Ever get tired of the same faces in American Jazz? Looking for some good music with a little international flavor? The Latin guys a little to picante for you? I know just the thing. Scandinavian Jazz! They’ve got cute, exotic names like Jan Garbarek and Esbjörn Svensson. They’ve got docile, funny sounding accents in which they express their utter fanaticism for the music. And since the 70’s there’s been some great music coming from that neck of the woods. Just check out at least half of the ECM catalogue. Established Jazz greats like Keith Jarrett and Dave Holland have been known to dip into the Scandinavian scene with great results.
And yet I have yet to hear any. So I know about these guys. I read downbeat magazine. And Wikipedia. That doesn’t mean I’m a fan. But sure, I want to be.
I got my first chance to hear some last night. I saw Nik Bartsch's Ronin. It was…interesting to say the least. Bartsch plays piano and the Rhodes, and had a couple splash cymbals clamped onto his instruments. There was a reeds player who blew into an alto sax, a bass clarinet, and an exotic looking contrabass saxophone, that was literally taller than he was. There was a drummer and a slapping electric six string bass player, and lastly a percussionist who had some funny looking instruments.
Each tune, if I can even call them that, seemed to be at least 15 or so minutes. Bartsch’s approach to music is very minimalist, with a bunch of repeating figures that slowly morphed a la Steve Reich. He would reach his hand into the piano and mute the strings, and play a simple two note rhythmic figure as the bass played some fast repetitive fragment. Then a minor riff would develop, with the sax adding more texture than harmonic or melodic material. All the while the drums laid down a backbeat groove that kept it just under danceable. There were some crazy time things going on too, 5 against god only knows what, I couldn’t count it -- maybe 13 or something. Bartsch called it “stoic funk,” which is a pretty perfect description. The meditation-like grooves would be punctuated by a drum struck run down the un-dampened piano strings, or a banging on a metal spaceship-looking-orb of of a percussion instrument.
The best part though, besides the in between song talks with his wonderful accent (I’m sorry, I can’t help it) was what he was wearing. It was a black robe that looked a little Japanese but mostly like a Jedi that has gone to the dark side. The mood was also enhanced by low, blue lights.
I have to say, I appreciated the music. But I don’t know if I liked it. The rhythmic stuff was interesting, and anyone who is into Jazz always seeks the interesting. The grooves were complex and bouncy. The technical veracity involved was staggering. I just think a little more melodic material would have really enhanced it, perhaps using the interlocking grooves as a bed on which to add some fresh colors. Each song really was just a vamp on about one chord, and I can really only listen to a minor chord played for so long before I want to scream. Especially if it is Phrygian in flavor (think flamenco music.) There was certainly some Asian, Zen aesthetics, and times when everything seemed to be in prefect balance. But with the equally Spartan song titles, which, spanning all his albums, are all simply “Modul 1” or Modul 34,” I just don’t see how this music can be anything more than background stuff for an art gallery or something.
I do need to keep checking out the Scandinavians though, and I hear a lot about EST. Bartsch is just trying to do something really specific that is outside of my taste.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Bill Frisell at Yoshi's in SF, with Tony Sheer and Joey Baron
Anyone familiar with Bill Frisell would be able to pick him out of a hundred other jazz guitar players. While this may sound like a very bold statement, his distinct use of restraint, his affinity for effects, and the country/bluesy elements he puts into all his music make up a sound that is distinctly his. However, I have always felt that these great elements of his playing can be lost on his recordings, particularly his trio albums. Sometimes his use of space and his distinct motifs verge on a vague sense of monotony. Don’t get me wrong. From his work in Paul Motian’s trio to his spacy solo records to his noisy experimental work with John Zorn, Frisell’s personal sound is definitely capable of interacting with many different settings. However, with a lot of his solo work, which should showcase his core genius, I find it hard to get through a whole album. So I have always wondered if his live shows might offer a better glimpse into what Bill Frisell is about, and what he can truly do. I was definitely not disappointed by this show. It was a great night of fun and yet refined music that really lifted my spirits.
He opened with a song from his most recent album, a trio record with Paul Motion on drums and Ron Carter on bass. It was his rendition of the traditional folk classic “You Are My Sunshine.” One thing I love about Frisell is his use of the American country idiom, so I am always glad to hear him do a song like this. He was playing a beautiful baby blue, semi hollow Fender Telecaster, which had a great dry tone. Add to the mix a healthy dose of reverb, and his treating everything he plays with vibrato, hammer ons and bends, (the staple elements of blues guitar) and this all yields a distinctly American sound. His playing stood out beautifully against the backdrop of the sparing acoustic bass playing by Tony Sheer and the tasty drumming of Joey Baron. In this first tune, Frisell played the melody using plenty of octaves and large, resonating chords. These chords he manages to sustain with some fingers while he plays melodic material with his others. Frisell accompanies himself really well like this, using all the tricks in the guitar repertoire to create the illusion at times that there are two guitars playing at once. The song dipped down in energy with a bass solo, gritty and full of bends, which built back up with increasingly intense drum fills to a wonderful climax.
The next tune was a Monk composition called “Raise Four-” also off his latest album. It was a perfect second tune because in contrast with the earthy, folk sounding first tune it really showed what Frisell could do with the more straight ahead Jazz style. The rhythm section provided a vivacious, up-tempo bounce. Frisell went through the tune with a more unrestrained approach to his playing. Starting with some open sounding, colorful chordal work, he would transition back and forth into short, and then longer bursts of fast and perfectly articulated bop lines. If one ever grows weary of Frisell’s “slow” approach to Jazz, this is the perfect song to hear what else he is capable of.
After this the music began to get a bit spacy. The trio played a vague minor motif in free time, which eventually became so ambiguous that the harmony slowly turned into a sort of harmonic white noise. Frisell really made clear his love for effects. He played with among other things the popular Line 6 boomerang petal, which he used to record and then loop certain phrases. He would then chop these up and play them backwards, adding texture to the already outer space sounding landscape of the music. The trio kept this up until no recognizable time or harmony could be found. The drummer got increasingly excited, doing some fills that were very Tony-Williams sounding –appropriately so because this music recalled the early Miles Davis electric work that was very much indebted to the drumming and influence of young Tony.
Just when my ears were about to give up on trying to make sense of this little experimental jam, Frisell killed all the looping guitars and went directly into the soulful melody of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come,” with the rhythm section following suite and diving into a laid back, 6/8 shuffle. Now I absolutely love this song, so I was so giddy as hell when I recognized it. Frisell’s playing was just big and juicy, using fat bluesy licks and beautiful, smooth chordal playing to communicate the melody with the perfect amount of soul that a Sam Cooke song requires. Besides the spacy section they dragged on earlier in the set, I was having a great time so far. The rhythm section was very on point, keeping things interesting in the accompaniment, and Frisell was really wailing on a lot of these tunes, a lot less pensive and a lot more playful than on his albums. It did help too that he chose the Cooke song that I’ve been playing nonstop on my Ipod the past few weeks.
Next he played one of his own compositions, called “Baba Coor.” This one had a rock’n’roll sounding minor melody, played over a chugging eighth note groove. He played some great counterpoint on his guitar, alternating octaves with the main melody and playing staggered melodies intercut with sustaining, reverby chords. He would harmonize certain notes of the otherwise smooth and catchy sounding melody with notes that didn’t really fit, notes that were a second or a minor fifth apart, creating a jarring dissonance that allowed the melody to still be recognizable, but a lot more interesting and open ended. He used this musical motif to punctuate his licks, demanding attention and signifying a climactic moment in his playing. His improvisation built to a great degree, as he started using loops that he would chop up with his petal and play over. His tone got dirtier as his playing got more intense, and built with the drums into a thick exploding wall of gee-tar sound. His use of effects here was perfectly balanced, and the big sound of this last tune was exhilarating, especially coming from just three musicians.
He closed with what sounded like a Marvin Gaye tune, which grooved in a real soulful way. He wailed on his guitar with a big, distorted sound. It built and built until it became anthemic and huge. The tune was full of energy and was a great closer.
All the things I love about Frisell’s music really came through and were expanded upon at this show. The minimal rhythm section provided just enough background, but more importantly provided the right amount of space for his uniquely personal style of playing to really shine. The room was full of colorful, captivating music from one of today’s most accomplished and recognizable guitar players.
He opened with a song from his most recent album, a trio record with Paul Motion on drums and Ron Carter on bass. It was his rendition of the traditional folk classic “You Are My Sunshine.” One thing I love about Frisell is his use of the American country idiom, so I am always glad to hear him do a song like this. He was playing a beautiful baby blue, semi hollow Fender Telecaster, which had a great dry tone. Add to the mix a healthy dose of reverb, and his treating everything he plays with vibrato, hammer ons and bends, (the staple elements of blues guitar) and this all yields a distinctly American sound. His playing stood out beautifully against the backdrop of the sparing acoustic bass playing by Tony Sheer and the tasty drumming of Joey Baron. In this first tune, Frisell played the melody using plenty of octaves and large, resonating chords. These chords he manages to sustain with some fingers while he plays melodic material with his others. Frisell accompanies himself really well like this, using all the tricks in the guitar repertoire to create the illusion at times that there are two guitars playing at once. The song dipped down in energy with a bass solo, gritty and full of bends, which built back up with increasingly intense drum fills to a wonderful climax.
The next tune was a Monk composition called “Raise Four-” also off his latest album. It was a perfect second tune because in contrast with the earthy, folk sounding first tune it really showed what Frisell could do with the more straight ahead Jazz style. The rhythm section provided a vivacious, up-tempo bounce. Frisell went through the tune with a more unrestrained approach to his playing. Starting with some open sounding, colorful chordal work, he would transition back and forth into short, and then longer bursts of fast and perfectly articulated bop lines. If one ever grows weary of Frisell’s “slow” approach to Jazz, this is the perfect song to hear what else he is capable of.
After this the music began to get a bit spacy. The trio played a vague minor motif in free time, which eventually became so ambiguous that the harmony slowly turned into a sort of harmonic white noise. Frisell really made clear his love for effects. He played with among other things the popular Line 6 boomerang petal, which he used to record and then loop certain phrases. He would then chop these up and play them backwards, adding texture to the already outer space sounding landscape of the music. The trio kept this up until no recognizable time or harmony could be found. The drummer got increasingly excited, doing some fills that were very Tony-Williams sounding –appropriately so because this music recalled the early Miles Davis electric work that was very much indebted to the drumming and influence of young Tony.
Just when my ears were about to give up on trying to make sense of this little experimental jam, Frisell killed all the looping guitars and went directly into the soulful melody of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come,” with the rhythm section following suite and diving into a laid back, 6/8 shuffle. Now I absolutely love this song, so I was so giddy as hell when I recognized it. Frisell’s playing was just big and juicy, using fat bluesy licks and beautiful, smooth chordal playing to communicate the melody with the perfect amount of soul that a Sam Cooke song requires. Besides the spacy section they dragged on earlier in the set, I was having a great time so far. The rhythm section was very on point, keeping things interesting in the accompaniment, and Frisell was really wailing on a lot of these tunes, a lot less pensive and a lot more playful than on his albums. It did help too that he chose the Cooke song that I’ve been playing nonstop on my Ipod the past few weeks.
Next he played one of his own compositions, called “Baba Coor.” This one had a rock’n’roll sounding minor melody, played over a chugging eighth note groove. He played some great counterpoint on his guitar, alternating octaves with the main melody and playing staggered melodies intercut with sustaining, reverby chords. He would harmonize certain notes of the otherwise smooth and catchy sounding melody with notes that didn’t really fit, notes that were a second or a minor fifth apart, creating a jarring dissonance that allowed the melody to still be recognizable, but a lot more interesting and open ended. He used this musical motif to punctuate his licks, demanding attention and signifying a climactic moment in his playing. His improvisation built to a great degree, as he started using loops that he would chop up with his petal and play over. His tone got dirtier as his playing got more intense, and built with the drums into a thick exploding wall of gee-tar sound. His use of effects here was perfectly balanced, and the big sound of this last tune was exhilarating, especially coming from just three musicians.
He closed with what sounded like a Marvin Gaye tune, which grooved in a real soulful way. He wailed on his guitar with a big, distorted sound. It built and built until it became anthemic and huge. The tune was full of energy and was a great closer.
All the things I love about Frisell’s music really came through and were expanded upon at this show. The minimal rhythm section provided just enough background, but more importantly provided the right amount of space for his uniquely personal style of playing to really shine. The room was full of colorful, captivating music from one of today’s most accomplished and recognizable guitar players.
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