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

Brad Mehldau: the early years

Young Brad Mehldau, by John Abbott

Brad Mehldau is 44 today, which means that it's about twenty years since he first blipped in the radar, possibly, when he first recorded for a major label, Warner, as a sideman of Joshua Redman's, with whom he also toured the world that year.

Joshua Redman - ts, Brad Mehldau - p, Christian McBride - b, Brian Blade - d
San Sebastián (Spain) - July 25th, 1994

Since then, with this Art of the Trio series with Jorge Rossy and Larry Grenadier he made the classic piano trio fashionable and trendy, becoming one of the main young stars of jazz, a coop he has already flown. Even though he maintains his classic piano trio active, he's also involved in other projects that defy categorization. And more power to him for that.

Time flies...

Exactly one year ago today  I just got to New York City and rushed to get to a cozy gig in Brooklyn, for Ted Brown's 85th birthday (happy 86th, Mr. Brown!) There, I met Michael Steinman, purveyor of happiness through his Jazz Lives blog, who was recording the proceedings. This took place at The Drawing Room, Michael Kanan's studio on the first floor of a building on a street of Brooklyn; a small room with about thirty people in attendance, a small makeshift bar, and a very warm and welcoming vibe, for lack of a better word, to it.

This all may be a matter of personal perception, but there are times that magic seems to happen. This was one of those times: from the music, completely acoustic, to the unassuming attitude of everyone present, the love and respect for the birthday boy... even the lightning was wonderful.

L to R: Michael Kanan, Brad Linde, Kirk Knuffke, Ted Brown,
Chris Lightcap, Matt Wilson.

RIP Raúl Mao (1944-2013)

Raúl Mao died on February 8th. He had been ill for some time. He was the heart of Spanish magazine Cuadernos de Jazz, the main reason for its record-breaking 20 years in print, plus three as a web-only publication.

We first met back in 1998, after a concert by Brad Mehldau in Madrid.

He's already missed.

Brad Mehldau is 42 today

What is it with succesful jazz musicians that are so appealing for what Americans call "haters"? Whatever it is, Brad Mehldau has enjoyed some success, a lot of it in jazz terms, and some have enjoyed bad-mouthing him (and if the average jazz listener is really a white, middle-aged male, it's time to revise women's presumed superiority at bitching).

Today Mehldau is 42. Although this is sometimes forgotten in the English-speaking world, he recorded his first trio album in Barcelona for Fresh Sound New Talent in 1993, and two years later, at 25, he moved to Warner's (have things changed!) I discovered him in 1997, recommended by veteran producer and writer Ira Gitler, no less, at Jazzaldia, San Sebastián's Jazz Festival. Shortly afterwards I moved to London, and one of the first CDs I bought, in a street market was The Art of the Trio, Vol. 1. That was my last review for the local newspaper I used to write for back in Spain.

Music can be appreciated at several levels. For a music writer, there can be an understanding of the merits of a given piece, she or he can also like it as a fan, and in a few instances, it can reach deep inside of you and help keeping you sane. The piece above, "Elegy for William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg", has been a refuge through the years.

Thank you and happy birthday, Brad Mehldau.