How does an Indie compete with the Majors for a Grammy Nomination?
Roby Glod Quartet in Paris on 11/25/13
What is “Accessible”? (Part 2)
In a previous post, I started thinking about what makes music “accessible”. This is a dirty word in some quarters, but I think it’s the highest compliment. If we could take the billions of promotional dollars spent pushing garbage out of the equation, I suggest we would see that accessibility in music has nothing to do with harmonic simplicity, tune length or “dumbing down” the music.
A few years ago, I played a concert of completely improvised (“free”) music at a venue in Red Hook, Brooklyn. I had thought the drummer Klaus Kugel was going to be in town so I asked a couple of his colleagues to play – the bassist Hilliard Greene and the tenor saxophonist Louie Belogenis. (It turned out Klaus couldn’t make the gig due to visa issues but I’m so glad we did the gig anyway, with Billy Mintz on drums, because it was the first time, but not the last, that I got to play with Louie. I had played with Hill several times in the distant past, but always in a straight-ahead situation, mostly backing up a very good standards singer named Francina Connors. This Brooklyn gig was the first time we played free together and I suspect it had something to do with Hill asking me to play in his free-playing-on-standards In and Out trio which is always a complete blast.)
But I digresss. I wanted to talk about accessibility. So for reasons I can’t recall now, my brother and my mother came to this gig of “avant garde” music with no pre-ordained structures. They both loved it. Now, my brother is himself a very good musician with amazing ears, albeit with more of a taste for straight-ahead jazz. so you might have expected that he would at least have some appreciation for the abilities of these musicians. But it was deeper than that. Talking to him right after the concert, I could see that his mind had actually been a bit blown, in a good way.
If you’re reading this you probably don’t know my 87-year-old mother, at least not well. So you will have to take my word for it that she is not that kind of mother who thinks everything her kids do is wonderful, the kind who freely heaps praise; quite the opposite in fact. And, while as a young woman she was an amateur singer of the American Popular Songbook, she had no idea that completely improvised music was a “thing” until I explained it to her immediately before the concert. And yet my mother, too, loved this concert. Not in her typical “that was very nice” sort of way of tolerating the fact that her only daughter (who “would have made a good lawyer”) had spent most of her adult life up to that point doing an excellent imitation of a starving artist, but in a delighted, even transformed, way.
So I have seen first-hand that accessibility has nothing to do with genre, structure, level of complexity or anything else but the sincerity, focus and depth of the musicians themselves.
By the way, I will be performing standards (played freely, but accessibly) with Hill Greene and drummer Newman Taylor Baker at the Paterson Public Library in New Jersey on November 2nd, soon after which I embark on a European tour with the amazing saxophonist Roby Glod and his quartet featuring Christian Raymond on bass and the afore-mentioned Klaus Kugel on drums.
Another Great Show Tonight
… In Santa Barbara. Four shows in a row and it just keeps getting better and better. Another standing ovation after a 90-minute set. Thanks to Joe Woodard’s feature in the local paper we had a very good crowd. So grateful to be playing with these transcendent musicians: Putter Smith, john Gross, Billy Mintz. Tomorrow is our last night – Alva’s showroom in San Pedro.
What is “Accessible”?
Doug Ramsey has written a wonderful review of Mintz Quartet in his exemplary Rifftides blog. Interestingly, he uses the word “accessible” to describe the CD, which features only Billy’s originals. The recording has a few free pieces and one thirteen-minute power-vamp in 7 + 5; and at least one tune starts with a quiet drum solo. In theory, according to all the criteria of industry “experts”, this should not be an accessible recording, at least not in the way the word is traditionally used. However, Doug’s description rings completely true for me. “Accessible” is a great word to describe this album.
Billy’s writing and playing has a rare straight-forwardness about it; it’s completely lacking in artifice. The same goes for the playing of John Gross and Putter Smith. Such focus and clarity of thought. (It takes a long time to attain that kind of mastery and it is why I feel privileged to be on the CD and to be playing all this week in southern California with them.)
At first it seems counter-intuitive that in order to be accessible, one needs to reach the highest level of accomplishment and expression but it actually makes sense. Musicians often discuss how jazz was more popular “back in the day” and of course this has a lot to do with the music having been more danceable (as well as the general decline and corporatization of American culture). However, not being danceable didn’t stop sensitive laypeople from listening to Bird or Miles.
I wonder if the decline of jazz’s popularity is more about the fact that jazz has become glutted with incredibly competent players who have memorized all the rules and can regurgitate with ease, but do not have that quality of directness that Billy, John and Putter have. It used to be called “telling a story”. Some people associate that term with pre-bebop jazz but I personally don’t think it has anything to do with genres. However, that’s for another post.
Just saying.
RIP Marian
I just found out that Marian McPartland passed away last night. I can’t even begin to say what a good friend and wonderful person she was, in addition to being a great musician and radio host of course. The last time I saw her was a few months ago when Huey and Paul DeBarros held a screening/book reading in her honor and asked me to play a few of her tunes, mostly in the background while Marian and the authors autographed DVDs and books. It was her day, and yet she expressed concern to me (twice actually) that someone should announce me before I played, and offered to do so herself! Such thoughtfulness and generosity.
Another great thing about Marian: she could swear with the best of them. It was hilarious to hear her cursing with her proper British accent.
I will miss her.
For School Band Directors: How Can I Maximize the Impact of a Visiting Clinician at My School? Part 2
In Part 1 of this post, I talked about how to maximize the positive effects of having a visiting artist give a clinic or master class at your school. I’d like to discuss some other thoughts I’ve had on this subject over the years that I’ve been an educator and clinician.
3. Start on time. If at all possible, prepare the room where the clinic will take place ahead of time. If the artist has to stand around for 30 minutes while the previous class clears out, chairs are being moved, and amps are plugged in then you are wasting the artist’s time and your money.
In some circumstances it may not be possible to set up in advance of the class time – if, for example, there’s another class in the room immediately before. However, there’s no reason the artist should have to be around for that. This is not a matter of the clinician being a prima donna, but more of a practical matter. Usually visiting artists are on a tight and often grueling travel schedule. They may be performing in a local club until 2am, and then getting up bright and early to be at your school (hopefully) on time. Respect the artist’s scheduling and sleeping needs by being realistic about what time the clinic will really start. An artist who is well-rested and feels that her time is being respected will be a better clinician, and more willing to stick around after the “official” clinic has ended to answer questions.
4. Live music is the best teacher. My final suggestion for clinics may seem self-serving: If the artist is performing in your town, whether at a concert in your school or at a local venue such as a jazz club, encourage your students to go to the performance. There’s no substitute for hearing live jazz, and seeing the artist put his words into practice is an invaluable learning experience for your students that simply cannot be duplicated in the classroom.
As in Part 1 of this article, comments, especially from clinicians and band directors, are welcome.
Roberta Piket in Huntington on 6/15/13
For School Band Directors: How can I Maximize the Impact of a Visiting Clinician at My School? Part 1
Over the years I’ve done many clinics and masterclasses at the high school and college level. Sometimes the students are very advanced, sometimes they’re practically beginners. No matter what level your students are at, there are certain steps you can take ensure that they will get the most out of a clinician or guest artist. Whether you hire an artist for an hour, or for an extended residency, these tips should help your students get lasting benefits (which translates into more value for your limited clinician budget and better performances at concert time.)
1. Be there . Frankly I’m amazed I even have to point this out, but a surprising number of instructors simply treat a session with a professional artist as an opportunity to catch up on their paperwork or take a coffee break.
Your presence at the class is essential for several reasons. For one thing, it shows students that this is a worthwhile endeavor and they should pay attention.
Secondly, you may just learn something. As professionals, whether as musicians, teachers, or both, we owe it to ourselves to never stop growing and learning. I have team-taught clinics with other musicians who said things I would never have thought of. This has made me a better teacher. Even if you are unable to afford a frequent clinician visit, you can pass on that artist’s wisdom to your future students, but only if you’re there to hear what she has to say! In particular I have seen many school band situations where the band was simply not set up optimally. Maybe the bass player was on the opposite side of the room from the drummer, or the singer wasn’t properly miked. The clinician can correct these problems in his visit, but if you aren’t there to hear about it, the same errors will continue in the next rehearsal.
Here is the third and probably most important reason for you to attend the class. We all need repetition to learn anything new. Only by knowing what was said to your students can you reinforce it in the coming months and years. That talented young drummer may need to hear twenty times, not just once, that he needn’t play so loud; the sax player may need to be reminded regularly of the importance of doing long tones.
2. Plan Ahead. In advance, encourage your students to think of questions. You may ask them individually or collectively to make a list of questions or items they are struggling with such as a particular tune or an instrumental problem.
Next week I’ll post further suggestions on getting the most from a band clinician. Are you a visiting artist or a school band director? Comments welcome.
Saturday May 25th: Three Solo Performances in One Night: Sam Newsome, Billy Mintz, Roberta Piket
This will be a great show! Three solo sets by three different improvisors in one night!
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Three Sets Starting at 8pm:
Sam Newsome: Solo Soprano Saxophone
Roberta Piket: Solo Piano
Billy Mintz: Solo Drumset
Ibeam 168 7th Street, Brooklyn, NY www.ibeambrooklyn.com
$10 requested donation for the whole night, all ages admitted
Press release follows:
Saturday May 25th will be a special evening in Brooklyn as three musicians explore the challenging and rewarding art of playing solo.
Since deciding to become a soprano saxophone specialist in 1996, Sam Newsome has established himself as one of the leading voices on his instrument. Nate Chinen, in his New York Times review of one of Newsome’s solo saxophone concerts, described him as having an “outsized command of the horn.” He has developed his own brand of solo saxophone that successfully intertwines modern jazz vocabularies, extended techniques, and West African and East Asian sensibilities. Writer Michael Jackson, who gave Newsome’s Blue Soliloquy the coveted five star (masterpiece) rating in Downbeat, lauded him for his “succinct survey of the world outside, as well as the world within.” In addition to placing every year in the Downbeat Critics Polls in the “Soprano Saxophone” category, the Jazz Journalist Association (JJA) has named him as a nominee for “Soprano Saxophonist of the Year” in 2011 and 2013. http://www.samnewsome.com/
Roberta Piket has played professionally as a sidewoman with David Liebman, Rufus Reid, Michael Formanek, Lionel Hampton and the BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra, and has three times been a featured guest on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, on National Public Radio. Her 2012 release, entitled simply Solo, has garnered rave reviews and was on the “ten-best list” of two jazz writers. For video visit: www.tinyurl.com/robertayoutube “[Solo] displays a mastery that is frequently striking and always engaging. It’s hard to believe this is Roberta Piket’s maiden voyage on solo piano…. Her playing reflects various influences but it’s her own stunning and singular voice that makes this album so memorable.”– New York City Jazz Record
In an extraordinary career spanning nearly 40 years, Billy Mintz has played with Lee Konitz, Eddie Daniels, Harold Danko, Mose Allison, Mark Murphy, Bobby Shew, Charles Lloyd, Vinny Golia, Mark Feldman, Ellery Eskelin and the Alan Broadbent Trio. In recent years, Mr. Mintz has taken on new roles as a bandleader and a composer, performing his own compositions with various ensembles. He has been performing solo drumset concerts for over a decade. “[Mintz’s solo performances are] a form of holy worship for many musicians and drummers. Forget what you know about the drums and solo drums. This is no boom-chakka-lakka affair. Mintz is painterly and understated in his singular approach to music.” Willamette Week, Portland, Oregon