Applause and Ovations

A while back, writer Doug Ramsey had collected and written comments regarding excessive applause, bordering on the feeling of mandatory applause after all solos at jazz performances. The subject of ovations has now been brought into the picture.  Ramsey picked up an article from last week, and I clipped a different one, albiet from the same newspaper on the same date.

As a performer, I can certainly say that it feels good to be appreciated, and am genuinely affected by applause and ovations.  I also recognize that there are many performers out there that play "for the house," as we say -- doing and playing certain things simply to generate applause.  There must be a "happy medium" somewhere in between, but in the end I feel that in any live music situation, each person should experience it as they wish -- after all, that's what they are paying for. In the words of Ray Brown, "If you wanna pat your feet, pat your feet.  If you wanna clap your hands, clap your hands." As a side note, I disagree with the argument that applause covers the beginning of the next soloist -- this is simply part of going to hear live music, and performers who are sensitive to their audience respect this and simply wait.  If we were listening to a political debate, or an oration of poetry, the next performer would logically wait until after the applause of the previous performer before beginning his/her own presentation -- I see little difference between these examples and a jazz performance.  Please feel free to add to the discussion here in the comments section, on our Discussion Board, or over at Doug Ramsey's site, Rifftides.

Watch SRJO Performing Duke Ellington's Sacred Concert in December 2006

The King County Television Archive has posted the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra performing their 2006 concert of Duke Ellington's sacred music. The concert was recorded for the program 4Culture, formerly the King County Arts Commission. If you already have the Real Player application, click here to watch, otherwise, click the image to the left to download for free.

Jazz and the Visual Arts Round-Up

I've always been interested in comparing the mechanisms of creating the various forms of art, be it dance, fiction, poetry, film, paintings, sculpture, sketch comedy, or one of many others with music and music-making.  I've run across a number of articles lately that add to this dialogue:

• A lengthly article refuting the claim that bebop negatively impacted graphic art in the 1940s and 1950s
  
• A Richmond artist who tries to "duplicate the feeling, the ambience of the jazz bar" in her paintings
• Another painter whose work demands us to "think of it like jazz" to properly interpret
• The Monterey Museum of Modern Art currently has an exhibition of Henri Matisse's "Jazz" series in association with the Monterey Jazz Festival
• Another art exhibition, this time of work inspired by the music of composer Hoagy Carmichael
• A wonderful article on an exhibition called "Eye-Music: Kandinsky, Klee and All That Jazz", with commentary on the relationship between their art and jazz music

Please feel free to add comments, or start a formal dialogue in the Discussion Board.

Jazz in Fiction: David Fulmer

I clipped an article a few weeks ago about this guy, and without making the mental connection, stumbled on one of his books at Barnes and Noble and picked it up.  David Fulmer has written three novels featuring turn of the century Storyville detective Valentin St. Cyr, and includes some of the early jazz figures such as Jelly Roll Morton and Buddy Bolden. I'm in the middle of two other books right now, but should be done with both by the end of the week, so I'll post more as I get into this.  For the time being, check out the article on Jazz News, or pick up a copy for yourself.

Cecil Young Progressive Quartet, 1955

I went to high school with a trumpet player named Cecil Young, but we had always been told that there was another, earlier "Cecil Young" in Seattle jazz. I never really thought much more about it in those years, but I came across a link via one of my favorite vinyl blogs, Like Dreamsville. From another continuum, I'd heard this riff around older Seattle musicians that sounded like Dizzy Gillespie's "Oo-Bop-Sh-Bam" that went, "Who parked the car?" I've played it on gigs -- just a blues riff -- but I had no idea where it came from until I saw and heard the post at I'm Learning to Share: here is the original Cecil Young from Seattle.

Modern Mechanix Does Music

My thanks to BoingBoing for turning me on to the great site, Modern Mechanix. With everything from the 1930s through the 1980s, from robots to telephones, this site has high-quality scans of old articles and advertisements galore.  They've had some great posts of late related to music that caught my eye:

• Odd Jobs for Your Phonograph
• Rifle Barrell Becomes Bugle
  
• Jazz Instrument Minus Keys "Played" by Humming
• Brass Horn Played by Six Midgets

They have a whole slew of catagories, so you can browse all the music-related articles all at once, for example.  Or maybe you prefer robots or war-related stuff.  Either way, it's good for a great time, and maybe even some inspiration.

A Great Day in Seattle - Anatomy of a Seattle Jazz Photo

A Great Day in Seattle: The Boss and the Photographer Originally uploaded by RedRaspus.

When my brother first told me what he had in the works, I practically jumped out of my skin.  "What a great idea!" I thought to myself, wishing it had been my own.  For many years, Thomas and I have tried to propagate the idea of a "Seattle Jazz Scene," rather than a Seattle with all of these pockets of musicians -- free, bebop, electric, modern.  I'm trying to do my part with the Seattle Jazzscene podcast, as well as a few other projects in the works.  Thomas' new undertaking, however, will surely help people recognize on a much greater scale what this city has to offer in terms of jazz music.

What was this great idea?  A Great Day in Seattle, of course: to have a picture taken depicting the vast number of professional jazz musicians living, working, and playing in our area. With some 300 people joining the festivities yesterday at City Hall in downtown Seattle, that idea came to fruition.  The picture, taken by Pulitzer Prize-winner Daniel Sheehan, and styled after the famous A Great Day in Harlem photo by Art Kane, will be available for purchase in April 2008 -- next year's Jazz Appreciation Month -- to help raise funds for the organization MusiCares.

And what a blast! There were some folks I haven't seen in years -- Brian Kent, Scott Babcock, to name a few -- and others that I see every week.  There were players in their early twenties, and a fair number in their seventies and eighties. Truly the highlight of my day was the picking up and taking home of Buddy Catlett, certainly one of our local legends, and someone who is still out there playing, too!  I've played many times with Buddy over the years, but never have I learned more -- about Seattle, jazz music, or anything -- than those few times I've been able to talk with him alone.  For me, he is a reminder of why I continue to play -- the hours, days, and years of playing music have literally transformed Buddy into "music as life," in my eyes.  When I dropped him off, his cell phone rang the "Theme from Star Trek" -- he reminded me that it's nearly the same chords as "Out of Nowhere" and headed into his place.  Thanks for coming, Buddy! And to everyone else who made it, as well -- I think it is safe to assume that a truly "Great Day in Seattle" was had by all in attendance.

Be sure to read the article in the Seattle P-I, or you can watch some of the video that King 5 has made available of the event.  And most importantly, if you want to support this fine event and its beneficiary MusiCares, please visit the official site for A Great Day in Seattle. Also, please post your photos from the event at Flickr and use the tag, agreatdayinseattle.

Is This The End for the Fuffering Suckheads?

You'll have to tune in next week, folks -- actually, it sounds like we will be back at the Sunset Tavern on the first Sunday of every month starting up in June, so we are all very excited to be going back to a club and staff we know and love. The gig on Sunday night was zany as always, but everyone was even more on edge as it was seemingly the end of era -- over a year and a half of Sundays devoted to this strange experiment of Ron and Mike's they call "punk jazz".  I still haven't decided it that's the right term for the band, despite having played with them for the better part of the last year or so. I've posted some pictures over on my Flickr account, and I'll try to see if there are any more out there -- many people were taking pictures besides me.  We will also be trudging along at the Seamonster Lounge, where we play the last Saturday of the month.  Throw in a gig here and there at the Fiddler's Inn, and you'll have no problem finding the Fuffering Suckheads (referred to as such for the sake of public decency).

www.flickr.com

Duo with Tim Kennedy at the Columbia City Theater

I honestly can't remember when I met pianist Tim Kennedy, but it must have been at a jam session at the Owl and Thistle. I don't recall ever having played a gig with him, and I can't you how excited I was when he asked me to play duo at a new club in the South end of Seattle, the Columbia City Theatre. A great little bar-style in the front was our station for the evening, but the very inviting and larger back room is the true jewel of the establishment. This place has a history all its own, and it felt great to be just a part of it for one evening. In the tradition of the room, we tried to cover as many bases as possible from the classic jazz and standard repertoire, from I Cover the Waterfront to Nica's Dream. As a pianist, Tim really has a handle on a variety of approaches, from a Duke-ish kind of stride, to more open Tatum-esque runs, and dashes of blues, bebop and more in the mix. He just put the finishing touches on a new recording, so do look around for that, and possibly I'll play a bit on my podcast. Tim appears every Thursday at the Columbia City Theatre, so if you have a chance, be sure to go check him out!

Blue Flavor Holiday Party

Blue Flavor Holiday Party
Originally uploaded by nickf.

Dig this! Mike Stone, Joe Doria and I had a blast last night playing for the Blue Flavor Holiday Party. Brian Fling, Director of Strategy for Blue Flavor, brought in Joe and I to play the party, and after hearing Mike Stone again the other night at the Sea Monster, we both made sure it would work for a trio. I hope the audience had as much fun as we did, because I know all three of us had a fun time playing funky-groovy, playing standards, and playing holiday songs to the backdrop of It's a Wonderful Life and The Miracle on 34th Street. Nick Finck, Director of User Experience, posted some photos from the party over at Flickr -- check out the whole set!