He and his band, named “Stay Human,” do just that, and they just released a breakout album entitled “Social Music.” When you watch video clips of him on the streets, or listen to his album, it’s music without borders or labels, but with integrity. I caught up with Jon in San Francisco in the middle of a very hectic tour
Michael Lee Firkins
He first gained attention as the “next big thing” in instrumental rock with his impressive guitar skills. On his just released album “YEP” on the Magna Carta label, he puts his singer/songwriter skills on display, backed up by the legendary Chuck Leavell (Rolling Stones, John Mayer, Allman Brothers), and Matt Abts and Andy Hess of Govt. Mule.
Listen to my extended interview with The Ringers, the first interview of the band. Jimmy Herring is of course known from Widespread Panic, Aquarium Rescue Unit, the Allman Brothers Band, Keith Carlock and Wayne Krantz from Steely Dan and their work with Tal Wilkenfeld, and Michael Landau from his work with people like Michael Jackson, Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell a.m.m.
They are just about to start their first tour, listen in here
UPDATE Feb, 20th, 2013
I noticed a bunch of traffic to talking2musicians.com coming from http://www.burnthday.com/p/live-stream.html Wasn’t familiar with the site so I checked it out and found myself watching and listening to The Ringers first concert via Ustream. They now have audio files (MP3 & FLAC) posted for download. Or you can stream online here.
Hard to imagine these guys only had a couple of days to rehearse. Essentially this should be considered a jam session, but what I heard gave every indication that this could indeed be something grand. Keith Carlock was spectacular, as was Etienne Mbappe. If they were doing straight ahead blues, or standards something like this would be a snap, but that’s not who these guys are. It’s scary to think how good this could get if, given their busy schedules, they have a chance to play together often.
If you’re on the East Coast you don’t want to miss this — amazing.
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 6, 2008.
IN MEMORY OF THE GREAT DAVE BRUBECK
There is no denying it, without Africans jazz, blues, and rock & roll would not exist. Given the history of racism in America it’s easy to understand why some black musicians resented whites playing jazz.
Although Louis Armstrong was the first jazz musician to make the cover of Time, the choice of Dave Brubeck as the next jazz musician to receive this honor certainly bruised some feelings. Continue reading →
Rocket In My Pocket is the latest album from the hKT, a trio that represents the best of the vibrant Hamburg music scene.
Boris Netsvetaev (piano, keyboards), Philipp Steen (double bass, electric bass), and Kai Bussenius (drums) are three prodigious talents, who, despite extensive formal training, haven’t lost their connection to youth culture.
On this album they seamlessly weave a sound that incorporates elements of traditional jazz, retro fusion, a bit of funk, and classical music. The result is appealing to jazz fans with discerning tastes, but it’s also accessible to non jazz listeners. They are compositionally strong with emotional depth and considerable range, and as soloists they combine impressive skills with inventiveness and tasteful restrain.
I’m particularly impressed by their moodier pieces: “A Sketch in Dark Colours”, “Tekla”, “The Incredible Atmo”, “Desert Sun.”
Michael Bailey, a senior writer at All About Jazz, has kindly shared his first impression with Jazzamatazz:
The jazz piano trio is a ministry unto itself. The most durable of formats, the trio’s perimeter has been expanded in recently by Medeski, Martin and Wood, The Bad Plus and Soulive. The Russian-led, German trio, Hammer Klavier Trio, takes the trio a step further with a classically-infused, harmonically-centered offering, Rocket In My Pocket.
Pianist and composer Boris Netsvetaev conjurs a dozen rhythmically and melodically challenging originals for bassist Phillip Steen and drummer Kia Bussenius to cut their considerable chops on. Netsvetaev does this with a variety of keyboards without every losing the piano ambiance. “Desert Sun” sports a Fender Rhodes buffered by electronics. “Suicide Train” is angular and precisely composed to take advantage of Bussenis’ dead time in odd meters. Steen plays a fine solo, arco, on “The Incredible Atmo,” rounding out a fine modern trio recital. Michael Bailey
To see the above clip in 3D you will need a pair of these
This clip is part of my latest Talkin’ Blues interviews on All About Jazz, the Internet’s most popular jazz website. Click on the photo below to see more clips.
Don’t you hate it when you read a review of a great concert you didn’t know about and wish you would have seen? Now a really useful website delivers what’s happening in jazz near you:
Jazz Near You in a Nutshell
Jazz Near You is a network of 200 jazz websites and counting. We aggregate and deliver all kinds of content from events and venue listings to news, articles, photos to what’s hot in your area. It’s also a tremendous advertising opportunity for a venue or presenter to reach readers in their hometown.
How Jazz Near You Works
Once you land on jazznearyou.com, the website determines your location and presents you with local information. The goal is to keep you informed on who is playing where and when in your area. If you travel, you can change your city and show the destination city’s event guide.
Scofield looks back on his ’80s music—and his time spent with Davis—fondly. “It looks funny to us now, because of the fashion and some of the synth sounds,” says Scofield. “And Miles was actually bigger than a rock star; that’s my theory- -that rock stars kowtowed to Miles. A rock star’s just a rock star; this was Miles Davis, man, the giant of modern music who was playing the rock star role. When Miles played, people like Jack Nicholson and Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger would kowtow to him. He was the number-one guy, period, culturally, in music. I remember the Montreux gigs [soon to be released on DVD] as being especially good for us. Miles at that point—sometimes he wouldn’t play; he had a social life that was happening, going to rock star parties and stuff, and I don’t think he played that much. But when we went out on tour, he really got his chops up. And for Montreux, we’d been playing a couple weeks.” Read the full interview
Here’s a free and completely legal way to get into jazz with a mp3 library of over 1000 tracks for your own private, personal, non-commercial use. Continue reading →
2013 UPDATE: You can now download the audio of this interview, orstream it here
John Scofield is one of the world’s most influential and respected guitarists, a musician and composer who has worked with many of the greatest names in jazz: Chet Baker, Gary Burton, Billy Cobham, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan and scores of others. His 30 plus solo recordings have taken his fans on a remarkably wide-ranging musical journey – from straight ahead jazz, bebop, and fusion, to funky experimental outings with Medeski, Scofield, Martin, and Wood, and even gospel jazz fusion with his Piety Street Band. On his current album 54 (Emarcy, 2010), he is backed by a 50 plus piece orchestra, complete with strings, harps, brass, and woodwinds, and, as always, he somehow manages to play in a way that appeals to jazz aficionados and discerning guitarheads.
Fans of Soulive, Phil Lesh & Friends, Govt. Mule, and John Mayer are well aware that John Scofield is an exciting and soulful player, and this ability to be true to himself as a serious jazz artist, while also appealing to rock, R&B, and blues fans is what makes him so special. After watching him (@ Moogis.com) blow the roof off the Beacon when he sat in with the Allman Brothers Band on March 18, 2011, I thought it would be fascinating to talk to this jazz icon about coming of age in the ’60s & ’70s and get his take on the icons of blues rock. So this interview was conducted just a few days after that event.
Regular readers of this blog know that I publish my interviews on All About Jazz, but this year a major retrospective interview with John Scofield was already planned for the later part of 2011 to coincide with the release of his upcoming album A Moments Peace (Emarcy, 2011.) Nevertheless, he graciously agreed to this interview on blues rock guitar for Jazzamatazz, and I resisted the urge to ask him about jazz and his work with Miles and the other jazz greats – we can all look forward to that later this year on All About Jazz. Meanwhile, if you see any names you don’t recognize, or any of your favorites, be sure to check the hyper-links – there are even links to posters of concerts John saw as a high school student.
Jazzamatazz: First, as a blues fan I want to tell you how much I love your album Piety Street (2009, Universal Music). It’s one of those recordings where everything just seems to have fit together perfectly, from the material and musicians down to the great cover art. And the fact that you decided to do a gospel album in New Orleans and actually ended up in a studio on Piety Street, it just doesn’t get any better than that.
John Scofield: Yeah, it was one of those things, almost like being helped from above. It was also so much fun doing that record. Of course I knew the studio was on Piety Street, but it really didn’t register until I got down there.
Jazzamatazz: Jon Cleary was a great choice, it’s uncanny that a guy from England sings and plays piano like someone who grew up in the 9th Ward, and if that weren’t enough, he’s a fine guitarist.
John Scofield: Jon Cleary is just a major talent, and we did a year of touring after the album came out. It was wonderful working with him and he’s just become a great friend. He’s actually been into it for a long time, his story is rather interesting. His father and uncle were way into the music of New Orleans when he was a kid. So he grew up with New Orleans music playing around the house all the time, and his uncle was a musician. His sister was also really into it and had already moved down there, so when he was about age eighteen he was already playing and singing it, and at this point he’s lived down there for a long time.
Jazzamatazz: You’ve also had John Boutté who famously sings the theme song for HBO’s mini-series Treme. Have you had a chance to watch it, and are there any plans for you to appear in an episode?
John Scofield: Yes, that’s so great. We actually recorded Peity Street before that, and I was so happy to see that they used his music for the series. I actually watched one of the episodes with Jon Cleary in it, it’s very good. They haven’t asked me, but I’ll be there if they want me.
Jazzamatazz: You seem to have retained a rock energy when you need it, but other than a bit of B.B. King I can’t spot a particular influence from a blues or rock player. Were there any rock or blues player you listened to in your early years who had a lasting influence on you?
John Scofield: So first, there is influence, and then there are also people whom you like and respect. I liked and respected all of the blues players, and they all kind of played a bit like B.B. King, Otis Rush, Albert King and Freddie King. And I loved those guys, and Hendrix and Clapton, and I was a teenager when that first came out.
I started playing guitar at the end of 1963 just before the Beatles came over. [Laughing] I think I had my guitar out holding it when I was watching the Beatles on television on the Ed Sullivan Show. Continue reading →
UPDATE: Jim Hart has been nominated for musician of the year in this year’s Parliamentary Jazz Awards, one of the most prestigious set of jazz awards on the UK jazz calendar.
Jim Hart is one of the hottest young musicians on the U.K. jazz scene. His impressive skills are matched by a level of experience and maturity that belie his age. His musicianship elicited this praise from vibes heavyweight Joe Locke: “Some of the best music I’ve heard in a long time. Definitely the best vibes playing I’ve heard in a long time.”
An alumnus of Chetham’s School of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he was awarded the John Dankworth “Most Promising Musician” award in the BBC Big Band of the Year competition for his drumming, and his skill as a vibraphonist earned him the British Jazz Award for “Rising Star” in 2006, and for miscellaneous instrument (vibes) in 2007.
Some of the artists with whom Louie Shelton has worked.
When Louie was 13 years old he met an up and coming Elvis Presley. Elvis was playing at Louie’s junior high school in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Years later in Los Angeles as a session guitarist he was in the studio with Elvis. Louie was one of two people in the studio when young Michael Jackson sang “I Want You Back.” He was in the studio with John Lennon and Phil Spector. T-Bone Walker, James Brown, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder are also among his credits. He also produced Seals & Crofts and played lead guitar on their most memorable hits.
His 2009 induction into the Musicians Hall of Fame provided the perfect backdrop for this conversation with All About Jazz about his remarkable musical career.
Matthias Bublath is a young German born pianist based in New York City. He has exceptional compositional talent and is also a Hammond B3 specialist. Initially he approached me to review his new CD, but after hearing his music I thought he deserved some wider exposure. I highly recommend any of his four CDs and you can read our interview here.
Imagine you were given the chance to go back in time and witness four musical events (one each from jazz, blues, classical, and rock history.) What would they be?
I asked this question to Derek Trucks, Rhoda Scott & Randall Bramblett, you can read their responses in my new All About Jazz article: A Question of Time
Chuck Leavell is one of the world’s premier blues rock pianists–a veteran musician who has recorded and toured with many of the best-known names in the business. He is perhaps best known for his work with the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, The Black Crowes, and most of all, his legendary years with the Allman Brothers Band in the ’70s.
My extensive and wide-ranging interview with Chuck has just been published in All About Jazz.
Jazzamatazz 