Jazz—An Appreciation or Six

By Chris Manson April 17, 2008 Issue

The Smithsonian Institution has dubbed April Jazz Appreciation Month. What better way to celebrate than to invite some of our favorite area musicians to share their thoughts and get other people to write my column for me?

Shannon “Chief” Cherry, celebrated sax man: One of my favorite jazz albums of all time would have to be Blue Train by John Coltrane. The lines he takes on “A Moment's Notice” are breathtaking and awe-inspiring. To me, this album and Giant Steps are technical masterpieces from his hard-bopping days.

John Coltrane's angular arpeggios and thin, focused tone are amazing to me, and although my sound is deeper and throatier like Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Gene Ammons, his style of playing over the chord changes challenges me and leaves me in awe of his understanding of harmonic structure, as well as his improvisational ability to act on his musical reasoning through amazing ability, stamina and control.

I think that to say that he influences what I do would be a bit much—he represents where I would like to be musically someday. The beauty of that is I may never reach that level of musical awareness and technicality, but I get to be on that journey, towards that goal. Music should always move forward. This is what we all learn from Coltrane.

Amy Hart, currently appearing Thursday nights at Tijuana Flats in Fort Walton Beach from 6-9 p.m. (myspace.com/amyhartband): I am way into Van Morrison...does he count? (Yes, although the attempts at scat singing on his new CD leave much to be desired. –The Beat.)

Bill Garrett of Hubba Hubba (myspace.com/hubbatunes), acclaimed solo artist: Jazz heavily influences my music. My big brother always had Ellington, Brubeck, Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan and Billie Holiday records playing when I was growing up, so I was absorbing those sounds unconsciously as a child. Later, after taking up guitar I learned a couple tunes off of Donald Fagen's The Nightfly. Those chord voicings have found their way into almost every aspect of my music.

More recently I have gotten into the music of the great Brazilian composer, Antonio Carlos Jobim, who with João Gilberto, took the samba rhythm, added jazz chords and created the bossa nova back in the late ‘50s. I now like to include a bossa nova in a set.

Clayton Bonjean of Cadillac Willy, playing next weekend at Baytowne Wharf’s Funky Blues Shack: The evolution of jazz into funk and New Orleans funk has been a major influence on Cadillac Willy. Some of the jazz or jazz-funk musicians that influence our band are Karl Denson, the Greyboy Allstars, the Funky Meters, Galactic, Maceo Parker, James Brown, and Herbie Hancock.

Dirty Daryl of Voodoo Love Trolls (formerly Sex N Wheelchairs), appearing Friday nights at Balls Out in Santa Rosa Beach and the Emerald Coast Bike Fest at the end of April: Everyone thinks of New Orleans when you bring up jazz. There have been a lot of artists come out of there, but it really started in Africa in the 1800s. New Orleans-style jazz did not even start up ‘til around the 1890s. It took ‘til the 1900s for it to become popular. I love walking the French Quarter and listening to the street performers. That is what jazz is really about, not the French Quarter but the street performers. It's got a soul of its own, just like the blues. You can play any instrument in jazz; that is the only style of music you can do that with.

Ted Cobena, appearing Sunday nights with Blue Lew Hogue and this Friday with Alice Bargeron at Stinky’s Fish Camp. Ted and his wife have recently joined forces for the Web site soapandsong.com: Although I do not consider myself much of a "jazzer," jazz does affect the music I play. Jazz is creative and original, and I've always tried to use those concepts when playing with other musicians.
 
My favorite jazz bandleader is Miles Davis. He always let the musicians do their own thing without getting in the way. I've got this DVD, Miles Davis-Live in Munich, and it's incredible. As for jazz drummers, my all time favorite is Elvin Jones. He was powerful and so unique. He came up with the concept of using the parts of the drum kit as "sonic agents of color." My take on it is that the cymbals are red, the snare drum is white, tom toms are shades of blue, and the kick drum is black. You "paint" your way through a song much like an artist paints from a palette. I use those ideas when I come up with parts for my music or when singer-songwriters ask me to come up with parts for their original songs.
 
Good jazz music is like an intelligent conversation. Each instrument has its time to speak, and no one interrupts while someone else is talking. The theme of the song is laid down and everyone sticks to that theme during his or her solo and the end result is usually a mind-expanding experience. At least for me!
 
The Beat’s Record Roundup:
- Miles Davis: The Complete On the Corner Sessions (Legacy). You needed more proof that every note the man ever recorded deserves to see the light of day?
- Hayes Carll: “She Left Me for Jesus” (UMG). Starts out like a parody of a country song, then becomes something entirely unexpected as the redneck ex-boyfriend demonstrates he has not seen Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ. From Carll’s new album Trouble in Mind.
- Meshuggah: obZen (Nuclear Blast). Best heavy metal band ever.
- www.emusic.com. The independent music download site offers plenty of important tracks new and old. They just added the Rolling Stones’ classic ABKCO recordings, England’s Newest Hitmakers through Let It Bleed and jazz great David Murray’s catalog. Subscriptions start at $9.99 a month for 30 tracks, a sweet deal. The site almost always has a free CD-length sampler up for grabs, some first-rate (Don’t Mess with Texas, a collection of South by Southwest artists) and some just plain weird (an obscure lo-fi Canadian band called Pillowfight).
- Todd Barry: From Heaven (Comedy Central). Stand-up albums seldom capture my fancy these days, but this guy is hilarious even after three or four listens. Especially dead-on are Barry’s bits on MySpace, Bruce Springsteen, and Julia Roberts’ use of the word “fridge.”
- Hysterics: Hysterics (Big Scary Polar Bear Productions). A dozen Beatles-and-Nuggets-influenced pop gems, any of which could easily qualify for Little Steven’s coolest song of the week.
- Kathy Mattea: Coal (Captain Potato Records). Long-forgotten late-‘80s/early-‘90s country girl returns with a concept album in the Merle Travis mold, the best of its kind since Marty Stuart’s Badlands.
- Gnarls Barkley: The Odd Couple (Downtown Music). Not quite as revolutionary as St. Elsewhere, and you have to listen pretty hard to find something as infectious as the genre-busting hit “Crazy.” Still, this is about as adventurous as major label music gets these days.
- Anna Stafford: Staring at the Sky (San Gabriel Music). Superb violinist has played with everyone from Steve & Eydie to Kanye West. Her follow-up to the all-original String Music offers more quality compositions and frantic playing.
- R.E.M.: Acclerate (Warner). A rocking return to form, say many, though I seem to recall my favorite R.E.M. songs were always “Nightswimming” and “Everybody Hurts.”
- Van Morrison: Keep It Simple (Lost Highway). Lyrically, Van is as big a simpleton as Brian Wilson, but he can still maintain a nice groove. Just don’t expect him to win over the 12-steppers with his cure for alcoholism: “I just said, ‘No dice.’”
- Ike and Tina Turner: Live, Raw & Funky (The Great American Music Co.). Just what the title implies, scrubby sound and all. Not sure if this is something that has been released and re-released to death, but the performances pack a lot of punch.
- Randy Newman: Leatherheads (Varese Sarabande). Ennio Morricone aside, I’m no fan of film scores. But even in all-instrumental mode, Newman’s wit overrides the occasional forays into bombast.

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PHOTOS:
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Coltrane’s Blue Train is a favorite of saxophonist Shannon “Chief” Cherry.

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The incredible Miles Davis, cited by many of our area musicians as the jazz great.

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More information on the Smithsonian’s Jazz Appreciation Month is available at www.smithsonianjazz.org.

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