Jon Lloyd Quintet - Brighton Jazz Club

First time I have come across Jon Lloyd although he has been around for some time. Currently doing a Jazz Services tour and fortunately BJC is on the circuit. With John Law and Asaf Sirkis in the band I knew it would not be a wasted night. They only play with the best and are worth going to hear in their own right. Jon has had Mark Sanders and Paul Rogers in previous bands so I was expecting something at the end of free improvisation. The music was more European than American in style (if those categories hold any more) moving between floating ECM type soundscapes and groove based extended improvisations. The excellent guitar and bass guitarists gave the band a full and locked in sound. Jon's coruscating lines made the music float and soar. His use of space and dynamics was effective and he had a number of musical conversations with John Law. In fact the band was very much that, a band, rather than just a collection of great improvisors. His compositions, arrangements and use of sop and bass clarinet reminded me strongly of John Surman but this band also built intensity through complex groove structures and extended modal improvisations. Asaf, who also plays with the likes of Tim Garland and Gillad Atzmon, drove the music with his musical and imaginative drumming along with Rodney Teague, the bass guitarist who played riffs rather than walking. Rob Palmer on guitar used effects pedals well giving the music ambience and John Law huddled at the back of the stage using sequences and recordings, as well as playing piano, to further embellish the music with effects.

As with so much jazz it is so much better live. The CD for sale at the gig is well worth the £6 but is typical of many jazz CDs in that it was produced before the start of a tour to promote the music and does not reflect the way the live music has matured as the band members have developed it over a period of gigging. Jon really should do a live double album at the end of the tour. Fabulous stuff.
http://www.myspace.com/jonlloydmusic

Swanage Jazz Festival

I caught the Dave Stapleton Quintet at the Swanage Jazz Festival on the weekend. Fantastic. Blew me away. Some really new composition and firework performances. Check them out on Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBB_KqDsAt8 A new band "Aquarium" also took the festival by storm. Four of us went on a last minute whim. Will organise a bigger group next year.

Back Door Too played. A trio of Bass, Sax and Drums. The original band (Back Door) started in the late 60's and was one of the first jazz rock outfits. Unusual because of the line up and Colin Hodgkinson often played lead on his bass guitar. I met Colin in the Bar after their gig and bought a CD. I had the original Back Door albums on vinyl which Colin told me were probably worth a few bob now. Shame I gave all my viynl away last year. Still regret it but never played them even though I have a Rega turntable. Ron Asprey was the original sax player. He lived in Saltdean near Brighton and I saw play live at Brighton Jazz Club once, died a few years ago as did Tony Hicks the drummer - leaving one. John Peal used to play them regularly. Good to see that Colin is making the proect happen again as this was a seminal late 60's jazz rock outfit. There is a good interview with Colin on Cultural Foundation website.

Also Saw John Law trio. Have his four albums. Very Jarrett influenced from his 80s period, which is good. Is playing as part of the Jon Lloyd Quintet at Brighton Jazz Club tonight. Should be a treat.

Brecon Jazz Festival

A great line up this year at Brecon. Will be my first foray there. Dave Stapleton Quintet to kick it off and very cheap ticket prices. Tons of more contemporary and some scandinavian stuff too.

Tigran Hamasyan

This piano player is Armenian and has played with some of the top international jazz artists and yet is still in his early / mid 20s. All compositions are his own and the quality of playing and arrangements is right up there. Comes to jazz from listening to rock. Strong grooves, great arrangements, fabulous drumming and piano playing. Jazz that really rocks. Two albums, New Era and Red Hail and both are cracking. Red Hail has female vocals. Great voice but for me does not add anything. Probably makes the music more commercially viable though. Thanks to radio FIP for bringing this one to my attention.

Dave Stapleton Quintet

Been listening to all three albums, downloadable from www.emusic. com. Great groove based compositions with fabulous solos, particularly from the two young but virtuoso horns, Jonny Bruce and Ben Waghorn. And so young. the future of jazz in the UK? I hope so. Caught the band live at Swanage and have bought tickets to see them at Brecon in a couple of weeks time. Thanks to the Jazzwise cover disc a few months ago where the DSQ track really stood out. Dave Stapleton also runs the EQ jazz label. What a talent.

Christian Scott

A new discovery for me that is. Heard him on Radio FIP which has been playing him a lot. Really modern,atmospheric trumpet playing.

Current State

Worked on a 251 sequence in F for the BJMC workshop. Used three Clifford Brown licks and a descending b9 (diminished starting on half step). Was pleasantly surprised at how fluid I became.

Back to Miss Jones as I did not follow through on this.

Have You Met Miss Jones?

Working on 2 251 paterns (Clifford Brown) over Have You Met Miss Jones. Will learn this standard thoroughly this month. Starting at 80BPM and working up to 140 bpm each pattern for each key centre of which there are four. Then to be able to insert them in time using Band in a Box. Raise the speed. Realised that you need to really get these patterns down under your fingers and work hard on them until they are really pollished. Will try and bring speeds up to 220 bpm at some stage! Currently feel that I can't do the things I want to do at 120 so need to work on my speed and my facility.

targets this week

learn and transcribe 2 more choruses from Blue and Brown.
Bring up spead on this tune.
Learn B section of Full House.

to transcribe

Don Byas' solo on Anthropology from his Night In Tunisia album would be a good one to get you into rhythm changes. (thanks to Sax on the Web)_.

Sonny Rollins, from Collossus. Autumn Leaves, Cannonball & Miles. Courtney Pine.

1st january - Targets for the year

I have been learning the solos of Clifford Brown on Blue and Brown, a blues in F with an 8 bar "round the houses" bridge every two chorus. I am using Transcribe! and writing it up into Band In A Box (BIAB). I bought a new mouthpiece for the holiday. It is more open, a 7, and am enjoying using it immensely although it sounds different every time I play it.?

This week I will complete the transcription and learn the solos.

For this year I want to:

1. learn at least 12 standards.
2. learn and transcribe 6 solos.
3. work on minor 251s.
4. work on the blues.
5. work on Rhythm Changes

This means that I can have a monthly schedule. The other golden target is improve my timing so that I am playing in time. Alan Barnes said at the summer school that timing and sound are more important than the notes you play. The more modern players tend to have split second timing and it really makes a big difference.

Chris Potter

Couldn't get tickets to see him at Ronnies recently. Currently Follow The Red Line is my favourite album. Some blistering lines and great original tunes. What mastery of the sax across the whole range with real emotional force.

Update - practising

I have neglected this blog for a long time. I have decided to include a log of my practice, lessons learnt etc. as well as personal reviews of gigs.

I have been having lessons from Simon Savage for a while. He is very structured and a good tutor. He very much has his own ideas and expects you to follow them. Having said that that can be useful if you want to learn what he knows / teaches, which is very much the bebop style. He is a really good player and I always enjoy his gigs. More detail on learning later.

Tim Garland's Northern Underground Orchestra

Caught the 9th gig in the tour of this great band. Went to the rehearsal session first, followed by excellent tapas across the road, a drink with mates and then into the gig. Gwilym Simcock on piano. It was good to hear him after all the hype. Every bit as good as he is cracked up to be. Can't remember the names of most of the soloists and had not seen most of them before but some stunning and original playing. Paul Booth was a real treat. The singer, Hannah Jones, was phenomenal, expressive, soulful. The second she started you knew she was going to be good. The music was loud and bursting with energy.

Went on to the Brighton Jazz Club after to catch the end of Alan Barnes playing the clarinet and cracking jokes and, of course, the fantastic Jim Hart on vibes. The music was so quiet that you I had to ask the person next to me to stop breathing during the solos. Got there in time to hear the last couple of tunes and Barnesy thanking the audience for being so quiet and spurning The Northern Underground Orchestra to see him. Thought it best not to say anything.

A night to remember. I love living in Brighton.

Robert Wyatt does it again - Comicopera

Wasn't too sure on first listening. This is not background listening and deserves your full attention. I said ATTENTION you at the back. Been listening again and it has blown me away. It is as dark as Rock Bottom but more sparse. Twisted ear writes a very good review of the first two parts.

http://www.twistedear.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1176&Itemid=31

However the third part is more jazzy with coruscating layers that build beautiful soundscapes, again as per Rock Bottom. Fragments harps back to one of the first songs in part one. It is only just over a minute long but leaves you crying for more.

Robert is a unique voice who can rip your heart out with the beauty of his music. Not to everyone's taste but give it a good try before dismissing or you may be overlooking a treasure that will bring joy.

Martin Drew / Mornington Locket at BJC

Fantastic gig last night at the Jazz Club. The opening number had Martin playing some really creative driving drum lines. Jeremy Brown, on bass, was up to this fantastic band. Mornington was on top form playing some great Coltrane style lines that I love and Steve Melling was really rocking, playing some very long and grooving solos. Bliss. What I would give to play like that.

Brighton Jazz club - New Venue

The BJC has now started up at the Komedia in the North Laine. The acoustics are good and I like the atmosphere, especially now the air is clean. It also gets the benefit of the Komedia publicity machine which will make a fantastic difference. The BJC has been a well hidden secret treasure ever since it moved from the original Concorde by the pier.

Gilad Atzmon - Refuge - 5 stars

Saw Gilad at the first gig of his new tour at the Brighton Jazz Club last week. He uses a lot of electronics for this album and it sounds great. He had some problems getting the sound right due to an horrendous crackling noise which resulted in a near riot and him finishing the first set acoustically. He was not phased at all (I would have died). It made me realise just how much mental energy and confidence he has. Have three of his previous albums and don't really listen to them much. Bought the latest album - Refuge - on the strengths of the gig. Refuge is due to be issued on 1 October. Gilad was saying that he thinks this is his best album to date. I have to agree. By a long mile. It really is up there with the best contemporary jazz. Great tunes, some fantastic soloing and really good arrangements and great band. Am playing constantly at the moment. This one gets 5 stars from me. Buy the CD here http://www.gilad.co.uk/

Robert Wyatt

Was Robert Wyatt the most influential progressive / jazz rock musician of the 60's?

"Soft Machine were never a commercial enterprise and indeed still remain unknown even to many listeners who came of age during the late '60s, when the group was at its peak. In their own way, however, they were one of the more influential bands of their era, and certainly one of the most influential underground ones. One of the original British psychedelic groups, they were also instrumental in the birth of both progressive rock and jazz-rock. They were also the central foundation of the family tree of the "Canterbury Scene" of British progressive rock acts, a movement that also included Caravan, Gong, Matching Mole, and National Health, not to mention the distinguished solo careers of founding members Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers." AMG.

http://wm04.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gifuxqr5ld0e~T1

Robert's music continues to be blindingly beautiful. His new album, Comicopera, comes out next month. I have pre-ordered it.

Industrial Zen - John McLaughlin

What an album. Found it a bit dense the first time that I listened to it. He uses lots of patterns in an even meter which can mean that it sounds mechanical. You could say appropriate for an album of this title. It is one of those albums that benefits from lots of listening. Most of the tracks are dedicated to significant people. e.g. Michael Brecker, Wayne Shorter, mostly musicians but even the Dalai Lama gets a look in. If you want to develop your ear for altered scales then To Bop or Not to Be (great title), which is the tune dedicated to Brecker, is superb. This may become one of my favourite all time albums.

There is a mailing list dedicated to discussion of John McLaughlin's music.

http://mailman.cs.cf.ac.uk/localpages/one-word/about.html

This link is a Jazzwise review http://www.jazzwise.com/news/item/1624