The Bad Plus plays Ornette Coleman: Featuring Tim Berne, Ron Miles, and Sam Newsome

On Saturday, October 18, 2014, I had the pleasure of performing with The Bad Plus as a part of a project commissioned by Duke Performances appropriately titled The Bad Plus plays “Science Fiction.”

 

In addition to the TBP members of Ethan Iverson, on piano; Reid Anderson, on bass; and Dave King on drums, additions to the group included Ron Miles on trumpet, Tim Berne on alto saxophone, with me holding down the soprano chair.

 

The performance took place at the Baldwin Auditorium which sounded and looked great. Long story short, the group was a hit which led to scattered dates in the US, and a couple trips to Europe.

 

A little about the music: Science Fiction was first released in 1972 on Columbia Records and featured many of Ornette’s core members and a few newbies:

• Ornette Coleman, alto saxophone, trumpet, violin
• Don Cherry, pocket trumpet 
• Bobby Bradford, trumpet
• Carmine Fornarotto, trumpet
• Gerard Schwarz, trumpet
• Dewey Redman, tenor saxophone, musette
• Charlie Haden - bass
• Billy Higgins, drums
• Ed Blackwell, drums
• David Henderson, recitation 
• Asha Puthli, vocals
  

I would not say that this was classic Ornette, it more of a breakthrough. In fact, Steve Huey in the AllMusic Review had this to say.

"Science Fiction was his creative rebirth, a stunningly inventive and appropriately alien-sounding blast of manic energy... Science Fiction is a meeting ground between Coleman's past and future; it combines the fire and edge of his Atlantic years with strong hints of the electrified, globally conscious experiments that were soon to come. And, it's overflowing with brilliance.” 

The original set unfolded like this:

 

1.     "What Reason Could I Give?" 

2.     "Civilization Day" 

3.     "Street Woman" 

4.     "Science Fiction" 

5.     "Rock the Clock" 

6.     "All My Life" -

7.     "Law Years" 

8.     "The Jungle Is a Skyscraper" 

 

Here's a short sample:

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The modified version performed by The Bad Plus went more like this:

1.     "What Reason Could I Give?" 

2.     "Rock the Clock" 

3.     "The Jungle Is a Skyscraper" 

4.     "Science Fiction" 

5.     "All My Life"

6.     “Broken Shadows”

7.     “Happy House”

 

The following performance was recorded on September 12, 2015, at the Jazz à la Villette in Paris, France as a part of a multi-day music festival. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to record this band in the studio, but I’m glad our performance was at least documented in some capacity. It was fun playing and fun hanging. It will definitely go down as one of my more memorable musical experiences.

 

Multicultural or Liberal: Which Society Spawns More Creativity?

 

Which is better for artists, to live in a multicultural society or a liberal one? We should first examine how we define the two.

In a multicultural society, the collective comes together as individuals. In a liberal society, individuals come together as a collective. 

Let me unpack this further. Under multiculturalism, the individual is not asked to sacrifice his or her identity for the whole. The more prominent their identity, the stronger the multicultural model becomes. A good example is salad. You never want to diminish the uniqueness of the lettuce and tomatoes and cucumbers. Their individuality is what makes it a salad. Liberal societies play by a different set of rules. In a liberal society, it’s about serving the whole, which requires one to sacrifice their identity or at least revise it. The vegetables no longer have the identity of the salad but the uniformity of a smoothie. 

How’s does all of this affect us as artists? How does it affect creativity?

As artists, our dissatisfaction with the status quo is what often motivates us to create. To paraphrase Toni Morrison, there’s a book that we want to read that has not been written, so we write it. In our effort to write that book, we don’t look to the tried and tested but the new and under-explored. In other words, uniqueness.

Liberal societies, on the other hand, encourages the melting pot, or as I like to call it, the smoothie model, where we assimilate to create a unified image. Again, this type of unification ignores fundamental differences that make us unique. The basic tenet of most artists, not only shuns this idea of identity-sacrificed uniformity, but we view and share our uniqueness from a high-resolution perspective. In other words, we take that which is not commonplace and we bring it to the forefront.

The smoothie model may be a convenient solution for the complexities of diversity and uniqueness. Still, as artists, the salad model allows us to repurpose our individuality into a new normal. 

The more diverse we are within our society, the more we're incentivized to embrace our uniqueness. The more unique our perspective, the more fertile our creative wells become. I call it the relay-effect. It's a win-win situation.

Jazz in the Age of Esotericism

As far as my musical upbringing, I became serious about music in the height of the conservative movement throughout America. During Ronald Reagan era of the 1980s, the country was 97% red, at least terms electoral support. The bleeding-heart liberal did not have a fighting chance. As a general rule, when liberals lose economic and government support, so do artists. We all remember when Republicans relentlessly went after the NEA for funding controversial art.

We were conditioned to stay in our places and not ruffle feathers. The safest place artistically was in the middle. Ignore that which falls on the fringes, and create things that everybody can enjoy. Or at least things that would not offend.

This goes against the basic tenet of esotericism, which celebrates that which is only understood or intended to be understood by a small number of people with special knowledge—whether it offends or not.

Fortunately for other like-minded musicians and me, using the internet to gather and share information became common practice. The internet is a breeding ground for esotericism. It is a tapestry of micro-universes that allows one to be as narrowly focused as their creative intuitions guide them, and they can still find an enthusiastic group of supporters. This is what's so amazing!

During the 80s and early 90s, I never could not have done what I do today. We may have torn down the Iron Curtain, but the conservative wall protecting the sacred values of azz during that period was rock steady and impenetrable. Two of the most influential and successful jazz players to come out of this era were Kenny G, with his 1982 release Kenny G and Wynton Marsalis with his 1983 release Think of One. Both saw unprecedented sales for their sub-genres of jazz. And to further emphasize Marsalis' conservative vision of music, he was equally skilled at playing classical music. Unlike G, Marsalis was often very vocal about music that did not fit his conservative vision. Much in the way that seasoned politicians running for office do. Musically speaking, G is the opposite of esotericism. In fact, he was extreme-exotericism. He music was all about accessibleness and being able to be understood right away. Hyper-placation was more his objective than challenging the listener. He didn't push them, he put them at ease. 

Today, it's a different story. We no longer have to smooth out the edges. We no longer have to sacrifice the purity of our vision in an attempt to reap more financial rewards. We no longer need to cater to the taste of the conservative radio stations of the world; the limited tastes A&R execs; and the booking agents who often try to convince you that you're not bookable unless you have all-star players in your group. Thank goodness for me. Otherwise, they'd tell me my only options would be to play the tenor and try to sound like Hank Mobley.

I see esotericism as a philosophy of hope, not an ideal only centered around exclusion and isolationism. Under the guise of esotericism, we no longer have to scrap ideas that cast a net with a limited circumference. And I'm not opposed to commercialism. I celebrate the idea of something appreciated by the masses. But it's hipper when commercial success is a consequence of a more sincere and earnest endeavour that just happened to get lucky.

There are undoubtedly artistic benefits to esotericism:

• Having limited scope helps create an identifiable sound.
• Less time is invested in wooing those who don't want to be wooed.
• You're most likely fulfilling the artistic needs of those often ignored.

When people say that I'm only appealing to a select group of geeks with highly specialized taste, my response: I sure hope so!

The Microtonal Challenge: Part 1 - "Microtonal Worksong"

A few months back, I asked three of my esteemed colleagues to participate in what I call the Microtonal Challenge. 

 The participants:

1. Dario Dolci
   
2. Catherine Sikora
   
3. Jaleel Shaw
4. Sam Newsome
   

Playing only the soprano, I asked them to interpret my tune "Microtonal Worksong." The piece is loosely based on a Bb blues, with lots of quartertone alternations in both the melody and the improvised solos. One of the most common ways I use quartertones in a blues context is by moving from the major 3rd to the quarter flat 3rd to the minor 3rd--creating a delayed blues effect and intensifying the blues sound. In fact, I use this technique for the entire major chord.

It looks something like this in the key of C.

C // C quarter flat // B

E // E quarter flat // Eb

G // G quarter flat // F#

B // B quarter flat // Bb 

 

Below is a poor photocopy of the piece.

 

We all took different approaches. Dario, my microtonal partner in crime, played it at a slightly faster tempo, giving it a welcomed energetic boost. Jaleel paced it slightly slower and changed some of the notes on the second half. Not to mention treating us to some cool runs at the end! I would say that Catherine moved through the piece most patiently, playing the 1st and 2nd endings and an exploratory improvised solo, delving deep into the nuances of the microtones. My approach was pretty straight ahead, especially the melody. But I did seize the opportunity to explore the quartertones pretty extensively during my improvised solo.

Thanks again to all of the participants for lending their time and talents.

Enjoy!

 

Dario Dolci

 

 

Jaleel Shaw

Catherine Sikora

 

 

Sam Newsome

The Homerun Fallacy

The Homerun Fallacy is a term I came up which speaks to how we look to hit homes in life rather than being content with merely staying in the game. Aspiring to stay in the game is less sexy and doesn't make for retweet worthy sound bites. But it does bring one more attainable goals and peace of mind, longer-term. Some could see it as lowering the bar, but I see it as expanding your bar options. Focusing on playing the game gives you a more nuanced experience. Or more reward options that extend far beyond hitting the ball over the wall or running the basses. 

This can certainly be applied to be a musician. It’s not just about having a hit record or playing with the most popular players at the top venues, but learning all that you can from the recording experience or being excited to perform. Expect nothing, gain everything. It seems too simple. Yes, it is simple, but it's very difficult to do. We’ve convinced ourselves that happiness only awaits us on the other side of the wall. In most cases, we simply need to open our eyes and experience fully the side we're on.

The next time you’re at that proverbial plate, smell the air, admire the green, lose yourself in the music of the cheering crowd. Focus on your swing, not the consequence of hitting the ball correctly. Be in the moment. Or, just be.

THE LOCKDOWN SESSIONS, Vol. 21 - presented by The Jazz Gallery

THE LOCKDOWN SESSIONS 

Every Saturday.  Hear a set recorded by musicians in their respective lockdown stations, and join us for for the culminating concert where each musician will present their set and answer any questions & chat.

 

Reservations are required at $15/$5 members.  We will send you a Zoom link with instructions approx. 30 minutes before the Lockdown Session.

 

Each Lockdown Session will be recorded on the day, so anyone who purchases a ticket will have access post-concert.

Featured artists:

• Shai Maestro
• Michael Mayo
• Trina Basu
• Sam Newsome

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Seattle Improvised Music Festival (Streamed)

Like most of my musician friends, I lost a lot of work during COVID-19 that I was uncertain of whether I'd ever retrieve it back again. I'm happy to say that one performance did find it's way into the lost and found box. The Seattle Improvised which has been presenting pre-recorded streamed performances since September 27, 2020, will conclude their festivities on Sunday, October 4, 2020

Beginning at 10:00 PM, the line-up will be as follows:

• Ben Goldberg, clarinet (Berkeley)

• Galin Hebert, drums; Laurel Evers, clarinet

• Sam Newsome, soprano saxophones (Harlem)

• Thomas Campbell, drums; Dick Valentine, flutes, sax; Tamara Zenobia, voice

• Joe McPhee, sax (Poughkeepsie)

The event will be streamed on the Race Sessions YouTube channel.

I look forward to seeing you there!