what the heck I’ve been up to…
I’ve been very busy this past month… apart from a bunch of administrative necessities which are far too boring to go into here, there has been a lot of music made. First and foremost, I’d like to announce the new disc Arkana Music: Kaleidoscope, which is just finishing baking now. As with any freshly baked goods, you’ll want to let it rest for a few minutes before serving; we are done mastering and soon it will be Compact Disc-ified. Here are some bloggy things about its creation:
Arkana Music: Kaleidoscope
The pieces on this record have been road tested for about 2 years now, so it was time to get them down. Here’s some pics of the session:
This is Mark Laver – more on him later…
This is Jordan O’Connor (engineer) getting so mad with us that he punched the screen:
This next one is when I told everybody about how Phil Collins song “In the Air Tonight” was really about him witnessing a murder:
Though we never actually did any playing, I figured it’d be a good idea to get a shot of us playing for evidence, as in: “Yeah we were too playing this music! Look, here’s a picture that proves it!”:
For more inane caption potential, please visit the Flickr slideshow page of the sessions.
For an actual taste of the music, here is a promo video I made in Windows Movie Maker which proves that even if I had the budget, I wouldn’t need to hire someone to make a decent video because my skills are Hollywood level:
those kind of people
From Robin D.G. Kelley’s book – Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original
“If Monk’s dream of a hit eluded him in 1944, he did finally land a job – a great job. His employer happened to be one of the greatest tenor saxophonists since Adolphe Sax invented the instrument. And he was one of the few jazz musicians who had a hit. His name was Coleman Hawkins, and his hit consisted of two improvised choruses of “Body and Soul.” It had been in his repertoire for years before he recorded it for RCA Victor in 1939, but to his surprise, the record sold like hotcakes – 100,000 copies in the first six months, rare for an instrumental not intended for dancing. Down Beat anointed him “best tenor saxophonist” for that year, and from that moment on he could not play anywhere without a request for “Body and Soul.” Hawkins’s success with “Body and Soul” was always a curiosity for Monk. “Thelonious Monk said to me,” recalled Hawkins in a 1956 interview, ” ‘You know, you never did explain to me,’ he said, ‘how did these people, these old folks and everybody, go for your record of ‘Body and Soul’? ‘Cause I’ve listened to the record, and I could understand if you played melody, ’cause that’s what they like, those kind of people, that’s what they like, they like melody…. They sure won’t listen to anything else that’s jazz!”
See? Monk did it too.
a new jazz bio – yay! (and I really mean it this time)
I’ve tried very hard to work up a collection of the better books on jazz out there and some of you have no doubt heard of the new Monk bio by Robin Kelley:
I just bought it the other day (they should still have some at the World’s Biggest Bookstore, Torontonians) and so far I’m loving it. Too many books and films perpetuate the same tropes: that the great artists are tortured geniuses whose gifts come from unique inspiration or personal tragedy. I think it’s an attempt to “other” the artist – to deny that we can all produce great things if we study or work hard enough. This book grounds Monk in his traditions and influences. I never thought a genealogical study of Monk’s ancestry could be so riveting. More when I’m further.
By the way, the winner of the caption competition is Arnold Faber with his caption:
Since I already lent him a photocopy of an article I was reading, I consider us even.
caption competition
Welcome to Arkana’s first ever caption competition. The subject is below and features our trombonist Tom Richards and our frequent collaborator Chris Roberts on saxophone. This shot was taken in June at the Trane Studio and is by Diana Piruzevska.
Please add your speech/thought bubbles as per the following examples and I will photoshop the best ones right into the picture:
Tom: “I am on the left.”
Chris: “I am on the right.”
I will think of some kind of prize for the best caption. C’mon people… turn on the funny! You have until August 7th to enter.
5 questions 2: electric boogaloo
Now for the correct answers…
Of course I kid. The whole point of this was to provoke more questions. Thanks to all involved for an intelligent, adult discussion. If you are just joining us, please check out http://arkanamusic.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/5-questions/ for the original series of questions. Now to take it up a notch with a summary/my own take:
1.) Do jazz musicians have a responsibility to be culturally relevant?
Some great answers here, from Dave MacDougall’s “Cultural relevance… can only be determined in hindsight,” to Benjamin Mueller-Heaslip’s “Yes, if… you mean making a conscious effort to create music in a language that reflects the way people live and communicate.” But I am not convinced by the idea that if you make it, it’s automatically relevant. If I want to produce an album of note-for-note transcriptions of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, does the fact that I create it make it relevant to the culture at large? What if I create original music completely in the style of the ODJB? Does the originality of the work make it relevant because I made it? In the end, it is more than fine if someone chooses to be a stamp collector, or a ren-fest enthusiast, but I feel like some people don’t examine their own work under this microscope.
2.) Do post-secondary institutions have a responsibility to highlight the supply vs. demand problem (i.e. too many players vs. too few gigs)?
Mostly agreement on this one. Thanks to Mike Anklewicz for citing Charles Rosen’s attitude on this. That lends some serious credibility! Ben… what do you mean by “I don’t think music should be taught in Universities at all.” I am fascinated.
3.) What is your idea of career success?
Again, some lovely responses here, and I never really expected anyone to cite a dollar amount on success, but you know what struck me? In the book Three Wishes, Pannonica de Koenigswarter asked a slew of jazz musicians what their three wishes were, and many of them had money or material gains as one or more of their wishes. If you are reading this blog on a computer, we can pretty much conclude that our demographic of musicians is better off financially than the guys in the book, which includes people like Hank Mobley, Roy Haynes (who asked for a Rolls Bentley), Horace Silver and many others. I’m not sure what my point is. I know that some of you who answered the thread do identify as jazz musicians in the tradition of those guys, and I certainly do as well, despite what you may have heard, and it seems like nobody says “money” anymore when asked what success means to them. Does that mean we’re okay financially, or does it mean something else?
4.) To what extent ought musicians train to be creative artists? To what extent ought musicians train to be tradespeople? Does one come at the expense of the other?
I want to be clear on what I meant with this one, and here’s where I first started to consider the potential conflict between learning music as a trade vs. learning music as a creative pursuit:
“People have to realize that they’re learning to be an artist, not a tradesperson, because there’s no trade left. Are you paying $50,000 a year so you can play $50 gigs for the rest of your life? Now it’s really whether you have something in you that’s dying to get out that will be articulated through this craft.”
This is a quotation from an interview with Vijay Iyer from the July 2008 issue of Downbeat. So to clarify further, the question is about one’s responsibility to learn the stock materials of a genre (e.g. tunes and licks) in order to “get” those $50 gigs, vs. the pursuit of “original” materials and compositions in order to “make one’s mark.” I wasn’t referring to phone skills and networking. I was considering the inward musical dilemma. How do you spend your time?
Now… it doesn’t have to be an “either/or” situation, and as some have pointed out, it ought to be a “both/and” one.
5.) What, if any, problems are inherent in identifying as a jazz musician?
A side note: Ross Porter’s station announcements on JazzFM are growing increasingly scary. I was doing the dishes the other day tuned into the station when he came on and said: JJJJJJJYYYEEAAAAZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in the most raspy low rumble I have ever heard from him. I nearly peed my pants and dropped the plate I was drying off. Say it, Ross. Don’t spray it.
My answer to question 5: sometimes it hurts and sometimes it helps. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to know who I’m describing myself to. If I say jazz, and I know the person will think of Diana Krall, I don’t say it. Sometimes I’m proud to call it jazz and other times I’m ashamed.
What I’m hoping for now, is for you to come up with more mind-bending questions. What life questions do you keep coming back to as a musician (jazz or not)? What nags at your soul? What is the 6th question!?
5 questions
Choosing the life of a jazz performer leads to many challenges. Lately I’ve noticed more and more debates and discussions over art and commerce (art vs. commerce!) They’ve been on my radar, sprouting like ragweed. There’s a lot that people have to say, and I always think I have something valuable to add, but when I think my opinions through… I’m not sure where I end up. I want to earn a sustainable income through performing, but I also don’t see where this money’s supposed to come from. I also see a lot of creative projects that couldn’t happen if people didn’t do them for free.
Maybe when I was younger and simpler, there might have been a hope of “solving” this, but now I see that these issues will probably always persist. So maybe instead of trying to come up with one solution, I can lend a hand towards our collective understanding. Here are some questions:
1. Do jazz musicians have a responsibility to be culturally relevant?
2. Do post-secondary institutions have a responsibility to highlight the supply vs. demand problem (i.e. too many players vs. too few gigs)?
3. What is your idea of career success?
4. To what extent ought musicians train to be creative artists? To what extent ought musicians train to be tradespeople? Does one come at the expense of the other?
5. What, if any, problems are inherent in identifying as a jazz musician?
These are questions that I always come back to year after year… and my answers always change little by little. Feel free to reframe the questions. I am less interested in feeling peoples’ polarities on the subjects and more in finding new angles.
Let me know what you think.
jazz in the marvel universe
I helped a friend move on Friday. For his age, he sure does have a lot of junk, but I made an amazing discovery amongst his old toys. Here is a playset called “Bronx St.”
It turns out that Marvel Comics thinks the best way to represent New York is with a jazz club! Check out the bottom right hand corner of the pic:
ummm.... it's closed
Try not to notice the fact that the windows are boarded up. Even in the world of Marvel Comics, jazz can’t get a break. I guess Spider-Man’s the only one who’ll be doing any swinging. Hey-O!!!
austin mcbride: expert
The original subject which inspired me to post this time was anti-intellectualism. A resistance towards debate, dialogue and deeper understanding of things is… well, bad. I suppose this is an age old problem, but one of its manifestations is very current. I am referring to the “death of the expert.” Since the democratization of information thanks to the Internet, anyone can contribute to discussion forums, edit Wikipedia entries and post how-to videos, etc.
Free music and television for download, legal and illegal, has probably sent the market value of intellectual property plummeting. Traditional media, unable to pull in advertising dollars, because nobody watches ads any longer, can no longer support as much original content. This results in more reality TV (because it is cheaper to make), and Leno is moving to the 10PM slot weeknights. That’s five less hours a week NBC has to fund original content for. No doubt by now you’ve also heard of the newspaper industry being in trouble too.
In summary, expert journalists, musicians, writers are in danger. Let that be the setting out of which our main character emerges. I speak of Austin McBride. His jazz piano instructional videos have been making the rounds on my Facebook feed. Check him out:
Some choice comments made under Austin’s video include: “you need help” and “you need to quit. now” Most people think he is an idiot. I think he’s pulled off a great hoax. Let me tell you why…
WARNING #1: This is about to get technical.
WARNING #2: If you prefer to live a fiction in which Austin McBride is a hilarious idiot then stop reading
Here we go. What follows is a blow-by-blow of clues in the video which lead me to believe this is all a joke and Austin is only acting misinformed:
0:30 – “rub notes”
0:43 – “error in the key” – Now I know that there are local variations on musical jargon, but Austin has gone too far for me to believe these crazy terms are ignorant or regional. In other videos he refers to time and time signatures as “timing,” and also uses the term “slip notes.” One or two words might have slipped under my radar, but Austin has created at least five new ways of referring to devices that I have heard named by musicians from all across the globe.
0:43 to 0:48 – Ever try to keep a straight face when putting someone on? Does it look anything like Austin’s face at this point in the video when he’s explaining the jazz “feel” and the jazz “sound”?
0:58 – Here is the big tell. Austin plays F minor to B flat major, and calls it F sharp to B minor. This mistake is far too deliberate. If you were going to shoot someone and make it look like a suicide, you might wipe the gun off and place it in their dead hand, but you probably wouldn’t put a gun in each hand, then write a suicide note and have it authenticated by 10 judges. That might look suspicious.
Further Analysis
Watch his other videos. What strikes me is how bad he is at some things and how solid his fundamentals are in other areas. The discrepancy to too wide. In the “5/4 timing” video he spends a minute explaining the time signature and building up to his demo riff only to show us a riff in 4/4, over which he counts in 5! Yes, he messes up the counting (deliberately, I maintain!!), but for a few bars he counts in 5 over his riff in 4. That is hard to do! In the “key changes in music video” he demonstrated a solid basic time feel and does a blues riff in G sharp minor. Not virtuosic, but not for beginners either. In conclusion: the mistakes are all too deliberate.
Check out Austin McBride’s videos on Expert Village and let me know what you think. Is he for real? Has he infiltrated Expert Village in order to show us the folly of studying specialized subjects on the Internet? Is he a product of the post-secondary music education industry who is fed up with the Aebersold-esque codification of Jazz and decided to launch a satirical strike?
avi granite: 6
Just got back from seeing Avi Granite 6 at the Rex. I had planned to write a review of the show, but I started trying to describe the music in words and felt really ridiculous, so let me just say that Avi, Neal, Chris, Tom, Nick and Plutek did a great job. This music finds its groove. Divining influences can be tricky, and people usually are way off when they try this, but in the interests of giving you a vague idea of what they sound like, think of Ornette Coleman but with more straight-eighths and odd metres.
I think it is really important to be writing original music in a genre dominated by entrenched forms, and the music tonight was all conceived by Avi. The sextet also expands timbre conventions, though the line up is standard. Talking through their horns, unusual wind instruments, sometimes store-bought, sometimes homemade, spice up the trombone and two saxophone front line.
Listen for yourself. Here’s a link to some music from their latest album, Red Tree: http://www.avigranite.com/
rice farming
I’m always looking for apt analogies to my situation, and that of musicians in general. Lately I’ve been reading The Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, and in it, he talks about rice farmers:
“What redeemed the life of a rice farmer, however, was the nature of that work. It was a lot like the garment work done by the Jewish immigrants to New York. It was meaningful. First of all, there is a clear relationship in rice farming between effort and reward. The harder you work in a rice field, the more it yields.”
Later…
“And when you have something that requires that much care, the overlord has to have a system that gives the actual laborer some set of incentives, where if the harvest comes out well, the farmer gets a bigger share. That’s why you get fixed rents, where the landlord says, I get twenty bushels, regardless of the harvest, and if it’s really good, you get the extra.”
This might be a stretch, but I see musicians work in this city like the rice farmers’. We can really get stuff done if we work hard. The landscape of the scene and available opportunities might change gradually over time, but in the short term (within a year), they tend to stay fixed. That means that if we can do the hard work, we can reap the benefits. But it won’t fall in your lap. Toronto’s jazz scene might not change much, but we can change.
The idea of farming also made me appreciate that as a musician, if you make a mistake while practicing, you can fix it in a few seconds when you try again. A farmer who messes up the balance of fertilizer on his crop might have to wait until next season. Think about that!
