Wildcard - Brooks Frederickson

Phillip Glass - Glassworks

Recently, my listening has been focused more on music that isn't afraid to just do one thing. Phillip Glass' album Glassworks is a great example of this. Him and his ensemble lay out six relatively short pieces that do what they do, and don't try to do anything else. The music on the album is so bare-bones, so stark, that the listener has no choice but to focus on the little details - the voice leading, the subtle changes in texture, the rhythmic counterpoint, the phrase length.

Beethoven - Symphony 7, Movement 2

People jokingly call this the first piece of "minimalist" music. Beethoven uses the same phrase for the majority of the movement. What he does with it, though, is what's interesting. Each time the phrase comes back around, he's changed something in it - sometimes it's something so small, the listener doesn't even really realize what's different.

Pete Seeger - Banks of the Ohio

I've fallen for Murder Ballads. There is something is so beautifully tragic in a song about killing someone you love. This song, like most Murder Ballads, is about a man killing a woman who doesn't love him. Pete sing it with such innocence, that the first few times I listened to it, I didn't realize how horrific the story is.

Brooks Frederickson is a composer living in Brooklyn, NY. According to the New York Times, he has "a good-natured catalog of potentials."

Podcast 18 - Jas Walton

Jas Walton is a busy man. He just back from playing the Music of William Onyeabor with a bunch of insane musicians as a part of a series of concerts thrown by Luaka Bop (a label run by David Byrne.) in London. We talk about the insane number of bands he is currently playing with and what it means to switch roles in the different groups. We hear some music from the afrobeat band Emefe, the marching band Asphalt Orchestra, and the Mason Jar Music House Band. We also get into the benefits of learning music by ear, listening to music with your eyes, and Sonic Butter. This is a good episode!

Please, Subscribe in iTunes and give us feedback. That will help us out tremendously. Also, feel free to e-mail me at drew@wingwalkermusic.com with any suggestions or questions. Thank you for listening!

Wildcard - Nick Grinder

St. Vincent - Actor

I can't believe that I hadn't ever listened to St. Vincent before. I got this album just two days ago and I have been listening to it non-stop.   I feel that there is a certain formulaic aspect of pop music that we have been conditioned to expect, and she totally breaks that mold, in a way that reminds me a bit of Stevie Wonder's "Innervisions."   She sets up expectation with almost all the tracks on this album, then takes it on a totally different direction that paints this picture that is just so, so beautiful and completely indicative of an artistic point (she doesn't throw in random shit just to be different.  There is a point and a picture we are left with).  The shifts in the music are all unexpected and attention grabbing, yet they make so much sense.

I was discussing the album with a friend the other day, and he said it was like "Debussy with a beat," which I think is pretty apt - the heavy orchestral elements of this album are perfectly mirrored with the richness of texture she finds in other elements, lyrics included.  I love this album - I really haven't been this inspired to compose in a while.

Nat Adderley Sextet - Much Brass

This is an album I picked up a while ago but keep coming back to.  It sounds like one of those great old jazz records where the guys went in, read the stuff and sounded great, partly because of how spur of the moment it was.  Now, I don't know what the circumstances were surrounding the session, but there is a roughness that I think musicians today might be less inclined to show but allows this raw swing to come through.  Nat Adderley is such a fierce guy, and these arrangements (presumably done by Slide Hampton, who plays both trombone and tuba (!) on this album) are an awesome vehicle for him, as they are both intellectually stimulating but also really soulful.  With Nat Adderley - cornet, Slide Hampton - Trombone, Laymon Jackson - tuba/bass, Sam Jones - Bass, Wynton Kelley - Piano,  Tootie Heath - Drums.

Charles Lloyd and Jason Moran - Hagar's Song

This is one of my favorite records of the past year.  It's so beautiful - what can I say?  Listening to stuff like this makes me want to find these gentleman and see what they are all about, see how they have such insight and are able to find it and show us so easily.  I want to figure that out. To me, it's especially evident in Jason Moran's playing - his framing of Charles Lloyd's playing is where it's at, the music goes to the place where it all makes sense.  Really, there's not much I can say about this except that you should listen to it, probably while spacing out on the train or sitting on a bench outside.  Actually, those are great places to listen to any kind of music, but with this album I feel a distinct love for others and the space around me, which I feel is one of the noblest goals for any sort of art or person, really.

 Nick Grinder is a trombonist, composer, and educator based in New York City, and is one of the most versatile young musicians on the scene today.

Podcast 17 - Brian Drye

Brian Drye clearly leads and diverse and interesting life. We play music from three VERY different releases of his and talk about FIVE bands he is currently playing with: The Birthday Trio, The Crooked Trio, the Four Bags, Drye & Drye, and Bizingas. We're talking thrashing rock to jazz standards to chamber music with everything else in between thrown in.

We talk about what it's like to grow up with your father as a musician, what the Drye & Drye & Drye record will sound like in 30 years when his daughter joins the fray, and coming full circle. This is a great conversation that you should listen to! 

Please, Subscribe in iTunes and give us feedback. That will help us out tremendously. Also, feel free to e-mail me at drew@wingwalkermusic.com with any suggestions or questions. Thank you for listening!

Wildcard - Josh Sinton

“You’re a Big Girl Now” - Bob Dylan - From Blood on the Tracks.

It’s been an exceptionally hard winter. And I’m not talking about the weather. One of those times where I’ve been feeling cast adrift and left flailing for anything that might provide solace. Weirdly Bob Dylan has ended up being that solace. I say weirdly because I grew up with his music around me (my parents are life-long fans), but I’ve never had the slightest interest in his music. I’ve heard a ton of his music and none of it ever moved me in any direction, positively or negatively. Then this winter I started feeling a compulsion to listen to his songs. I have no idea where this compulsion came from, but I tend to follow these notions when they strike me since finding certainty in this life is a rarity. I have only a handful of his records (about 5), so I’ve just started with those: Blonde on Blonde, Blood on the Tracks, Time Out of Mind, John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline. I can’t say all of these records have given me the company I craved, but a couple of songs have really stuck out. “You’re a Big Girl Now” is one of ‘em. I like how for the first 5 seconds you almost think it’s gonna be some 70’s Marvin or Stevie soul jam, and then that weird clumsy guitar fill comes in and you know it’s gonna be something else. Dylan’s got really incredible phrasing here, pivoting from his croaking croon to that trademark yowl in a blink of an eye. And the lyrics are really terrific. Sometimes I find his rhymes claustrophobic, but they work here.

“Sand of Sea” - Cloud Becomes Your Hand - Rocks or Cakes

I’ve met these guys. They’re the kind of nice, quiet guys that you can tell are up to some weird shit when they’re out of eyesight. The video’s really dope and the song’s a pretty terrific slice of 21st-century Brooklyn pop music. I like how no matter how strange the song gets (like the breakdown from 2:00 - 3:00), you can tell this is a really carefully structured song. In a lot of ways it’s like a Brian Wilson tune but one that takes more risks. The mix is super-tight as well, one of the few times where putting the vocals behind the band sound works beautifully. You all should check these guys out as soon as you can.

“Quiet Dog” - Mos Def - from a Late Night with David Letterman performance

I CAN NOT STOP LISTENING TO THIS. I really, really can’t. It’s one of the most mesmerizing and captivating things I’ve found in a long time. I blame Tomas Fujiwara. He posted this on his Facebook page over a year ago and since then this has been in regular rotation for me. It’s an unbelievably deep and simple (and therefore even more deep) groove. Mos Def’s tympani playing might seem like a cheap stunt, but it really, really works. I can’t imagine the tune without it. And that’s Chris “Daddy” Dave on drums. No, seriously, let that sink it: Chris, Daddy, Dave. Dude has chops to burn. He could be playing all sorts of crazy busy stuff, but he absolutely refuses to do that. What he does is play something so stripped down that one wonders how much technique he actually does have. And he does this because it’s what the music demands, it’s what makes the song really work.

“Dance of the Reed Pipes” - Sonny Rollins & Co. Live at the Village Gate 1962

Ingrid Laubrock posted this on her Facebook page a couple of months ago. I clicked on it and when I saw how long it was, I assumed I would just check 5 min. of it and then be on my way. 32 minutes and 16 seconds later I finally got up from computer. This track has everything I desire: groove, weirdness, mystery, distinctiveness, risk taking that makes you question the ability of the players. This is from my favorite period of Rollins playing. I have a bootleg of this group playing in Stuttgart and that combined with this might make them one of the greatest jazz bands in the world to me (along with 60’s Ellington, 50’s Charlie Parker, late 70’s Steve Lacy, early 90’s Braxton, etc.). You can never guess what decisions these guys are going to make, but every decision they make is just so right.

“The Rat Cave” - Dan Leo

For this last pick I almost chose Future Island’s Letterman performance of “Season (Waiting on You),” but I think they’re getting enough play these days (n.b. if you have not checked that performance, you have to do that right now) and these guys are friends of mine and I want all of you out there to know about them ‘cause they’re all kinds of awesome. Dan is the saxophonist Dan Blake and Leo is madman keyboardist Leo Genovese. They made an album together a couple of years ago and it’s great hidden gem, kind of like getting Anthony Braxton together with Hermeto Pascoal in a villa owned by Ornette Coleman and Joe Zawinul. They’re music’s really organic, which is to say it’s an honest and homemade kind of weird, my favorite kind of weird.  “Rat Cave” isn’t actually my favorite tracks, it’s my 2nd favorite. My favorite is “We are there” but you can only hear that one if you buy the CD. So yeah, you should probably go and do that. Buy the CD.

Josh Sinton :: composer, performer, student.

Office Playlist - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - It Was There That I Saw You

Podcast 16 - Timo Vollbrecht

This episode features the great saxophonist Timo Vollbrecht. We talk about his upcoming residency in Italy with Kesuike Matsuno (who happened to be on the podcast last week. Callback!) We also talk about the time he met Branford Marsalis and then sat in with him at the legendary Village Vanguard.

During the episode, you'll hear two tracks from Timo's quartet. The first was written by Keisuke (which you can hear a different version on last week's episode. Another callback. Nailed it!) On the second track, you'll hear the great pianist Kenny Werner playing with the group.

Please, Subscribe in iTunes and give us feedback. That will help us out tremendously. Also, feel free to e-mail me at drew@wingwalkermusic.com with any suggestions or questions. Thank you for listening!

Wildcard - Darius Christian Jones

1. Q-tip - The Renaissance, track 10 "Life is Better"

I rediscovered this album while enjoying coffee on St. Patricks Day in the Village with Yuma Sung. Everything the bartender was playing was gold. When I heard the track "Life is Better" I was captivated by the singer, and had this uncanny feeling that I knew who she was. Her soulful phrasing and sweet voice was in a new context. To my surprise, it was Nora Jones!

2. James Blake

When I listen to J.B. I am launched into an electronic freeze-frame. Time is no longer linear, but it's rotating and swirling. Blake's incredible production and ethereal voice is harmonized, displaced, and effected with various filters and reverb. At the most fundamental level his voice is incredibly dynamic and stands alone. His voice reminds me of a sensitive British Alien robot who absorbed the soul of Tracey Chapman and any great gospel singer from space.

3. Gregory Porter - Liquid Spirit

Hands-down, and yet somehow simultaneously extended towards the sky in joy; Gregory Porter is one of my favorite male jazz/soul crossover vocalists. His phrasing, resonance, and wonderfully-simple instrumental arrangements are on point for me. There is a rawness in his story-telling, and the nostalgic listening can run free. Preach it!!

4. Opsvik and Jennings - A Dream I Used to Remember

My dear friend, Cam Collins, turned me on to this recording. I must admit this was the first recording of Eivind Opsvik that I had checked out. I didn't know what to expect. I put on my jazz-school listening ears, which of course is setting oneself up for failure when it comes to listening to any kind of music. I was delightfully tricked and thrown into a new world, where there were rainbows, acoustic instruments, and dancing melodies. Was that a leprechaun surfing on a cloud? In summary, this is one of the most joyful records I have ever heard in my life. One that will transform any cloudy day into a moon bounce.

5. Pharrell Williams - G I R L

Williams has probably had one of the best two years of commercial success. From his work with Robin Thicke, to Daft Punk, to Justin Timberlake, everything he touches as of late seems to become gold! This latest record doesn't disappoint. The Title track "Happy" stands alone as a means for celebrating life. All I have to say about this record is: Production, POCKET, and shameless pop love.

Darius Christian Jones is a trombonist, composer, and educator who currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.

Office Playlist - Todd Barry - The Crowd Work Tour

Podcast 15 - Keisuke Matsuno

We have done fifteen of these so far which feels like some kind of accomplishment. This weeks guest is one of the most creative young guitarists on the scene today, Keisuke Matsuno. We talk about the new release from his band Trio Schmetterling entitled Globus. We also talks about his collaboration with electronic composer Lars Graugaard and their EP entitled NVMBR. Also, THE BEATLES - the most under appreciated band of all time.

Please, Subscribe in iTunes and give us feedback. That will help us out tremendously. Also, feel free to e-mail me at drew@wingwalkermusic.com with any suggestions or questions. Thank you for listening!