Guitarist Kevin Eubanks stopped by my radio program tonight. We hung out, talked on-the-air for about an hour and played some cuts from his latest CD “Zen Food.” Kevin has things to say, not just about music.
podcast for the 3-27-11 show with Kevin Eubanks is here: http://inkdroid.org/podcasts/sound-of-surprise/
Kevin Eubanks (by Larry Appelbaum)
have dealt with standards, Broadway show tunes and the grits ‘n gravy world
of the Hammond B-3. Her new CD, A Thousand Beautiful Things (Telarc),
features some of her favorite contemporary songs by Björk, Nellie McKay,
Annie Lennox, Sam Phillips, Raul Midón and others, recast in Latin
arrangements by pianist Edsel Gomez. In person, Siegel is both thoughtful
and quick, and very much in the moment. She recognized many of the artists
immediately, poring over the CD notes to examine and comment on song
choices. She also expressed genuine interest in the new names, writing some
of them down for later downloading. At one point she playfully flipped the
script and began playing me songs from her Ipod, asking me to identify them.
1. Five Corners Quintet with Mark Murphy
“This Could Be The Start of Something Big” (from Chasin’ The Jazz Gone By,
Ricky-Tick Records). Murphy, vocals; Timo Lassy, tenor saxophone; Jukka
Eskola, trumpet, flugelhorn; Severi Pyysalo, vibes; Mikael Jakobsson, piano;
Antti Lötjönen, bass; Teppo Mäkynen, drums; Abdissa Assefa, percussion;
string arrangements by Tomi Malm. Recorded in 2005.
Before: It’s Mark Murphy. It’s the timbre, the quality his voice. That’s why
I have a hard time identifying more modern singers, because they all sound
the same. There=s no character or life or juice in the voices. Mark=s voice
is beautiful I think; very wide range, very evocative bass notes and then
he’ll just surprise you by flying off into a higher register. The
fearlessness of his singing is something I admire so much. It’s so rich and
deep and full of life.
After: I really like this arrangement. I just worked with Stefon Harris and
I love the sound of the vibes arranged orchestrally with other instruments.
It’s kind of a Latin feel. And it’s a tune that can be overdone and
schmaltzy, but with him it’s real.
2. Carol Fran
“Tou Les Jours ç’est Pas La Même” (from Our New Orleans 2005, Nonesuch).
Fran, piano, vocals. Recorded in 2005.
Before: This sounds like it=s from that Nonesuch tribute to New Orleans
record that just came out. I have it but I can’t remember the name of the
woman who does this. It=s an incredible record, such a real representation
of the music there.
What’s so special about New Orleans music?
It’s the mixture, the cooking, the gumbo. All the ingredients and
influences: African, French-Acadian, Caribbean and black-American
influences. And it’s the rhythm. There=s a certain syncopation that you
associate with New Orleans.
Reaction to Katrina?
I’m not a big fan of the Bush administration and it did seem to me a nation
as wealthy as ours to not respond more quickly, to any city but to that city
in particular, which is such a treasure, a jewel in the U.S., I did feel it
was a racist reaction from the government. And Bush–the buck stops with
him. He’s the president. If he wanted to do something he could.
After: I like the whole record and she exemplifies it because it’s real.
She’s totally rocking.
3. Jeanne Lee
“Worry Now Later” (from You Stepped Out of a Cloud, Owl). Lee, vocals; Ran
Blake, piano. Recorded in 1989.
Before: That’s Jeanne Lee. You don=t hear her too much. I have her [1961]
record with Ran Blake.
Why do you think we don’t hear her too much?
She’s under the radar. She’s like a singer’s singer. Her voice to me has a
delicious, smoky quality. That how I can recognize the timbre. She=s
somebody you have to sit and listen to. It’s not background music. How many
people take the time out of their day to sit on the couch and listen, not be
on the computer, not be on the phone, not be reading a magazine, just
listen? Not many. Our culture does not encourage that.
After: I don’t have this. [she looks at the tunes] “The Wind,” great tune.
“Worry Now, Later” –that’s Monk? Interesting. Wow. I’d love to hear this
whole record. She was an artist. A true artist. You can hear her life in her
sound.
4. Soweto Kinch
“Good Nyooz” (from Conversations With The Unseen, Dune). Kinch, alto
saxophone; rap vocal; Eska Mtungwazi, vocal; Femi Temowo, guitar; Michael
Olatuja, bass; Troy Miller, drums. Recorded in 2002.
Before: Sounds like a remix, of Sarah Vaughan maybe? Is it a group? I really
like it. The leader is the woman? The saxophone player? It’s kind of a
Bird-influenced sax player. Arthur Blythe, maybe? It’s modern but it’s got
elements of traditional be-bop, singing the jazz lines vocally, the
triplets, but it’s got elements of hip-hop in it. I like it very much.
After: That was live? It’s well arranged and thought out. I’ve never heard
of them. It’s all original? That’s fantastic.
5. Björk
“Sonnets/Unrealities XI” (from medúlla, Elektra). Björk and The Icelandic
Choir, vocals.
Recorded 2004.
I love Björk. She has a unique vision. This is from medúlla. This tune is
amazing. She did this album with voices but in an interview she said she
didn’t want it to sound like Manhattan Transfer, which I understood. I find
her to be so emotional. And I just recorded one of her tunes, “Hidden
Place.” I chose it because it gave me goose bumps. To me it was just the
sexiest feel, and I love the image of the Hidden Place. That was a big
challenge because her melodies and the way she sings is so unique to her and
I thought her arrangement was so perfect. I said, how can I bring something
of myself to this tune? And I realized I had to improvise the melody using
her poetry. Edsel Gomez and I tried all different kinds of things and we
realized this would work the best if we didn’t have any chart or even talk
about it. I’m just gonna sing these words and you react to them. And the
whole song is just one chord, yet there are so many colors and so many
different places that it goes. And I saw her do it live at Radio City Music
Hall with the whole 80 piece orchestra with choir. It was an astounding
experience.
Did you meet her?
Actually, she goes to my gym and I saw her in the locker room once and I had
to go over and say hello. I didn’t even tell her who I was. She was very
shy. I just wanted to tell her I was a fan. I sent her a copy of what we
did. The poetry of her words really struck me. It’s a beautiful love song.
6. Danilo Perez
“…till then” (from …till then, Verve). Perez, piano; Lizz Wright,
vocals; John Patitucci, bass; Brian Blade, drums. Recorded in 2003.
Before: Lizz Wright, Danilo. I find her voice very beautiful to listen to.
She doesn’t use a lot of melisma, which I like, and she’s got a beautiful
instrument. I think this is some of Danilo’s best playing. He can be
tremendously abstract and free. But I’d never heard him in such a
controlled, enclosed form. And his lines around the vocal are so beautiful
and perfect and supportive. Interesting journey I took on this tune. I heard
this song and decided to do it for my solo tour with Alan Pasqua and Darek
Oles. It was difficult to learn because it=s got a lot of odd measures, so I
got a lead sheet from Danilo. I performed it in Europe with trio like this
and when I first did it, it was like a song to a lover. But for my new
record I did it a cappella and it gave it a whole new feeling, more like a
lullaby. So, I recorded it in June and in late July my father passed away.
One day I was in the gym listening to it and I started weeping and I said,
Oh my god, this is the song for my father. [she starts to tear up] So I sang
it at his memorial and I told Danilo about it. And he said, “you know I
wrote that song for a friend who passed away.” It’s amazing how songs get
revealed to you or how they can change.
I can see that you’re moved just talking about this. Are you able to sing
this live, to connect with that feeling and still be detached enough to
perform it in front of people?
You’ve touched on a thing that I struggle with all the time. When I sang it
at his services I could barely get through it. And I’ve always wondered how
you can completely feel something and still have the control that a singer
needs. Because you can lose your breath. It’s almost like a self-hypnosis to
retain the thread of the emotion–cause that’s what you’re after–and still
use your breath to put your song across without breaking down and losing it.
You have to lose it but still not lose it. It’s like a zen koan or
something. I actually haven’t tried to sing this song in public since then.
But I will do it when I go out and we’ll see how it is.
7. Irene Kral
“Where Is Love?” (from Where Is Love?, Choice). Kral, vocal; Alan Broadbent,
piano. Recorded in 1974.
Before: Irene Kral and Alan Broadbent. Irene Kral is one of my idols, in her
simple approach to a song, getting to the heart of it. Not a lot of fancy
stuff, no scat singing, no melisma, not a lot of vibrato. Great choice of
tunes. I’ve stolen many tunes from her. Again, you have to sit and listen to
her. She makes you feel things. It’s like that deep, delicious sense of
melancholy sometimes. That great bittersweet feeling she can bring out. A
longing. And his playing [sighs]. Yeah, he’s one of my handful of favorite
pianists to work with, right up there with Fred Hersch. What makes them
special is they know the lyrics and they breathe, as opposed to playing a
lot of notes and comping. They’re supporting you and leading you to the next
phrase because they know what the next phrase is. The piano is essentially a
percussion instrument but they play it as if it’s a wind instrument or an
orchestra. Of course both Fred and Alan are incredible orchestrators, so
they think that way. They play the juiciest chords.
After: Impeccable taste, and great pitch. And she did it without Pro Tools.
8. Andy Bey & The Bey Sisters
“Sister Sadie” (from Andy Bey & The Bey Sisters, Prestige). Andy Bey, piano
vocals; Salome Bey, Geraldine Bey, vocals; Kenny Burrell, guitar; Richard
Davis, bass; Osie Johnson, drums. Recorded in 1964.
Before: I want to say The Bey Sisters. Whatever happened to those girls?
That’s great. I forgot there were words to this. And Andy, a young Andy.
He’s deep. To hear him play and accompany himself and just keep you hanging
on every word. I was a big fan of his and he would play at the Vanguard with
Dee Dee Bridgewater and the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra. I remember
hitch-hiking in from college with [Spyro Gyra's] Jay Beckenstein to see
them. 10 hours of hitch-hiking to go to the Vanguard on a Monday night.
After: Hmm. I don’t have this. They’re members of the same family so you’ve
got a really good blend. And they all swing their asses off.
9. Ilona Knopfler
“I=m Going To Live The Life I Sing About In My Song” (from Live The Life,
Mack Avenue). Knopfler, lead and overdubbed vocals; Kim Nazarian, background
vocals; Alain Mallet, piano; Rufus Reid, bass; Marty Ashby, guitar; Jamey
Haddad, drums; Antonio Hart, alto saxophone. Released in 2005.
Before: I really don’t know who this is. A modern vocal group? It sounds
like it’s all women. Are they French, or just singing in French? [listens
closely] Wow. Very nice. It sounds like it’s a white singer but she’s got a
lot going on, a lot of jazz feeling. She sounds like she could be black,
which I think is a high compliment [laughter]. I mean she’s soulful. She
sounds very relaxed, and she=s a great harmony singer. Very nice
arrangement. Perfect intonation. Phrasing great. Appropriate for the style,
for the song. It sounds very sophisticated to me.
After: Never heard of her. Very, very nice. Never heard of that label
either. Fantastic. Where did she come from? Good grief. This is great. I
thought the vocal arrangement was very well done. Sort of bringing a gospel
tune into another realm. I find it a warm voice, too.
10. Brazilian Girls
“Don=t Stop” (from Brazilian Girls, Verve Forecast). Sabina Sciubba, vocals;
Didi Gutman, keyboards; Jesse Murphy, bass; Aaron Johnston, drums. Released
in 2005.
Before: Sounds like Jason Mraz. [she checks her Ipod] Sounds like his
writing too. It’s a man, right? No? Wow. It’s a dance record but I can’t
keep track of all the styles; trance, jungle, speed. It’s repetitive but
there’re some interesting things in the arrangement. I don’t know that I’d
want to listen to it again [chuckles].
After: Oh, Brazilian Girls. I actually have this record and I listened to it
a little bit, then I discarded it. Yeah, I don’t know what this is all
about. I know there’s a big hype about it. I don’t get it.
11. Luciana Souza
“Atrás da Porta” (from Duos II, Sunnyside). Souza, vocals; Marco Pereira,
guitar. Recorded in 2005.
Before: Luciana? She’s got a tremendous combination of qualities. From her
background she can sing the shit out of those Brazilian tunes. I mean, her
Duos record, I listen to it all the time. But having seen her with Danilo
and worked with her on the Dizzy Gillespie project, and having seen her do
her Neruda project, she’s got a lot going on. And she’s right to present
those different qualities so that she doesn’t get pigeon-holed as “that
Brazilian singer.” She can read, she’s a trained musician. She’s like an
instrumentalist and she solos beautifully. Pitch, I mean forget about it.
She’s right on it, always. I thought her Neruda project was a gorgeous
marriage of words and music. This tune, I don=t know what it=s about or what
it means but there’s a sense of melancholy, a saudade about it.
After: Oh wow! This is Duos II? Did this just come out? I have to get this.
13. Raul Midón
“Sunshine” (from State of Mind, Manhattan). Midón, vocal, guitar; Gregoire
Maret, harmonica; Cyro Baptista, percussion. Recorded in 2005.
Before: That’s Raul Midón. I heard him through Brian Bacchus, who had all
this material from Raul, demos and stuff. And I immediately responded to it,
that soulful singing plus the guitar playing. Really good guitar playing.
And a bit of Stevie Wonder thrown in. Positive, upbeat messages in his
songs. I have yet to meet Raul, though I spoke to him over the phone. I was
rehearsing with Edsel and we played “Make It Better” for him over the phone.
He loved it.
So, with the way the record business is, does this music have a chance to
break through?
Oh god, I hope so. But where is it gonna get played? Where? It’s not smooth
jazz, it’s not jazz. It doesn’t seem like it’s MTV material. I could see
this on NPR. Sometimes, like the Gipsy Kings for instance, you couldn’t go
into a boutique, a store or a restaurant without hearing that goddamned
Gipsy Kings album. You wanted to rip the speakers out of the wall after a
while. [laughter] And that’s how that broke, you know?
As an artist do you think about the marketing of music?
I think about it and then I try not to think about it. I mean yes, out of
all the different styles that I love to do, I try and pick a project that=s
not gonna get lost in the shuffle. I try and pick something I think people
will like, but in the end I have to do things that really move me, or else
what’s the point?
13. Dena DeRose
“Meditation” (from A Walk In The Park, Maxjazz). DeRose, vocals, piano;
Martin Wind, bass; Matt Wilson, drums. Recorded in 2004.
Before: Is that Karrin Alyson? She plays piano. Mmm. Nice. A little
reminiscent of Ann Hampton Calloway. I like the arrangement. Everybody
always does it as a samba. But emotionally and musically it works as a swing
piece. It works well. Good pianist. Younger woman, I think. Her voice, it’s
light. I loved it. I don’t know who it is but she plays the piano
beautifully so she was probably a pianist before she was a singer. Oh, wait
a minute. Dena DeRose?
After: Yes, yes. She’s wonderful. And Matt Wilson, one of my favorite
drummers. I heard her at Sweet Rhythm. She’s quite good.
14. The Barry Sisters
“Eishes-Chiyell” (from The Barry Sisters-Their Greatest Yiddish Hits, Legacy
International). Claire Barry, Merna Barry, vocals; unidentified orchestra.
Recorded 1950s, reissued 1994.
Now there’s something you don’t hear very often. The Barry Sisters?
[laughter] Oy, fabulous!
Here’s a bit of saxophonist Kjetil Møster and drummer Espen Aalberg I shot during last summer’s performance by The Core at the 2010 Molde Jazz Festival in Norway.
Jane Monheit wears her musical heart on her sleeve. Maybe it’s because she’s passionate about the music she loves and sings. Or maybe it’s because she’s a hopeless romantic, still basking in the glow of her recent marriage to drummer Ricky Montalbano. In any case, the 26-year-old singer was eager to sit and listen and talk on a beautiful autumn day, while her band did their sound check for that evening’s performance at the Clarice Smith Center at the University of Maryland. Unlike some musicians who can be frustratingly reticent or enigmatic, Monheit enjoys conversation and is both insightful and unfailingly polite when discussing her fellow singers. Only once was she less than articulate-when she heard Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” with orchestra arranged by Vince Mendoza, she welled up with tears and finally admitted she could not find words to adequately express just how much Mitchell’s music means to her. Because we had such a limited amount of time, we jumped right in.
1. Ella Fitzgerald
“Looking For A Boy,” from Pure Ella (Decca Jazz). Fitzgerald, vocal; Ellis Larkins, piano. Recorded in 1950.
Before: Oh, I know this. [sings along]. This is the record with Ellis Larkins, right? This is one of my favorite sides of Ella. I loved when Ella kept it simple. Her voice was so beautiful and so pure and I really tried to learn that lesson from her. These records were such an excellent example for me when I was trying to pare things down and really get to the bottom of the music, rather than worry about vocal gymnastics. And Ella, who could do anything she wanted, made these gorgeous recordings where she was really thinking about the melody. I just love the way Ellis accompanies her, too. They’re both so well suited to each other that they can interpret the tune exactly the way they want to and it’s still a perfect fit. I love the recording they did together of Stardust.
What makes this timeless?
The lyrical content and the beautiful melody. I’d much rather listen to this than hear her wail with a big band, though I love that too. This is something I aspire to. It’s a challenge to just sing the melody. For her to make the choice to stick to the melody-that’s a really powerful thing when it comes from a woman who could do absolutely anything.
© Larry Appelbaum
Vocalist Helen Merrill has always surrounded herself with top musicians, from her first jazz recordings with Quincy Jones and Clifford Brown, to her modernist sessions with Gil Evans and Steve Lacy. Merrill was one of the first American jazz stars to live and teach in Japan in the 1960s, and she made time for this listening session in New York on the eve of another trip to Tokyo. Three of Merrill’s finest recordings, Casa Forte and The Helen Merrill-Dick Katz Sessions, have been recently reissued by Mosaic Records.
1. Sarah Vaughan
“Ain’t Misbehavin’” from The Divine Sarah Vaughan, Columbia. Vaughan, vocal; Jimmy Jones, piano; Budd Johnson, tenor saxophone; Benny Green, trombone; Tony Scott, clarinet; Miles Davis, trumpet; Freddie Green, guitar; Billy Taylor, bass; J.C. Heard, drums. Recorded in 1950.
Before: It’s early Sarah. Wonderful. What year was this made? It’s interesting–she had an edge to her voice that she lost later on. Now she’s sounding more like Sarah. The musicality is there; her way of phrasing and improvising on the melody was perfect. I loved hearing that. She was my idol from day one when I heard her singing “Signing Off.” I love her sound and her ability to phrase the way a musician plays. She sang like a horn player with good taste.
After: Jimmy sounded good. I thought it was Miles. Tony was around here a lot. He liked singers, and he was a real character. I used to see him at Leonard Feather’s parties and at a little place uptown where Baby Laurence used to come dance. It was amazing to be a New Yorker then. There was so much talent around.
Though he now lives in Woodstock, New York, David Newman will always be known as a Texas tenor. The big-toned saxophonist from the Lone Star State was born into a musical family 70 years ago in Corsicana, not far from Dallas. As a teenager he worked with Buster Smith and played in Red Connor’s band with Ornette Coleman. The early 1950s found Newman playing the blues with Lowell Fulson and T-Bone Walker, then in 1954 he raised his profile when he joined Ray Charles for a 10 year stretch, first on baritone, then as featured tenor soloist. Newman, who plays all the saxophones and flute, has been making records as a leader since 1958. He’s worked in the studios, recorded jazz dates with Lee Morgan, Hank Crawford, Roy Hargrove, Dr. John, Lou Rawls, and appeared in the Robert Altman film Kansas City. His latest CD, “The Gift” (HighNote) features his soulful sound backed by John Hicks, Bryan Carrott, Buster Williams and Winard Harper.
1) Joey DeFrancesco/Joe Doggs
“Dearly Beloved,” from Falling In Love Again (Concord) Joey DeFrancesco, organ; Joe Doggs, vocals; Byron Landham, drums; Pat Martino guitar solo; Kevin Eubanks, rhythm guitar; Ramon Banda, conga. Recorded in 2002.
Before: It sounds like Jimmy Scott. If it’s not him, it’s some female vocalist who leans towards the style of Jimmy Scott. Hmmm, I’ve never heard this before; maybe I should listen some more. [after hearing it again] Well, if it’s not Jimmy, I’ll be surprised. We go back to the 60s-I recorded several times with Jimmy, going back to the Atlantic days, and to the session he did for Ray Charles. It’s very unusual for Jimmy to do a recording with that much tempo. Most of his things are not that swinging, with that much tempo. But the laid-back phrasing is Jimmy’s thing. This organist may be Joey DeFrancesco. He’s one of the only organists today that plays with the energy of a Jimmy Smith in his younger days. Yeah, that’s probably Joey, and that may be Joey’s drummer, Byron. [The guitarist] may be Mark Whitfield or Russell Malone. It’s not Jimmy Ponder or George Benson. So, how close am I?
After: Oh boy! So this is not Jimmy?
Word is that the vocalist Joe Doggs is actually the actor Joe Pesci.
Joe Pesci? He’s really got Jimmy Scott down. I guess the swinging tempo left room for doubt-Jimmy’s a balladeer, a little more laid back than this guy. Yeah, that was a big surprise there. Continue reading
One of several memorable performances from last summer’s Molde Jazz Festival was this set by Tony Malaby’s group Paloma Recio. I shot a couple of clips that night, including this one with guitarist Ben Monder in mid-flight.
On Feb. 18, 2011, I did a Before & After with Jimmy Heath at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival for JazzTimes. Bret Primack (the Jazz Video Guy) was there and captured part of our session with Jimmy talking about the importance of lyrics for saxophonists such as himself and Ben Webster. The entire interview will be published soon.
George Duke knows a thing or two about the music business. As a keyboardist, he cut his teeth with Al Jarreau, Frank Zappa, Cannonball Adderley and Ray Brown. He’s also worked in jazz, pop, funk and r& b circles producing chart-topping, Grammy-nominated songs and projects for Miles Davis, Dianne Reeves, Phil Perry, Jeffrey Osborne and Anita Baker, as well as his own groups. Never one to sit still, Duke also records and tours his own music, composes and arranges for film, television, and symphonic concert performances, and oversees his burgeoning BPM record label.
Though he’s based in Los Angeles, I caught up with Duke in his Watergate Hotel room during a break from his overlapping gigs at the Congressional Black Caucus Jazz Concert and the Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition in Washington D.C. Keeping his espresso within easy reach, Duke was eager to jump right in.
1) Duke Ellington
“Piano Improvisation No. 2” (from Piano In The Foreground). Duke Ellington, piano; Jimmy Woode, bass; Sam Woodyard, drums. Recorded in 1957. Re-issued 2004.
Before: [breaks out into a grin and starts nodding in rhythm, punctuated by appreciative grunts] When it first started I thought, wow, the Count Basie influence is so strong. You know, just the simplicity of rhythm, melody and all of that. Then you hear those odd little notes coming in and you say, well that’s gotta be Thelonious Monk or somebody who’s trying to play like him. Duke played like that. I love it. That’s kind of where I started, when I first started to learn how to play music. And whenever I listen to anybody from that era it makes me smile. It’s a little humorous, a little playful. And I love that in music, cause I don’t think music has to necessarily be that heavy. You can be heavy as an artist without being heavy. I also like this concept of space. When you play, it’s not just running all your lines together. It doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate those guys who do that, cause that was the thing at one time, for piano players to string long lines together. It’s hard to fight that cause you’ve got all this technique and command under your fingers and you want to let it out. But I prefer guys who break it up and leave that space in there. They play a phrase, they wait, they play another phrase. It’s question and answer–a little dialogue going on within the solo. And it’s breathing. Just like life. I love that.
After: Ah. I don’t know this one. When I was a real young kid my mom took me to see Ellington and I went nuts cause I’d never heard anybody do that.
Saxophonist, composer and bandleader Odean Pope talking about Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, John Coltrane and how to play on chord changes.
