That stumbling feeling

Ah, rhythm! Possibly the most primitive element of music. It's there even if you don't want to: just listen to your heartbeat and your breathing. Anyone can relate to it, even if they cannot produce it consciously. It's in some of the most memorable moments in the history of music, from the beginning of Beethoven's Fifth, to Fats Domino "I'm Walkin'", Steve Reich's "Clapping Music", or what Art Blakey does on Thelonious Monk's original "Straight, No Chaser".

Rhythm may also be considered the unifying feature for a lot of contemporary music (so much so that in Denmark they have a "Rhythmic Music Conservatory" encompassing exactly that). In jazz it's such a central element that I wouldn't know where to begin.

There's a small feature that appears frequently, though, which is the playing "in three" over a four-beat rhythm. Sounds complicated? You just have to check out what this early Brad Mehldau trio does here from 0:25 onwards, and you'll get it immediately

Daniel Cano / Julian Lage

DANIEL CANO QUINTET
Don't Touch the Blue
(Blue Asteroid DCQ-012154)

Cano (tp, fh, comp), Pedro Cortejosa (ss, ts), Wilfried Wilde (g), Paco Charlín (b), Jesús Pazos (d).

Recorded on February 15-16, 2014. Total time 50:15

With the blessings of fellow trumpeters Chris Kase and Paolo Fresu, UK-based Spaniard Daniel Cano brings about his own take on 21st century hard-bop. As a composer — 8 originals, 1 standard — he's comfortable in Monk's shadow (as in "Don't Touch the Blue" and "Buenordías", where he also sneaks in a quote of the "West End Blues" cadenza). The rhythm team provides an unobtrusive pulse — even in a busy tune like "Plutón", especially bright when Charlín sticks to the vamp — which is, helped by the absence of a piano, the perfect fold for the unhurried and thought-through work of the soloists. Minor cavil, perhaps: a few more sprinkles of the fire shown on the closing "Canción carpiana" might have enhanced the end result. Worth catching live (they're in Seville, Spain, tomorrow 24).

Available on Spotify

~ ~ ~

JULIAN LAGE

World's Fair
(Modern Lore Records)

Lage (acoustic guitar)

Recorded March and June, 2014. Total time 38:02

Julian Lage. He may be the sweetest interviewee ever, a true unassuming laid-back Californian; his playing may sound effortless, as if there were no merit to what he does. But don't let all that mislead you. If you listen to this recording, you may well be hooked by second #4 (0:04), and that doesn't happen with lightweights. Lage, in fact, is a monster guitarist, one of the most extraordinary musicians we have today. The fact that he's been playing since he was a child and that he loves the instrument puts him in a different category way past instrumental virtuosity rendering it invisible. You can also forget about styles and genres, although annotator and fellow guitarist Matt Munisteri's "post-Internet folk" sounds like an apt definition: even if it has a certain local flavour, despite the acoustic instrument and current trends this is not an "Americana" album (phew!). With tunes like "Peru" and "Japan", this is rather Lage's own worldview. His tale is, at times, very evocative, pensive but not sombre, energetic and joyful, with moments of ridiculous guitar-playing (his sonic palette with the acoustic guitar is astonishing). Lage's only apparent limitation is his own imagination, and at the moment, it seems far from drying up.

Available on BandCamp, YouTube and Spotify
Website: www.julianlage.com

The joy of zest (introducing the Lucky Chops)

Every once in a while the tired discussion on how to bring jazz to people, or make it "popular" reappears. When it does, I always think of these two quotes.

Years ago, singer, pianist and raccounteur Ben Sidran asked Art Blakey to describe jazz in one word, to which the master drummer replied: 

"Intensity. Intensity. Intensity. Even on the ballads."

Sometime in the early seventies, trombonist, pianist, composer and arranger Bob Brookmeyer, a serious guy with zero tolerance to nonsense, said this, as published by Downbeat magazine:

"Above all, you're supposed to have a good time with it. Otherwise you missed the whole point, and you can't do that."

Well, admittedly the music on the video below is not jazz (let's not go into pointless arguments just now), but besides being a grand example of how much fun music can be (and of the value of music as a social tool—the baritone player is obviously nuts, and here he is, being useful to society), I think it provides a good hint of the zest that would be most welcome in any kind of music, and especially in (some) jazz.

(Same video, on Facebook)

Great drummers... in motion

Thanks to YouTube user Rui Azul, who's put together these three videos with footage of 41 great drummers. It is great seeing all these people in motion (except Chick Webb, the only one that is represented by stills) and even putting a face to some of them.

Enjoy!

Great Drummers: Part 1

Big Sid Catlett, Baby Dodds, Cozy Cole, Zutty Singleton, Paul Barbarin, Chick Webb (stills only), Lionel Hampton, Jo Jones, ,Sonny Payne, Shadow Wilson, Sonny Greer, Denzil Best, Pete Laroca.

Great Drummers: Part 2

Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, Shelly Manne, Stan Levey, Kenny Clarke, Panama Francis, Sam Woodyard, Mel Lewis, Max Roach, Louis Hayes, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Joe Morello, Art Blakey

Great Drummers: Part 3

Philly Joe Jones, Ed Thigpen, Frankie Dunlop, Connie Kay, Elvin Jones, Gus Johnson, Roy Haynes, Ben Riley, Dannie Richmond, Al Foster, Bernard Purdie, Jimmy Cobb, Chico Hamilton, Ed Shaughnessy