I’m writing this at 2:41am as I give The Jason Parker Quartet’s new album a first listen.

A Little Background

Lead by Jason Parker’s full-toned trumpet the Jason Parker Quartet is a straight-ahead group out of the Seattle, WA jazz scene. I first heard the JPQ’s music after following Jason on Twitter, combining my love of jazz with my geeky tendencies, how early 21st century, huh? I think the first real exchange we had on Twitter was over a series of goofy tweets under the #jazzsubstandards hashtag. Jazz humor on Twitter: This is my element… anyway: when Jason announced that he was planning a Nick Drake tribute album in late 2010, and that he was going to try funding it through Kickstarter.com, I knew I had to help him out. Now I’m not saying that I funded the whole project (far from it) but in a small, affordable-for-me kind of way, I had a part in the making of this album, so forgive me if this all sounds like a producer speaking.

My real initial reaction to the project was: Who’s Nick Drake? A little investigating later, and I definitely had to help Jason get this album done. (If you, like me, have no idea who Nick Drake was, give him a listen. Singer/songwriter just doesn’t quite do him justice. I received my download code like the rest of the project’s 148 backers about 20 minutes ago, so this is really a first listen, and here’s what I’m thinking song-by-song:

Time Has Told Me – The album opens with Josh Rawlings’ simple but lush piano and soulful vocals of Michele Khazak, a special guest on the album. Nice brush work by D’Vonne Lewis, hope he gets to open up a bit as the album plays on. 3 minutes in, and no horn yet… interesting. Jason was right, this is a tribute to Nick, no ego, love it. Really nice tone on Evan Flory-Barnes’ bass. Ahhh 3:40 there’s Jason’s horn. Full tones, fits in really nicely with the piece.

River Man – Mood. This is a headphones, eyes closed, Bourbon in hand kind of piece. Really nice, minimal arrangement… damn that bass really comes through. D’Vonne’s playing the drums like they’re a MUSICAL instrument, always appreciated. Second guest on the album, Cynthia Mullis on tenor sax makes an appearance with Jason’s horn. Nice airy tenor solo, with range! Really like Josh’s piano following Cynthia’s solo flurry. I have to say these players really fit together like a fur-lined wave of lush on this track.

Three Hours – Getting a “Miles supported by the band” vibe on this, don’t really know what that means either, but it’s the feeling I get. Damn, opening up all over this one… then back down to earth. The first instrumental of the album.

Way To Blue – Always open with the drummer, at least that’s what I say! A kind of strange melancholy yet upbeat tune, hard to explain. D’Vonne’s all over this like a madman! Jason’s solo really cutting through the din on this. Doesn’t swing so much as drive… then they apply the breaks, then it swings. Really, really enjoy the sculpted feel of this.

Day is Done – I have to admit I’ve heard this before… I mean as a backer I got an early preview of this tune; membership has it’s privileges. This one is a really approachable cut. Swings like a mo-fo, Cynthia’s Michele’s a tremendous choice for vocals on this whole album so far. Note to self: need to find more of her, and/or move to Seattle and hear her live. (Jason pointed out my mistake (Michele Khazak on vocals not Cynthia Mullis) It was late, what can I say?)

Cello Song – Getting an early 70′s Ramsey Lewis meets Joe Farrell vibe from this… Cello!?!?!? No, bowed bass Mike… Second instrumental, open, airy.

The Thoughts of Mary Jane – Bossa Nova cool, complete with flute! A touch of cheese, but a fine cheese… damn what’s that tune you just referenced at the end of the song Jason!?!?! That’ll haunt me for days now.

Man In A Shed – Tight guys, really tight. D’Vonne opening up again on this one… what can I say, I’m a recovering drummer, and I notice.

Fruit Tree – Really nice changes in this one, lush, full sound.

Saturday Sun – Opens with a gospel-esque piano. Nice clean, contemplative after the full-on sound of Fruit Tree. Just piano & horn, a combo you don’t hear all that much outside of rehearsals, anything more would have mucked it up. A nice, after-hours feel to end the album.

If it wasn’t almost 4am I’d listen through the whole album again, that should tell you something.

I purposely did not listen to the original Nick Drake “Five Leaves Left” album before this. I really wanted to hear the JPQ version with a clean palate, and not let any of that “I can’t believe they did THAT to this song” stuff cloud my listening. I did however listen to Nick Drakes “Day is Done” recently since I had heard the early release of JPQ’s version, and I have to say, while definitely different, it’s a substantial tribute that remains faithful to the original without being a chained down by it.

My overall first reaction is that I really enjoyed the album as a whole, and I’m glad I could help out, in the small way I could in getting Jason’s vision down on tape (did you even use tape?). That being said, other than getting this early release I get no benefit, financial or otherwise if you go BUY THIS ALBUM NOW!

As with every year, the Jazz world lost too many talented musicians to 2010. I came across a list on the Village Voice website, and with a little research, have put together a playlist of videos on YouTube of as many of these artists as I could find.

This list is by no means exhaustive. Take a few minutes (or hours) and find someone you didn’t know, listen to their artistry, think of them for a minute or two, then make a resolution to go out and see more live jazz/blues/whatever in the new year.

In roughly Alphabetical Order:

Ahmad Alaadeen – Saxaphone
Fred Anderson – Saxaphone
Danny Bank – Bass Clarinet/Saxaphone
Edgar Bateman – Drums
Harry Beckett – Trumpet/Flugalhorn
Bob Bowen – Bass
Willem Breuker – Soprano Saxophone/Clarinet
Jack Brokensha – Vibraphone
Marion Brown – Saxaphone
Paul Bryant – Organ
Dick Buckley – Jazz Radio DJ
John Bunch – Piano
Solomon Burke – Singer
Tito Burns – Accordian
Hadley Caliman – Saxaphone
Tony Campise – Saxaphone
Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) – Guitar/Vocals/Etc.
Tony Cennamo – Jazz Radio DJ
Ian Christie – Keyboards
Gloria Coleman – Organ
Buddy Collette – Saxaphone
Joyce Collins – Singer
Gene “Mighty Flea” Connors – Trombone
John Dankworth – Saxaphone/Clarinet
John Defoor – Jazz Educator/Composer
Bill Dixon – Trumpet
Diz Disley – Guitar
Aaron Dodd – Tuba
Jesse Drakes – Trumpet
Martin Drew – Drums
Francis Dreyfus – Producer
Herb Ellis – Guitar
Allyn Ferguson – Composer
Bill Fitch – Percussion
Hotep Idris Galeta – Piano
George Garanian – Saxaphone
Roger Guérin – Trumpet

Jake Hanna – Drums
Chuck Hedges – Clarinet
Peter Herbolzheimer – Trombone
Lena Horne – Singer
Noah Howard – Saxaphone
Robbie Jansen – Saxaphone
Jane Jarvis – Organ
Dick Johnson – Saxaphone
Eddie Johnson – Saxaphone
Hank Jones – Piano
Harry Klein – Saxaphone
Tuli Kupferberg – Lyricist/Poet
Consuela Lee – Piano/Educator
Gene Lees – Lyricist
Herman Leonard – Photographer
Carl Leukaufe – Vibraphone
Abbey Lincoln – Singer
Gene Ludwig – Organ
Andy McCloud – Bass
Rob McConnell – Trombone

Betty MacDonald – Violin
Teena Marie – Piano/Singer
Jim Marshall – Photographer
Mitch Miller – Bandleader/TV Host
Jackie Mills – Drums
Willie Mitchell – Organ
Montego Joe – Percussion
James Moody – Flute/Saxaphone
Buddy Morrow – Trombone/Bandleader

Paulo Moura – Saxaphone
Jamil Nasser – Bass
Steve Neil – Bass
John Norris – Magazine Publisher
Mike Pacheco – Percussion
Jack Parnell – Drums
Bobby Paunetto – Marimba/Vibraphone
Walter Payton – Bass/Singer
Harvey Pekar – Animator/Jazz Record Collector
Mimi Perrin – Lyricist
Harvey Phillips – Tuba
Trudy Pitts – Piano/Organ
Terry Pollard – Piano/Vibraphone
Benny Powell – Trombone
Steve Reid – Drums
Jack Rose – Guitar
Manfred Schulze – Saxaphone
Johnny Scott – Flute
Joya Sherrill – Singer
Sid Simmons – Piano
Nevil Skrimshire – Guitar/Magazine Editor
Dennis Stock – Photographer
Billy Taylor – Piano/Educator
Ed Thigpen – Drums
Art Van Damme – Accordion
Carol Ventura – Singer
Phillip Walker – Guitar
Larry Warrilow – Composer/Orchestrator
George Webb – Piano/Promoter
George David Weiss – Songwriter
Harry Whitaker – Piano
Earl Wild – Piano
Ed Wiley Jr. – Saxaphone/Singer
Valdo Williams – Piano
Jimmy Wyble – Guitar
Mike Zwerin – Trumpet

The Rantings of an Old-Guy and Music Fan

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I ventured out on my lunch hour to go pick up a copy at my local big-box Book & Music retailer, only to find their music department cordoned off with plastic sheeting as they convert it into a Games Department. Where’s the music department I asked; a fellow customer replied: “Gone.”

I catch unending heck from my friends on Twitter & Facebook about this all the time, but here’s my confession: I still buy CDs. In fact, I prefer buying CDs. I’m old.

Here’s why:

1. Albums are Still a Viable Artform – I know this is the age of the single download, but many of the artists I listen to and whose music I buy, still create albums that are bigger than the sum of the songs that make them up. Take Elvis Costello’s National Ransom, there’s a reason that it was released today, Election Day in the US, and 4 days ago in the rest of the world. He has something to say, it’s a commentary on something, not just a collection of tunes trying to be #1 on the dance charts. Sure there are Greatest Hits collections, and others that don’t fit this description, but hey, so what.
2. CDs Have Artwork – As with #1, albums have artwork that contributes to the overall statement or story the artist is trying to tell. Yes I remember buying vinyl “Albums” when I was a kid, and yes, CD’s in some ways killed the importance of the cover art, but again looking at National Ransom, this is Elvis’ 2nd Album with cover art by Tony Millionaire. His last one, Secret, Profane and Sugarcane, was beautifully illustrated, so I have reason to believe this one will be as well. To me, music is more than the distraction in the background, call me goofy.
3. I Like Poop – (There’s a headline that’ll come back to haunt me) Maybe this should be my #1 reason. One of the ways I discover new music is by reading the liner notes of albums. If I hear a solo I like, I check out the notes to see who’s playing what on any given song. I’m a jazz fan, and jazz musicians are notorious for jumping from group to group, playing as sidemen on each other’s recordings. Downloaded MP3s have no liner notes (poop), so let’s say I heard an amazing drummer on a Zoot Simms album, and wanted to know who it was. Sure I could pop over to allmusic.com and see what info they have, but what if there are no drummers listed? Looks like I’m SOL without further digging.

   OK, so I listen to a lot of stuff that’s out of the “main stream” of the music biz, I also tend to listen to a lot of stuff that’s produced by independent artists. Good luck finding credit poop on the Jason Parker Quartet (Allmusic only lists 3 of the 4 players in the quartet) or Liz Pennock & Dr. Blues (Allmusic only lists 1 of their 5 albums, and not even the one I “played” on!). Sure I could always Tweet Jason or call Liz, but the fundamental immediacy of having a physical booklet with that information on hand is gone.

4. CDs are Like Buying a Backup – I’m not totally old skool when it comes to music, I rip the CDs I buy onto my hard drive & usually listen to that, keeping the CDs as a backup for the inevitable day the hard drive crashes. (Yeah, I do have a backup of that drive too, what’s with all the interruptions?) Having my collection of CDs sitting on the shelf is like having a multi-colored backup library at the ready.

I’m sure there will be a day when nobody releases CDs anymore, and all music will be downloads. It might be sooner than I wish it to be. In the mean time, I’ll just order my CDs online, and wait for them to be delivered.

By the way, Elvis’ National Ransom was also released on 78rpm vinyl today… ask your Grandparents.

]]> http://michaelconaty.com/2010/11/02/why-i-still-buy-cds/feed/ 2 http://michaelconaty.com/2009/09/30/happy-birthday-buddy/ http://michaelconaty.com/2009/09/30/happy-birthday-buddy/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:49:07 +0000 Mike http://michaelconaty.com/?p=451 Mike Conaty

September 30, 1917 – The world was given Buddy Rich. Sometime in 1977 – I became the hippest 10-year-old cat I knew. I bounded into Ron Whitney’s Drum & Guitar Studio in Iselin, NJ ready to take on the world; drums were cool, and I was about to wow Ron with my mad percussion skills. [...]

]]> Mike Conaty



September 30, 1917 – The world was given Buddy Rich.

Sometime in 1977 – I became the hippest 10-year-old cat I knew.

I bounded into Ron Whitney’s Drum & Guitar Studio in Iselin, NJ ready to take on the world; drums were cool, and I was about to wow Ron with my mad percussion skills. He handed me a set of sticks and what would become my guidebook for the next 12 years: Buddy Rich’s Modern Interpretation of Snare Drum Rudiments. Needless to say, Ron was not wowed, and I quickly learned the term “woodshedding“.

After staring at the black & white picture on the front cover for a few weeks, I started learning just who this guy was; I mean he had to be pretty good, even my parents knew who he was, and they knew nothing about music. Slowly but surely I found out. I’d hear one of Buddy’s tunes on WBGO now and then, but in 1981, Buddy reached the pinnacle of fame for the under-15 crowd: a guest spot on The Muppet Show (Yes, that drum battle is below). Ron told me stories about Buddy (Buddy knew Ron as “the Cat from Tomatoland”); I caught Buddy live a couple of times thanks to my sister (Mom & Dad were just not hip enough to take us, but my sister was; after all, she was taking drum lessons from Ron too!).

So on the 92nd Anniversary of Buddy’s birth, here are a collection of videos of the master at work:

Drum Battles

… and of course:


Solos

Full Tunes

Last, but not least, here’s a “video” I found on YouTube that sort of confirms all the stories Ron Whitney told me about Buddy’s legendary temper. This is NOT SAFE FOR WORK OR SMALL CHILDREN or those who are offended by certain words:

There are about a million more clips on YouTube, so rather than post them all here, check it out and get hip to Buddy.

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