Beats and Tweaks

Starting Thursday, February 21st I'll be hosting a night at Bizarre Bar in Bushwick, Brooklyn. I'm leading The Bizarre Jazz and Blues Band there every week where we'll be playing some old jazz and blues. Stay tuned for more information.

I had a great time last month touring in Canada with The Variety Hour promoting our CD In the Grand Scheme of Things. We played in Edmonton,  Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Guelph. Many thanks to everyone along the way, especially Ron Gaskin and the band (Dylan, JP and Chris). I will admit touring there in January when the hockey season starts up (post lockout) is no easy feat. Some rooms were lightly attended but the Ottawa Winter Jazz Fest, Montreal's Casa de Popolo and Toronto's The Rex, among others were fun shows and people came out to hear us. I also had the pleasure of making a few radio shows which were all hosted by people that know their jazz. I even made the cover of The Ottawa Citizen. Great big thanks to The Canada Council for the Arts for their tour support.

Nest up, I will rerelease my album Elevated online with more of my CD's to come. I also plan to release some unreleased sessions and live performances for download. Elevated has been out of print for quite a while although some copies of the original Knitmedia CD's still exist. I hope with this new venture that I will gain more skills at self promoting and managing my catalogue.

Another bit of news is the CD One from None, recently released on Fresh Sounds and colead by bassist Michael Bates and trombonist Samuel Blaser. This marks my debut on this label which has produced hundreds of albums. These guys both write and play their butts off as do their sidemen. Look for a follow up soon to come.

Back on the Blog

My blog got away from me all year. But, I spent a lot of time making music with friends, old and new.
Here's a brief recap of the year behind and an update on what's going on now and for the year ahead.

I am fortunate to have had many wonderful experiences in 2012 and I should start with the recording and release of some new music. 'In the Grand Scheme of Things' (Songlines) and 'Union Square' (A-beat) are radically different albums and I am very happy about how well these albums sound. They also look great and I'm especially proud to release my second CD on the fine Canadian label Songlines. They've also been receiving positive reviews. The best piece about my music in along time comes from Will Layman at popmatters.com. Another one worth mentioning was just written about Union Sq. We have a FREE TRACK you can listen to from In the Grand Scheme of Things. Esoterica is a piece we recorded at the first recording session and although it didnt make it onto the CD it is a lovely moody piece.

Recently I've come across many discussions on social networks and jazz blogs about music (Jazz and the American Songbook for ex.) being dead. How can any music be dead? I will never understand that argument. Music is something that elevates our lives and lifts us above our basic shortcomings as humans. No matter how lousy or great you might feel in any given moment there's most likely a piece of music that fits in and helps (or simply accompanies) us through that experience. And now we have the convenience to select whatever we want to accompany our lives. Sure, certain music may become unfashionable but it's impossible to kill it.  Like Frank Zappa said, "Jazz isn't dead. It just smells funny".

Blake, Knoblock, Ritchie and Bates

Another recording session this past year yielded some great tracks. Instead of selling an album or CD I will offer these tracks as singles and just put them out like that. One of the first of these single releases will be a track I'm producing as a fundraiser for my friend Scott Harding (aka Scotty Hard). The music is still a work in progress featuring special guests John Medeski, Miles Arntzen, Billy Martin and many others. The bed tracks were recorded with my Band with whom I'll be releasing the other singles.

I also recorded a few CD's as a sideman. One is coming out on Fresh Sounds/New Talent with the Michael Bates/Sam Blaser group. I enjoyed working with Sam so much I invited him to play with my band in China. We were all sorry our bassist Peter Scherr wasn't able to make the tour but we decided to go for it anyway. Playing without any bass or chord intruments really opened us up. Jazz is still really new to a lot of people there but when they come to listen they are electrified by the music.

One of THE BEST gigs I ever played in ever was at the Shenzhen Jazz Festival
Sam Blaser, Blake, Michael Sarin

Outside my hotel room in Shanghai

TV show in Changsha. They wanted soemthing more...passionate.
(ie George Michael's Careless Whisper)

Sam and our host trying to catch a cab in Beijng

The Minus One (Tommaso Cappellato, Stefano Senni and myself) released 'Live in Pisa' on Punto Rojo from our tour last year. A gig in Tremezzo (Lago de Como) really showed what this trio is capable of. We were on FIRE!

Not too shabby....

The Minus One: Senni, Blake, Cappellato

In my element

I also toured in Spain with bassist Arthur Kell. Great music, venues, audiences and food!

LtoR: Blake, Nate Radley, Arthur Kell, Mark Ferber in Gijon, Spain

The year started off with a very successful reunion of Kingdom of Champa at the Manzoni Theater in Milan. Then a few weeks later I played with bassist Ben Allison's band at Carnegie Hall. Another highlight was last weeks Jazz Composers Collective 20th Anniversary at NYC's Jazz Standard. What a pleasure to play with and hear my fellow composers again! Of course there were many other experiences that I was very happy to be a part of. Here's a photo of myself and my buddy trumpeter Steven Bernstein at the Siena Jazz Workshop concert with the great altoist Greg Osby. This was my 4th year teaching there and the faculty, and students were better than ever. The week finished off with a recording session with the wonderul pianist Alessandro Giachero and his trio. I was super tired that day but their music inspired and energized me.

I will be touring in Canada in January from Jan 18-Feb 2, 2013. The dates are almost locked in but still some last minute gigs coming in for the last leg out East. World Time Zone and my Band are playing the Cornelia St. Cafe during APAP on January 12th. More info about these events coming soon!

Time to go but before I do, here's another anecdote from the vault...

Weirdest Gigs Ever!

#4. Harvey Keitel's wedding reception at Robert DeNiro's loft. Loved seeing these guys hanging out and especially Christopher (Bruce Dickinson wants more cowbell!) Walken. DeNiro wasn't around because he was,"Upstairs making the sauce". Another Keitel quote while his bride-to-be adjusts his 'walk down the aisle', "We're not even married yet and she's already giving me direction". Enjoyed the entire party but a highlight was getting the thumbs up from Al Pacino. Note: we were subbing for John Lurie's National Orchestra. Thanks John!

The Year of the Dragon starts early for me!

NewYear's has landed and for me it came in at 55bar in NYC's west village with one of my favorite bands: The Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout! Now that I see the chinese new year coming along I'm even more excited becasue I am a dragon and it is our year! This one kicks off with a reunion of one of my favorite works "Kingdom of Champa". Recorded by Scotty Hard, produced by Teo Macero, this critically acclaimed debut album put me on the map. The story, the vibe and the musicianship all adds up to a hair raising journey. The suite will be played at Milano's Manzoni Theater on Sunday, January 22nd at 11am as part of their Appertivo in Concert series. Already 500 tickets sold and counting...!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49Vwe3hs-NA&context=C3bd10a8ADOEgsToPDskKNQi_KudlspcuNJP-Lm9H8

My interview with Lifegate radio will be on air Sunday, January 15th at 11am and Monday, January 16th at 7pm.

Kingdom of Champa with: Michael Blake (tenor and soprano saxophones), Nicole Mitchell (flute). Clark Gayton (tbone). David Tronzo (gtr), Steven Bernstein (tpt), Bryan Carrott (vibes), Rufus Cappadoccia (cello), Tony Scherr (bass). Billy Martin (drums/perc), Hamid Drake (drums/perc)

Last weekend my band Hellbent participated in NYC's Winterjazz Festival. This event, co-produced by Brice Rosenbloom and Adam Schatz, showcases a wide variety of creative music. The NY Times review emphasizes that this is not a corporate sponsored event and in fact the only plug was for Six Point brewery in Brooklyn where a group of musicians (including myself) infused the signature jazz brew. So here we have a festival devoted to non commercial music, employing hundreds of musicians (jazz, free, improvisors, rock, hiphop) supported by a large audience who get it all for a reasonably priced ticket. I admit the music business is a mess, the recording industry is a mess and music intellectual property rights/distribution is a huge mess BUT we musicians are doing it, promoters and directors are doing it and people are going out to hear it! Makes me proud. You can see how much in this picture. 

             Hellbent at Winterjazz: Charlie Burnham, Marcus Rojas, Calvin Weston, Steven Bernstein, Michael Blake


There are a few other dates happening early this year (you can peruse my Upcoming Gigs list for more info) but a highlight will certainly be Ben Allison's Band at Zankel Hall on February 3rd at 10pm. I have played on probably half a dozen of Ben's albums and we have been close friends and collaborators for 2 decades so I am honored to participate in this, our Carnegie Hall debut!


Also in 2012 my new CD "The Variety Hour" will be released on Songlines Recordings. I am so happy with the results of this album! The band is based in Vancouver (a town ripe with talent) featuring new compositions played by Dylan Ven der Schyff (drums), JP Carter (tpt) and Chris Gestrin (rhodes/moog). I'll be sending out more info as we get closer to a release date. 


More CD's expected out this year with drummers Tommaso Cappellato (trio w/ Stefano Senni on bass) and Scott Neumann (trio w/ Mark Helias on bass) as well as the Michael Bates/Samuel Blaser Quintet.


Thank you all for your support!

Zambia!

I'm going to finish up the 'Weirdest Gigs' list another time. Right now I must share photos, clips and stories from Zambia where my brother Paul and his partner Sitali were recently married. Afterwards we took a trip South to Livingstone to experience Africa at it's best.

The Zambezi River

Downtown Lusaka near the train station.
I haven't been face to face with expreme poverty like this since I went to Vietnam in 1995. 

In consideration of the immense poverty and callenges facing it, this is a good time for Zambia and its people which founded it's independence in 1964. We were there for independece day. The copper belt -which it once relied on (along with a impressive rail network) - isn't producing the same revenue it once had and so there is more development now in education (Lusaka hosts a large University) and the presevation of it's natural resouces. Tourism is big business. Zambians practice free elections, have a proud history of democracy and enjoy spectacular natural wonders, most famous of all is Victoria Falls (shared w Zimbabwe), the mighty Zambezi river and incredible wildlife which is protected and extremely accesible. I would know as on our first night in Livingstone me, my bro and some friends were treated to an exciting taxi ride at night on a dirt road through a family of elephants. The driver said it was important not to surprise them, then he turned on his lights and gunned it, narrowly missing the calf and running off the road. If he had made an error in judgment (since when was driving between a baby elephant and it's parents a sign of good judgement?) then we surely would have been made into puree. So glad our kids and mother weren't along for that ride. But I did admire our drivers tenacity for adventure and putting his and his passengers lives on the line. We never got as close to an elephant after that but we did feel the ground shake as a herd of them came running towards us a few days later while on safari. That safari driver turned around quite suddenly so we assumed they were coming after us. This was an amazing sight - to see them run! - and to think we may be trampled at any moment only added to the thrill.

After we rounded a bend in the road I got some other footage of this one towing the rear. 

The first dance

The wedding was in Lusaka October 22nd. in a stunning Anglican church. I won't talk too much about the wedding because that really is Paul and Sitali's story to tell. But I will say that I almost laid an egg when I left my soprano sax - which i was to play at the ceremony with the RINGS inside the case - in the taxi that took us to the church! Our Mum deserves kudos for keeping her cool and helping me from totally freaking out. Thankfully I was able to get someone from the church to ring the lodge, who rang the dispatch, who rang the driver, who saw the sax case in the back of his taxi but apparently did not feel it necessary to return it to it's rightful owner until given permission. After some appropriate tipping everything was simpatico. Somehow, though on the brink of collapse everything worked out fine. That's how a lot of things seem to go in Zambia: friendly folks politely wait for someone else to give them approval so stuff is often done in a delicate and thoughtful yet painstaking slow manner. For ex. watching the staff at the Livingstone lodge prepare toast was like a scene from Fawlty Towers. There's a lack of training that is kind of quaint and people are so sincere and well meaning one never gets too worked about it. Best to surrender and enjoy the long waits by reading and drinking a fine Castle lager. Although in the tradition of the Brits I drank Gin and Tonics....refreshing!

Upstream from the falls we took a cruise on the African Queen

After the wedding we flew to Livingstone. It was a small plane and a bumpy decent which the kids loved. On the day we arrived we took a river safari on the Zambezi River - on the African Queen no less - where we enjoyed the view and the open bar!

Drifting on the current

Merle relaxing with family and friends

Hippos cool off by the banks of the Zambezi

The next day we went to Victoria Falls which really was an amazing experience for all of us. Although it was extremely hot (tempertures averaged 100degrees) we took in as much as possible.

Victoria Falls in the dry season

Trying to keep the boy cheery in the intense heat

It worked!

Paul and Davita are brave enough to sit at the precipice of this massive gorge 

This is as close to the edge as I would go

Years of erosion created these fascinating fractal like shapes in the riverbed. Although the falls wasn't at it's glory we were thrilled to hike the riverbed and bath in the pools. You can see the Zambezi Bridge in the background. That's Zimbabwe on the other side. 

Another view of the bridge. No bunge jumpers today

Our greatest adventure still lay ahead of us: A safari through the bush in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park!

We hiked into this restricted territory where the guards protect the white rhinos from poachers 

Perhaps my favorite picture of the trip was of this Boabab Tree

Zebras 

Our beautiful journey comes to an end but the memories will live forever!

Cutting to the chase. Top 10 Weirdest Gigs Ever

5. 1987, working with an Elvis impersonator out of Surrey, BC. This guy had pipes! And was a super nice dude. Every week I'd drive out to the burbs to this pub to play with him and his band. They rocked and I had a great time. About 3 weeks into it I noticed he would always disappear on breaks and one day I noticed him in the parking lot sitting in a Honda Civic. Just the sight of a guy dressed like 70's Elvis in a little car was weird enough. Then he invited me in to partake in a little of BC's finest export. I didn't want  to seem rude so I partook and then went into a a 'Big Lebowski-ish' dream sequence while Elvis talked to me about stuff, in his Honda Civic.

The Top 10 Weirdest Gigs I Ever Played

10. My first gig as a professional Union card carrying member was for the Sikh Parade in Vancouver, Canada. I was 19 years old. We were hired to lead the parade but why they asked for a jazz band I'll never know. As we took off for the route in the back of a pick up truck it became clear people were as surprised as we were. Turbaned and Saried parade goers lined the street and we crawled by playing... St Thomas. Not exactly a Raga. Perhaps a few jazz classics were also explored. I believe I thought John Coltrane's India was appropriate but I can't remember if we played it. After about 2 hrs we stopped for a while and the bassist and I were desperate to pee so we put down our instruments and ducked into the closest diner. When we returned the parade had commensed and we couldn't even see the front so we had to run to catch up with our friends. They were on the floor laughing while we were out of breath and sweating with anxiety. Well at least I was! It was my first 'real' gig and I didn't want to blow it. I believe the band was with Ken Lister (bass), Ron Samworth (gtr and leader) and there was a drummer too. Now I'm sure Ron would have better sense to hire a brass band instead.

Louis CK on TV

Ever since I was a kid I loved watching TV. I started out watching the classic 70's sitcoms like MTM, All In the Family, Bob Newhart and MASH. When i was about 10 we lived with my Grandparents for a bit and my Grandpa set up a big comfy chair in the basement (in the storage room) with a b&w TV so he could watch what he wanted without me bothering him. Oh the joys I had eating pepperroni sticks, cheesies, and drinking way to much OJ while watching classic crap like Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley. I could also watch pretty much whatever I wanted and sometimes - if i could stay up late enough - the odd program would be broadcast in which I would get to see (oh joy for a pubescent lad) breasts! Sometimes there was also B movie violence and cool stuff that the Canadian censors would miss.

Recently I think 30Rock and a few other shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation have come up with some pretty funny stuff but nothing has really grabbed me like Louis CK's new show Louis. 

About a year ago I watched his standup special and laughed alot. OK there's some gross stuff and as with most comedians he is pretty crude. He is also incredibly honest and revealing about things in life that are hard to swallow. But in line with one of my favorite comedians of all time - George Carlin - there's an intelligence and bitter snap that really captures the frustrations of life while tickling the funny bone. Like him, I miss my kids when I'm on the road but I never have enough work....etc. It's all so close to home. The guy hit the BULLSEYE with me. 

The thing about the show I really dig is that it is so NYC. For ex. the episode Subway/Pamela in which at the beginning he captures a few moments in the subway - the beauty and the beast - and then he ties that same experience into a skit in which he confesses his love for his friend Pamela who shoots him down. Then - on a whim  after a very awkward spell - she invites him to take a bath. But he is so caught up in feeling bad from being shot down he misses the invitation and totally blows any chance at hooking up with this woman, who he really loves. It is a really funny yet heartwrenching true to life story and some of the best TV comedy I've seen in a long time. The scenes are highlighted with good music - mostly jazz - and it's thrown in, not just to add lightness but to frame the scenes. Unlike Sienfeld I actually like the characters on this show and respect Louis' efforts to rise above his failures and find contentment despite being a somewhat broken man. Without loosing its edge it still has heart and it is also smart. Impressive for a one man show as Louis is both writer and director.

This article in the NY Times seems pretty right on to me. Check it out on FX, Hulu or rent/stream it on Netflix.