Gap Band, Sly & the Family Stone, early Van Halen, and D’Angelo. I’m liking his influences.

So this Mowo track caught my ear a few weeks back on - you guessed it - Sirius, and here it is. Laid back, jazzy, funky vibe. Me like.

Mocean Worker: Salted Fatback (mp3) - from Enter the Mowo! (2004), $14.99 here on Amazon, but $9.99 on iTunes.

Mocean Worker’s Official Site | MySpace

Posted in Electronic, Jazz | No Comments »

Koop Island Blues

December 8th, 2006 by Pete

I heard this on Radio Paradise yesterday, and was instantly forced into stress-free relaxation mode. Koop is a group from Stockholm, Sweden, led by Magnus Zingmark and Oscar Simonsson. They’ve got some very cool jazz and swing vibes going on. As it’s put in their bio: “the swing of the 1930s, the exoticism of forgotten orchestras and entertainers performing on late 40s yacht cruises to Jamaica.”

They have Japanese singer Yukimi Nagano singing on a few tracks on their latest album, Koop Island, including this song. Her voice just puts me in a nice place.

Koop: Koop Island Blues (mp3)

Buy Koop Island (only available as an import in the US).

Watch a short YouTube clip of Koop with Yukimi Nagano.

Koop’s Web Site | MySpace

Posted in Jazz, Laid Back | 2 Comments »

Stephan Crump’s Rosetta Trio

December 4th, 2006 by Pete

There’s a multitude of music sent my way, and I sure wish this was my day job so I had the time to listen to everything, and give these artists the time and attention they deserve. So I try to listen to all I can. After all, one of the great things about music is there’s always more to discover.

One of those discoveries came recently, as I heard a track by Stephan Crump’s Rosetta Trio. Stephan plays electric and acoustic bass, and is part of the NYC progressive jazz scene. Among his many projects, he is a member of the Vijay Iyer quartet, singer/songwriter’s Jen Chapin’s band, and also has collaborated with Gregg Bendian in Gregg’s Mahavishnu Project. For you regular readers, you heard Gregg’s name in my recent Nels Cline interview. Nels and Gregg collaborated on an album. Stephan’s web site even mentions that he has worked in some way, shape or form with Bruce Springsteen. I will be seeking more info on that little nugget.

So the Rosetta Trio is billed as an all-string progressive jazz ensemble of upright bass with acoustic and electric guitars. Their MySpace site has a few songs streaming. Here’s one of them. I love the vibe. I guess I just love hearing how different people manipulate their instruments in different ways, and these guys are laying it down in a very unique style. It’s jazz, but it’s not. There’s something inventive and fresh going on.

Stephan Crump’s Rosetta Trio: Tag (mp3) - from the new album, Rosetta. Pick it up on CDBaby or iTunes.

Visit Stephan Crump’s web site.
Visit his MySpace page.

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Miles Davis, The Fillmore West, 1970

August 10th, 2006 by Pete

Seeing Airto Moreira last weekend in Telluride has me going back into Miles Davis’ early 70’s stuff. Airto was percussionist on ‘Bitches Brew’ and ‘Live/Evil’, among others, and toured with Miles. I came across this 1970 show from the Fillmore West in San Francisco - a lineup which included Airto.

They were opening for another group of musicians. Who were they? Well, let’s think about this. It’s 1970. San Francisco. Who could it possibly be? You guessed right, this April night in San Francisco, Miles Davis and his crew opened for the Grateful Dead. Can you imagine?? Well, we can try our best to recreate the night 36 years later.

Here’s Miles’ set, with this lineup:

Miles Davis - trumpet
Steve Grossman - soprano saxophone
Chick Corea - electric piano
Dave Holland - bass, electric bass
Jack DeJohnette - drums
Airto Moreira - percussion

April 12, 1970
Fillmore West Auditorium
San Francisco, CA

Want this show? Click here.

1. It’s About That Time - 10:38
2. Directions - 11:58
3. I Fall in Love Too Easily - 1:46
4. Sanctuary - 3:46
5. Footprints - 10:23
6. Agitation - 1:46
7. No Blues - 7:40
8. Bitches Brew - 14:20
9. Spanish Key - 11:11
10. The Theme - 0:46

To round out the evening, the Dead hit the stage. Now you don’t think I’d leave you high and dry after listening to Miles and company kick off the evening, do you? The entire Dead set, my friends, is streaming right here.

Is this cool or what? But wait, there’s more (I know, I sound like an infomercial).

• Check out Dark Funk for 3 more full Miles shows from ‘68 and ‘69.
• Also check out MoogPower for ‘Panthalassa’, a Bill Laswell mixed album of Miles’ early 70’s stuff. Very cool.
• Look into Miles’ music on Amazon. I recommend this.

Posted in Jazz | 3 Comments »