Saturday, March 28, 2009
Concert Review: Chick Corea, John McLaughlin - The 5 'Peace' Band. By Geniusofdespair
Everyone told me scotch was an acquired taste. I kept drinking it and after a few years I did acquire a taste for it. I don’t really like it now but I find it interesting, the after-taste is like water with tobacco dissolved in it. But I don't mind it.
For the past few years I have been trying to acquire a taste for jazz. I keep going to concerts hoping. Last night we went to see Chick Corea and John McLaughlin with good friends:
I did like the concert, but I didn't love it. I was in awe at McLaughlin's skill and Corea's playing (off the electric keyboard) on the grand piano. I always dread bass solos at jazz concerts. The bass solos last night were pretty good in comparison to other bass solos but the saxophone solos really grated on me for some reason. Usually I don’t mind them. Whenever he started I said to myself "Not again!" And, then I thought maybe it will be better this time...but it wasn't. Then I tried relaxing my mind while he played to see if the music would bring me to some other plane...it didn't. I tried to distract myself by watching the drummer who was a very happy fellow having a great time, smiling away. I wondered if he was stoned. If so, on what? Then I started to think about whether Thelonious Monk stopped playing the piano because he was getting dementia. Was it the drugs? Why did Monk stop playing? At that point the solo was over, so my mind drifted back to the Arsht Center seat my body was in.
The thing I don’t understand about jazz is, these guys are great musicians but they CHOOSE to mash up the music so it is, well, annoying at times. I wonder, why? Chick is a fantastic pianist and John is among the best guitarists on the planet so why wouldn’t they choose to play music that appeals to more people? Why do they want to make it harder to listen to them? This fascinates me. Will I ever acquire a taste? That is why I go to jazz concerts, to find out. Next I have tickets to see Sonny Rollins maybe it will be better for me than fusion.
P.S. Land-Use Lawyer sighting: I saw Jeffrey Berkow (Bercow - he spells it both ways) at the concert. I think I saw him throwing kettle korn on the stage, he was up front so it was hard to tell.
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17 comments:
Whenever you tell someone that you're trying to get into jazz, there's the obligatory list of records they'll press you to get your hands on. Luckily, I can say that I got a chance to fall into it rather than putting myself through something in the hopes of getting it.
I don't think I've ever been to a concert per say, but I've seen plenty of folks live and I've enjoyed it quite a bit. The best times had have been at jazz bars, not somewhere you'll necessarily find world class musicians but people who are passionate about the music nevertheless. This also means that when it comes to the jam, you won't be hit with a barrage of combinations that will leave you out in the cold. You get to work up to that. It's also a lot more intimate. And having your friends and along with a few drinks doesn't hurt either.
Btw, there might be no better way to enjoy a good scotch but with a fresh cigar.
Thanks reader. I have seen concerts in smaller venues and you are right, they were more enjoyable. I have seen Lee Koonitz at the Blue Note and Ramsey Lewis at U of M.
So it is the "combinations" that jar me? What exactly are they trying to do? I am interested in knowing more about that.
Re the good cigar: Maybe that is where the tobacco after-taste comes in?
The performance last night is a modern-day evolution directly from an album from Miles Davis back in 1967. To really appreciate Jazz, you need to start at the very beginning to see how we got to what was heard last night.
In response to the desire to play music that is not so accessable is actually very closely related to the story of the evolution of Miles Davis' music.
Many people agree that Miles Davis is one fo the top jazz musicians in history. Unlike most musicians who become good at something and just do that one thing, he decided that once he peaked out, it was time to move on and try something new. With the great expansion of the use of amplifyers, Miles felt that exploring the different things that could be done with these amps and electronic devices was worth doing. This is what lead to Fusion. It is extremely improvisatory, utilizes synths and amplification in unique ways, and extremely virtuosic.
I also find Kenny Garret tends to explore the more advanced sound on the saxophone as well, including the altissimo register, false fingerings, overtones, polyphonic fingerings, and other extended techniques that fit into the whole "We are tired of the standard and want to do something abnormal" approach that is Fusion better than any more traditional genres.
By the way, I was at the concert last night. I went as part of the educational component to the Jazz Roots series. Basically they take high school jazz bands and bring them to the Arsht Center where they have a Q + A session with the artists (last night it was with Christian McBride (the bass player)) and then they get to listen in on the sound check. After, they get fed and get to listen to a lecture (last night by Proffessor Grabowsky from FIU) on the specifics of the concert, and then they get to go watch the concert free of charge. Its a great experience for the kids and they learn a great deal. Just that program alone makes me feel any of the criticizms against having a Performing Arts Center is completly unjustified.
Thank you Steve. I am happy to learn from a younger person. I appreciate your taking the time to write.
Genius maybe your trying to hard, I can listen too jazz for a while after a few drinks (scotch, Beer or both)but I can't say I'll ever enjoy any jazz concert (and I,ve been to my share) as much as a Stones, Buffet, U2, Page/Plant, Eagles,Elton John, Ringo, Pearl Jam etc etc concert(Beer, Scotch and other mind altering substances go along well here too). Does that make me any less cultured?
I am blown away by some classical stuff, more so than jazz. Maybe its just the way your brain is wired.
Although i can appreciate a Miles Davis' genius, I saw him live while in College (84, release of TuTu) and he had his back to the audience the entire show, and the whole show was a pretencious excersise in self indulgence...still, kind of blue has to be in my top 20 most played albums of all time.
Nice program for the jazz kids at arsht center..good to hear about that stuff!
I too used to be unable to appreciate Jazz. It is much more demanding than popular music but when you finally get it, it is well worth the effort.
The easiest way to get into any music is by listening to it repeatedly. It being recordings. Find a great album and keep on listening and you'll get it.
For me, it was Miles Davis's Kind of Blue and then other bluesy kinds of Jazz because I like blues.
Going to shows, especially Fusion shows can be frustrating unless you know and appreciate the material and or players.
I am learning from this dialogue. I appreciate it...
I always like to equate Fusion Jazz to some of the more avant garde classical stuff. Basically, the artists hit a point where they don't even care much about the audience because its all about pushing their personal limits in the music making process.
Composer Milton Babbitt write in his 1958 essay "Who cares if I listen?" that music that is inaccessable to the audience is necessary because it leads to innovation. I like to equate this to how car companies make a concept car and then incorperate some of the features into their newer model cars.
To this extent, starting with Fusion would be like learning to drive a car by driving a concept car that does not use a traditional steering wheel after spending all your childhood driving go-carts with traditional steering wheels. Its possible to do so, but the experience would be much more difficult to master and may turn the driver off to driving.
By the way, I am not that much younger... I am one of the directors who took his kids to the concert as part of that program.
Steve - I am very glad the center has the program for kids. The first I heard of it was when Larry Rosen took the stage.
Now I don't feel so lost on jazz, with your explanation on fusion. I took a slew of art history courses and can equate what you said to art. Some of Cezenne's most avant-garde paintings were the ones that influenced cubism (neither were pretty to behold) but it brought us to modern art today. I see the need to move forward, but was that a good thing in either art or music? I suppose, but I want to enjoy art more than be challenged by it. I have enough challenge in my life.
Dear Genious,
The annoyance you feel is caused by the artistic process of sound (pressure waves) wearing down your square edges, which will in time make you a more rounded person.
Seriously though, do you like classical music?
My guess is that what 'annoys' you are unfamiliar harmonies, odd or nonexistant meter, unrecognized interplay, combined with the expectation that this event is designed to make you happy or plesurably excited.
Would you expect the same from a film? Or a sculpture? Or a sporting event? (Ok, a sporting event is usually judged by the excitement level - but not baseball of course).
Get rid of your expectations and listen to what's really happening.
Like politics.
Why TRY to acquire a taste?
I was trying to expand my horizons. I think that is always a goal for a well rounded human being.
Malagodi - I do like classical music. I like all music except: Country Western.
Actually, I don't go to films to be depressed, so I do suppose I like to be entertained in a good way. I don't want to be annoyed. The one think about a challenging painting, I can walk away from it pretty quickly. To sit through a 10 or 15 minute solo in a piece that lasts a half hour can be trying -- I guess I don't understand the need to have "odd or nonexistent meter".
I can see I have a lot to learn.
Malagodi- funny you should say this:
"Get rid of your expectations and listen to what's really happening."
I actually said to myself, let go..and I tried to relax my whole body and really focus to what I was hearing. For a brief few seconds I got lost in the sound but then I was pulled back out by that sax.
Michael - I've had "Kind of Blue" in my car and didn't know it till yesterday. My friend Hugh gave me a copy of it and it was so good I just left it in my CD player for almost a year. Never knew what I was listening to till you all mentioned that album and I was going to buy it. I thought I would check what I had in the car and there it was. I saved 15 bucks! Thanks Hugh.
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