On My Hard Drive: Holly Cole

And a couple of bonus items before we get down to business: late last year I found my self drawn to a set of three albums on my hard drive, called Verve Remixed, 1, 2, and 3. These are albums of clubby dancy music, remixed using the familiar riffs and snippets from the extensive Verve Music catalogs - Verve has a large Jazz set, and these albums are wonderful listening, if you can deal with BEAT. But I'm not talking about of the soft-headed, light-stick twirling, mind-numbing club music we all are familiar with (on a second-hand-smoke kind of basis) as we drive down the road. I'm talking about dance music intermingled with familiar phrases and trademark sounds from the jazz world. I decided to do a little searching, and ended up also buying albums by The Brazilian Girls, Eddy Meets Yannah, and one or two others... if you are interested in world-beat music with a twist, there is a starting point for you.

Now to the matter at hand: Holly Cole. I friend of mine gave me her CD called Don't Smoke in Bed several years ago. At the time I was a recording engineer, and theater sound designer, and I was blown away first by the production values on that CD - the sonic quality was stunningly good, and second, by the fact that this was simply a trio, Cole (voice), Aaron Davis (Piano), and David Piltch (bass).

This is a WONDERFUL CD filled with surprises. Her online biography notes that Cole has the ability to wend her way through a song in a very unique and meaningful way. And that is certainly the case here. One my all-time favorites from her is "I can see clearly now..." It's a familiar song to us all for sure, but the key change in the middle is OUT.OF.THIS.WORLD. The song NEVER fails to move me. Seriously.

There are similarities between this album and the album from fellow Canadian kd lang (Cole is from eastern Canada, and lang is from Alberta, in western Canada), called Drag. Both are albums about smoking songs, and torch songs. There is even some cross over between them, in that the song Don't Smoke In Bed is on both albums. (kd lang is another one of my favorites.)

Anyway, there are other gems on this album for sure. One of the other highlights is a song called The Tennessee Waltz. Again, a familiar and traditional song for sure. But her rendition is heartbreaking. The album came out in 1993, and as I was looking her up a month or two ago, I noticed that there was a new album out from her. So, of course I had to get it downloaded, pronto. As expected, I was not disappointed. not only are the songs great, but I am a SUCKER for a well played Baritone Saxophone (in addition to a long list of other instruments: Acoustic guitar, upright bass, bass trombone, etc.), and this album's first song features a wonderful bari solo. The new album is called simply, Holy Cole. And it's great. You should get it.

One of my favorites wins a grammy:

Congrats, John Clayton. You're one of the good guys!

www.JohnClaytonJazz.com

Phancy a Phireplace??

okay, just kidding, but here's a fireplace anyway...





















But wait, there's more.

It's interesting, really... whenever there's lots going on that I think would make a good post, I tend to get overwhelmed and not post anything. So, I'm going to (metaphorically) scribble some randomness here, under all sorts of categories, and we'll just go from there.

First, whenever the Utah Legislature is in session, there are often things that come up that make me so incensed, so embarrassed to live here, so riled up that I can hardly find the words to express my thoughts coherently. Seriously. Our "star" Republican Moral Sheriff is at it again, working hard to legislate from a state level, laws for cities. If you're not from here, I imagine it's hard to understand how deeply the fear and loathing of those whose lifestyle is not in keeping with the LDS church's stance.

This past fall, Salt Lake City continued it's recent tradition of electing a democrat mayor in the most republican state in the nation. Within a few days of his swearing in, he organized and passed a bill (unanimously passed by the city council) that created a domestic partner registry, allowing people to register (whether gay or not) allowing people to officially declare a partner relationship for health benefits, hospital visitation rights, and health insurance benefits.

Now, just two months later, Sheriff (though not really) Buttars has proposed legislation that will effectively outlaw this registry, saying it "opens the door to the demise of the husband/wife nature of marriage..." Last year, the Leg passed (and the state voted to ratify via referendum) a constitutional amendment making marriage between and man and a woman only. Buttars was the major cheerleader for that as well.

Seriously, every time this hateful, bigoted and sad, sorry man opens his mouth, something painfully stupid and embarrassing falls out. I am ashamed for him. That our state tolerates his presence is stunning - he's been re-elected on more than one occasion. People of South Jordan, WHAT THE HELL IS IN YOUR WATER OVER THERE??? Seriously, people, it's absolutely disgusting, what you have perpetrated upon the people of this state.

Seriously, those are the most publishable words I have been able to find for about three days now. If you want a more level-headed look at this, you can check it out here and here.

Now on to happier random things. It's been so wonderfully warm and sunny here the last two days. I went up and skied a few runs before hitting the office this morning. Even though it was overcast and flat light, the sun was breaking through as I was about to leave. There is enough snow up there at this point that they have some areas directly under the chair lifts closed, because the snow is so close to the chairs. There is a danger of hitting your noggin on people's skis who are riding the lifts. Insane. I hope it comes out of there slowly, and not all at once.

I was delighted to note that Herbie Hancock won the grammy for Album Of The Year, beating out some more mainstream nominees. I noted in my "On My Hard Drive" post last week that I had not listened to the record yet. But I have now, and it's great. Unlike other tribute or duet albums, it is truly a jazz record first, set to Joni Mitchell's lyrics second. And I must sayt, tina Turner is in GREAT voice on it as well. For a woman in her 60's, having gone through the career she's had, she's lucky to be standing, and she does so much more than hold her own on this album. Lovely. Honestly, it's a good day when that ass-jack Kanye West is shut out of that award. I did see his speech for the last one he won though. "We run this.." WTF is that?? Dude, you run nothin but Ho's. You can't sing worth shit. And you proved it on Sunday night. Again.

Speaking of Sundays though, I did enjoy the Super Bowl. Oops, I mean "the Big Game".... Great game, great catch, great upset. I called that about a month out. It was sad to see, though (and I admit to feeling old as a result), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at half time. It was more like Tom Petty and the Pacemakers.... Pretty old. He needed his top hat too.

I think that will do it with the randomness at the moment. More to come though, I'm sure.

On My Hard Drive: Herbie Hancock, Naturally 7

First things first: My brother sent me a youtube link the other day, you should watch it:



The group is Naturally 7, and when I first watched the video, I was Tres Impressed. They are a group of 7 guys doing a cappella covers of mostly 80's pop songs. Then I did some other looking around and found out that they do lots of concerts and have a few albums out, etc. Frankly, they are very talented, but if you're going to amount to more than a novelty, you're going to need to have some original material, and a recording/distrubution deal. Just my $0.02. But they ARE very talented, and if you LOVE that Phil Collins tune like i do, it's a fun watch.

Okay, on to the next item. Herbie Hancock has been on my hard drive for a very long time. He's had a career spanning five decades, and has done just about everything. He first got attention by winning a local competition at 11 years old and performed in front of (I believe it was) the Philadelphia Symphony, but I could be mistaken about the specific Symphony - and I just don't have the time or energy to look it all up, because it really doesn't matter to this whole thing.

From there, he continued to pursue music but was convinced that he needed to have a "real" career to pay the bills, and let music be the hobby. He went to school in Engineering, and from what I remember, gained an engineering degree. he said recently in an interview with Studio 360, that music really just chased him down, and made him do it. All of a sudden he was a musician. This gave me pause to think for a bit - I think many of the most successful musicians of our time have found themselves bound, compelled to make music, like a Holy Calling, rather than practicing with an eye toward that career path. At least that's what I think - those who have that special something inside them, that can't be contained, which simply MUST be let out, find themselves drawn toward performing. They are so prodigious, because their talent runs so deep, so natural, that they somehow just become the vessel of their own music. Like I said, that's what I think, and perhaps I cast this sort of prodigious talent in a spiritual or soulful light because that's what it takes to make it really come out - a connection with an inner gyroscope that simply must spin its circle, with or without your permission. In a nutshell, it chooses you, compels you, you don't choose it. If you would like to question that philosophy, you should spend about 4.5 seconds watching American Idol, and then you'll believe me.

In the late 50's and early 60's Hancock was a late-coming member of the famed Miles Davis Quintet, along with Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter, and Tenor Saxophonist George Carter. This incarnation of the Quintet tackled the repertoire of the earlier Miles Davis Quintet, but with a more highly developed sense of rhythm and harmony. Many of the songs from this prolific recording era are now standards played by almost every single jazz combo today who is even a little bit serious.

From there, Hancock composed a slew of other now-standards that are also as oft-played as those Davis tunes. After redefining the way a jazz rhythm section interacts with each other, with the music itself, and with the soloists, he was one of the first jazz pianists to adopt technology, and synthesizers was a natural flow from that, with his engineering degree. he says most musicians were scared of that stuff - too many buttons, not enough vacuum tubes, he said. But this was indeed a world with which he was very familiar. At the same time, he developed a love for funk. Unlike many of his contemporaries, his melodies are accessible and easy to recognize. You certainly know a few of them, even if you don't know they're written by him.

And to that note (if you'll pardon the pun) - he introduced a generation of young kids, like me, to funk, while he was writing music for the Saturday morning cartoon, Fat Albert, starring Bill Cosby. Much of that original music is captured on an album named Fat Albert Rotunda, and it's a fun ride in the way-back machine. Many of us know his music, even if we don't realize it.

Like many musicians who have had a 45 year career, he's done just about everything, including now the seemingly mandatory album of duets with other musicians from other genres - that album is Possibilities, and it's better than you will expect. It has duets with such artists as Annie Lennox, Christina Aguilera, John Mayer, Sting, Paul Simon and Santana. It's a pretty good listen.

More recently he did an album of songs by Joni Mitchell, called River. In interesting side note: Hancock reports that when he first played with Mitchell, several years ago, he was surprised by how easily the jazz genre came to her. She told him that she originally wanted to be a jazz musician, but decided to pursue the folkish route we are familiar with today. She said she felt like it would be a better outlet for her lyrical writing. Seems like a pretty good choice. Although I have not listened to the album, critics like it.

I wanted to highlight a specific album though: Head Hunters. It was released in 1973, and was labeled as "fusion" by the critics and reviewers, at term hated by die-hard jazz musicians, even today. One critic was particularly harsh, and wrote a bad review of the album shortly after it was released. 25 years later Hancock ran into that critic backstage at another event, and the critic apologized, saying, "I was wrong about that album." Hancock's response was simply, "I know."

One track I wanted to draw some attention to is Watermelon Man. This tune, in its original form was first released on Maiden Voyage, in 1965. It became a classic for its simplicity and memorable melody (something for which Hancock has become famous over the years). It's a standard learned by all young jazz players who begin to learn about latin rhythms. I've played it myself many times. One of the four tracks on Head Hunters is a new version of Watermelon Man. It's rhythms are bent and twisted into a new form, and the song still retains its original integrity as a standalone song. it is said that if a song can be interpreted in many different styles, it is a fundamentally good bit of writing. (This is something for which Sting has also become known for.) Anyway, that song is worth the price of the album and is a fun listen, even if you aren't familiar with its original incarnation.

Did you know:

Did you know that at one time, in the late 1940's and 1950's, brown dress shoes were the mark of a jazz lover, and viewed by the rest of society as belonging to a subversive movement? The wearer of these shoes was to be carefully scrutinized and held at arm's length.

Your trivia for the day.

On My Hard Drive: Jaco Pastorius, d. Sept 21, 1987

So time to get this done and posted - it's been sitting here for a bit now.

Jaco Pastorius died on September 21, 1987, 20 years and a few days ago. I was going to write a post about him to commemorate his passing. So here it is.

Jaco Pastorius was one of those kids with too much energy and teachers who didn't know how to channel it. He was good at sports, particularly baseball, and that held his attention for a while. His brother gave him the nickname "Mowgli" after the Rudyard Kipling character, and in recognition of his unbridled energy. Jaco would later establish his music publishing company as Mowgli Music.

Pastorius started his musical career as a drummer (following in the footsteps of his father Jack, a stand-up drummer) but when he was 13, he injured his wrist while playing football. The break was so severe it caused calcium to build up in his wrist and required corrective surgery. After that he was never able to hit a snare drum properly again. At that time he was in a nine-piece horn band called Las Olas Brass (which covered popular material of the day by Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, James Brown and the Tijuana Brass). Rendered unable to play the drums, he decided to fill in the spot left open by the recently departed bass player.

As Pastorius' interest in jazz grew, he developed a desire to play the double bass. After saving money for a considerable length of time for the purchase of a double bass, he found that the instrument could not stand up to the Florida humidity. One morning, his double bass was "in like a hundred pieces" as he put it. Deciding that to replace it would be too expensive, he instead pried out the frets on his Fender (traditional electric bass), and filled the fret holes with wood putty.

And that's where the story gets interesting.

Pastoruis is regarded as having changed forever the way jazz was played on the electric bass, and is credited with the popularity of the fretless electric bass.

In 1975, Pastorius met up with Blood, Sweat and Tears drummer Bobby Colomby, who had been given the green light by CBS records to find "new talent" for their jazz division. Pastorius' first album, produced by Colomby and entitled Jaco Pastorius (1976), was a breakthrough album for the electric bass. Many consider this to be the finest bass album ever recorded; when it exploded onto the jazz scene it was instantly recognized as a classic. The album also boasted a lineup of heavyweights in the jazz community at the time, who were essentially his stellar back up band, including Herbie Hancock, David Sanborn, Lenny White, Don Alias, and Michael Brecker among others. Even legendary R&B singers Sam & Dave reunited to appear on the track "Come On, Come Over".

Soon after that, Weather Report bass player Alphonso Johnson gave notice that he would be leaving to start his own band. Pastorius was happily invited to join the band where he played alongside Joe and Wayne Shorter until 1981. It is with Weather Report that Pastorius made his indelible mark on jazz music, being featured on one of the most popular jazz albums of all time, the Grammy-nominated Heavy Weather. Not only did this album showcase Jaco's stunning bass playing, but he also received a co-producing credit with Joe Zawinul and even plays drums on his self composed Teen Town.

For you who are unaware, Pastorius pioneered a whole new way of thinking about the bass in ensemble situations. Up until that time, the bass was the timekeeper, partner of the drummer, and a general harmonic background figure.

Jaco heard something entirely different. He brought the bass forward, played soaring, dancing, staccato, melodic solos in the higher ranges, and brought sounds out of the instrument no one had ever heard before, as a third melodic voice.



He toured in 1982; a swing through Japan was the highlight, and it was at this time that bizarre tales of Jaco's deteriorating behavior first surfaced. He shaved his head, painted his face black and threw his bass into Hiroshima Bay at one point. That tour was released in Japan as Twins I and Twins II and was condensed for an American release which was known as Invitation.

His increasingly erratic behavior began to affect his musical career, and he was eventually dropped by Warner Brothers. He had to be pulled off stage during the 1982 Playboy Jazz Festival due to drunkenness, prompting an apology to the crowd by MC Bill Cosby.

Both of his Fender basses were stolen shortly before he entered Bellevue hospital in 1986. In 1993, one of the basses resurfaced in a New York City music shop, with the distinctive letter P written between the two pickups. The store told Bass Player magazine it was brought in by a "student" of Jaco's, and the asking price was $35,000.

His final address was at Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After sneaking onstage at a Carlos Santana concert September 11, 1987, he was ejected from the premises, and he made his way to the Midnight Bottle Club in Wilton Manors, Florida.

What then happened was clouded with discrepancy. After reportedly kicking in a glass door after being refused entrance to the club, he was engaged in a violent confrontation with the club bouncer, Luc Havan. Pastorius was hospitalized for multiple facial fractures and gruesome disfigurement to his face, including the probable loss of his right eye and right arm, and had sustained irreversible brain damage. He fell into a coma and was put on life support.

There were initially encouraging signs that he would come out of his coma and recover, but a massive brain hemorrhage a few days later pointed to brain death. His family decided on a majority vote to remove him from life support, even though his second wife Ingrid was against the decision. Pastorius died on September 21, 1987, aged 35, at Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, his heart continuing to beat an agonizing three hours after the plug was pulled.

The two fastest reviews you'll read all week:

Okay, first one:

We went to see Spamalot over the weekend... it was great - we were thinking about going to LV to see it over Thanksgiving, and we were also thinking about going to NYC to see it, and one or two others as well.... but we decided to see it here, now.

The comedy was true Pythonesque, and it was timed perfectly - there were the killer rabbits, the Frenchmen, the minstrels... it was funny.

"Always look on the bright side of life." Words to live by.




Then, second item: We went to see the Dave Brubeck Quartet last night. He turns 87 in December, and wanted to come, thinking he might not make it out again. He is aged - he's thin and old. But still plays very well. The Quartet was great, and after one or two songs, they got the "ensemble" feel going, having ironed out kinks not intonation and being able to hear each other. Bobby Militello on Alto Saxophone and flute was particularly prodigious and I enjoyed his playing a lot. A couple of drum solos by Randy Jones, although stellar, went on just a tad too long, but that's okay. Michael Moore was on bass, and was also a great player.

The concert was a benefit for the GAM foundation here, producer of a yearly series of concerts called Jazz at the Sheraton... the foundation was in trouble a year or two ago, and there were several artists that came to the rescue, along with a private donor or two, who helped rescue it, and I'm really glad they did. We really like their concerts.

On the way home we wondered if they ever get tired of playing "Take Five", the song for which they are probably most famous. We also had a chuckle during the concert when we commented to each other that instead of mixing the audio monitor feed for the band, the two guys on the side of the stage were really there to provide emergency resuscitation should it be needed in a hurry.

Lots of Blue-Hairs in the audience.

Back to the Blog...

Ok, so I'm back here now... let's take care of a little business first:

Professionally, I eluded to a couple of recent changes with my life earlier. In December of last year, we started sharing office space with a construction company that was just starting to make some real progress. The owners are aggressive and entrepreneurial in their thought processes, and they seemed to be doing some good things locally (in-state) as well as out of state - they have an office in Hawaii as well as here.

On July 1st I started full time with them in a Project Management type of position, and so far, I must say it has been good for me. It's great to still be in real estate, and equally great to not be in the day to day operations as a loan guy. If you've been out of your home in the last 2 months you know why I say that - the mortgage lending crunch has been wicked and in the last 2 weeks has only intensified from there. I still consult with buyers on financing options and strategies, but my real work day is filled with getting subdivision projects rolling into a full marketing situation. I am satisfied with this - I feel like WAY more of my skill set is being used, and I am certainly happy taking a salary/bonus structure. I plan to retain my licensing in the state for lending, but I am happy to not have that be my main focus right now.

Okay, so that's the business stuff. Now on to more interesting things:

Some time ago, we bought tickets to see Tony Bennett at Deer Valley. We figured that we would be the youngest ones there (turned out to be not entirely the case), but I figured it would be a great opportunity to see Bennett live for quite possibly one of the last times. He's old, and there are no guarantees in life. Ask Ray Brown. Actually, you can't. He died taking a nap in a hotel 2 hours before a concert.

Anyway, the Deer Valley venue is one of those "pack a picnic, and BYOB" sort of venues, and so we were running around after having spent too much time at the driving range in the morning. One of the stops was the Nazi State-run liquor store for some box wine, because we had heard that they weren't allowing glass into the venue. We decided to make the best use of our time, and stop on our way home from the driving range. As we went in, ThatOneWife noted that she didn't have her ID on her, but I did, so it was no big deal. We gathered our stuff and went to the counter to pay, and the lady there asked her for her ID... I said "no worries, I'm paying." To which the clerk lady said, yeah, but SHE looks "borderline 21". After we both regained consciousness, ThatOneWife replied that she was in fact 42, and had a SON who was turning 21 in about 30 days. Didn't help. Sorry, you look too young to me.

Now, ordinarily, she would be flattered by this situation - it happens from time to time at bars and clubs we have been to. But we were in a hurry and I was getting exponentially cranky by the second. So I told her to simply go to the car, and I would buy our wine and be out in a minute. The clerk overheard this quick conversation and politely informed us that this was not going to help. *I* would not be served in that store, that day, at any time, unless ThatOneWife came back to the store with her ID.

The clerk lady was an African American, a black person, or whatever we are supposed to refer to them as, and it was ALL I COULD DO to not say something snide like, "Do we all look alike to you?"

I thought better about that and grabbed the wine to put it back on the shelf. She quickly said, oh, we'll put it away, don't worry...

Bet your ass you will. And I walked out.

Like I said, if we hadn't been about an hour behind where we wanted to be, it would have been funny.

But, like most things, it all worked out, we packed up a couple of bottles from our home rack and loaded up the cooler and set off to Deer Valley.

The concert itself was pretty good, though the Deer Valley Music Festival does have a flaw. The Uber-rich local residents (I say Uber-rich, because the Merely Affluent aren't allowed to live there - this is the local enclave of Richistan, after all) have managed to force the festival to shut the thing down at 9:45 PM, no matter what. This means that there isn't much time for three wild encores and such. Obviously, the solution is to boot out the Utah Symphony, who starts the show, in Boston Pops fashion by coming out to play four or five light selections that nobody really cares about or wants to hear. By the time they are cleared off the stage, and the feature artist is ready to go, there just isn't that much time left for them to put on a really great show.

So, Bennett came out and did a great job of the stuff he did - he sounded GREAT, and it was a good show, for what it was. I had beefs with the sound dude, who ran the snare drum with some Paul Bunyan compression that only allowed a "crack" through the filter, and sounded out of line with the rest of the drum kit. And he also pinched a lot of the wide frequencies out of the bass as well. Perhaps he was concerned about getting sound all the way to the back. But it shouldn't have been a problem. But, outdoor venues are tricky for sound, so I'll cut him some slack.

He sang his 12 or so songs, and politely waved to the audience and left the stage. The band stayed back, ready for an encore, and then, about a minute later, they put their axes down and left the stage and the lights came up. All done, go home.

Here is a picture of the general venue. You'll notice my "almost 21 year old wife" in the lower right of the picture. I'm sure you will agree she is both hot, young, and sexy.

The stage was located to the left of this picture, down the hill. It really is a great venue. They just need to fix the time problem. A few weeks ago, they had the same thing happen at the Jewel concert there. She started to play an encore and a venue manager walked out onto the stage and whispered in her ear that she was done. She protested to the stage manager, who whispered again in her ear, and she promptly announced that the show was over and left the stage. Bummer.

Okay, so we're finished with the concert review. On to the last item: golf.

We elected to stay in Park City overnite and play golf at the Homestead early the next morning. We had booked a pretty early tee time in order to beat the heat, and not chew into the bulk of the day. Needless to say, after copious libations the night before, the alarm was AWFULLY early the next morning.

We rolled out of bed, groggy and a bit stiff. Tee time was 7:05, and we hurried to get there, stopping for a quick bite and cup of coffee on the way. Neither of us had played Homestead before, but we have heard many good things about the course. And those good things were borne out as well, as the course is one of those where no matter where you stand, you can only see the hole you are playing for the most part. The course was curvy with lots of doglegs both left and right, and a few forced layup holes. The greens were glassy fast and undulating as well. It took me about 6 holes to begin to loosen up, because we didn't get there in time to hit any balls before we were out on the first tee. I bogeyed or double bogeyed everything in the first six, and then started to put some par holes together.

I ended up with an 86 - nothing to really write home about, but I figure there were LOTS of 3-puts due to the early hour. I would also say that I would attribute about three extra strokes to the fact that when you can't see around the corner of a course you've never played before, you may not know exactly where to hit the ball. The last five holes play out of the mountains and into the flat of the highland meadow, and we were consequently buffeted by some pretty gnarly winds. I know I hit at least two or three screaming good second shots (a 7 iron - which was ALL OVER the stick - and a 9 iron in particular) that should have hit the green hole-high, but were grabbed by the wind and thrown down five yards short of the green. All in all, with the way things were stacked against us, escaping with an 86 is okay with me.

At the time, I was bummed because I had, in the previous couple of weeks, played a couple of 9 hole rounds at 1 and 4 over par. I was happy with those, but the course is way easier and the greens slower.

All in all, a good weekend, lots of fun with family visiting from out of town, and lots of good food and drink.

Happy times.

Next time, I'll not take so much of your time, and I'll be posting a lot more regularly.

On My Hard Drive: Harry Connick Jr. - Oh, My NOLA

I guess this is kind of a concert review as well as one in the non-regular series of posts called "On My Hard Drive"...

Harry Connick Jr. was in Salt Lake last night, and I’m glad it’s close to Father’s Day, because that was the excuse I used.

This tour is in support of two albums, Oh, My NOLA, and Chanson du vieux carre. Both albums were released on the same day, but Chanson was recorded pre-Katrina, and NOLA was recorded post-Katrina.

While NOLA totally showcases Connick’s abilities as an arranger and vocalist, Chanson is an brilliant example of his bandleader/arranger chops. I have a major jealousy complex with Connick. Besides HAIR ENVY, he SUCKS for lots of other reasons too: when he was 22 he single-handedly arranged the music for the Billy Crystal movie, When Harry Met Sally, he’s married to a super-hot chick, former Victoria’s Secret model Jill Goodacre, is a respected actor - he was actually named a "promising new actor" in 1990 in Screen World magazine, has recently acted in a revival of The Pajama Game on Broadway, took piano lessons from Ellis Marsalis, father of jazz greats Wynton and Branford... the list goes on and on. Oh, and he can SING. His lightheartedness reminded me of what a sober Dean Martin might have been like, but then I read today that Connick has been dubbed the Vice-Chairman of the Board, referring to Sinatra’s nickname, Chairman of the Board. Sinatra himself respected Connick’s voice, and always called him "the kid."

Anyway, the concert... the band with Connick was a regular 11 piece band with 3 each of trumpets, trombones, saxophones, a drummer and a bass player. All of these players ended up playing at least one solo on the evening, and each was obviously top tier, without a doubt. These guys SWING, and swing HARD. The setup was all top of the line, with each musician getting his own dedicated mike (and expensive recording mics at that). It took about two songs before it was all dialed in properly from the sound board - as these things usually do. When you do one show per night in a venue, you have to use the first two tunes to get it all fixed up, because the presence of an audience in the room almost negates any sound balancing that was done prior to opening the house for the audience. Things like elevation, humidity, etc, have a big effect on what sound does in space, and you really have to be sharp to dial it in fast.

Obviously, practically the entire evening was filled with the music of these two albums. About three or four songs into the 100 minute set, Connick introduced a guest artist, Lucien Barbarin, a trombone player. Let me just say right here that unless you have experienced the melody of "Summertime" literally WEEPING out the end of a trombone, swirled and stirred about with the skilful aid of a plunger mute, well, you haven’t really heard what a trombone can do.

Barbarin is a Louisiana-based musician, as one might have expected, and has played on other Connick albums, as well as The Marsalis Family: A Jazz Celebration (also On My Hard Drive), and with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, among lots of others.

The concert was better than what I was expecting. The music was beautiful, it grooved, it swung, it rocked, it kicked. Connick showed himself to be a great showman, a good band leader, a good writer and arranger, and adept at the self-deprecating audience banter.

If this tour happens to make a stop near you, and you like this type of thing, you should make the effort to get out there and see this one.

On My Hard Drive: Bobby McFerrin

Before you start with me, stop right there.

You all remember Bobby McFerrin from his 1988 release of "Don't Worry Be Happy."

That record pushed him into the limelight, garnering Grammy's that year for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. Somethin' like that anyway. He also had a project called Voistra, although I can't find a web link for it anywhere at the moment.

However, he is, and has been for a long time, a musician with considerable chops. And the voice thing has only served to separate him in the "very unique" category.

I wrote about McFerrin Some time ago in connection with Chick Corea, and I'm going to again. In that original post, I wrote about the TV series Corea does on HDNet... but McFerrin and Corea have been collaborators for a long time, performing at the Montreaux Jazz Festival in 2001, (watch that video) and many other venues as well over the years. He has also performed with other musicians as well, notables here are Yo Yo Ma. Their 1999 album, Hush, is worth a listen, if not a buy. Its most notable cut is the one entitled Grace, a lovely winding study on the intricacies of the human voice, the subtleties of the cello, both stretched across the canvas of the pentatonic scale we usually think of in terms of "oriental" music. You can check that track out right here in its entirety.

The album I wanted to note today though is called "Play" and is also a collaboration with Chick Corea. The track worthy of mention there is the first one, Spain.

Watch Part One
Watch Part Two

This is from the HDNet series I mentioned earlier. Bella Fleck (who plays in Salt Lake this summer) is a master banjo player (I KNOW!), and has made a name as one who takes the banjo out of the box - I guess, figuratively AND literally speaking... I digress. He appears in this video, but not on the album.

"Play" is a live performance album and features McFerrin and Corea without Fleck.

If you like teh jazzzz, you should check out any one of these three musicians. All three are known for unique performance styles, and together they offer something quite out of the box ordinary, and very enjoyable.

On My Hard Drive: Tower of Power

Tower of Power started out in the 70's in the East Bay area of northern California. They were principally a horn-based funk band. Over time, they got so good that they were contracted to play backup on recordings by MANY of the music industry's iconic figures.

They've shuffled members through, including vocalists, but have maintained the super-tight horn section sound that has made them famous over the years. Here they appear live playing one of their signature songs: What Is Hip. I saw them about 10 years ago in a little bar in New York City, where it was shoulder to shoulder standing room only, and LOUDER THAN HELL. I was AMAZED at the horn section. I had never heard anything so polished in a live setting. A couple of years ago they came to the Salt Lake City Jazz Festival here, and they were equally good. We packed up all the kiddies and took them to see it. To varying degrees of enjoyment. I was very fun though. The name says it all - it's a towering wall of huge sound, live, or recorded.



Check them out here

On My Hard Drive: Miles Davis

In addition to being an Architecture Nerd, I am also a Jazz Dork. I have the luxury of being able to listen to music throughout my day, and it's almost always Jazz.

Miles Davis died when I was a college student, and it's one of those days when you remember the time and place you heard that it had happened. I have this memory from when John Lennon was killed, and when Elvis died as well. Anyway, I digress.

This is from the album Kind Of Blue... The video here is from 1958 and features John Coltrane as well. I listened to this yesterday, and thought it might be time for another installment of this ocassional little ditty we call "On My HardDrive."



For the record, other installments are listed here for your listening pleasure:
John Clayton - Nature Boy
Sly and the Family Stone
Wynton Marsalis - Cherokee

On My HD: Moulin Rouge

This is another in an Occasional Series of junk that resides on my hard drive, but which you might also find interesting, entertaining, or otherwise generally offensive...

Actually, Moulin Rouge isn't quite it, but here's the rest of the story:

I was listening to The Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra's live recording at MCG. The third track caught my attention - again. It does every time I listen to it.

It's called Nature Boy, and if you know the movie Moulin Rouge, it is the main theme song from that movie. Incidentally, that movie is one of my favorite romantic movies of all time, and if you're not familiar with it, I would recommend a little Holiday time project for you. It's worth it. And if you're in my general age bracket, and like music, you'll get a real charge out of all the music. The challenge is to see if you can name all the original songs/artists that are excerpted in the movie. Fun stuff - love that movie.

But back to this recording. John Clayton, whom I've yacked about a lot on this site, is a MASTER of the upright bass. Not only is he an amazing jazz player, improviser, composer, and arranger, but he was a classical player before he was a jazz player. This makes him a far better bow player than most of his colleagues. On most of his albums and in almost every live concert he plays, he pulls out the bow and treats the audience to an amazingly beautiful classical-style bass solo. Most of the time, they make me all squishy inside, and this one is no exception. Get yourself onto the iTunes music store, spend your .99, and grab a copy of that song.

It'll make you all squishy inside too. I promise.

A Name That Keeps Popping Up:

I've been reading the Sting autobiography. Because I like him. I saw the Police live in the fall of 1981. It was my second or third big rock concert. When we left the concert, ears ringing, we went to a midnight viewing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and threw our toast. But I digress.

In the book, Sting talks about early influences when he was playing jazz in the area where he was born. He notes that at that time, in the late 60's and early 70's, that area was pretty insulated, and nobody of note ever came there. That changed when he went to a concert at the college by Jimi Hendrix. To Sting, the world had just changed from black and white, to color. I can only imagine. But I digress. Again.

One of the other early performances he saw was a jazz combo that included one Chick Corea. And therein lies the title of this post. Chick Corea has been a keyboard player for a long time. He came and played a concert at the same college where Jimi Hendrix had played only a year or two earlier. Sting notes that this was as cathartic an experience for him as Hendrix was at the time. I have heard Corea music for many years, always on the outskirts of my usual listening. I always seem to put him in the same category as Pat Matheny: Somewhat inaccessible to the general listening public. The result of music in this category, in my view, is that most of us listen to that stuff, and think, what the hell was that...? But that's okay. It's very complex and cerebral. Not exactly hum-along-with-it music. Some would call it noise, and unfortunately, many people categorize most jazz music the same was as a result.

Then I was searching around HDNet's programming for the next two weeks (because several of the concerts I had recorded on the TIVO got erased when we were taping the US Open tennis stuff.... bummer...) I digress, for the third time.

Anyway, as I was searching around I noted a program called Chick Corea Duets: Bobby McFerrin. So I programmed it and looked forward to seeing what those two would come up with. It was very interesting, and I quite enjoyed it.

Further along in Sting's book, he notes being influenced by what Miles Davis was doing in the days between his Bebop stage and the Cool stage. The Seminal recording in this area is Bitches Brew. It represents the flagship of the jazz/fusion era. The album is interesting, and for most people, will fall into that Chick Corea/Pat Matheny category of cacophonous noise that demands the front of your mind, not the back. Sting notes that he was introduced to Miles around this time. He was known as Sting by then. Interestingly, Chick Corea plays on this album as well. Go figure. There are 7 songs on a 2-disc set. With the exception of only one song, they are all more than 11 minutes long, with the longest clocking in at 27 minutes.

Sting had a funny anecdote about that meeting: When the two met, Davis asked him if he could speak French. He replied that he could. Davis handed Sting a piece of paper and asked him to translate it for him. Davis then put him in a vocal booth in the studio, and told him that when he pointed to him, he should yell into the mic what he wrote on the paper. Apparently it was quite crude, and never made it onto the album. Instead, at the end of the last song on the album, Feio, Davis himself is heard talking the song out in a more lighthearted way.

Thought you'd be interested - sorry if you weren't. I will refund the little bits and bytes you used to download this page if you like.

Odd stuff on my hard drive

Starting a new thing here... Odd Stuff On My Hard Drive... every little bit, I'll go through and post something that lives on my hard drive, for your entertainment, or your derision, whichever you choose.

Today's offering: Wynton Marsalis plays Cherokee. This guy rocks. Enjoy:

Randoms, from a professional randomer

Some randomness for you all. I've been buried at work recently and haven't been able to post at my usual breakneck speed. Okay, maybe not so much breakneck as simply "regularly", but you get the idea:

1. recent music reviews:

Barenaked Ladies - Barenaked We Are: this is different from the previous offering from these guys. ThatOneWife got me listening to them more than I had in the past, and when we see them here in Salt Lake next month, it will be the second time for me, but about the fourth for her, I believe. The album is good, filled with more harmony and less 100MPH lyrics that have been the hallmark here. A good listen. They seem to be heading into adult contemporary, as opposed to top 40.

Bob Dylan - Modern Times: Better than I thought it would be. Good production values, good music, good lyrics (which you can actually understand), and a good album all around.

Diana Krall - From This Moment On: A great album, getting back to her bread and butter: jazz standards. She is expecting twins before the end of the year with her husband Elvis Costello, so one wonders how "treasured" this album should be for her fans. It's got the usual great piano work, good arrangements, great vocal work. It's just good.

Elton John - The Captain and the Kid: This was a return to the early collaborator, Bernie Taupin. This partnership produced some of the greatest pop/rock music of the 20th century. There are some who assign EJ to the group of touring geriatrics who are no longer relevant to current critical music. But since he's branched out into musical theater and film, sucessfully, I don't consider him irrelevant, but this album was not as good as I thought it would be. the Vast majority of people on the radio these days could take a lesson at his feet. Or three lessons, for some, because they just won't get it the first time around.

Oscar Peterson Trio with Stan Getz - The Silver Album: This is a standard Jazz album that should be in any collection. With Ray Brown, Stan Getz, Herb Ellis, Ocar Peterson, it was released in 1989 and is a timeless recording of great jazz standards.

2. The CEO and CFO of Costco have elected to tell the Board of Directors to not bother with their yearly bonuses this year. They were under investigation with regard to the stock option dating issues that have come under scrutiny lately. However, no impropriety was found, and no action was taken. But since there was an investigation, the two decided that they would forego the bonuses as a show of good company citizenship. The bonuses were scheduled to be $200,000 and $80,000. Which begs the question: with good citizens like this, why are you shopping at Sam's Club? Just sayin'.

3. Did you know that Sting was a member of the band in London for the opening of Tim Rice's and Andrew Lloyd Weber's first production run of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat? I didn't think so. But it's true. He was hired at 60 pounds per week for a scheduled run of 6 weeks. The run was extended several times, each time selling out faster than the last. Needless to say, I am enjoying Sting's autobiography. I got it for my birthday a few weeks ago.

4. This is, I believe, the best use for lawn gnomes: Turd Burgling.

Just sayin.

ThatOneGuy 100.

I've seen this done many times, and there have been people who've "tagged" me to do it. I've resisted. I've had this on my machine for about a week, pondering whether I really wanted to put it up here or not, but I decided to go ahead. So, without further ado about nothing...

ThatOneGuy One Hundred Things:

1. I spend too much time at work. There is always pressure to spend more time.

2. I'm not a typical "loan officer".

3. My worst subject is school was math. Now I work in a finance field.

4. I haven't owned an American car for a long time -

5. And I don't have any plans to in the future.

6. I'm a fiscal conservative, and a social liberal. That's more Democratic than anything else these days.

7. I'm opinionated.

8. Many of my opinions are based on emotional response.

9. I think all children should take multiple music classes in school, to at least the end of the junior high years.

10. Same with Art.

11. I think many people (including those in my family) think I'm conceited. Or aloof, or stupid, or all of the above.

12. I think there should be an official state lottery in Utah.

13. I think the government spends too much time in our bedrooms and other personal areas, where they have no business.

14. I think the government spends too little time on things that really matter.

15. I think almost every government agency is bloated.

16. I think we should have socialized medicine in the United States.

17. I think healthcare should be affordable to companies in order to be able to care for their employees better.

18. I think the medical system in this country is broken, top to bottom.

19. I used to socialize better with people who were older than me.

20. Now I don't.

21. I wish I socialized more.

22. I wish I had a home more conducive to socializing.

23. I think mortgage interest rates should remain between 6 and 7 percent.

24. I think the Dow Jones Industrial Average should remain at 10,800 - 11,300.

25. Until I retire, that is.

26. I wish I had the financial means to give my kids everything they want.

27. I'm glad I don't.

28. I don't like people who think they are simply entitled, to anything.

29. I don't like illegal immigrants for this reason, among others.

30. I think there should be more school days in the calendar year, and longer school days every day.

31. From a work hours/days off perspective, I think teachers don't know how good they've got it. But they should be paid a starting wage of $35,000. Increases based on Merit and Cost of Living, not tenure.

32. I weigh 25 pounds more than I would like to.

33. I like the fact that I am my own boss, but it does have its drawbacks.

34. I couldn't do what I do unless my wife did what she does.

35. I adore her.

36. I think schools tolerate too many distractions.

37. I don't think regular public schools should be forced to teach and/or accommodate bilingual needs.

38. I think there are too few clubs/restaurants where one can be treated to decent jazz in SLC on a regular, dependable basis.

39. I take Bass lessons.

40. I would like to find three or four other jazz players with whom I could play on a regular basis.

41. I would probably quit taking lessons if I could find that.

42. My wife's successes make me proud.

43. They also make me feel like a floundering slob sometimes.

44. I'm not as mentally tough as I would like to be.

45. I'm 20 times more mentally tough than I was five years ago.

46. There are things I don't admit to myself.

47. I think that more than 50% of adults are poorly adjusted where it concerns sexuality.

48. I am uplifted and inspired by good music of almost any style/genre. There is no "good" country music.

49. Same with well-acted/directed movies.

50. People who misuse the English language, especially in corporate/professional communications, make me crazy, and I tend to think less of them, if only subconsciously.

51. Email is corporate/professional communication. Blogs aren't.

52. I wish my dogs got more walks.

53. I have only myself to blame for that.

54. I wish I were a better student when it counted.

55. I thereby wish I were a residential architect/urban planner.

56. My desk is usually a disaster.

57. Some days I multitask well. Others, I don't.

58. I am loyal, empathetic, compassionate to those around me, sometimes to a fault.

59. I don't like to be the bad cop in the game of "good cop/bad cop" with my kids.

60. But I also don't like making my wife do it either.

61. I'm a Northern European whitey who burns under only a THREAT of UV rays, but my first thought, when thinking about a vacation, is somewhere hot and tropical. Obviously, I'm maladjusted.

62. I have less energy than I want.

63. I eat poorly.

64. 62 and 63 are related. I know. Shut up. I mean it. Really.

65. I'm probably more fit than the median at my age. Which probably isn't saying much, I know. Shut up. Again.

66. People who wish to impose their morality on society as a whole, turn me off. Way off.

67. "Pay It Forward" is a concept that works.

68. I like wrist-watches.

69. My wife thinks her car is green. It's blue. (Apparently, this is more MY problem than hers though.)

70. I have an online stock portfolio that is up 45% since May 06. I don't have any real money in it, though.

71. I recently bought 150 shares of Delta Airlines though. I'm up about 68% on that one, in the span of about 2.5 weeks. It's not very much money.

72. I acted in a production of Saturday's Warrior when I was 15. I played the lead role in a production of Fiddler on the Roof about 9 years ago. I would like to be the bass player in a production of Forever Plaid.

73. I hate cats.

74. My job is much more stressful that I freely admit. I sometimes have trouble sleeping.

75. Most people who work in (all facets of) real estate have no idea what a mortgage office does. Most don't work with a good mortgage office though. Real estate agents who take it upon themselves to do my job for me irritate the hell out of me.

76. I dehydrate easily.

77. I drink lots of water. I have the caps from about 60 water/gatorade bottles sitting on my desk. I throw the caps at people who bother me, either singly, or in big hand fulls. I used to draw different kinds of eyes on them and wear them around the office over my eyes, to show what my mood was at the time. I'm the life of the freakin' party.

78. I have several pairs of glasses, and should wear them more often.

79. The first 20 of these are easier than the last 20.

80. I'm not as handy around the house as I would like. This never stops me, however. Unfortunately.

81. I keep a record of conversations and other pertinent business information on yellow legal pads. Looking back, it's interesting to see where I've been and what I said when I was there.

82. I doodle when I'm on the phone.

83. I'm a pen snob, and only like certain ones. Current favorite: Uni Ball Jetstream Blue.

84. I conduct my business in blue ink, as it tells me what is "wet-ink" stuff and which is faxed.

85. I hate spending money on myself. I generally hate spending money, period.

86. I hate shopping too. If I could, ALL my shopping would be done online - all the time, everything.

87. I like to spend money on my wife. I wish I had more of it to do that with.

88. I have two tattoos. I love them both.

89. They both have specific emotional meaning to me.

90. There are specific teachers or bosses in my past that have helped shape who I am. Not very many, but they are there. There are others who've had a lasting negative effect on me.

91. I believe a big part of my job is education. Many others don't see it that way. I clean up their messes.

92. I'm a licensed broker with more than 230 lenders in 42 states. Where do I go to find the right program for you? Big job.

93. I have two sets of speakers in my back yard. I haven't listened to them NEARLY enough this summer. At all.

94. I would like to write a book of fiction. And have it published.

95. It bothers me when people don't answer their phone, or do what they say they are going to do. A lot.

96. I like IKEA. For shame. :)

97. Fluorescent lights bother me. Most direct incandescent light does too. Maybe that's why I am so white.

98. Rapid changes in barometric pressure bother my noggin.

99. I subscribe to SEVERAL magazines. I read most of them.

100. I'm not sure why I wrote all these, and I'm not sure I'll post it. I guess if you are reading this, I decided to post it.

New Radio Habits

Typically, and for some time, I have the radio in my car tuned to an NPR station. I get most of my news there, as well as most of the "human interest" input I get from that source.

Since we're at the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I thought I'd make mention of one small thing that has stuck with me for the year.

Before a year ago, I would occasionally hear the show "American Routes" on Saturday afternoons. It was somewhat interesting to me, but not all that much. It's a music show, and is produced in New Orleans. It is centered around the music of the south, particularly the brand of music that emanates from New Orleans. It goes back in history, sometimes more than a century.

Since my awareness of the New Orleans area has been elevated this past year, as it has been for all of us, I have paid a little more attention to the program, even if only subconsciously at times.

However, over the past two or three months, I have really enjoyed the program. They have interviews with human interest value, and great music, better than before it seems. This is the program notes of this week's program:

From Sadie Green and Mr. Brown to Lil' Liza Jane and Jim Dandy, this American Routes deals with the nomenclature of music. We'll chat with the San Antonio native and leader of the barnstorming 1950's band Mando and the Chili Peppers who tells us about taking a turn from Tejano into rock and roll and ending up with a stage name that stuck. And the New Orleans brothers and horn players James and Troy Andrews talk about the origin of their nicknames, 12 and Shorty. Plus, we'll hear from a Tom Sawyer who runs, not rafts, on the Mississippi and a man many of you may know already, John Smith.

While this is probably not everybody's cup of tea, or jello shots, whichever, it has become much more interesting to me, and my musical horizon has expanded just a little bit in a direction that I had not really considered before.