Dan Bruce Beta Collective live at the Constellation

Last night I saw a pretty cool jazz band with my bro. I looked up shows around Chicago and I noticed that my jazz instructor (from six years ago when I was at University of Parkside-Wisconsin) Russ Johnson was playing with this band at this modern jazz club called the Constellation. Russ is a great trumpet players that is involved with various groups probably all around the Midwest and New York. He's pretty well known in the jazz community. Anyways, the group is led by a guitarist composer named Dan Bruce and the band features Russ Johnson (trumpet), Chris Madsen (tenor saxophone), Rob Clearfield (keyboards), Clark Sommers (bass), Jon Dietemyer (drums).

We only stayed for the first set because we took two buses and the train and it took like an hour and a half to get there. In addition, my brother has work in the morning. However, that first set was pretty great! Dan Bruce took the majority of the solos but there was a great tenor sax solo that was just about reaching into free jazz territory. I heard some squeaks! It was great hearing that because this is more of a new jazz concert. By that I mean the music sounds very modal and its all original music. This was an album release concert after at. Very few people in attendance. Think Ole Coltrane if it had electric guitar, effects, and electronic keyboards. For the most part they were reading the music off manuscript paper but it was obvious when they went off the cuff and started to truly improvise.

Dan Bruce is a great guitar player with plenty of chops but it seemed like his improvisations were a little too perfect. Too rehearsed. I would've liked to hear some mistakes from him. I like to hear some struggle sometimes from jazz musicians. That's not to say he isn't a good improviser at all because what I heard was all great stuff, very musical and tasty as they say. I would say I was more impressed with his chord voicings and comping rather than say his composing ability or single note lines. I thought it was cool that he was using some electronic effects with his guitar too. I wish he would've used more of that, at least during the first set. After all whats the point of effects if you're only going to use them very sparingly?

Chris Madsen on tenor sax had a great solo that really stood out. There was a musical buildup slowly to a climax with squeaks thrown in there. It almost seemed like what he was playing was out of time, out of sync with the band but it still sounded great. He was even doing this blowing technique where you blow very lightly into the horn and get this sort of raspy tone. He also had a lot of bebop licks thrown in there too. That was a turning point at that part of the set.

Russ Johnson was mostly playing in harmony (melodies) with the guitar and sax but he did have a pretty great solo on the last tune. I was pretty impressed. He's the elder statemen of the band being the oldest so he probably has the most experience in playing jazz and he's probably been on more records and stuff than the other guys. His solo started off with a couple flubbed notes. My brother said "he needs practice" but my brother doesn't know enough about jazz to realize that what he was doing is actually a trumpet technique. I believe he was doing the same thing Madsen was doing, that technique where you blow into the horn but just barely enough to make some raspy tones.

Anyways, his solo was probably the best. He built it upon a theme, expanded upon it, and ended it with some virtuoso fast stuff. His high notes sounded superb. I used to be a trumpet player in high school so I know how difficult that is to do. His solo almost had a Spanish vibe as my brother said.

There was also a keyboards solo but I think it was more of "set the mood" sorta thing rather than a solo. And there was also a bass and drum solo but in a way they were kind of overshadowed by the compositions. It seemed like their solos were shorter than the others but I may be wrong.

After the show I talked to Dan Bruce and said,"great guitar playing man, that was like masterclass on chord voicings". I geeked out pretty hard seeing such great guitar playing. Then I asked if Russ was around and I talked to him. He remembered me from UW-Parkside, which I briefly attended about five years ago. It didn't work out at that college but the fact that I saw him at the show was probably a shock for him. Of course he asked,"what are you doing here?" Lol, it was kind of funny. We shook hands and I told him I've been practicing a lot of guitar, working on jazz standards, and that I've started a band. He said to keep shedding, a musicians catch phrase to keep practicing. Great moment of the Chicago trip so far. Who would've thought right?

It was a great set and I'm really glad my brother enjoyed it even though he isn't a fan of jazz guitar as he says. Maybe I'll get to see more great live music out here in Chicago, particularly jazz.

Jazz isn't dead. It just smells funny. -Frank Zappa

Live Tracks from 9/27

Here's the live tracks from last week's open jam. This was the first time I brought my 7-string Jackson to the jam night. I think it sounds pretty astounding. On Smoke on the Water I got a much heavier (more metal) guitar tone. The instrumental improv with Thelma was really sick as well. And the jazz instrumental was a jam with many roads traveled (including a blues) haha. Enjoy the heaviness of 7-string guitar. I notice even though its a much heavier sound it can also get really good trebly tones as well. Also its funny you can hear me doing back up vocals on the chorus of Smoke on the Water. My voice really stands out there haha. Enjoy!

https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/jazz-on-a-7-string
https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/smoke-on-the-water-metal-version
https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/thelma-proto-metal-jam

Open jam recording, fusion set

So I've been going to the open jams and I got some more recordings. These turned out quite nicely. I ended up playing with a young drummer, a blues bass player, and the percussionist that shows up every week. I called out two chord vamps for both of the jams and it ended up being kind of a heavy jazz fusion sort of set. I thought my guitar tone was trying to do too much at times but it ended up sounding really progressive and fusion-y. I really liked that I was the only guitarist on the set, it hasn't been that way since like when I first started going. Great stuff. You can hear both of the tracks here. 

https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/two-chord-vamp-amin7-d7 

https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/two-chord-vamp-fmaj7-cmin7

Enjoy! 

New Soundcloud Live Tracks

So I went to a jam a few weeks ago and this is the results. You can listen to all the new tracks here.

Hey Joe (version 2)
Dark chord jam
Shuffle Truffle jam 
Voodoo Ritual (jazz version)

The whole purpose of this jam session was that I was trying to provide support with rhythm, mainly the chord progressions. I hardly ever took even a hint of solo. I was straight comping the whole night. I like to think it sounds pretty well. This older black dude played the more distorted electric guitar, I'm on my Hagstrom Les Paul on clean setting the whole time, using the Jazz/Blues Seymour Duncan Jazz Pickup. Enjoy! 

Soundcloud

So I created a Soundcloud page where I'll be posting music from now on once I work on more recordings. It will probably take me a long time to add more stuff because I want something more than just guitar tracks, I want full arrangements with drums and stuff using Ableton. But yeah I want to use this soundcloud page to post weird experimental jazz influenced guitar stuff. I'm also interested in using vocals down the line too. Right now all that's on there is two recordings I made for a European pop album that's going to be released soon.

Enjoy!

https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763

Jazz fusion pioneer Larry Coryell dead at 73

The other day I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and found out Larry Coryell had passed away. He died Sunday in Manhattan, at the age of 73. He died of heart failure in his hotel room. He had just been playing some shows at the Iridium in Midtown on Friday and Saturday. In this post I not only wanted to pay honor and respect to a great guitar player and jazz musician but also to shine light on his importance in the jazz and rock world.

He bridged the gap between jazz and rock in the sixties. He played on an album with John Mclaughlin, Chick Corea, and other leaders of the jazz rock fusion era that would go on to create great fusion with Miles Davis on the legendary Bitches Brew album. That early fusion record he did was an early staple of what would come later in jazz rock fusion, which would later develop into many forms. One of them being smooth jazz, jazz-funk, and more.

The other era of importance for Larry was when he did trio performances with Paco De Lucia and John Mclaughlin. This can easily be found on Youtube. In the video performances you can see Larry struggling a bit. It was drug addiction that unfortunately lead to him being replaced by Al Di Mieola for this legendary triple acoustic guitar team attack.

His most important band was a fusion group called 11th House. After that he focused on acoustic guitar. He switched off between fusion, straight ahead jazz, and acoustic for the rest of his career. Honestly I haven't heard anything new from him since I first found out about that trio acoustic guitar recording. But his musical importance in the jazz and jazz rock fusion world can't go unnoticed.

He was also a hell of a guitar player and a great jazz musician.

Rest in peace Larry. Jazz will keep on going strong thanks to great musicians like you. 

Animals as Leaders, The Madness of Many

I finally listened to some heavy rock and roll music after about a week of nonstop classical music. A new co-worker told me that the new Animals as Leaders was out and sure enough it's on YouTube. The Madness of Many is AAL's fourth record, released in November 2016. The album features Tosin Abasi on guitars, Javier Reyes on guitars and bass, and Matt Garstka on drums. This is the longest and most stable lineup for the band and they've been going strong for years. The album reached number ten on some New Zealand chart and 56 on the US Billboard 200.

I can tell you right now that from hearing the first couple tracks on this album that this is the best AAL album they've done thus far. You can tell that they worked together on every detail of the songs and music. In their past records we can clearly see where this is a Tosin song, that's a Reyes song, or that's a Garstka song. They've finally achieved democratic band mode where they give it their all while working together and the end result is bloody brill.

What can I say about the music? This music sounds like Meshuggah (Swedes have a monopoly on metal) had a black jazz baby that grew up to become a rocket scientist that works at Nasa. This is like space age progressive metal riffery at its finest. It djents (djent, new style of metal based around chugging in odd meters on bass strings) like all hell but it swings hard like jazz fusion (jazz-rock) does all the while maintaining an originality to it that is exclusively Animals as Leaders. They've developed a style and they've honed that style and made it better and better over the years performing and recording together.

Although this album has some complicated meters (rhythms) it never becomes too intelligent to the point where it would bore the non-musical listener who doesn't know what a 32nd or 64th note is or sounds like. While it is complicated music it somehow has a natural feel to it as well. It's hard to explain but the fact that they've achieved this on record is amazing. I don't think they could've done it without working together on every aspect because on previous albums the music gets lost awash in complicated musical ideas that ultimately sound exciting as a guitar player but might bore the average non-musical listener.

Another thing to note about this album is that because I've listened to all their previous albums there are moments on this album that sounds like previous songs. Bands tend to do this. It sounds great hearing familiar riffs and territory ventured once again.
They go through all kinds of complicated jazz changes, metal riffs, and drum beats but it all sounds like some natural planned out jam. It's pretty impressive. Tosin and Reyes' guitar playing is through the roof and Matt's drumming keeps everything tied down through tribal-like shamanistic beats. It's almost metaphysical. If this is the direction that metal is going I would like to see it continue to move forward in this manner. Metal music is so stale and bland these days that I almost can't stand it. There are many times when my friends turn on some metal music and I just want to leave the room. The last couple metal bands I was into weren't really metal in the traditional sense but were still really heavy bands. The idea of having heavy moments in between other styles is really cool and should definitely be explored more.

Metal needs to progress in order to keep from getting stale. This metal band has ascended above and beyond the average musical abilities of most metal groups. They're like jazz musicians at this point. Very cool to see great young players creating great inspiring music and catching the progressive metal zeitgeist at the same time.

The album obviously has a point to make with the album cover of the man going up a flight of stairs inside a human head. They're trying to make some sort of social or mental commentary but honestly I think it would go above most peoples' heads because this is an instrumental record with no vocals. However, you can make stories through instrumental songs. Although AAL is a great band I don't think they've achieved that level of artistic mastery yet. 

This is what intelligent metal sounds like. Not all of us headbang so hard that we hurt our necks.

Alex Machacek live at the Baked Potato

  
     On Tuesday night I went to see Alex Machacek at the Baked Potato, a jazz club here in the valley, in Studio City. Alex played with bassist Ben Shepard and drummer Eric Valentine. The Baked Potato is named so because they have a menu that consists of nothing but different kinds of baked potatoes. You can even get a baked potato Philly cheese steak. I knew that the place was small from the pictures I saw of it online but I didn't realize how small the place was until I got inside and sat down. That being said, the club is very intimate and the band is right in your face. Perfect for the listening experience and the visuals. The cover charge at the door for this concert was only $20, and they require a two drink minimum. With a baked potato I got as well I ended up only spending about $40, pretty reasonable to see a concert and have food and drink. Anyways, let's talk about the actual music.
     First, Alex started off the concert playing a song that he's playing here in this short clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDvhTDljZxs. I don't know the name of the tune but in that clip is where I first heard it. It was great and refreshing to hear him open up with that tune. It's a great opening tune that has some great rhythmic syncopation. From this tune we can tell that not only is Alex a great guitarist with lots of technique but that he's also a great composer as well. You can say that this tune is like progressive rock meets jazz fusion, which is really what Alex's whole musical style is all about. He mixes odd time signatures with jazz chord progressions and rhythmic motifs to create original material. As far as the concert went I would say that this was the best tune that he played just for the sheer amount of excitement that was displayed during this number. This song is exciting the whole way through, like a car race speeding across the 101. You got the sense that the whole band was all together on this one, speeding through the complex snare hits, bass fills, and guitar chords. As far as the concert went though, I would say this was the only interesting thing they played during the entire first set.
     That being said, once you hear a few of Alex's tunes you begin to realize that he uses the same kinds of orchestrations and the same kinds of chord progressions, with maybe a different melody here and there. I think at this particular concert Alex really wasn't feeling the music. He was just coasting. Whereas his sidemen were really pushing the envelop, truly improvising. I felt like there were only like maybe two times where Alex was really improvising and pulling off some great stuff in the process. The rest of the time he was coasting. By coasting I mean he's playing the tunes well but isn't really 'there' in the moment when it comes to his time for improvising. I was a bit disappointed to say the least but realistically I shouldn't have expected much for only $20. But his sidemen were terrific! Especially Eric Valentine on drums. He was playing these incredible odd time signatures and incredible snare/cymbal hits and never missing a fill. At times Valentine reminded me of the drummer from Return to Forever, Lenny White. He was my favorite part of the whole concert. Then the bassist Ben Shepard was playing some incredible bass fills and showing us what its like to play and get a great sound out of a 6-string bass. I didn't even know they made 6-string basses until I saw him play it that night! Shepard is a very melodic bassist that can play the bass like a guitar player plays the guitar. Very much like a Jack Bruce type player. The reason why I think Alex was kind of off this night was because I think this was just a pick up band he was playing with. These aren't the typical people he would usually play with so he was just laying low and again, coasting. The other thing I wish Alex would do is let the other guys write compositions for the band to play because after a while all his tunes start sounding the same. He uses the same tone on most of his songs. At best he sounds like a great Allan Holdsworth imitation, especially with that creamy slightly distorted lead guitar tone on his solos and that synthesizer sounding guitar chord stuff he does where it sounds like whales from the ocean. He definitely got that from Holdsworth. Out of all the Holdsworth clones I think there is only one player who has surpassed the master. He's pretty famous, his name is Tosin Abasi, a great progressive metal jazz fusion type guitarist (check out his band Animals as Leaders and side-project T.R.A.M). Anyways, once you hear Alex's compositions back to back you realize that they all sound the same. This isn't really bad but it does get old. Jazz is suppose to be fresh and unique and have more intensive improvisation. But this concert felt more like a rock concert in comparison to some of the jazz concerts I've been to here in LA. I'm not hating on Alex but I think he could have done a better job when it came to his solos.
     Lastly, the other song that stood out to me was the last song he played, ending the first set. It was a Gospel-type tune entitled 'Oh, Lard'. This one was slow and moody, simplistic but made more complex with a jazzy series of chord changes for the improvisation. Again, here Alex's playing was nothing special but the bass playing and drumming were phenomenal. Plus it was nice seeing them play something simple and that had a Gospel type sound. Basically they made Alex sound great at this gig, not the other way around. This is the case where the sidemen make the star sound great. I think Alex is a great guitar player but I think he gives more of himself to the music when he plays with high profile musicians. In videos online I've seen him play with people like drummers Terry Bozzio and Gary Husband and in those videos he's giving it all he's got to the music. Maybe he just needs to play with musicians that push him to the farther reaches of great jazz improvisation. I've seen concerts where the star is a great performer with other big names but with a pick up band they're just coasting. It was a shame but I did enjoy myself that night. On the bright side now I know a place I can go to to hear jazz music!

John Mclaughlin, To the One

     This is one of the better jazz-rock fusion albums in my collection. And its on the more recent side coming out in 2011. I ordered this CD online a while ago, months and months ago. This is also McLaughlin's first recording with his band the 4th Dimension. Here's what it says on the CD cover: 
     "The inspiration behind this recording stems from two sources: firstly from hearing the recording 'A Love Supreme' by John Coltrane in the 1960's, and secondly from my own endeavors towards 'The One' throughout the past 40 years. Coltrane's recording marked me forever in two ways: musically and spiritually. This was a profound moment for modern music. Until this recording, 'spirituality' had been the domain of the great classical composers with their works known as the 'mass', and in the classical music from North and South India. With this one recording, Coltrane integrated the spiritual dimension into jazz. The advent of this record could not have come at a better moment for me. The musical and spiritual encouragement I obtained from this record was a determining factor in my life. By the release of this album, I had begun my search for the answers to the questions existence will pose to us all, sooner or later. This period of intense interior work was followed by periods of indolence, doubt and even plain laziness on my part. Fortunately, the call of my soul returned to my inner ear, and I began eventually to feel the blessings of the Infinite One once more. From time to time, I have had glimpses of the indescribable loveliness of the Infinite One. I have seen that we are all in the Infinite One. We can never be apart from the Infinite Oneness even though we may be unaware of this unity. The music on this recording is another tale from my life. About my love and affection for the wonderful people around me, both far and near, for the mysterious universe we live in, and in the end for the Infinite One. With peace and blessings to everyone. J.M"
     How can you even come up with a better message to your fans than this! Really inspiring words from the great spiritual guitarist. Its really quite great how McLaughlin loves Coltrane because I too, am a huge Coltrane fan. Coltrane was my hero too man! Anyways, McLaughlin has been searching musically and spiritually and it really shows on this record. So this is the first recording with McLaughlin's band the 4th Dimension and they are John McLaughlin on guitar, Gary Husband on keyboards/drums (sometimes on drums, sometimes keys, sometimes both on the same track!), Etienne M'Bappe on bass, and Mark Mondesir on drums when Husband isn't playing it. This is only the second time I've heard the album, but the first time I heard it I was absolutely blown away by the musical prowess and instrumental intensity. I was especially in love with the track 'Discovery'.
      The first track is my favorite and in my opinion the best track on the whole album. It's called 'Discovery', and it starts out with a swinging kind of funky keyboards and drums. And there's a head played by the guitar before John McLaughlin goes off into improvisatory sequences. The thing that I think makes this song so great is the rhythm section, the drums, bass, and keyboards are just so funky but it also has that kind of sophisticated sound of bebop jazz because of McLaughlin's guitar solo. The licks are just killing it man! He's a monster! And then Gary Husbands keyboard solo comes in. Then there's a bridge section where the drums kind of have their own little crazy part. Then the bass comes in for a solo and its fantastic. This guy, M'Bappe plays fretless bass, and fretless bass sounds amazing. I wish bassists in metal would use it, it really has a good sound. Then the head comes back in, ending the song on a high note while the drums goes off on rhythmic tangents. To me, this song is like a modern bebop, its jazz-rock but it has the sophistication of complicated jazz arrangements, like old school Dizzy and Charlie Parker.
     Next, is a more ballad type song called 'Special Beings', a very new age title for a song but the song name actually fits the song musically. The guitar tone in this one has more of a chorus effect than 'Discovery'. The tone is a little more like how Mclaughlin likes his guitar now, which is more of a chorus type thing similar to John Scofield. There's great keyboard playing from Gary Husband here. It actually reminds me of Herbie Hancock, his playing is very harmonically 'there', in the same way as Herbie's playing is. Even though the mood is more mellow on this piece, Mclaughlin still 'shreds', as the kids call it. This guy was like the OG shredder back in the 70's in Mahavishnu Orchestra and its amazing that he plays faster today at 70 years old than he did in his 20s. The thing that makes Mclaughlin's playing so great is his phrasing. He does interesting things with ordinary melodies, probably learned much of it from studying Indian classical music and playing with musicians from India. This guy isn't just a pentatonic runner. The bass line even plays a walking bass line on this song, making it have that kind of signature jazz feel.
     Next up, 'The Fine Line', sounds like a song that is super heavy and deep. It has this kind of melody that just screams emergency! But it still has a funky flavor to it with the rhythm section. This is another favorite track of mine on the album. Definitely one of the best tunes on the album for sure. There's a keyboard solo and then that haunting melody comes back in, it's really a blast to hear. The drums even have a solo part while McLaughlin is riffing on the theme's chords. After that McLaughlin plays some really killer guitar lines. Super fast. Super technical. Super jazzy. His guitar tone on this song is drenched with reverb, a slight bit of distortion, and chorus for sure. Some of his best tones. He sounds like a rock guitarist playing bebop jazz lines super fast. It's amazing. Also, I wanted to mention that this tune sounds very modern. By that, I mean that this song could have been written by guys in their 20's or 30's. It just sounds like they're young and hungry as a band. This band has continued today with the same kind of energy.
     'Lost and Found' sounds almost like a Pat Metheny song. It starts off with so much synthesizer running through, that all I can think about is Pat Metheny's first album with all the synth stuff by Lyle Mays. I believe McLaughlin is even using a guitar effect that makes his guitar sound like a synthesizer. I've heard the jazz guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel use a similar device to get this kind of tone on his guitar as well. I think its called a H.O.G. 2 or something like that, it basically makes your guitar sound like not a guitar, but something else entirely by giving you a bunch of options and tone settings. This song is kind of like an interlude in the album. It's short and sweet compared to the other tracks.
     The next track, 'Recovery' could be the younger brother of 'Discovery'. The drumming and rhythmic pulse is pretty much the same but the melody and guitar lines are different. This definitely shows off their more funk influences, especially Husband's funky keyboard jabs. There's even a nice kind of Moog synthesizer sounding solo. Although harmonically there's a million things going on in this song I would say the main important part is the rhythmic aspect. I really feel it and once you hear it you can too. It's a pulse that is so funky, I could almost dance. The guitar solo on this track is killer. With these kinds of solos by McLaughlin you never get tired of the acrobatics, the speed, and the sheer technical aspects of his guitar lines. Everything you hear sounds great. He seems to have endless ideas and variations, the mark of a true great improviser. He isn't Peter Brotzmann but he sure has created his own guitar style and musical style that nobody else comes even close to.
    Lastly, the final track is called 'To the One'. I would say again that this sounds similar to a Pat Metheny type thing where a synthesizer, in this case, a guitar synth is controlling the melody and the atmosphere of the song is kind of mellow, despite being at a fairly quick tempo, with fast drumming especially on the snare and cymbals. There's even some vocals at the end of this track, giving it that new age jazz vibe.
     Finally, this album reached number 27 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart and was nominated for the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. It has gotten great reviews online by many famous websites and publications. The tunes have memorable melodies and lines that keep the tunes flowing well with the improvisation. It isn't avant-garde but the music does have complicated arrangements and extensive improvisation. I would say of this era of John McLaughlin's guitar playing: that "This sounds like midi bebop jazz-rock". All the tunes seem to have a form to them and it works great with this band, they really sound like a good cohesive unit, rather than just a pick-up band. It's amazing that John McLaughlin still sounds amazing today, as good, if not better than he was when he was in his 20's and doing Mahavishnu Orchestra. Gary Husband surprised me playing keyboards because his usual gig is playing drums with guitarist Allan Holdsworth. Upon hearing this album again, I still think its a great album, one of John McLaughlin's best I've ever heard.