The Dave Fiuczynski Interview Part 2

This is a continuation of an interview which I did with Dave Fiuczynski while we were on tour with Jack DeJohnette's band in May.

GC: So we were talking about Berklee …

DF: Yeah, and under President Roger Brown, Provost Larry Simpson, and just basically everybody else, Berklee has been very supportive of new ideas. I started teaching a microtonal ensemble, a groove ensemble.I just based it on simple Arabic, Chinese melodies or arrangements of Western classical quarter tone string quartets by Julian Carillo, or quarter tone piano pieces by Alois Haba. Arrangements of simple nonwestern melodies, microtone melodies, western classical microtone pieces, groove-oriented, getting used to playing the microtones either playing in a tonal system… but playing microtonally, and pushing against the chords, or actually having microtonal chords and playing microntone melodies on top, or just kind of using your ears and playing free. There’s a lot of different methods.

Joe Maneri

GC: You mentioned that Joe Maneri didn’t like microtonal music on keyboards?

DF: He didn’t like it. It was almost too precise on the instrument. He didn’t like the way it meshed. I happen to love it, though!

GC: Did he have reasoning for why? Was there sort of a philosophical idea behind it?

DF: It was the sounds. I don't know if he had the best sounds, you know. The DX-7 type sounds…unless you’re Prince, you can’t really make that stuff sound good.

GC: How do you balance teaching and performing?

DF: It can sometimes be a challenge. Berklee encourages the teachers to go out and get so-called field experience. At the same time you know, you can’t leave a semester.

To make up sometimes I have to get a sub or if there’s enough work I can take a semester off.

GC: How has fatherhood changed your outlook on music, working, creativity?

DF: You really realize where your priorities are. It’s changed my outlook on life, really there’s nothing better. Music is cool, but there’s more to life than music. But also when I’m playing music it’s really focusing on….where’s the meat, you know?

All the  dumb stuff you think about like, “Oh, do I need this new toy?” “Oh, I need to work on my chops”, etc… It’s really like, where’s the beef? Where’s the pocket? Where’s the salt, sweat, love? Tears? Where’s the melodies, where’s the space? Everything else is just not as important… if you break it all down , can you just play it on one instrument, is there a song there?

GC: Right.

DF: What's like for you?

GC: Well, that could be another blog….but I have similar notions to what you just so eloquently said.

DF:You get hungry because you know often you’re so busy. Often I get really hungry for music.

GC: Yeah, its true, Obviously playing with Jack DeJohnette’s band is really something special, But even so called lesser gigs are more exciting too, because I don’t take it for granted.

DF: And I don't’ take on bullshit gigs, you know?

GC: Right.

DF: I have no time for that. And I mean not necessarily gigs where the music isn’t happening, the bread isn’t that good , but also some serious opportunities. I think to myself, is that what I really need to do? I don't really need to do that. It might put a nice little chunk in my pocket, give me some more exposure, maybe. There’s good players on the gig and stuff, but maybe it’s ultimately taking me out of the zone I need to be in, you know?

GC: I wanted to try to reconstruct what we were talking about the other day in the car, we were talking about 12 tone music and…

DF: Oh, and we were talking about serialism and…

GC: Yeah!

DF: Overplaying and fusion.

GC: Yeah!!! Can you just tell me your thoughts about that?

DF: Well, in terms of fusion, I’m between a rock and a hard place, because essentially whatever I do is gonna go down as fusion. But I kind of feel like, my team sucks! You know what I mean?

GC: Yeah, right!

DF: You have a lot of really big names that overplay, you know? And that's where you can actually give fodder to the Wynton Marsalises and have them put it down, I have no problem- I love when people destroy it. I love it! But if you do 3 tunes in a row where you overplay, and then you don't do any ballads, in other words, do 7 tunes in a row where you overplay, it’s too much of the same thing. You get beat up. You’re numb! I hate it. In terms of teaching, I see the same problem with students. And some will say,”Well, you know, they’re young! They’ll out grow it!” No! I’ve seen people now that 25 years later they’ve still got “overplaying-itis” … it's a disease! We all have people we know who talk too much. We have some pretty nasty names for these people: Motormouth! Space invaders! And so on. Now if we don't like these people, why would we want to sound like these people?

GC: But how do relate fusion to serialism?

DF: Well, the context was this: a serious musician was talking about how 30 years later, here’s the next cycle of fusion players. And this musician actually said that the role of the guitar was-to play a lot of notes!  And I’m saying, Puke! No! Yuck! Wrong!

This ain’t G.W. Bush! By that, I mean that if you say something untrue over and over again people start to believe its true. No! It’s not musical, not spiritual, not creative, never was, never will be… it's a form of repetition that's not happening. Repetition is a tool, like Beethoven: “ah-ah-ahhhh” (sings the melody for Beethoven’s 5^th symphony). Some people don't like Beethoven. But have you ever heard someone say, “You know, I listened to the 5^th symphony, and Beethoven is  a genius and everything, but if I hear another ah-ah-ahh (5^th melody) I’m gonna scream!” No, when people play too many notes, it’s not happening.

It's a very cerebral thing. What I wanted to say about serialism is this; I think the language is very rich. I find it interesting that you have rules written in where you have to change things always to balance loud with soft, and with orchestration as well, if you have trumpets, then you need strings. You have to change timbre, you have to change dynamics.  BUT it becomes static. I think that's where Western culture painted itself into a corner, with making everything so cerebral . When you think about Miles Davis, in terms of musicality, Miles is getting better and better over time almost like by default because there are so few players who put space in their solos, you know?

GC: But I mean, maybe it’s hard to teach how to leave space…

DF:I don't think so. I think you should just…encourage it. And you know another thing about my kid is like…. my 2 and a half year old understand everything… just bring it up in class, “you know its very important…“ everyone one talks about phrasing…

GC: Sure.

DF: And just say, you know, “you need space.”

Gig Reminder and Unfinished Business

Mission Theater in Portland

First: If you live in Portland or nearby, or have your own private jet, then come to my show on Tuesday, December 13th at the Mission Theater . This will be my debut as a bandleader in Portland. Joining me will be a rhythm section of Eric Gruber on bass and Todd Strait on drums. Sitting in will be the great Dan Balmer on guitar and pianist Kerry Politzer. (Politzer will play piano while I run around the stage with my melodica and trumpet.) The show starts at 8pm. We will be mixing it up with my tunes and some tunes by piano legend and former PSU professor Andrew Hill. It should be a great experience. I will be jet lagged, but I'm looking forward to being home with my family and playing for a Portland audience.

If you have been following the drama surrounding my previous two posts, you might be aware that the firestorm surrounding Nicholas Payton's latest CD "Bitches" seems to still be burning. So many people have dropped by to leave comments(there were 137 comments on the first post entitled "Much Ado About Nicholas Payton"). And the conversation continues. Also, some people decided to comment on my Facebook page. There was a lengthy comment and lengthy thread regarding my defense of Payton's CD. A reader (someone whom I thought was a friend ! And not just a facebook friend! Some one I actually met in real life! I have actually gone out of my way to give advice and support to this person. Hopefully, when this thing blows over, we can get beyond this bone of contention) remarked:

I want to go on record as saying that folks particularly George Colligan, defending Nicolas Payton's right to put a beautiful black woman on the cover of his CD and call her a bitch is absolutely disgusting and shows how white people continue enable the oppression of black women in the jazz industry and in general. 

Many comments followed, one which stated :

....guys like George are simply playing 'follow the leader'; they don't want to offend their 'leader', so they become mere 'yes' men. 

Now, since this is still my blog, I would like to go on the record as saying that my initial post had little to do with the cover and the title of the CD. I choose to discuss the music, as well as some controversial yet astute comments made by Nicholas regarding the word "jazz", and then defend the CD from words by a writer whom I thought was unfair.(Said writer has not to mention him by name and I will honor that request.) As far as the name and the cover goes, the first thing is "Don't judge a CD by the cover!" Secondly, After listening to the CD, I do not believe this CD has an ounce of obscenity. I don't believe that Payton is a misogynist. The lyrical content of the album is about a relationship. read what Payton himself said in an interview with Asha Brodie regarding the CD:

I’m just being true to me. I’m not trying to be original per se, just writing what I feel. I mean, all of these tunes are derived from real-life experiences. The songs here tell a story and they all represent a different aspect and manner of love. I put words and music to things that I really felt at one particular time so in that regard it was pretty easy to be original or different. Writing it was therapeutic, I put my energy and emotion into it.

Now, I also stated that I personally wouldn't call my CD "Bitches", but I'm not offended by the word on it's own, and I believe that this falls under the category of free speech. And because I believe that Payton is not motivated by purely capitalistic motives, I would defend it based on the idea that he should have the right to call the CD what he wants, as long as isn't being directly slanderous or libelous towards a specific person or group of people. OK, if the CD was called, "I Hate Women", and all the lyrics on the CD were elaborating that idea,  then Payton would surely be on his own with that one!

Women are objectified and suffer various forms of disrespect, abuse, and oppression every day in America, and more so around the world. Whether is comes in the subtle form of stealth over-sexualization of advertising, or discrimination in the workplace, or being tortured, raped, mutilated and murdered because they disobeyed their husband, or being kidnapped and sold into slavery, women are being wronged. I don't believe this CD has anything to do with that! Furthermore,  the idea that I'm enabling the oppression of black woman, or any women,  in jazz and or in general, is absurd.

Regarding the idea that I am a "yes man" following a leader is also misguided. I only wrote these recent posts because I liked the CD and I liked what Payton said on his blog, and I felt that the critic who skewered the CD and Payton did so in a way which should be taken as a insult to all musicians. I have my own opinions, and while I happen to agree with much of what Payton says, I'm sure we won't agree on everything. I also respect him tremendously for his musical ability and his thoughtfulness in this ongoing discussion. But I have no agenda otherwise. Although I've worked with Payton in the past, I don't think Payton hires any musicians based on their blogging ability!

As I said the battle of words rages on; I intend to try to steer my blogship into different waters. Just a few last words. Payton has some new posts which continue the "discussion", shall we say. You can read them and decide for yourself. But one thing he posted was an "At Last!" moment, in terms of what my philosophy is:

What Pianist George Colligan http://jazztruth.blogspot.com/ (I wish he would call it BAMtruth lol) and myself are doing on our blogs is the wave of the future. We musicians are taking back control of the music. Fuck the New York Times. With all due respect, until I hear Nate Chinen and Ben Ratliff sit in at Smalls and rip everybody in the club to pieces, nothing they say matters.

Indeed.

I'll leave you with some  further thoughts from Seth Ambramson, curator of the Jazz Standard in New York.

It's great to see a lot of passionate dialogue back and forth.  What I find discouraging however is the vitriol that accompanies some of it.  Likely we all can agree that "jazz" is an art form.  It is a living and breathing art form that in order to maintain relevance and attract audiences generation after generation needs to respect its history while reflecting what is currently going on in our society.  Therefore today we have the lineage of all that came before from James P. Johnson and Fats Waller to Louis Armstrong to Bird, Monk, Trane, Miles, Ornette, on up to today’s artists inclusive of Terence Blanchard, Wallace Roney, Robert Glasper, Ambrose Akinmusire, Kurt Rosenwinkel, The Bad Plus, Nicholas Payton, Marcus Strickland, George Colligan, and the list goes on and on.

Rather than focusing a discussion on the merits of any one artist can we agree that, as an art form, jazz as Blakey used to say “washes away the dust of everyday life”.

Well I’d say we have an awful lot of dust to wash away these days.  A lot of dust results in a lot of dirt.  Here we have it in the form of mud slinging etc.

However, let’s step away form this undignified mudslinging and see that the anger and hostility present out there is very real and troubling in our society at large as we head into 2012.  How sad then, as we enter this age, many of us old enough to consider “the future” when growing up in the 70’s,80’s and even 90’s, that we have such divide across so many segments of our society.  This current back and forth discussion, be it what has emanated from Nicholas Payton’s blog or elsewhere here, is merely reflective of this and mirrors it.

I’d like to throw out now a lofty ideal to all of us in that as Burt Bacharach eloquently wrote about is that What The World Needs Now is Love.  How corny that sounds  Did I really just write that?  But has it ever been more true than today?

Why are we not discussing in these “jazz” blogs that as of the past week the
homicide rate in the cradle of jazz, New Orleans, has reached an alarming 175
and counting in 2011?  Even more tragic within this is that it’s brother killing brother.
What is there to celebrate as a society in this?  How do we, as members of this society,not only address these issues but change them?

Most promising of late has been the Occupy movement.  Finally, people are getting fed up enough to voice their collective wrath in a peaceful, non-violent way. And although politicians, on either side may hope this blows over, it is a very real movement that truly expresses the discontentment of the 99% of the population.

This makes our politicians uncomfortable.  Suddenly, with the internet, it’s not so simple
to just clear out the parks and “let ‘em eat cake”  This is truly a winter of discontent.

What’s beautiful about this music and this art form we can call “jazz”, “BAM” or whatever is most apt, is that is has the power to heal, it has the power to bridge divides be it racial, ethnic, cultural, geographic or other.  Weren’t these the very ideals sought long ago by Dizzy Gillespie forming his United Nations Band?

If Dizzy were alive today what would he have to say about the back and forth rancor in these blogs for example?

Why is jazz not as relevant today as hip-hop and rap?  Hip-hop and rap
address these issues in society do they not?  Thus, the younger generations relate to it. It speaks to them and addresses some real issues. I'm speaking in general terms and I don't claim any expertise in the multitudes of the genre. Like it or not it has real cultural relevance.  Jazz at one point was the Hip Hop of its day when it emerged as Be Bop for example. It had to Be before it could Bop!

Where’s Dizzy when we need him? We need the leaders of this art form commonly called jazz to help our culture heal and overcome it’s paralysis.  We need them to put their energies towards positive change.

This takes a hell of a lot more discipline and commitment than sounding off about who can play the most happening solo over a given set of changes quickly flying through various time signatures. The general listening audience couldn't care less about that.

Addressing sincere and current cultural and societal issues in the music gives this music the power and the relevance it has earned and deserves today, tomorrow and beyond!  BAM :-)

Further Ado about Nicholas Payton

Nicholas Payton, whom I think can sing!

Holy Sashimi! I'm still reeling over the activity generated by my previous post. Just to recap: I've been on tour in Japan with vocalist Debbie Deane, and I was looking for some blog material. I had just purchased Nicholas Payton's CD entitled "Bitches", and I was impressed from the first note. So I wanted to talk about it. And then I was made aware of Payton's blogposts on his own site regarding why jazz isn't "cool" anymore, and I kind of sifted through some of the brewing controversy. And then I found a really mean-spirited post regarding Payton's CD, and I felt the need to defend Payton. It took me a little while, and I wanted to make sure I made intelligent comments about the CD, so I listened and re-listened. Then I posted the article, thinking that my fans will find it interesting,
but not expecting anything earth-shattering.

Am I drunk or are there 130 comments on jazztruth?

I woke up from a jet-lagged Sake- soaked nap to find the most comments I had ever received! At this writing, there are 130 comments. This post, more than any of my previous work, created a real firestorm! Obviously, I don't condone a lot of the commenting, but I have to say I'm excited about the attention. Hopefully, this will make more people interested in reading my shall we say less controversial posts. After all, the vast majority of my work here is rather mundane: CD reviews, lessons, interviews, and spotlighting great jazz artists.

The key issues were the discussion of the music on Payton's CD, his recent blog posts, and a response to a really unfair critic. I feel like I accomplished my mission in an intellectual way. The comments went into a rather unpleasant zone, but I decided to let it play out, mostly because I'm traveling and I don't have the time to delete any posts. Let's face it, this is not the first time that some forum on the internet has led to Word Wars. Fortunately, no one gets hurt physically( I hope not!). And even regarding the writer with whom I had a disagreement, I tried to be respectful, and I even tried to defend him in some instances. It got really heated, but in the end, we decided to agree to disagree. And after all, it's only music. (Maybe this passion would be better used about something political, which has an effect on so much more in our world.....)Still, it's fascinating to see how this becomes a raucous virtual town hall meeting so quickly.

One issue that Payton is very passionate about is what we call the music. Many musicians feel as though the label jazz is limiting, outdated, and downright disrespectful(based on one of the legendary origin stories of the word, which is that jazz is a word for sex, or worse, although some say the term is documented as being used in baseball). Payton suggested BAM, or Black American Music. I think it's a great idea. It's too early to tell whether it will catch on or not! I think that after over 100 years of this music being called jazz, maybe it's time for some kind of a change. However, I received this message from another great trumpeter, Wallace Roney, in response to this notion:

Wallace Roney

You know, George, Miles didn't hate the word Jazz! He hated what he felt America perceived Jazz to be! Do your homework! A couple of people, including me, put video or links to Miles explaining it in interview where you can see him! Plus, you have to remember Miles is from the generation where his mother thought Jazz was the Devil's music and didn't want him to play it or the trumpet! She wanted him to play the violin! So he was trying to dignify playing with Charlie Parker and this music in general in her eyes! But do your homework and look at Miles in Munich, and Miles in His Own Words and see what he really felt!

Overall, most people have been supportive. There's still some conflicts to be resolved, and I hope that they will be, because jazztruth most of the time is a lover and not a fighter! I think it's time to move on to a different topic for a while. I have many interviews, tour diaries,  and so forth to share. But I will leave you with something sent to me by Anders Chan-Tideman, who is a booking agent for Kurt Rosenwinkel and many others:


I first met Nicholas Payton in 1991, when he came through the Montmartre club in Copenhagen which I was booking. He was part of Elvin Jones band. Nicholas was very young, barely in his twenties, but he not only looked like a classic trumpeter, he played like one. Big, huge, warm tone, great lines, rootsy when he wanted it to be, advanced bebop when he felt that. Cue to about 10 years later, I saw Nicholas on stage at the Blue Note here in NYC. He was then performing in Roy Haynes band that also featured Kenny Garrett, David Kikoski and Chris McBride. Nicholas impressed me just as much again, he played with all the same qualities as when he was with Elvin, but now with even more maturity. I find it deeply offensive that anyone who can carry himself like that on bandstands like these should find himself put on some silly-ass scale like "not even among the 5 best trumpeters" or "have you heard Enrico Rava" (not to take anything away from him). To have been on the bandstand with folks like Elvin and Roy and played like THAT is to embody the very core of the spirit of this music, at it's most exalted, and there is no question that someone like that has some lessons to teach anybody who has NOT been there or might not even have an idea of what that means.


I also find it off-putting, to say the least, that somehow tearing Larry Carlton apart should justify doing it to any other musician. Sure, I do not listen much to Larry Carlton's music myself these days, but here's a guy who has contributed enormously to many culturally and historically highly significant albums, who can definitely play the shit out of the music he chooses to perform, and who, as a musician that has lasted 40+ years in this incredibly difficult business, has shown himself to be a dedicated and highly professional musician. Does he not deserve respect, or is it the job of some hack to come in and tear him apart because, for some reason, his music does not appeal to that persons aesthetic? 

In my years in the business I don't think any profession has heaped more shit on this music than the so-called critics. It's not just writers. When we also hosted one Mr. Dizzy Gillespie at the Montmartre club in 1991, 2 radio people from an independent station called Radio Jazz showed up at Dizzy's hotel to try and interview him. Dizzy had had very little rest, was 73 years old and needed to play 2 sets that evening. I told them to not show up unannounced at our artists hotels without first consulting with the club. Dizzy chose to go eat at a restaurant right next to the venue about an hour later, I was running around a bit, then came into the restaurant only to find the same 2 radio people sitting in front of Dizzy, while he was trying to eat, with a microphone up his nose. As I was walking toward the table I heard one of them ask Dizzy: "How did you feel when Miles Davis died"? This was about 1 month after Miles had passed away. I think I nearly got violent with them. The level of disrespect that they showed to a Dizzy Gillespie was just unfathomable to me, one of the greatest creators that this music has ever seen. And the weird part is these guys thought that somehow Dizzy OWED it to them, because, hey, they were working for very little compensation and trying to promote so-called jazz, and so all the rest of us in the biz, and most of all the musicians, had some kind of debt to them that they could cash in whenever they pleased.  

I have detested that attitude ever since. I have practiced saxophone for just long enough to know that getting good at this music is requiring almost super-human effort. I am not talking about getting great. Good! But let me take that back. Being able to play this music with any kind of proficiency is a serious, serious accomplishment, one which ought to make anybody who professes to love (this) music show some serious respect.

That's not to say that a critic can't or shouldn't be critical of an artists creation. That's part of their job. However, as a professional they should always leave room for the potential audience to discover their own opinion about a piece of music, unless it is so badly executed and below any kind of professional standard that it simply doesn't deserve that. I have not yet listened to "Bitches", which I will be sure to do now, but it is unfathomable to me that Nicholas would be capable of anything but a super-high level in whatever he chooses to put out. He's too great of an artist.  

As for the title "Bitches". Now, speaking as someone who loves Notorious B.I.G, who loves "Bitches Brew", I find that anybody that takes serious offense at a title like that to be in the lineage of Tipper Gore's reaction to rap/hip-hop. I remember in Tupac's movie "Resurrection" that he spoke about bringing "images" into peoples minds that was as powerful as Vietnam war photographers images that created the opposition to the war. Only this time it was the war on poor people in the ghetto's all over the United States. That resonates with me. Black artists transformation of language through the art form of hip-hop, but dating back to coded language when slavery was still a "sacred institution", has been well publicized and has become a world-wide movement just like jazz was in the 20ties and 30ties still resonating to this day. I don't think there's any question that all of that comes from the same source, namely a black source unique to America. So "Bitches" as well as "Nigga" are words that are used differently inside that community than when spoken by a white person inside THEIR community, and thus the same standard cannot be applied to it. A black person calling another person "nigga" doesn't have the same connotation as a white person calling a black person that.  

That said, it's a loaded term, and it is true that using it causes controversy. Even inside the black community. Just the other day I was at an eMusic event where parts of Robert Glasper's new album "Black Radio", out in 2012, was played for a select group of people. The "N-word" was part of the lyrics of one track, and when the audience was given a chance to ask Robert some questions, there was one black man, in his 50ties, who was quite upset the word was even in there. Robert defended it by saying that in the context of the song and the lyric, the word wasn't used but rather "looked at" as if under a magnifying glass. I don't think that really satisfied the gentleman though.

But part of what artist do and SHOULD do is to provoke. Controversy is part of any leap forward, whether it's Darwin or the arts. Witness the reaction of the 1st audience that heard Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring". A riot almost broke out. I don't even know how a term like "Bitches" can provoke ANYTHING in this day and age, when the age of any kind of innocence is so clearly long gone, and with the abject ugliness that constitutes American politics - especially on the right-wing/Republican side of things. The shit THEY say day in and day out on TV is so profane that a word like "Bitches" PALES (pardon the pun) in comparison. Perhaps Nicholas title refers to them, and if it does then it's a mild term and I guess a function of his retiring nature and the fact that "fascist shitheads" would have sounded even worse.  


One last thing Mr. Brent Black (hilarious that this is your last name given this debate). How did Miles Davis "fail" in making his music in the 80/90ties? You go pick up the Miles Davis DVD from 1985 from Montreal. Miles plays his ASS off with John Scofield, Darryl Jones etc. "Star People" is a hidden gem. "Tutu" was a seminal album for many of us, and definitely helped pull me into the jazz-sphere back then. And Miles playing is beautiful on it - as always. Perhaps I didn't love Amandla quite as much, it was a little too slick for my taste...and I think for Miles taste too. So he wanted to go raw with Doo-bop, didn't get to finish the album, but was definitely onto a new direction that it would have been great to see him pursue. Look at him playing "Human Nature" with his band live in Paris in 1991 (on Youtube), 2 months before he passed away. Here is this wonderful, fantastic icon of this music, a true heavy-weight champion of the world, playing so hauntingly beautiful and people are loving it. Yeah, he's not playing "Cherokee" like Clifford Brown at this point, but so what (been there, done that): He's communicating real beauty to real people, and the history of HIS music - black music - is all the way up in there in every note he plays. The critics have never stopped giving Miles Davis shit, even to this day with you only being one example. Us music lovers can't get enough of him. 

In the final analysis I do agree with the person that suggests that it's sad that we always have to discuss race. It makes all of us squirm a little, I think (and hope), and I do believe we are all the same. But given the fact that black people have been cheated out of so much in this country, and even inside their own music (Paul Whiteman the "King of Jazz", Dave Brubeck and Chet Baker over Bud Powell and Miles Davis etc etc), it's natural that there's weariness in that community and a desire to at least reclaim what they feel is legitimately "theirs". I do believe it's futile to try and rename "jazz" now, because among most fans it's a term of endearment and doesn't have any negative connotations. It's just the critics and the industry, with it's penchant for segmentation, that makes it that way, using "jazz" to sideline their efforts on it's behalf. 


But having said that I do miss more attempts - like Nicholas and Robert's - to make jazz music for more people. Back in the 70ties there were all kinds of people that did that with integrity: People like Grover Washington Jr., The Crusaders, Herbie's Headhunters and bands like that. I read an interview with Dizzy Gillespie from 1948 in which he said: "When jazz loses it's dancebeat, it loses it's audience". Primarily white critics have snubbed any attempt by jazz musicians to heed that call. Nooo, every jazz musician has a duty to up the ante on Live At The Plugged Knickel and A Love Supreme, or else he/she is a failure and is selling out. That's just ridiculous and by the way - it's not going to happen. I applaud Nicholas and Robert's attempts at bringing their and this music to a wider group of people than just intellectual snob's...another group that may well have been who Nicholas meant when he called his album "Bitches".

All the best,
Anders Chan-Tidemann
www.wommusic.com

Much Ado About Nicholas Payton

Nicholas Payton

I first heard Nicholas Payton many years ago;he was one of two trumpeters (the other being Scotty Barnhart, if memory serves) with pianist Marcus Roberts' band at Blues Alley in Washington D.C. (I believe he was 16 years old at the time.) He didn't make that much of an impression on me, except that he sounded very good for a 16 year old trumpeter. Years later, I heard Payton with his own band, and by then, he was a true virtuoso, unquestionably one of the greats on the scene. I also discovered that he played upright bass; not "sorta", but really played as if bass was his main axe. Then I heard him play drums; he effortlessly smoked a roomful of "real" drummers during a jam session on a jazz cruise. And then, I was asked to sub in his band for a week at Jazz Alley in Seattle, and during a sound check, got to hear him play more piano than most "real" piano players(including ME, arguably...)! As if all of that weren't enough, I worked with the Nicholas Payton Big Band, and got to hear Payton sing! Indeed, Payton brings new meaning to the word "multi-talented." (And I haven't even mentioned his compositional or arranging skills.)

Payton's latest album, "Bitches" is probably a surprise to those who are only aware of Payton as a mainstream jazz trumpeter. I was aware of Payton's move into a singer-songwriter territory when I was fortunate to be asked to sit in with his group for a concert in Grenada, Spain, in 2008. "Bitches" is, on a technical level, extremely impressive; Payton sings, plays all the instruments(I'm imagining some real and some digitally; it can be hard to tell these days) and wrote all of the lyrics and music. I'm especially amazed by Payton's vocal prowess; he clearly has an "instrument" in his voice, and not only shows that he has vocal "chops", but he has a lot of vocal expressivity  and flexibility as well. In a nutshell, if you listen to "Bitches" and remove the preconception that "this is a CD by a jazz trumpeter from New Orleans", then you close your eyes and hear a great R&B singer. 


From a production and compositional standpoint, the music on "Bitches" draws on many influences which are common to many of today's musicians: Herbie Hancock, Earth Wind and Fire, Prince, Stevie Wonder, D'Angelo. There are reminiscences of these artists, however, Payton has made his own statement on "Bitches". You could say, for example, that the first track, "By My Side" is an R&B tune, however, the rhythms and bass figures are a little rougher around the edges than most smoothly polished radio friendly R&B. And lyrics like this:


Don't ever want to look back
Keeps me from advancing ahead
Won't let the salt erode my spirit
Like a Zombie in Romero's Night of the Living Dead

Chinah Blac

-you don't typically hear lyrics like that in so-called commercial music. Most of the lyrics here are devoid of the banal; there's no "Baby Baby, I want to do it all night, make it feel right, out of sight" predictability.(Well, maybe with the exception of "Don't I Love You Good", but there's so much hip stuff going on musically on this track that the hook/title is just a small part of the story.)  There's an honesty and a search for truth in Payton's lyrics, as well as a sly sense of humor. And for more obvious lyrical humor, check out the New Orleans Second Line-ish title track, which features Chinah Blac:

The night before Christmas Eve
I know it must be true
'Cause I heard it from Rudolph himself
He said he got so fed up with Mrs. Claus' bull
that he cheated on her with an elf


It's cool to hear the final production from a musician with so much skill and experience (all too lacking in much of today's so called "contemporary music"). Many "jazz" musicians shy away from things like electric keyboards, or drum beats that are from later than 1959, or writing lyrics, or using sequencers and computers. I think we end up stifling our own creativity; "Bitches" above all, is a creative work, that comes from an extremely thoughtful and fearless musician. 


In an interview with Asha Brodie, Payton mentions that there was "controversy" regarding the title of the CD. The Concord label wouldn't release it, so they gave it back to Payton, who then secured a better deal with the In and Out label. I find it hilarious that the title, "Bitches" would create any controversy, since Miles Davis "Bitches Brew" has been out for over 40 years, not to mention all the other so called "obscenities" that are marketed in the U.S. without anyone batting an eye. It makes me shake my head that Concord would essentially judge a book by it's cover; while the word "Bitches" obviously might not be included in polite dinner conversation, this CD "Bitches" has so much depth musically that should far outweigh the title. (Concord is a pretty conservative label; you will see a lot of Dave Brubeck and Vince Guaraldi and various jazz singers in their catalogue. Nothing against those artists, of course, but my point is that Concord markets music to the typical American mainstream jazz audience, which is, let's face it, a lot of older white people; They probably thought that their consumers might take offense to the word "Bitches", but also would possibly listen to "Bitches" and completely miss the boat. Oh well, their loss.)


When I first met Payton personally, I thought he was rather quiet, which I mistook for shyness. I think Payton is actually quite confident, however, he is careful with his words. And he is clearly not afraid of controversy. His blog is a forum where he is regularly and eloquently writing on various issues related to music and culture. Recently, there has been much controversy around a blogpost in which Payton explains why jazz isn't cool anymore:


Jazz has nothing to do with music or being cool.
It’s a marketing idea.
A glaring example of what’s wrong with Jazz is how people fight over it.
People are too afraid to let go of a name that is killing the spirit of the music.
Life is bigger than music, unless you love and/or play Jazz.
The art, or lack thereof, is just a reflection.
Miles Davis personified cool and he hated Jazz.

My PSU colleague Darrell Grant sent me a link to this blog and wanted to know my opinion.  I think Payton is mostly right. Labeling music will ultimately limit it. I posted something a while back regarding the issue with "the name" of the music(http://jazztruth.blogspot.com/2010/10/time-to-call-jazz-something-elselike.html). There's a lot to think about on Payton's post, and I urge you, dear reader, to go read the entire post and form your own opinion. But I think it's clear that Payton is not saying that the music is dead, he's saying that the preconceived name and concept of "what jazz is" has clearly been dead for a long time. Unfortunately, this seemed to spark some controversy, which Payton answered in his next post(http://nicholaspayton.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/1319/):


Let me make one thing clear.
 I am not dissing an art form.  I am dissing the name, Jazz.
 Just like being called Nigger affected how Black people felt about themselves at one time, I believe the term “JAZZ” affects the style of playing. 
I am not a Nigger and I am not a Jazz musician.
 
What do Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Gary Bartz and myself share in common? 
A disdain for Jazz.
 I am reintroducing a talk to the table of a conversation that my ancestors wanted to have a long time ago. 
It is on their shoulders that I stand.
‎

”Jazz” is an oppressive colonialist slave term and I want no parts of it. 
If Jazz wasn’t a slave, why did Ornette try to free it? 
Jazz is not music, it is an idea that hasn’t served any of us well. 
It saddens me most that some of my friends can’t see that. 
Some of y’all who know me and I’ve even employed, stood on the bandstand with, know how important tradition is to me.
 My work speaks to that.

Again, I think Payton is on the money here; it's just the labeling that's at issue, not the music. I suppose some white folks, maybe some black folks, have trouble calling their music Black American Music. I don't have a problem with that. I do think that it might actually make things more confusing, since the vast majority of people in the world don't have a clear idea of what jazz is anyway, and if we were to all of a sudden replace "jazz" with "Black American Music", then someone watching an all white jazz band in the middle of Ohio, or even the middle of Denmark, might be scratching their heads. Obviously, there's always someone who gets sensitive when RACE enters the conversation. I also wonder whether Payton is suggesting the acronym BAM(as in , "I play BAM music"?) as an alternative. I think that's as good as calling music "jazz" or "bebop" or whatever. Words can't really describe music accurately anyway. Again, I have no problem as a musician, and especially as a teacher of history(I am not a jazz historian, by the way), recognizing that the African-American experience was crucial to the development of jazz. As long as I, a white person(see my website for photos), am still allowed to play, I don't care what it's called. (I think though, just to have perspective, if Toby Keith started calling his music "White American Music", then we might have a little problem......)

It's interesting how controversies spread like wildfire across the internet and social media: I was able to find this statement posted by saxophonist Marcus Strickland:

There's no need to equate personal struggle with death of an art form, it is a part of life - suck it up!! There's no need to equate popularity with life, either - isn't that what teenagers do?... The notion that 'jazz is dead' is an opinion. Well, here is a fact: if jazz were dead I and many of my friends (some of who say 'jazz is dead') would be dead or doing something else with our time, but we are not. There is very little need for analysis to prove death, yet the notion that 'jazz is dead' has been taking place for years. Why? Because there is no proof. If something died in 1959, it would not be up for debate in 2011. The jazz community has the potential to accept loss of what we love (we aren't fanatics) - we lose and accept the loss of loved ones day in and day out. . So if jazz were lost there would be no debate about it. Lets stop the moanin' n' groanin' and just play this music.

  I can now see why the next post on Payton's site was defensive(http://nicholaspayton.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/an-open-letter-to-marcus-strickland-and-his-facebook-friends/):

You can be mad, but they are trying to steal this music away from Black people. Many of you just can’t see it. Y’all are going to wait until it’s too late to do anything about it before you realize what’s going on. Those who know me know I am generally a man of few words, but when I speak, it’s of importance.

I’m putting my ass on the line for you. Not for me. It’s you who don’t realize what’s going on who are my sharpest critics. I ain’t angry. I am trying to fight for what Duke Ellington wanted to do for this music years ago, call it Black music. Why? Because he knew back then that if we didn’t label it in a way that spoke of its origins, that years later, White folks would try to lay claim to it like it was a collective invention.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some brilliant, genius White cats that have played this music, but it’s ultimately a Black art form. What’s wrong with renaming the music in a way that puts that argument to bed once and for all? Do you think I’m the only person that ever wanted to do this? Hell no. Miles, Max, Mingus, J-Mac, Dr. Donaldson Byrd and so many others have wanted to do this for a while. They gave up because they got tired of the backlash from Blacks and Whites alike that it caused. Well you know what? As Roy Haynes says, “The time for hesitation is over.”

Later in the post, Payton acknowledges that many people besides Blacks have added to jazz. But:

Black American Music was created by Blacks, but it belongs to everyone.

I think it mostly boils down to semantics. But Payton is astute in many ways; I, being an American, even a white American,  think that certain European's notions of somehow co-opting the ownership of jazz to Europe is upsetting.(See Stuart Nicholson's" Is Jazz dead? Or Has It Moved To A New Address?", A book with which I has serious conflicts with.)I think that, like most things in America, jazz is inextricably linked with our racial history. In a way, Payton is too correct; I think Jazz was in a sense stolen a long time ago. Well, stolen......I'm not sure. But whether the music has been co-opted, or "shared", is a subject for more lengthy debates. Again, let's be real; jazz is listened to and played by a lot of white people. Blacks have deserted jazz as listeners and players in favor of more contemporary forms like R&B, Hip Hop, and Modern Gospel. 


But I believe Payton's Point is that the name Jazz limits the influence of more contemporary influences such as R&B, Hip Hop and Gospel. Indeed, I can say as a jazz educator that I can't help but notice that we are teaching kids a frozen-in-time way of looking at jazz. For example, calling a "modern" tune at a jam session means playing "Speak No Evil", which is a Wayne Shorter tune from the 1960's! So according to jazz education, Jazz stopped in 1969. 

Here's where it gets interesting;when I started playing with artists like Vanessa Rubin, Cassandra Wilson, Lonnie Plaxico, Robin Eubanks, Lenny White, Christian McBride, Stefon Harris, and Don Byron, I noticed that they were all very influenced by Black music other than Jazz of 1920-1969, particularly post 1970 to now. And they incorporated that influence into their music. And I believe that this is the NEW JAZZ; today's jazz musician should welcome R&B, Hip Hop, Gospel, and anything else that tickles their fancy. 

It might be an over generalization to say that oftentimes jazz critics(who are primarily white) miss this connection. And yet, a band like The Bad Plus(white guys, and friends of mine, I went to Banff with Ethan Iverson in 1990) or Brad Mehldau(white, I'm fairly certain) get lauded with praise if they play "rock" tunes. Believe me, I have no problem with that as well. But I do think that some white people have their limit as to how much overt blackness they can handle. The good news is that it's changing. I think it's important to acknowledge the issue. And that is EXACTLY what Payton has done with "Bitches" and his blog.


Proving my point right on schedule, a writer who I was previously unfamiliar with named Brent Black(I have no idea of his race but it's surprisingly not relevant) decided to critique Payton's philosophies and his CD in an overly defensive and shoddy way:


^{Concord Records made the right call in passing on the latest project. Not because Payton says things that make people uncomfortable, not because Payton attempts to stir the pot, but because the record is a horrendous train wreck. If Miles Davis could not make it work then game over. i.e. this record lacks originality.}

This is just ridiculous and unfair; Payton's "Bitches" while logically could not possibly be everyone's cup of tea, shows WAY too much ability to be dismissed as a "train wreck". Payton is arguably one of the baddest musicians on the planet, and a mere jazz writer has no business talking about Payton in such a manner. It shows little understanding of the skill involved in making music, and other comments he made shows that he has no understanding or empathy of musicians:

I guess no major record deal since 2008 would make me a tad tight as well.

 There are almost no major jazz artists with major record deals for about a decade. And as Payton rebutted, a major record deal is "slavery". The music industry has been  referred to as "modern sharecropping." (That's the topic for another blog, but maybe check out Walter Yetnikoff's book "Howling At the Moon" about his tenure at Columbia Records, and how record companies keep three sets of record books to MAKE SURE that they screw musicians.)


 [Payton] uses the indignities suffered by the true pioneers of this AMERICAN art form in order to gain attention for his less than notable career.

OK, this is just pathetic. This is a great example of a jazz writer who has gotten too big for his britches. As should be clear by now, Payton is an undeniably great musician, and deserves respect.Even if he wasn't, he still deserves more respect than that. This and the other statements are purely disrespectful and meaningless. 


Here is Payton's full rebuttal ;if you have the time, read as much of Payton's posts as you can(he is an articulate and engaging writer, regardless of whether you agree with him) and make up your own mind. My mind is made up; Payton's latest CD is a tour de force of artistic importance, as well as symbolic of how we should evolve past the mid- 20th century idea of Jazz... and into the 21st century. I personally don't care what the music is called, I just want to PLAY it and LISTEN to it.....

Tour Diary December 2011: Japan with Vocalist Debbie Deane

Tokyo, Japan

I've been fortunate to be able to travel to Japan about 16 times since 1998. I've been going about once a year since 2004, thanks to a promoter named Kohei Kawakami, whom I met through drummer Johnathan Blake. Japan is my favorite country to visit: there's amazing food everywhere, the people are incredibly polite, the culture is infinitely intriguing. I've toured Japan as a sideman a bunch of times, but Kohei has been bringing me as a bandleader with various configurations. I've brought trios and quartets and duos with vocalists. This was slated to be a duo tour again this year. I had an up-and-coming singer (who will remain nameless) booked for the tour; unfortunately, she decided to cancel. Luckily, I was able to find a formidable replacement.

Debbie Deane

Brooklyn native Debbie Deane has been performing primarily as a soul/pop singer-songwriter-pianist for many years. She has two CDs of originals, the most recent being Grove House, which was produced for Ravi Coltrane's RKM label. (Her first CD, one of my favorites, is called Hit The Rewind. Both are available on itunes, duh!) But I had heard Deane sing some jazz standards many years ago, and I knew that she always wanted to have more opportunities to sing jazz. Additionally,  I needed somebody who could learn some of my music, as well as sing some standards. Preparing for the tour, Deane put a lot of work into learning some of my songs. We also added a few of her tunes as well as some familiar standards and a few off the beaten path tunes.

This tour met another obstacle a week before we were set to fly to Japan: I hadn't received my work visa certificate from Tokyo. Fed Ex, a company which is now filed under "MUD" in my book, lost the paperwork, due to one missing number in the address. Although my phone number was on the envelope, the Fed EX driver dumped it at a dormitory on the Portland State University campus. Miraculously, after entire day's worth of sleuthing, I found the package myself, no thanks to Fed Ex, who had logged the package as "delivered" to a different address; this seemed to resolve the matter for them, regardless of whether I had the envelope or not. (It seemed even a few years ago that Fed Ex was the company you used if it "absolutely, positively has to be there overnight...". I guess they changed their slogan to, "Hey, Jerky, you can't expect us to keep track of EVERY package that comes through here, right?")

I went the next morning to the Portland Japanese Consulate with my paperwork, passport, and flight itinerary; I was told that "it usually takes a week to process this, and we are off for the Thanksgiving holiday. Plus, we are short staffed. I cannot guarantee your Visa by Tuesday afternoon."(My flight was Wednesday morning.) I said, "Well, does that mean I have to change my flight?" The man said, "That is your matter. Call on Monday." So I spent about a week worrying that I would have to change my flight at the last minute, which isn't cheap. Plus, there's always a risk of not being able to get a seat on the next day's flight;which is why people book way in advance. Every time I called, the man at the consulate was callously indifferent to my dilemma. Finally, on Tuesday afternoon, my Visa was indeed ready, although the man at the Consulate was, even to the end, surprisingly condescending. (These are some of the things that musicians deal with above and beyond the music; international travel, while seemingly glamorous, has many logistical and diplomatic pitfalls which can ruin the best laid plans in a heartbeat.)

Shinjuku section of Tokyo

The first two performances were great. Our first show was at a famous club called Pitt Inn, located in the Shinjuku section of Tokyo. I've always liked this venue;the layout gives it more of a "concert" feel to it. And all the clubs in Japan have well maintained pianos. The show went well, with surprisingly few glitches, considering this is a "new" duo. Japanese audiences are very respectful and quiet. Sometimes, they are so quiet that it's disconcerting. But I get the distinct impression that Japanese audiences actually come to concerts to LISTEN to music! (What a concept!)

Dr. Eddie Henderson

The second show was last night at the famous Body and Soul, which is near the Roppongi neighborhood in Tokyo. This is also one of my favorite places to play; the piano is excellent, and the staff is very accommodating, and of course, the food is delicious. The audience was quite receptive and enthusiastic. A surprise guest in the audience was trumpeter Dr. Eddie Henderson. Henderson showed up with his wife Natsuko; they were in Japan for almost 3 weeks for Henderson's tour with Jimmy Cobb, performing the music from Miles Davis' Live At the Blackhawk album. I admit, I was a little intimidated by Henderson's presence; after all, he  played in bands with Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner!

Kumamoto City

The Body and Soul show was actually streamed live on the internet. If you missed it, you can watch part of the show here. Stay tuned for more from the Land of the Rising Sun; our next stops are Kumamoto City and Kyoto, both known for their historical sites. Kyoto is one of the most beautiful cities, and there are a lot of ancient Buddhist temples to see there. Plus, Okonomiyaki, a popular dish in Kyoto, is definitely on the list of things to eat, since you almost never find it in Japanese restaurants in the U.S.

Cha Cha's Drop The Needle Test

Francesca Miano-"Cha Cha"

 Queens native Francesca Miano, or "Cha Cha" as we call her, is one of the most enthusiastic jazz fans that I know. She isn't a musician, but she listens the way musicians do. She recently started her own jazz blog(http://jazzsaints.blogspot.com/), which makes her a jazz journalist, at least in my book! So I decided that she would be a good candidate for a drop the needle test. I picked some thing that I wasn't sure if she was familiar with, just to see what her reaction would be. I think these "tests" are not always about getting the right answers; after all, no one knows every single song ever! But the question is, if you don't know who is playing, what are you listening for to help you figure it out? Or if you have no idea who it is, what is your constructive opinion? Anyway, here's her test. The normal type is before and the bold italics are the after.


1. Ahmad Jamal, "Put Another Nickel In(Music, Music, Music)" from Live at the Pershing Ahmad Jamal – Piano
Israel Crosby - Double bass
Vernel Fournier - Drums

Cha Cha: Is this Ahmad Jamal with Vernel Fournier on drums, perhaps from "Live from the Pershing"? The songs sounds like "It's a Pity to Say Goodnight". Ahmad's playing always seemed to have a "sparkling" quality to my ears. When he first came on the scene, some critics felt he was too commercial, but Miles Davis was crazy about him.

After: Live at the Pershing has generally been considered the one iconic recording by Ahmad Jamal that put him on the jazz map.  It's interesting that he's gone from being considered kind of easy listening by some earlier critics to his current status as a jazz piano master.

2. Al Jarreau,"Not Like This", from Jarreau,
 

The singer sounds a bit like a more subdued Al Jarreau. Seems like something that may have been recorded in the 1980s, from the way the electric keyboard is used. Nicely sung but a little too syrupy for my taste.

After:It always made me a little sad that Al Jarreau stopped sing real jazz (at least to my ears) like his vocal version of Take Five, in order to cross over and get more mainstream airplay.  I remember he even did a guest shot on SCTV when it was on NBC.  Very few jazz performers got national exposure like that, but I doubt it would have happened if he hadn't switched to more of a pop sound.

3. Earth, Wind And Fire, "Sun Goddess", from Gratitude

I remember the original version of this song, which was played often on WRVR in the 1970s, but I can't remember the title. Is this version with the Brecker Brothers? The chart in this version sounds like it was recorded around that same time and is, once again, a little dated, but the solos are great.

After:It's embarrassing that I missed this, since I'm a fan of Earth, Wind and Fire!  Everybody seemed to like this band during the time they got constant airplay, because they had such great songs and a great sound.

4. Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, "Fingers" from Consummation

Started out like an inside-out "A- Leu-Cha". Is this the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis band? Loved the trombone and muted trumpet solos. Really tight but swinging section work.

After:No big band was better than this one during the time they had the Monday night slot at the Vanguard.  Thad Jones wrote such wonderful charts and you could always expect to hear the best musicians on the scene as sidemen.  One of my greatest regrets is that I never got to hear the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis band live.

5. Steve Coleman, "Destination", from Sine Die, Cassandra Wilson vocals, Steve Coleman alto saxophone

You've really stumped me with this track. Sounds like a bit of 80s funk. Do I hear synths in the background? Is that Herbie around the time he crossed over again into pop during the Rockit era?

After:I have to admit I've never listened to Steve Coleman very much.  I am familiar with M-Base though, mostly due to the fact it's where many people first heard Cassandra Wilson.

6. Freddie Hubbard, "Theme For Kareem", from SuperBlue

Freddie Hubbard - trumpet and flugelhorn
Hubert Laws - flutes
Joe Henderson - tenor sax
Ron Carter - bass
Jack DeJohnette - drums
Kenny Barron - keyboards

Is this a Horace Silver track from the 90s? I think Michael Brecker played with him then, so is that him on sax? When Horace's bands play an uptempo number like this, it raises your spirits with its positive vibe. Really miss that he's not active on the scene anymore. Nobody has ever duplicated what he brought to the music.

After:Wow, I really messed up with this one!  Such an amazing lineup of musicians!  My favorite Freddie Hubbard has always been "Crisis" from Ready for Freddie, one of his earlier Blue Note LPs. And of course, I also love "Red Clay" from his CTI years.  But I've never heard this track, unfortunately.  It's rather sad that he chops gave out near the end, but I still can't believe that he's not with us anymore.  He was such a giant.

7. McCoy Tyner, "The Greeting", from Super Trios, McCoy Tyner Piano, Ron Carter Bass, Tony Williams drums

Is that McCoy Tyner? Very powerful playing. He seems to be really attacking the piano and making it sing. The bassist and drummer are no weaklings either, but they had to be equally powerful to not be overshadowed. This track is one of those that leaves me breathless with its intensity.

After:I've always considered McCoy Tyner a real powerhouse, definitely not subtle, whose playing goes right through you.  My favorite recording of his has been   "Fly With The Wind".  The combination of his strong touch on the keys, along with the string quartet behind him, has the power to lift me up when I really need it.

8. Lou Donaldson, "Alligator Bogaloo", from Alligator Bogaloo,   

     •    Lou Donaldson - alto saxophone
    •    Melvin Lastie - cornet (tracks 1-5)
    •    Lonnie Smith - organ
    •    George Benson - guitar
    •    Leo Morris - drums

I know I've heard this track quite often over the years, but I have no idea of the title. Is that Stanley Turrentine on tenor and Charles Earland on organ? And is the trumpeter Freddie Hubbard? Fun track--me feel like doing the boogaloo!

After:At least I got the boogaloo part right!  Lou Donaldson and Stanley Turrentine pretty much created an alternative to the swing and bebop approach to sax:  a churchier, more soulful sound.  It's been imitated by so many after them, but nobody has gotten it the way they have.  I finally got to hear Lou Donaldson live at an outdoor gig outside St. Peter's Church in NYC a few years back.  It was the perfect music for a summer afternoon.

9. Louis Armstrong, "Stardust"

This is an easy one, Satchmo playing his iconic version of Stardust. Love his performance of the song and the chugging sort of rhythm going on in the background. Many people have mainly heard his later performances and don't realize what a revelation his approach to trumpet playing and vocals was when he was in his prime. Just listen to how he morphs the melody with his embellishments. It became standard for jazz but at this point in time was something nobody else was doing. Furthermore, Armstrong plays the way he sings and sings the way he plays. You can really hear in this track what made him such so great.

After:There's really not much I can add to my earlier comments.  Just that I first heard this track about five years ago, and it really increased my respect for Satchmo's artistry made him such so great.