Hard Boppin with Mulgrew Miller
There’s always time to kick back, relax, and take in some good classic-style jazz. Mulgrew Miller is an amazing pianist (as you’ll hear). He is a veteran of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and has gone on to success as a leader of his own trio. Last year saw the release of “Live at Yoshi’s, Volume 2”, recorded in 2003 at the Bay Area’s premier jazz club, Yoshi’s.
This one caught my ear recently while listening to Sirius Pure Jazz. Hope you enjoy it…
From Live at Yoshi’s, Vol. 2Beautiful Piece of Brass
I first heard this version of In the Still of Night on Vin Scelsas show on Sirius (Sunday Night Idiots Delight). Ive always been a fan of the 1956 original, recorded by the Five Satins and written by leader Fred Parris. But to hear this wacked out, in-your-face brass band version put a whole new spin on the songs greatness and beauty.
This one was recorded by Lester Bowie Brass Fantasy, and released on 1998s The Odyssey of Funk and Popular Music. They give the brass band treatment to such songs as Dont Cry for Me Argentina, Marilyn Mansons Beautiful People, and even the Spice Girls Two Become One.
From the 1970s until his death in 1999, Lester Bowie was the preeminent trumpeter of the jazz avant-garde — one of the few trumpet players of his generation to successfully and completely adopt the techniques of free jazz. Indeed, Bowie was the most successful in translating the expressive demands of the music — so well-suited to the tonally pliant saxophone — to the more difficult-to-manipulate brass instrument. Like a saxophonist such as David Murray or Eric Dolphy, Bowie invested his sound with a variety of timbral effects; his work has a more vocal quality, compared with that of most contemporary trumpeters. In a sense, he was a throwback to the pre-modern jazz of Cootie Williams or Bubber Miley, though Bowie was by no means a revivalist. Though he was certainly not afraid to appropriate the growls, whinnies, slurs, and slides of the early jazzers, it was always in the service of a thoroughly modern sensibility. And Bowie had chops; his style was quirky, to be sure, but grounded in fundamental jazz concepts of melody, harmony, and rhythm. from All Music
Lester Bowie Brass Fantasy:
In the Still of the Night(mp3) – from The Odyssey of Funk & Popular MusicBrother Jack and Young George
During the month of July 1964, Hammond B-3 whiz Jack McDuff was in a New York studio with tenor sax player Red Holloway, Joe Dukes on drums, and a 21 year old George Benson on guitar. The tracks they recorded were released on assorted LP’s between ’65 and ’69, but were compiled on a 1997 release called Legends of Acid Jazz.
This one will roll you through the mid week. This is their take on Horace Silver’s “Opus de Funk.” The album cover above has nothing to do with this track, but it’s so damn cool, I just had to include it. The world lost Brother Jack in January of 2001 at the age of 74. Another legend who will live on forever through his talent on the B-3.
Jack McDuff: Opus de Funk
Piano Man: Now That’s a Wet Suit
Reading the story today about the “Piano Man” inspired me to showcase some quality piano work tonight. Did you all see this? A man shows up in a suit, soaking wet, on the Isle of Sheppey in the UK. He says absolutely nothing to anyone, is taken to a hospital, and sits down at a piano and plays for hours. Read the full story here.
Well, last June, I was listening to a live radio simulcast of the Playboy Jazz Festival from the Hollywood Bowl, and had the pleasure of hearing the sounds of the Michel Camilo Trio.
The artistry and virtuosity of Michel Camilo bridges the genres of Jazz, Classical, Popular and World music. He is a pianist with a brilliant technique and a composer who flavors his tunes with the spice of Caribbean rhythms and jazz harmonies.
I found this tune on Michel’s web site. The man flies on the keys. I’m positive he would give the ‘piano man’ a run for his money.
Michel Camilo Trio: See You Later
Mo’ Madhouse w/ Prince, Eric Leeds and Vanity
This tune starts with a young lady’s moans of erotic pleasure. Did I get your attention? Good.
It’s an outtake of a song called “Vibrator” featuring the desire of my teen years (and beyond) – Vanity. The vocals were, uh – laid down in the summer of 1983 at Prince’s Kiowa Trail Home Studio – his purple house in the early 80’s. Prince would take those vocals and insert them into “Orgasm” on the Come album in 1994.
So after Vanity suitably consecrates the beginning of “Seven,” the drums kick in and we’re off on a Princely funky jazz adventure. The song showcases Eric Leeds on sax, and Prince on pretty much everything else. I posted from this album before, and if you want to purchase the CD, it’ll cost you a few tanks of gas (for a used one).
Madhouse: Seven
The Genius of Miles
I listened to sides 3/4 of Miles Davis‘ ‘Bitches Brew’ on the way home from work today. Windows down, volume way up… it had been a while since I took a listen to this groundbreaking album, and I felt compelled to share a tune for the uninitiated…
…the stellar “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down,” echoes the influence of Jimi Hendrix; with its chuck-and-slip chords and lead figures and Davis playing a ghostly melody through the shimmering funkiness of the rhythm section, it literally dances and becomes increasingly more chaotic until about nine minutes in, where it falls apart. Yet one doesn’t know it until near the end, when it simmers down into smoke-and-ice fog once more. – review from All Music
Miles Davis: Miles Runs the Voodoo Down – From: Bitches Brew, 1970.
Charlie Hunter’s 8 String Funk
Every time I listen to this live track, or any Charlie Hunter song in general, I’m amazed that all of the sounds are emanating from one guitar. Charlie is a Bay Area master of his custom-made 8-string guitar. He plays the role of both bass and guitar player. Nope, there isn’t a bassist in the band. What you hear is coming from one man. On this song, “Crossings”, Charlie and Adam Cruz (on drums) lay out 12 and a half minutes of rhythmic laid back guitar funk. How Charlie can negotiate those kinds of bass and guitar parts simultaneously is beyond me.
About his guitar:
custom-made Novax eight-string…..Designed by Ralph Novak, the instrument features special frets and separate signals for its guitar and bass portions. Picking bass notes with his right thumb while fretting them with his left index finger (while at the same time fingerpicking guitar chords and single notes with his right hand’s remaining four digits as he frets with his left hand’s other three fingers), Hunter achieves the real sound of two-for-one. – from All Music
Huh? I lost track of all the fingers! If you want to see what his guitars look like, check out the cool Gear Page on his site. Anyway, this and a whole lot of others tunes are available to you on his web site, CharlieHunter.com. There’s a ton in the Audio section.
Facts of the day:
- Charlie used to be a member of the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Michael Franti’s group before Spearhead.
- Jay Lane of Primus used to be Charlie’s drummer.
So without further ado:
Charlie Hunter (and Adam Cuz in drums) – “Crossings” – recorded live in Detroit, MI, 20 Nov 1999.
Buy Charlie’s music on Amazon (plus a lot of unreleased downloads available for purchase on his site).Photo from https://www.charliehunter.com/photos.
We’re Gettin’ Root Down
Since I just took off the Jimmy Smith track from last week, I feel obligated to include another JS gem. As I mentioned before, I didn’t find out about the greatness of Jimmy Smith until last year.
Little did I know, I was grooving to Jimmy’s organ when I didn’t even know it, on the Beastie Boys’ “Root Down”. If I had any sense, I would’ve tracked down the originator of that groove when I was listening to it in the mid 90’s. *slap across the face*
Well, it’s no surprise that the original absolutely destroys the Beasties’ take on it (and I do LOVE the Beasties’ version). But man, that beat (and the way it starts, cascading into that sick groove), that rhythm, the sweet low down Hammond… Sheesh.
Buy: Root Down
Photo credit: Hammondite, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
It’s a Madhouse In Here
It was fun being a Prince fanatic in the 80’s. You’d get a great new album every year, and interspersed in there would be his 12″ maxi-single releases. Most would have an extended version of the album track, as well a previously unreleased B-Side (they’ve all since been compiled on to the 3rd CD of his Greatest Hits release from the late 90’s). It was all so original and fresh: “Irresistible Bitch”, “She’s Always in My Hair”, “17 Days”, “Another Lonely Christmas”, to name a few
On top of his own releases, Prince was busy working on his side projects: The Family, Apollonia 6, Sheila E., and Madhouse. Madhouse was made up primarily of Prince and Eric Leeds (Prince’s sax player at the time), with some contribution from Levi Seacer (bass) and Sheila E. (drums). It was basically an outlet for Prince to lay down some of his more jazz and jazz-funk oriented stuff. The first Madhouse album was entitled ‘8’, and the songs were entitled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. He released ‘6’ as a maxi-single, which included ‘6 (End of the World Mix)’, which I have for you now…
1986, Paisley Park – {The album is out of print, but you can buy it on Amazon for, uhh, $110)
RIP Jimmy Smith
Hammondite, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons I didn’t discover Jimmy Smith until within the past year when I pulled out an old Blue Note Jazz Sampler that I had stashed away for years. Jimmy was a master of the Hammond B3 organ, and a pioneer of the organ as a jazz instrument. The sounds this man could put together are nothing short of amazing. I urge everyone to explore Jimmy’s music. Jimmy died on Wednesday at the age of 76 right down the road from me in Scottsdale, Arizona [NYT Obit].
Here’s one of Jimmy’s tunes from the early 70’s that absolutely COOKS…
Jimmy Smith – Sagg Shootin’ His Arrow – from ‘Root Down’, 1972, Verve – {Buy Jimmy Smith on Amazon}
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