TodaysCommuteSoundtrack – Page 18

Duke Ellington & John Coltrane

Duke Ellington & John Coltrane.

A bit like “Money Jungle”, this is Ellington challenging himself and playing with some of those young whippersnappers.

It’s an interesting matchup, because Ellington, especially as a pianist, is the master of subtle harmony and the light touch. While Coltrane is the master of the grand gesture and is not particularly known for playing quietly. Ahem, to say the least.

And indeed, while Coltrane does run his modes over Ellington’s light moods, it is Ellington’s sophisticated and advanced chord harmonies that take the day and provide the highlights to this session.

To me, the song that best exemplifies a cooperative spirit of give and take between the artists is Ellington’s “Stevie”. Though, “Take the Coltrane” is pretty great, as well, I really enjoy the two of them mirroring each other in the head. And it’s great to hear Coltrane playing in a lighthearted mood on Big Nick and The Feeling of Jazz.

In any case, a thoroughly enjoyable album.

#DukeEllington #JohnColtrane #DukeEllingtonAndJohnColtrane #TodaysCommuteSoundtrack #JimmyGarrison #AaronBell #ElvinJones #SamWoodyard #McCoy Tyner

Coltrane

Coltrane by John Coltrane Quartet.

This 1962 album by “The Classic Quartet” of Coltrane, Garrison, Jones, and Tyner is their first great recording together.

Unlike most of the other records in this period, this one is well worn. Looks like I bought this copy in college, when it was re-released in 1987.

From the tentative meanderings of Ballads, the band has coalesced into a UNIT, a force to be reckoned with, by the time they recorded Coltrane.

Truly inspiring music, from beginning to end.

#JohnColtrane #JohnColtraneQuartet #JimmyGarrison #ElvinJones# McCoyTyner

Ballads

Ballads by John Coltrane.

I started listening to the newly released John Coltrane “lost” sessions, Both Directions at Once, yesterday and thought, “You know, I haven’t listened a lot to this period of Mr Coltrane’s music, 1962-1963, “Coltrane” through to “John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman”. I should give myself some context and listen to some of the other music he recorded and released in that period.” The early years of the “classic quartet”, Coltrane, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, and McCoy Tyner.

So, I started here with Ballads. Ballads is a bit of an odd bird. It was recorded at sessions starting in December 1961 through to November of 1962 and wasn’t released until 1963.

Allegedly, the band would arrive at the studio with the sheet music, discuss each tune for a bit, “semi-rehearse” for a half hour, then record the music in one take. And that was that. I don’t know if it was a sort of warm up for playing their other music, or if it was actually intended to be an album on its own.

In any case, Ballads is pretty forgettable. It is nice to remember that Coltrane could be tender and play very quietly if he wanted to, but the songs all really sound alike. Coltrane uses a lot of the same sort of melodic strategies on every song. And the rest of the band is mostly tip-tapping listlessly along. Listening to the album all the way through, makes you wish you would only hear one song a month over the course of a year. The only tune that sort of stands out for me, like the band got a bit of it in their blood, is “All or Nothing at All”. Elvin really kicks it on that one, rousing the rest of the band from their somnambulance.

Oddly, (or perhaps not that oddly,) Ballads was the recipient of a “Grammy Hall of Fame Award” in 2008.

#JohnColtrane #Ballads #TodaysCommuteSoundtrack #ElvinJones #JimmyGarrison #McCoyTyner

Year of the Snitch

Year of the Snitch by Death Grips.

I have to admit Death Grips are kind of a guilty pleasure for me.

An often offensive blend of metal, hardcore, and rap.

Year of the Snitch is their new album.

Like many of the kids, Death Grips are trying on some retro stylee.

Cheesy sounding synths, tacky beats, and leftover metal riffs that sound like they are from Whitesnake or Motley Crue b-sides.

Feels like they have travelled back in time to capture the feel of that first album the Beastie Boys did for Rick Rubin.

Anyway, the production is so grungy that I can’t really tell you what any of the songs are about, aside from to say that they use plenty of profanity. So, if you are sensitive to cursing, this isn’t the album for you. This may not be the Century for you.

#TodaysCommuteSoundtrack#DeathGrips #YearOfTheSnitch

Scratch, Slice, Jag

Scratch, Slice, Jag by Jeb Bishop and Dan Ruccia.
Bandcamp Link: Scratch, Slice, Jag

Trombone and Viola. Not one of those duo combinations that pops right out as an obvious choice.

In some sense, it does make sense, both are “slide” instruments (of a sort) and neither are typical “lead” instruments. Why not put them together?

This is the sort of improvised more akin to 20th Century “modern classical” music than what most people think of as “Jazz”. Both players are very good at listening and responding to each other, no matter how far out they go. And I can definitely say some of the sounds on this album surprised me, that they came out of a Viola or a Trombone.

I was initially dubious, not being much of a trombone guy, but after a couple times through, it is growing on me.

#DanRuccia #JebBishop #ScratchSliceJag #TodaysCommuteSoundtrack

Logos

Logos by Dos Santos.

I don’t know much about this band, other than that they are on a label whose Jazz releases I really like.

So, I was a bit surprised when I listened and heard a sort of Pan-Latin melting pot. Not dissimilar to the Los Lobos related Latin Playboys project or the Meridian Brothers.

The vocals, while in Spanish, are primarily influenced by Brazilian Tropicalia music, and they float serenely over the various styles of music which bubble underneath.

From Columbian Cumbia, to pretty straight ahead Latin Rock, to funk, soul, and beyond, the music runs the gamut. Though, like the Latin Playboys, they are playing with a bit wider field of view, in terms of production and sound, than you would typically hear in the source music.

One thing I do really like, is that they take the time to get real horn charts (ANTIBALAS HORNS!) on a couple tunes, which brings a special feel to “logos” and “(you are) my revolution”. A great soundtrack for the first commute of the summer.

#DosSantos #Logos #TodaysCommuteSoundtrack

Blocking

Blocking by Kevin Drumm.
Bandcamp Link: Blocking

Unlike his “May 18” release, Blocking is NOT “user friendly” Kevin Drumm.

There’s a joke in the drone/noise circles about mic’ing an oscillating fan.

This doesn’t exactly sound like mic’ing an oscillating fan. The experience is more like dozing, half-asleep, in a hammock on a hot summer day, while the neighbors on three yards elsewhere in your neighborhood mow their lawns. Not quite disturbing enough to wake you up, yet too disturbing for you to get a really good nap.

Or maybe trying to nap in the middle of a power transformer or nuclear reactor.

There are some repetitions and decreases in volume that sort of give the recording a feeling of progress and some tonal interaction between different pitched drones which occasionally is almost like tension or musical content.

And if you really listen, the tone is not pure, it is always modulating and changing, a foggy cloud of sounds being driven by winds or alien forces not recognizable as intention.

#KevinDrumm #Blocking #TodaysCommuteSoundtrack #MatjillaPoppy #Romneyacoulteri

All Directions Home

All Directions Home by Ken Vandermark and Nate Wooley.
Bandcamp Link: All Directions Home
Another Duo from Vandermark and Wooley. While Vandermark concentrated on Clarinet on East by Northwest, on All Directions Home he concentrates on Baritone and Tenor Sax. Only on the amazingly titled, “I Prefer the Company of Birds”, does he whip out the licorice stick.

Recorded live at The Sugar Maple in Milwaukee, both players are amazingly “on”. Sensitivity, grace, tension, and comfortability with your performance partner are the sensibilities which inform.

If anything, it reminds me a bit of Jimmy Guiffre’s small groups in its relaxed eclecticism.

And, by the way, I too, often, prefer the company of birds.

#KenVandermark #NateWooley #TodaysCommuteSoundtrack #AllDirectionsHome

Sustain

Sustain by Chaos Echoes (Echœs) and Mats Gustafsson.
Bandcamp Link: Sustain

Different groups have been taking different runs at “heavy” music with Saxophones. I’m not familiar with Chaos Echoes, aside from this album, so I don’t know how representative it is of their other music. Gustafsson, though, is always heavy in his own way, and this is no exception.

They build an atmosphere of dread and tension, haunted house horror movie music, but withhold the release. Especially on the second track, where minute after minute after minute Gustafsson pointedly avoids resolving the band’s chords, hanging on 6ths, 7ths, 2nds, and squonks until the song just fades out, unrequited.

Pretty cool, and, yep, pretty heavy. (My only real complaint is, with a total run time of about 25 minutes, this album is way too short for my taste. More, please.)

#MatsGustafsson #ChaosEchoes #ChaosEchœs #TodaysCommuteSoundtrack

May 18

May 18 by Kevin Drumm.
Bandcamp Link: May 18

I was quite dissapponted that I was out of town when Kevin Drumm made a rare West Coast appearance last month.

However, I am getting a bit behind my subscription listening, as this album is from Mid-May, so I will catch up virtually.

May 18 is everything I like in a Kevin Drumm album. A slow build of slightly non-tonal drone. Random events to keep things interesting. And finishing with some fine, fine strong sub-sonics.

I think if you were looking for a pleasant, but not too pleasant, introduction to his work, May 18 would be a good place to start.

#KevinDrumm #May18 #TodaysCommuteSoundtrack