Ear to the Ground:
Dispatches from the Monterey Jazz Festival
by Steven Rybicki
I.
Friday
I finally get jazz!!
It’s been a cumulative thing, but I think after enough thought and experience, it makes sense. I have been listening to jazz since my uncles gave me a set of Chet Baker and Miles Davis records in junior high. I would tell people that I listened to jazz because it seemed to garner respect: the truly hip and smart people listen to jazz. Yet, when I reach for a record to listen to in my car or while writing a paper I am still unable to just groove to jazz records.
A few weeks ago I was at a Wrens concert in Denton, Texas. There I met the lead singer of the Wrens, Charles Bissell. In the course of our conversation, we discussed different genres of music and jazz came up. Charles talked about how he made concrete bonds as a jazz fan by altering his understanding of jazz: just as painters use color, jazz artists use the notes on the treble and bass clefts. I had also heard “how” jazz differentiates itself: jazz musicians “bend” notes and play around with rhythm. Rhythmically, they bend and break beats; they hear, read into, interpret, and make the silences malleable. He then jumped into an analogy of understanding jazz records in terms of Rothko and French Impressionism.
I had heard all of these things, but last night I got it.
Last night was the first night at the 48th annual Monterey Jazz Festival. In that evening, I saw John Scofield with his Uberjazz band, Carla Bley playing her National Anthem inversions, and legend Sonny Rollins play the main stage of the Monterey Fair Grounds. And my opinion changed. Jazz is about people who play instruments with incredible facility and applying that prowess to exhibit the limitlessness of boundaries in music.
It’s no sentimental exaggeration to suggest jazz is uniquely American because of its emphasis on individual talent and achievement: there is the trumpet player, saxophone player, piano player, drummer, bass player, trombonist, etc. Each of these musicians displays their prowess through solos in the set. They are judged by audience approval, and in any given group one musician might be able to outshine the others in terms of popularity.
Oh, and by the way… walking out of the festival Friday, Nels Cline, guitarist for Wilco on a ghost is born, was hanging out at the Tower Records store meeting, greeting, and pimping his jazz project, The Nels Cline Singers (the new record features Jon Brion… eat your heart out Kanye).
II.
Saturday
The big act tonight was the festival’s centerpiece performance by Tony Bennett. Yes, I have now seen Tony Bennett work a crowd, doing his bit.
Kent and I were in our seats early in the main stage pavilion. We wanted to see Carla Bley premier her new big band piece, “Appearing Nightly at the Black Orchid”. Sitting before the stage sent my mind spinning… back to rock-n-roll. This was the stage that Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and The Who tore up at the Monterey Pop Festival thirty years ago.
Anyway, enough diversions. Bley’s set was rich, as expected, but Keith and Kent were not as impressed with her Black Orchid as they were by her intimate quintet the night before. Then Clint was up. Eastwood walked on stage wearing a bright red blazer, which indicated his membership on the MJF board or directors. Clint thanked the audience for their attendance and asked for donations for hurricane Katrina relief. Then it was time for Tony. The curtain opened and Bennett was front and center, surrounded by a band of five. He’s 79 years old and his voice is weaker, but the crowd adored him. Keith told us that during “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” the crowd was on their feet, gently swaying to the beat and reverently singing along with the icon.
But Kent and I weren’t as observant. We wandered off during Bennett’s set to see and amazing baritone jazz vocalist, Andy Bey. This turned out to be my favorite performance of the weekend. Bey’s set was packed. Kent and I had to wait in line for ten minutes to get into the venue. Bey’s set in was driven by an amazing bass player, but was memorable for the Bey’s vocals. Between singing “scattish” syllables and his standard compositions, Bey worked through traditional and experimental arrangements. The highlight of the night began with Bey quietly introducing his next to last piece, a work by “English composer Nick Drake.” He sang River Man by Drake and left the audience stunned. Just beautiful.
Earlier that day we dropped by Dizzy’s Den to check out an interview with Branford Marsalis. Branford was the Monterey Jazz Society’s resident artist this year and was the subject of much attention at the festival. During the interview he explained his perspective on the status jazz in American culture. Two salient features of the interviews were his discussion of jazz versus other musical genres, and his analysis of how music is distributed and absorbed by today’s youth culture.
His first point was about the difference between jazz and hip-hop/rock-n-roll: the bass controls the rhythm in jazz and drums control the rhythm in the other two genres. Drums in jazz function as a part of the harmony, even when jazz drummers are featured soloists they are functioning as any other instrument, and are not controlling the rhythm. This was another paradigm shift for my musical appreciation: it’s probably very elementary and I am a dope for not “getting” it before now, but hey…
Branford shifted to the problem with young jazz musicians: they know too much theory but don’t listen to any records!! They read the sheet music for Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, but they rarely let the record play and enjoy the fact that they are listening to Coltrane. A remedy for this is to get the jazz kids to do what the indie kids do: download, rip, and distribute music with each other. Get excited about hearing new records. He explained when he was in college no one could afford to buy every record they wanted, to they found a way to cooperatively buy one record and bootleg that record for a dozen people on cassette. His response to “what about the industry’s war on piracy?”: it’s sad that corporations feel the need to sue 12-year old girls to “recoup” money. The record industries have continually rejected the innovation of technology and continue to pay for their myopia and greed. Their only solution, to sue those two technological steps ahead is foolish, and these companies are enabling their own permanent demise. Solidarity, Branford!!!
III.
Sunday
Last day of the festival.
We came early to see the Carla Bley interview. It was nice to see her up-close, and describe her creative process, but nothing profound or exciting was uttered in those ninety minutes. Keith and Kent’s associate, Jason was on a later panel about the status of jazz in the record industry. Long and short story: the major record companies will not buy/sell jazz, and if you sign up with indie labels they will suck you dry and screw you out of your masters. Oookaaaaay, anyone ready for dinner?
The festival was winding down. There were two performances left that Kent, Keith, Gladys and I wanted to see: Madeline Peyroux and Pat Metheny. Pat’s a very famous jazz guitarist and is incredibly talented. But Madeline was the showstopper for me that night. Her set was too long (we ended up leaving after an hour), and the chemistry of the group didn’t seem to be working that well, but Madeline’s voice is beautiful in the tradition of Billie Holiday. Her detached demeanor and voice heartbreakingly into the crisp night air of Monterey. We were there for her Patsy Cline cover, stuff from her first record, and then… then she began her own version of Elliott Smith’s “Between the Bars”. The voice of Billie and the words of Elliott:
drink up baby, stay up all night
with the things you could do, you won’t but you might
the potential you’ll be that you’ll never see
the promises you’ll only make
drink up with me now and forget all about he pressure of days
do what I say and I’ll make you okay and drive them away
the images stuck in your head
people you’ve been before that you don’t want around anymore
that push and shove and won’t bend to your will
I’ll keep them still
drink up baby, look at the star, I’ll kiss you again
between the bars where I’m seeing you
there with your hands in the air waiting to finally be caught
drink up one more time and I’ll make you mine
keep you apart deep in my heart separate from the rest
where I like you best
and keep the things you forgot
the people you’ve been before that you don’t want around anymore
that push and shove and won’t bend to your will
I’ll keep them still
by Steven Rybicki
I.
Friday
I finally get jazz!!
It’s been a cumulative thing, but I think after enough thought and experience, it makes sense. I have been listening to jazz since my uncles gave me a set of Chet Baker and Miles Davis records in junior high. I would tell people that I listened to jazz because it seemed to garner respect: the truly hip and smart people listen to jazz. Yet, when I reach for a record to listen to in my car or while writing a paper I am still unable to just groove to jazz records.
A few weeks ago I was at a Wrens concert in Denton, Texas. There I met the lead singer of the Wrens, Charles Bissell. In the course of our conversation, we discussed different genres of music and jazz came up. Charles talked about how he made concrete bonds as a jazz fan by altering his understanding of jazz: just as painters use color, jazz artists use the notes on the treble and bass clefts. I had also heard “how” jazz differentiates itself: jazz musicians “bend” notes and play around with rhythm. Rhythmically, they bend and break beats; they hear, read into, interpret, and make the silences malleable. He then jumped into an analogy of understanding jazz records in terms of Rothko and French Impressionism.
I had heard all of these things, but last night I got it.
Last night was the first night at the 48th annual Monterey Jazz Festival. In that evening, I saw John Scofield with his Uberjazz band, Carla Bley playing her National Anthem inversions, and legend Sonny Rollins play the main stage of the Monterey Fair Grounds. And my opinion changed. Jazz is about people who play instruments with incredible facility and applying that prowess to exhibit the limitlessness of boundaries in music.
It’s no sentimental exaggeration to suggest jazz is uniquely American because of its emphasis on individual talent and achievement: there is the trumpet player, saxophone player, piano player, drummer, bass player, trombonist, etc. Each of these musicians displays their prowess through solos in the set. They are judged by audience approval, and in any given group one musician might be able to outshine the others in terms of popularity.
Oh, and by the way… walking out of the festival Friday, Nels Cline, guitarist for Wilco on a ghost is born, was hanging out at the Tower Records store meeting, greeting, and pimping his jazz project, The Nels Cline Singers (the new record features Jon Brion… eat your heart out Kanye).
II.
Saturday
The big act tonight was the festival’s centerpiece performance by Tony Bennett. Yes, I have now seen Tony Bennett work a crowd, doing his bit.
Kent and I were in our seats early in the main stage pavilion. We wanted to see Carla Bley premier her new big band piece, “Appearing Nightly at the Black Orchid”. Sitting before the stage sent my mind spinning… back to rock-n-roll. This was the stage that Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and The Who tore up at the Monterey Pop Festival thirty years ago.
Anyway, enough diversions. Bley’s set was rich, as expected, but Keith and Kent were not as impressed with her Black Orchid as they were by her intimate quintet the night before. Then Clint was up. Eastwood walked on stage wearing a bright red blazer, which indicated his membership on the MJF board or directors. Clint thanked the audience for their attendance and asked for donations for hurricane Katrina relief. Then it was time for Tony. The curtain opened and Bennett was front and center, surrounded by a band of five. He’s 79 years old and his voice is weaker, but the crowd adored him. Keith told us that during “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” the crowd was on their feet, gently swaying to the beat and reverently singing along with the icon.
But Kent and I weren’t as observant. We wandered off during Bennett’s set to see and amazing baritone jazz vocalist, Andy Bey. This turned out to be my favorite performance of the weekend. Bey’s set was packed. Kent and I had to wait in line for ten minutes to get into the venue. Bey’s set in was driven by an amazing bass player, but was memorable for the Bey’s vocals. Between singing “scattish” syllables and his standard compositions, Bey worked through traditional and experimental arrangements. The highlight of the night began with Bey quietly introducing his next to last piece, a work by “English composer Nick Drake.” He sang River Man by Drake and left the audience stunned. Just beautiful.
Earlier that day we dropped by Dizzy’s Den to check out an interview with Branford Marsalis. Branford was the Monterey Jazz Society’s resident artist this year and was the subject of much attention at the festival. During the interview he explained his perspective on the status jazz in American culture. Two salient features of the interviews were his discussion of jazz versus other musical genres, and his analysis of how music is distributed and absorbed by today’s youth culture.
His first point was about the difference between jazz and hip-hop/rock-n-roll: the bass controls the rhythm in jazz and drums control the rhythm in the other two genres. Drums in jazz function as a part of the harmony, even when jazz drummers are featured soloists they are functioning as any other instrument, and are not controlling the rhythm. This was another paradigm shift for my musical appreciation: it’s probably very elementary and I am a dope for not “getting” it before now, but hey…
Branford shifted to the problem with young jazz musicians: they know too much theory but don’t listen to any records!! They read the sheet music for Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, but they rarely let the record play and enjoy the fact that they are listening to Coltrane. A remedy for this is to get the jazz kids to do what the indie kids do: download, rip, and distribute music with each other. Get excited about hearing new records. He explained when he was in college no one could afford to buy every record they wanted, to they found a way to cooperatively buy one record and bootleg that record for a dozen people on cassette. His response to “what about the industry’s war on piracy?”: it’s sad that corporations feel the need to sue 12-year old girls to “recoup” money. The record industries have continually rejected the innovation of technology and continue to pay for their myopia and greed. Their only solution, to sue those two technological steps ahead is foolish, and these companies are enabling their own permanent demise. Solidarity, Branford!!!
III.
Sunday
Last day of the festival.
We came early to see the Carla Bley interview. It was nice to see her up-close, and describe her creative process, but nothing profound or exciting was uttered in those ninety minutes. Keith and Kent’s associate, Jason was on a later panel about the status of jazz in the record industry. Long and short story: the major record companies will not buy/sell jazz, and if you sign up with indie labels they will suck you dry and screw you out of your masters. Oookaaaaay, anyone ready for dinner?
The festival was winding down. There were two performances left that Kent, Keith, Gladys and I wanted to see: Madeline Peyroux and Pat Metheny. Pat’s a very famous jazz guitarist and is incredibly talented. But Madeline was the showstopper for me that night. Her set was too long (we ended up leaving after an hour), and the chemistry of the group didn’t seem to be working that well, but Madeline’s voice is beautiful in the tradition of Billie Holiday. Her detached demeanor and voice heartbreakingly into the crisp night air of Monterey. We were there for her Patsy Cline cover, stuff from her first record, and then… then she began her own version of Elliott Smith’s “Between the Bars”. The voice of Billie and the words of Elliott:
drink up baby, stay up all night
with the things you could do, you won’t but you might
the potential you’ll be that you’ll never see
the promises you’ll only make
drink up with me now and forget all about he pressure of days
do what I say and I’ll make you okay and drive them away
the images stuck in your head
people you’ve been before that you don’t want around anymore
that push and shove and won’t bend to your will
I’ll keep them still
drink up baby, look at the star, I’ll kiss you again
between the bars where I’m seeing you
there with your hands in the air waiting to finally be caught
drink up one more time and I’ll make you mine
keep you apart deep in my heart separate from the rest
where I like you best
and keep the things you forgot
the people you’ve been before that you don’t want around anymore
that push and shove and won’t bend to your will
I’ll keep them still
posted by steven rybicki at 4:17 PM
1 Comments:
Hey man,
Glad you've finally converted. Allow me to make a couple suggestions: Yardbird Suite by Charlie Parker, Bitches Brew by Miles Davis, Complete Village Vanguard Recordings by John Coltraine, Blood on the Fields by Wynton Marsalis. Also, I'm writing a project on a jazz/free verse connection for the research symposium, so if any brilliant insights strike you let me know.
--Zehnder
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