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A Noise From The Deep Podcast Episode 5: Jon Irabagon

Posted by: jim on May 21, 2013 @ 6:44 pm
Filed under: Podcast
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A lively conversation with saxophonist & composer Jon Irabagon about his latest recording released on his own label, Irabbagast Records, winng the Monk Competition, and drawing equal inspiration from Wayne Shorter and Parker Posey. Also, Michael talks vinyl, and Dave shines a light on the music of Booker Little.

Jon Irabagon and Dave Douglas at Avatar Studios

Jon Irabagon and Dave Douglas at Avatar Studios

Tracks in this podcast

Parker Posey-Jon Irabagon, Irabbagast Records
Silent Smile-Jon Irabagon, Irabbagast Records
Parker Posey-Jon Irabagon, Irabbagast Records
Lola Pastillas-Jon Irabagon, Irabbagast Records
High On A Mountain-Dave Douglas, Greenleaf Music
Orbits-Wayne Shorter Quartet, Bluenote Records
Moods in Free Time-Booker Little, Out Front, Candid
A Noise From the Deep-Dave Douglas, Keystone, Greenleaf Music

Click to Irabbagast Records to purchase Jon Irabagon’s music


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Dave Douglas | 50 States

Posted by: jim on May 20, 2013 @ 1:25 pm
Filed under: Dave Douglas (News), Events

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2013 marks the 50th birthday year for Dave Douglas, “the unassuming king of independent jazz” (DownBeat), and on that note, Douglas is setting his sights on reaching all 50 U.S. states in person, with his horn. His 50 States project, or DD50, was born from a want to perform in unlikely and outdoors locations for people who might not otherwise have the same kind of access to live, improvised music as those in larger cities.

More information at 50.davedouglas.com


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Donny McCaslin on NPR’s Piano Jazz

Posted by: jim on May 15, 2013 @ 9:53 am
Filed under: Donny McCaslin (News), Listening

Screen shot 2013-05-15 at 9.43.30 AM

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Setlist

“Take The ‘A’ Train” (E.K. Ellington, B. Strayhorn)
“Isfahan” (B. Strayhorn)
“Memphis Redux” (D. McCaslin)
“M” (D. McCaslin)
“All The Things You Are” (J. Kern, O. Hammerstein)
“Late Night Gospel” (D. McCaslin)
“What Is This Thing Called Love?” (C. Porter)

via npr.org | Tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin got his start at age 12, when he began playing in his vibraphonist father’s band in Santa Cruz, Calif. That group played the Monterey Jazz Festival for three years. In 1984, McCaslin took a full scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston; while there, he performed regularly in the area with Ken Schaphorst’s True Colors Big Band.

McCaslin then joined with another vibraphonist, Gary Burton, and toured the world with him for four years. After moving to New York City, he performed with the group Steps Ahead, and has also played with the Gil Evans Orchestra, Danilo Perez, Maria Schneider, John Medeski, the Dave Douglas Quintet and many others.

McCaslin has recorded 10 albums as a leader. His most recent release, Casting for Gravity, fuses jazz with electronic textures influenced by artists such as Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada.


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A Noise From The Deep Podcast Episode 4: Miles Okazaki

Posted by: jim on May 13, 2013 @ 2:03 pm
Filed under: Podcast
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Dave Douglas and Michael Bates host a conversation with American guitarist Miles Okazaki about how nature informs structure in his music, Dave talks about his Greenleaf Music record label, and the music of Herbie Nichols is spotlighted.

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Here we are already posting Episode 4 of A Noise From The Deep, Greenleaf Music Podcast! Michael and I have a lot of fun making these, and it’s a pleasure to hear and talk about the music. This episode features the brilliant guitarist and composer Miles Okazaki. Go pick up his music if you haven’t heard it.

Please subscribe to the podcast at iTunes and help us spread the word about this music. We will keep making new free episodes so check back in every week or two for a new episode. And if you like them please leave a comment or review at iTunes, it helps people discover us.

Part of what we talk about on ANFTD is what we’re doing here at Greenleaf Music. There are always new projects: this year, new albums by myself, by Linda Oh and by Matt Ulery. We always hope to do more! And we try to make sure the model feeds the creative flow whether it’s touring, workshops, sheet music, mobile apps, this podcast, and the recorded music. You can join our Subscriber community for access to stream the entire catalog, our ever-expanding Subscriber Downloads catalog, advanced video, and much more. If you like what we are doing please visit our store to find out more.

As always, we also welcome your comments here at Greenleaf Music. Got someone you think we should talk to? Got a topic or question you’d like us to address? Send it to us here.

Thanks and happy listening.

Dave

Audio from this episode:

Intro: A Noise From the Deep – Dave Douglas & Keystone (Greenleaf Music)
Dozens – Miles Okazaki (Sunnyside)
Spiral – Miles Okazaki (Sunnyside)
Bach Cello Suite #4 in Eb BWV 1010 performed by Pablo Casals (EMI Classics)
Overture – Miles Okazaki (Sunnyside)
Loom – Miles Okazaki (Sunnyside)
Go-Go (Theme and Re-Introduction) – Miles Davis (Columbia)
Dozens – Miles Okazaki (Sunnyside)
Lymph Swag (Dance of the Leukocytes) – Steve Coleman
Come to Jesus – Dave Douglas Quintet (previously unreleased, Greenleaf Music)
Argumentative – Herbie Nichols trio (Bethlehem Records)
The Gig – Herbie Nichols trio (Blue Note)

Personnel:

Miles’ band on all his tracks is: Miguel Zenon-saxophone, Miles Okazaki-guitar, Thomas Morgan-bass, Dan Weiss-drums
The Steve Coleman track is from “Functional Arrhythmias” (PI recordings) Steve Coleman- saxophone, Jonathan Finlayson-trumpet, Miles Okazaki-guitar, Anthony Tidd-bass, Sean Rickman-drums
Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Davis-trumpet, George Coleman-saxophone, Herbie Hancock-piano, Ron Carter-bass, Tony Williams-drums
Herbie Nichols trio: Herbie Nichols-piano, Al McKibbon-bass, Max Roach-drums.

Explanations from Miles

1) An intervallic pathway visualization, connecting pentatonics (guitar, baby!), whole tone scales, and diminished 7th chords in a big modulating lattice. 2) The type of natural structure I got the idea from, something called "quasicrystals."

1) An intervallic pathway visualization, connecting pentatonics (guitar, baby!), whole tone scales, and diminished 7th chords in a big modulating lattice.
2) The type of natural structure I got the idea from, something called “quasicrystals.”

3) A rhythmic cycle visualization, where each "generation" of the rhythm is similar to the previous one, but more detailed, following a growth pattern from nature. 4) A Passion Flower, which has a similar kind of geometry.

3) A rhythmic cycle visualization, where each “generation” of the rhythm is similar to the previous one, but more detailed, following a growth pattern from nature.
4) A Passion Flower, which has a similar kind of geometry.


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More from the mailbox: Not knowing what to practice.

Posted by: Dave Douglas on May 2, 2013 @ 9:20 am
Filed under: Dave Douglas (Artist Thoughts), Education, Workshop

Thanks to all for writing and for your questions and thoughts. Always appreciated. For this recent one, I am going to paraphrase the question:

“Dave, I’m having trouble knowing what to practice. I feel like I am working a lot but not moving forward, and I’m a little frustrated at not knowing where to look for inspiration in my practicing and playing. Help.”

I have a few thoughts about what you’ve said. I broke them up into a few avenues of inquiry that you might find helpful.

First: Presence. A part of any activity in the arts is like meditation or simple awareness, depending on how you look at it. The meditative mind is a huge part of the practice of practice. Notice what’s going on around you and inside you. I’m reading a book right now called Rebel Buddha, which I wholeheartedly recommend. I am not a Buddhist (last year I actually reaffirmed my identity as a Christian, just… not the kind that believes in killing people… oof!). I feel like some quiet sitting and focus might sharpen your musical instincts. Add that as part of your eight hour day. Lots of manuals are available if you look. You probably already have at least one in your house. This is a way of focussing your presence so you can be more aware of what you are working on.

Second: Absence. Music is a subtle devil. So much of the power is in things we never think about or talk about. The power of absence in music — a quick concrete example is when you release a note as opposed to when you attack it. Your release creates an absence and is almost half the power of the note itself. Think about where and how your notes end. Think about how the silences in your rhythm make the music stronger. Think about how the wake of your notes makes the metronome swing.

Third: Tone. Profound element and how often do we work on that? Sit around playing long tones and tinkering, in a microscopic way, with the sound of the one note. Vibrato, dynamics, timbre, harmonics, articulation, smears, multi-phonics, growling, etc. all found in holding that one note. Listen to Billie Holiday and think about how many different ways (and how expressively!) she sings the same note every time it comes around. In some ways I feel like this is the development of taste, in a good way. When you get on the stage you want every note to be beautiful and powerful. Loaded with meaning.

Glad we talked.


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