Music for Wing Walkers
Join us at Threes Brewing on Wednesday, November 4th for Nadje Noordhuis & James Shipp at 8pm and the Wing Walker Orchestra at 9:30pm! More info HERE.
Office Playlist - Little Worlds - No. 61
Music for Wing Walkers
We’re excited to be back at Threes Brewing on Tuesday, October 6th with new music from Cowboys and Frenchman at 8pm and the Wing Walker Orchestra at 9:30pm! More info here.
Music for Wing Walkers
Join us on Wednesday, September 2nd from 9pm-Midnight for the first of our Music for Wing Walkers series to be hosted at Threes Brewing. More info here.
Wildcard - Jason Mears
JASON MEARS, from Alaska, is a saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, improviser, and educator who is currently living in New York City. As well as being a member of the the highly acclaimed Empty Cage Quartet, Jason’s most recent projects include Anthony Braxton’s Trillium E Orchestra, Wadada Leo Smith’s Silver Orchestra, and Harris Eisenstadt’s Canada Day Octet. Jason's 20 TON BRIDGE will be performing this Saturday, June 20th from 8:30-10:30pm at IBeam, 168 7th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215 -- with Quentin Tolimieri - keyboard, James Ilginfritz - bass, Andrew Drury - drums.
imaginative structures and forms music encourages risk-taking not perfection ensembles are fluid voices/orchestration/group dynamics can/do change instantaneously rhythmic elasticity instantly recognizable tones balancing on the edge where composition and improvisation meet myriad influences coalesce ensemble realization and exploitation of unique moments during performance multi-directional multi-dimensional
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Both of these records are like having these masters in your living room playing whatever tunes come to their mind. Wow. Bob Dylan - World Gone Wrong
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Wildcard - Theo Bleckmann
A jazz singer and new music composer of eclectic tastes and prodigious gifts, GRAMMY® nominated Theo Bleckmann makes music that is accessibly sophisticated, unsentimentally emotional, and seriously playful, leading his work to be described as “from another planet” (New York Times), as “magical, futuristic,” (AllAboutJazz), “limitless” (Citypaper, Philadelphia) “transcendent” (Village Voice) and “brilliant” (New York Magazine). Theo Bleckmann will be performing June 16-21 in residence at The Stone in New York City. For more information visit: http://www.thestonenyc.com/calendar.php
Also be sure to check out the newly released Julia Hulsmann Quartet with Theo Bleckmann recording "A Clear Midnight: Kurt Weill and America," which just received this great review on JazzTimes.com.
I was a bit shocked to see that I had listened to Judee’s Sill song “Jesus was a Cross Maker” 1123 times. And it’s still not enough. She’s probably the biggest secret of any singer-songwriter out there. The lovely folks of Kneebody brought her music to my attention. A few years back we collaborated on a Judee Sill project that we performed only a few times.
Her writing, singing and lyrics are easily on the level of, lets say, Joni Mitchell. Her all too short life (she died in 1979) and her even stranger CV certainly have to potential to make her a cult figure. Why isn’t she more known? Perhaps because she only put out two records? But let’s get back to the actual music, which is deeply influenced by Bach and his forms. Her lyrics speak of Christianity and redemption but somehow don’t come off as proselytizing or missionary to me. He beautifully simple, straightforward singing serves the music and content and there is nothing superfluous or distracting in her delivery - no false emoting. Listen to “The Donor” with its many tracks of male and female overdubs of echo-y voices singing Kyrie Elision, recorded way before looping or that kind of layering were common practice. More than a trailblazer in studio work, her music works in the context of her own recording and as stand-alone compositions. Check out her live studio recording of “The Kiss” on YouTube, shot at the BBC in 1973: Mesmerizing.
Johánn Johannsson - Miners’ Hymns
Obsessed with Johannsson’s music for a while, this might be his crown jewel. The orchestration and performance of these pieces is lush and thick and despite the ambient and repetitive character of his music it never seems to wear off. Or as Brian Eno says: Repetition is a form of change. Miners’ Hymns is the soundtrack to a beautiful and equally epic film by Bill Morrison about the ill-fated coal mining communities in Northeast England. The film has no dialogue, so Johannsson’s music serves as the story teller. I can highly recommend both, as a night of visual and aural immersion.
One of the most interesting (jazz) singer-composer-lyricists comes from Melbourne Australia. I have been listening to this collection of songs since Gian gave me an advance copy three years ago, and it’s been a staple in my listening rotation ever since. Besides her impeccable musicianship, intonation and improvisational skills, her depth really knocks me over each time. She gets to an emotional truth through actual content in her writing and singing. I love Gian’s use of metaphors and images in her lyrics.
“I’m my own worst enemy
And the friend I really need
Take advice that I would give”
In another song (unfortunately not on this record) she sings:
“ I’d like someone who is tall as a tower
who doesn’t move an inch when the wind blows.
With concrete skin, unshakable power, don’t let nobody in through your front door.
But here you go defender of so and so
You stand on your pedestal tall watching them all down below.”
Gian’s voice is light and precise. There is such sweetness and innocence in her pure and clear sound, and yet her lyrics can sometimes be dark or mysterious; a wonderful contradiction that lures you in when you least expect it to.
Peter Garland - The Days Run Away
John Hollenbeck played this record for me over 10 years ago and I am still listening to these solo piano pieces with the same excitement and wonder as I did when I first heard them. The writing on this record has deeply influenced my own writing. The combination of Satie and Mal Waldron in this music shimmers with detail and mystery. The pieces take their time to unravel and I appreciate the calmness and steady pace at which they move. They often feel more like sculptures than music. This is a record that always makes me stop whatever I am doing and truly listen.
Wildcard - Michael Oien
Michael Oien is a bassist and composer who lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife Kim. His debut record And Now (Fresh Sound/New Talent) will be released on June 2nd (but is available now on iTunes). The record also features Matthew Stevens (guitar), Nick Videen (alto sax), Jamie Reynolds (piano), Eric Doob (drums), and Travis Laplante (tenor sax). The album release show for And Now will be at Barbès (376 9th st Brooklyn, New York) on July 21st at 7PM.
When attempting to explain my record, I often say that it is a collection of music that I wrote during the last 10 years living in New York. There are quite a few albums that stuck with me over that time period, but these five stuck out to me the most as music that was seemingly always playing on my CD player, computer, or iPod. There won’t be much musical analysis here.
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Bob Dylan – The Times They Are A Changin’
I was super late to the game on Bob Dylan compared to most people and didn’t begin my Dylan-obsessed period until I was maybe 23 and moving to the city. I got into his music during what I would call the “honeymoon phase” of living in New York. During this time I spent my gig-less, jobless, days wandering the Village, going to bars and cafés where Bob Dylan, Jack Kerouac, Dylan Thomas etc. would frequent. I really became enamored with Bob Dylan’s gift for melody, but more than anything his poetry. I also embraced our Midwest connection as Bob Dylan was born not too far from where I grew up. I think that I have always felt we shared the feeling that we were outsiders growing up in the upper Midwest, yet didn’t identify as New Yorkers either.
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Annie Clark was a student at Berklee at the same time that I was there. The first time that I heard her music under the St. Vincent moniker I fell in love with her/the band on a musical level, not knowing it was someone who had at one point been a classmate of mine at music school. What great songwriting and what a great record. My roommate at the time (and stellar guitarist) Sasha Brown turned me on to this album and it continues to be something that I revisit.
Highviolet
I used to see these gentlemen hanging out at Sycamore in Brooklyn all the time and was well aware of them by name because people would always point them out to me. At some point I finally decided to check out their music, and this was the album that I bought. Their lyrics remind me of Bob Dylan's and Adam Duritz’s, in that they paint such beautiful non-literal pictures. The stories that these great lyricists tell are collections of haunting non-sequiturs that eventually and inevitably make sense as a whole. It’s music, but it's also the art of storytelling.
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The Bad Plus – The Rite of Spring
I had to write a paper on Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring my sophomore year at the University of Minnesota for music history class, which really gave me some insight into how great it is as both a composition and a ballet. I drove from Brooklyn to my hometown of Ashland, Wisconsin last summer and I will never forget listening to The Bad Plus’ condensed piano trio version over and over while driving through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Attempting to do justice to such a great work of art with only piano, bass, and drums takes a lot of nerve. But Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson, and Dave King absolutely hit it out of the park here.
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Punch Brothers – The Phosphorescent Blues
Although I admit I am not a big fan of this album title, I absolutely love this record. I cannot claim it to be an influence on my upcoming release (And Now – June 2nd - check it out!) since that was all finished before The Phosphorescent Blues was released, but right now I just can’t stop listening to this music. Chris Thile is a virtuosic Mandolin player and I think that he and this great band are helping to set a new standard for improvisation that defies genre. Perhaps too many of our great improvisers are bound by the jazz world. I think that should change.
Podcast 43 - David Crowell of Empyrean Atlas
Saxophonist and guitarist David Crowell has played with the likes of Phillip Glass and the Bang on a Can All Stars. He’s also an acclaimed composer whose chamber works have been played at some of the best new music festivals across the country. I first experienced his music in a dingy Williamsburg bar with his band Empyrean Atlas. They draw on minimalism and afro-pop to create a infectious swirling kind of groove that sounds like nothing else you have ever heard before. The recently released their second album Inner Circle.
If you like what you hear, please Subscribe in iTunes and give us feedback. That will help us out tremendously. Also, feel free to email me with any suggestions or questions. Thank you for listening!
Wildcard - Eric Biondo
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I'm definitely attracted to bars that have tasty curated playlists. I mean would you want to go back to the same bar over and over again if the music was stale? Fortunately some of my local bar owners have great taste in music.
Recently Aguanilla came on and made my night. Hector Lavoe is one of my favorite voices. Overall I'm turned on by the way this song is moving the air in the room. The temperature is exactly where it should be. Your keys are right where you left them. You have that parking spot right in front of your house. Musically speaking this idea is happening with the flow of each measure of music. Hectors voice is frosted with opera. He is delivering realtime news with tone and phrasing. His voice is like the needle of a tattoo artist drawing a priest who's blessing your house with holy water. The band is the body. No money back guarantee here but a free trombone lesson with your tenth tattoo.
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Itsnotyouitsme - Long Tales Of Short Lived Victories
This music conjures up childhood memories of poking my head through the curtains at dusk or through racks of clothing at a department store or finding secret hiding spots in the house. The peacefulness you get from hearing the first wet finger swirling over the tuned wine glass. Luscious layers like passing paths of brightly colored tropical fish that hide in colorful coral.I have a few friends on this record Grey McMurray who is administering aural antioxidants with his kaleidoscoping guitar sound and Caleb Burhans shooting arrows at rainbows here with his violin. The cinematic quality of this core duo expands even further with legendary improvisers Theo Bleckmann (voice) & Skúli Sverrisson (bass).
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I always get uncomfortable when a friend compares my music to a popular singer. It was about a year after a James Blake comparison that I flipped the switch and took a listen. I still haven't seen what he looks like yet. I don't want to be shocked like the first time I saw Rick Astley. This music has a scent. You know when you walk into a thrift store, you could be blindfolded. You can spray all the Febreeze you want and there's no doubt you're in a big dirty closet. I mean this in the best way possible.I love it when someone with talent uses autotune as an expressive tool. It's a pitch deodorizer. If you sing in tune you can just have fun with it and turn people on with the glaze it creates. I like how it's used intermittently here. Blake has committed to his track sounds like a thrift store that specializes in vests, bow ties and spats. Interesting sounds you can have fun trying to identify. The clap arrangement on here is raw doggy.Also very appreciative of this modern day song not adhering the limited volume spectrum which seems so normal these days. Shifting dynamics keep you listening.
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I was introduced to this RJ Miller record late one night in my friend Grey McMurray's (Itsnotyouitsme) car. Grey's always got some interesting music to share! It's always a good sign to love music from the first note or sound. Immediately drawn into the meditative quality in the this composition. The first track Sunny Cove is so well titled. The music easily translates into visions. Maybe the stained glass windows in the church are coming to life or you're on a boat in Thailand and you see the sunny cove. I'm a sucker for minimalism and poetic interplay between instruments. The whole record is all colorful and focused. The recording by Pete Rende is complimentary to the music, lush and warm and full of depth.
Eric Biondo is a New York City based trumpet player, singer, songwriter and teacher. Eric grew in up in Buffalo New York and graduated from the Eastman School of Music. For the past several years Brooklyn bands Superhuman Happiness and Beyondo have been Eric's main focus. Eric also has toured/recorded with Antibalas, The Monkees, Charlie Hunter, TV on the Radio and many more.
For more information please visit www.beyondo.bandcamp.com
You can also catch Eric performing at these upcoming shows:
May 21st Employee of the Month Talk Show - Joe's Pub 9:30 May 29th/30th Arthur Russell Tribute - BAM 7pm
Wildcard - Liberté-Anne Lymberiou
Black Saint and the Sinner Lady – Charles Mingus
What can I say? Everyone knows this album is bad. But the first time I heard it, I was put in a trance. I remember where I was, walking up Convent Avenue on a warm May evening, isolated in my headphones, sun coming down... It’s just so raw, so un-inhibited, so focused in the desire to express what is in the soul. Mingus is my soul-mate (I feel), and I love everything he’s done, but this album is so special. It’s tortured, it’s in love, it is anger that morphs into creation. On a technical level, it helped me understand landscaping in long-form composition. It actually encouraged me to write longer form pieces for big band, giving me some kind of road-map. I suggest reading the liner notes. You can even find PDFs of the original manuscript online.
I sang this in the required choir class in college, straight out of high school, when I was not yet into jazz or composition, or anything really. I enjoyed the piece very much, but forgot about it. Some 4 years later, I remembered it. This is Gabriel Faure’s Requiem, I believe written and revised between 1887 and 1900. Let me just specify that I really like this recording because of the balance: none of the voices are over-powering and the orchestra sounds great.
So, I LOVE this piece because the harmonies and the general slowness really pull at my heartstrings. I am plunged (or rather lifted) into some kind of dark heaven (I’m not sure how else to put it). It’s just very sad, but always striving towards optimism (I guess that’s the purpose of a Requiem). Much of the piece is this great, begging, lament that shifts so smoothly yet unexpectedly from minor to major and back that you kept help but letting yourself go, whether listening or performing. Then there are the chords that you just don’t know... but they are chilling, especially in the vocals. Finally, the ecstasy of redemption... a beautiful and moving expression. The entire text is in Latin, and I feel it’s useful to look up a translation to know what each movement is about. I come back to this piece a lot to lift chords but also just get deeper into the movement of it, the shapes and landscapes of the composition, and how to re-create that in a jazz setting.
Let's Talk About Love – Céline Dion
I know, it’s Céline Dion. But “Let’s Talk About Love” is, I believe, is the only album that I diligently listened to between the ages of 6 and 8, before shame put me off it. I would walk around the block listening to the cassette in my yellow walkman. I could sing all the lyrics of My Heart Will Go On, and I had just learned English. Anyway, in the past couple of years, I started listening to this album again purely from a sentimental standpoint. I realized, with a mix of pride and embarrassment, that I love the climactic pop arrangements and the intensity and determination with which she sings everything and anything! Céline is a powerhouse. There are many beautiful and well-written tunes on this, and several of them serve as encouragement for me when I’m feeling down or in need of direction. Love Is on the Way is one of those. Realizing this in myself serves as a reminder that music has healing power, so I keep that truth in mind when I write. And never forget your inner child!!
I was introduced to dead prez and “Let’s Get Free” a couple years ago. After hearing one track, “It’s Bigger then Hip Hop”, I quickly bought the album. Now I’m slowly digesting it. This is raw, real hip hop, true reality. No room for “interpretation”. It is clear from the intro what the artists are about: exposing white imperialism, and organizing Black, Brown and oppressed nationalities to change the status quo by any means necessary. This is art for the people: informing us, exposing all, and broadening horizons. Their lyrics are to the point and un-metaphorical, while leaving much room for the mind to imagine and empathize with the stories. dead prez speak of community control, socialism, communism, mass incarceration, police brutality, government corruption, “education”... issues that too few artists really address. dead prez achieves this with much detail and practicality, NO APOLOGIES. This is the kind of album that makes you want to research every line and learn what it’s all about. Besides for politics, this album is also a lesson on healthy living, discipline, and the simple pleasures of life and making love. It’s bigger then hip hop, bigger then jazz. Music has much power of communication and action. I’m trying to figure out how to get this through in my own music.
Ain't Necessarily So – Andy Bey
THE MOST UNDERRATED CAT!!! Too few people know about Andy Bey, master vocalist and pianist. You can catch him at Zinc Bar or Fat Cat or some other dive, maybe once a month (he’s very difficult to track). I think I found this album on iTunes randomly while searching for a tune. I need not praise his technical prowess and fresh pianisisms, you can do that yourself. But this man moves me: I cried when I heard him live, and I still cry listening to the ballads off this album, like Hey, Love, On Second Thought, and Someone To Watch Over Me. I feel like he’s telling the most personal, painful and ecstatic secrets just to me. All the joys and disappointments of life seem to be contained in this album. The real-life tempos, the way he presses a word, how he soars to emotional sonic heights... it’s beautiful. Please, buy his music, get acquainted, he is such a gem.
Liberté-Anne Lymberiou is a composer, vocalist and pianist from Montreal, now living in NYC. She is the founder and leader of The Liberty Big Band.