galen jeter, james and myles, keith wingate, johnny case, miss kim
so jeremy hull says he just made a jazz record with the galen jeter orchestra (formerly the dallas jazz orchestra...long sad political story) -- big band versions of country chestnuts which galen is hoping to get high-powered stars like willie nelson and norah jones to sing on. could happen, too; willie's known for making cameo appearances on projects like carla bozulich's re-imagining of his red-headed stranger alb. if the concept seems weird, just go back to gerald wilson and gil fuller's arrangements of nashville toonage on ray charles' modern sounds in country and western music, a listenable copy of which i scored on vinyl from sumter the other day. a lot of it has to do with the fact that bro. ray could sing the phonebook and make it sound soulful, but as much of a commercial move as this alb might have seemed way back in '62, it makes most of the other stuff i'm going to hear today sound downright silly. jeremy also might be playing bass w/harry connick, jr., at an upcoming katrina benefit at the bass hall. if the ticket cost weren't prohibitive, it'd be enough to make me and my sweetiie wanna go and sit in the cheap seats and go apeshit like tx families @ highschool graduations when harry jr. introduces the band.
saw keith wingate the other night for the first time since he became a dad to twin son 'n' dtr (the new wingate trio in 15 yrs? _you_ decide!!!) and got a copy of the empty tables cd by james nichols and myles hayes that he played on (along with the aforementioned jeremy hull, jaelun washington, daniel hardaway, and other ppl like that). james has been vocalizing with keith on his weekend 8.0 gigs (where dave williams of "and daver" fame has also been showing up with his tenor in tow), while myles fronts a bluesy outfit called "trouble in mind." didn't make it to the cd release show at the moon, but heard it was packed. the rec itself is nice enough -- both james and myles have pleasant, smooth voices in a chet baker kinda way (minus the trumpet, the doomed prettiness, and hopefully the heroin addiction), but their approach to these well-worn standards isn't particularly original or distinctive -- at least oaklin bloodworth projected a persona on _his_ disc (altho this one has it all over that 'un in terms of pure sonics; another jordan richardson / first street audio production). keith himself remains a tasteful master of chordal wondermeant and a fiery improvisor. myself, i'd like to hear him do more with the extended compositional foray he was working on the last time we spoke. he could roll it out at arts fifth avenue and not even have to pay for a babysitter.
speaking of arts fifth avenue, johnny case (now aka jhon kasen) is holding the cd release party for his politically-themed love's bitter rage disc there tonight. because i suck, i have ppl coming over for din-din, so i won't be able to make it out, but hopefully lots of others will. johnny's always had strong political convictions but this is the first time they've manifested themselves thematically in his music. on the upside, we went to sardines to try and hear him the other night and had to walk away from a 45-minute wait for a table. nice to know the place is doing well, and that so many folks are getting to hear johnny's jazz pianner mastery (if they've got ears to listen).
finally, we went to the re-opened bluebird blues club at horne and wellesley last night to hear miss kim and the b.t.a. band. new proprietor sam harris seems like a nice cat, and he's made some big improvements to the bluebird's interior (like putting in air conditioning). didn't see a lot of folks eating the food ($5 hand-pressed hamburgers last night), but it brought back memories just being in that room again (although i couldn't help being struck, as i was the first time i set foot in austin's continental club after 20+ yrs, by how _small_ the room was). ray reed's college-kid son was playing drums and keyboardist oscar spruill was along to supply instrumental fireworks and showmanship, but the foundation as always came from ray's rough-hewn vox and gtr, and quincy brown's solid support on bass. miss kim still keeps her mama's portrait onstage, but her vocal grit and athleticism remain all her own. the crowd coulda been bigger, but there was a big festival on at j&j's and a few regular b.t.a. followers are preoccupied with family mbrs affected by the recent spate of storms. still, big sam runs a nice room, and it was a gas to be able to go see miss kim and b.t.a. five minutes from my house.
saw keith wingate the other night for the first time since he became a dad to twin son 'n' dtr (the new wingate trio in 15 yrs? _you_ decide!!!) and got a copy of the empty tables cd by james nichols and myles hayes that he played on (along with the aforementioned jeremy hull, jaelun washington, daniel hardaway, and other ppl like that). james has been vocalizing with keith on his weekend 8.0 gigs (where dave williams of "and daver" fame has also been showing up with his tenor in tow), while myles fronts a bluesy outfit called "trouble in mind." didn't make it to the cd release show at the moon, but heard it was packed. the rec itself is nice enough -- both james and myles have pleasant, smooth voices in a chet baker kinda way (minus the trumpet, the doomed prettiness, and hopefully the heroin addiction), but their approach to these well-worn standards isn't particularly original or distinctive -- at least oaklin bloodworth projected a persona on _his_ disc (altho this one has it all over that 'un in terms of pure sonics; another jordan richardson / first street audio production). keith himself remains a tasteful master of chordal wondermeant and a fiery improvisor. myself, i'd like to hear him do more with the extended compositional foray he was working on the last time we spoke. he could roll it out at arts fifth avenue and not even have to pay for a babysitter.
speaking of arts fifth avenue, johnny case (now aka jhon kasen) is holding the cd release party for his politically-themed love's bitter rage disc there tonight. because i suck, i have ppl coming over for din-din, so i won't be able to make it out, but hopefully lots of others will. johnny's always had strong political convictions but this is the first time they've manifested themselves thematically in his music. on the upside, we went to sardines to try and hear him the other night and had to walk away from a 45-minute wait for a table. nice to know the place is doing well, and that so many folks are getting to hear johnny's jazz pianner mastery (if they've got ears to listen).
finally, we went to the re-opened bluebird blues club at horne and wellesley last night to hear miss kim and the b.t.a. band. new proprietor sam harris seems like a nice cat, and he's made some big improvements to the bluebird's interior (like putting in air conditioning). didn't see a lot of folks eating the food ($5 hand-pressed hamburgers last night), but it brought back memories just being in that room again (although i couldn't help being struck, as i was the first time i set foot in austin's continental club after 20+ yrs, by how _small_ the room was). ray reed's college-kid son was playing drums and keyboardist oscar spruill was along to supply instrumental fireworks and showmanship, but the foundation as always came from ray's rough-hewn vox and gtr, and quincy brown's solid support on bass. miss kim still keeps her mama's portrait onstage, but her vocal grit and athleticism remain all her own. the crowd coulda been bigger, but there was a big festival on at j&j's and a few regular b.t.a. followers are preoccupied with family mbrs affected by the recent spate of storms. still, big sam runs a nice room, and it was a gas to be able to go see miss kim and b.t.a. five minutes from my house.
posted by stashdauber at 9:08 AM
2 Comments:
Actually, Johnny has not always had strong convictions about politics as stated on his website.
" Although apolitical by nature, Johnny has become a political activist since the U.S. invasion of Iraq"
Makes one wonder how much Johnny really knows about politics or history for that matter and whether he really is just a rookie. Well, not a rookie but a minor leaguer - single A at that.
oh well.
more rant on johnny's rec after i've had a chance to digest it fully.
did i mention i played a set w/ray and b.t.a.? first time i'd done that since christmas eve '03 (in midway, texas, in a huge, freezing cold room w/very few ppl in it), with the slight exception of one song i unwisely got up and played at j&j's when i was _garrruuunnnk_...never again! they're playing at the keys lounge this friday, september 30th. i might have to go down and check 'em out.
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