SOUNDTRACK: FORGET ALL THAT AND JUST WAIL: New Music That Orbits Around Jazz (compilation The Believer July/August 2013).
This compilation came as a digital download with The Believer’s 2013 Music Issue (you need to get a physical copy of the issue to get the download code). Ross Simonini, the compiler, explains that he used to like jazz, but that he really doesn’t anymore. And he finds himself attracted to these pieces that hover around jazz but which really aren’t jazz. You can read Simonini’s thoughtful comments about all of these tracks here). I enjoyed this compilation quite a lot and am considering getting a few of these discs, or at least investigating them further. And that’s want you want from a compilation.
COLIN STETSON-“The Righteous Wrath if an Honorable Man”
Any compilation that opens with Colin Stetson is okay with me. This track was my introduction to the man last year and I still love it, in all of its insanity.
KARRIEM RIGGINS-“Double Trouble” is only 2 minutes long. It’s got flutes and vibraphones and is super cool and retro sounding. I really like it, although this track ends abruptly and I can’t decide if the actual song does or if it was cut short for the disc.
THUNDERCAT-“For Love I Came” has some echoey keyboards and some great bass lines and cool/cheesy keyboard lines (it all sounds so gloriously 70s). When the vocals come in, the whole track feels like Yes if Yes were inspired by jazz instead of classical (and had no drums—until about 2 minutes when the drums kick in and the song takes off and bass solo makes it very Yes-like).
THE BEN MONDER TRIO-“Red Shifts” is a classic style jazz guitar workout—the echoed effect is very jazzy. And yet there is something very angular about the playing that keeps it from sounding smooth. It’s a great track (which once again seems to get cut off very abruptly).
DAWN OF MIDI-“Ymir” is another trio—piano bass and drums. The piano is muted (the pianist puts his hand on the strings) which makes it sound like another percussive instrument while it is also creating the melody. It’s very cool. And I like the way over the 8 or so minutes the melody changes slightly, giving it a new sound almost accidentally.
GLOWS IN THE DARK-“Up and Down” starts as a fast but quiet guitar piece with some cool subtle horns over the top. It features a rap by Count Bass D which i do not care for (The “I’m pissed/L.L. Cool J” verse is really awkward). This is the first track on the disc that i really don’t like, which is a shame because the music is really cool.
STEVE RAEGELE-“Traingle (Daedalus)” is a weird, cool experimental sounding track. Sounds are overlaid on each other with a lot of echoing that gives it a very dense structure. Whether or not this is jazz is hard to say but it’s very intriguing.
MARY HALVORSON QUINTET-“Sea Cut Like Snow (No. 26)” Halvorson is a guitarist and this live track features some of the most traditional jazz on the compilation. The song has cool melodies and some nice improvsiing (on various instruments). It runs a little long though (I wish this had been truncated rather than the earlier ones) but it’s enjoyable.
FLYING LOTUS-“German Haircut” this is an electronically manipulated pastiche of songs with a sax solos placed over the top. It’s an interesting concoction.
CHRIS CORSANO-“Famously Short Arms” This is one of the most amazing drum videos I’ve ever seen–it is so creative and original. As an audio track it is basically a drum solo, but watching him and what he does on the drums is really mind expanding.
MATANA ROBERTS-“lulla/bye” I have this track as well (two tracks from Constellation here). It’s full of saxophones and longing in the singing. It’s hard to define but it’s very evocative.
MICROKINGDOM-“Peppermint Crab” This is a weird and wild piece. It opens with some manipulated and spacey vibes and electronics and then gets assaulted by a wild and screaming sax solo that would make John Zorn proud.
DIAMOND TERRIFIER-“Kill the Self That Wants to Kill Yourself” This song opens with some simple keyboard chords and some odd unsettling sounds thrown over them (waves of static and squeaking saxophone). Then comes some wild soloing.
This is a solid compilation of jazz-like music. It veers into more extreme forms of jazz and will certainly alienate some listeners, but it’s an introduction to what else is out there on the fringes.
[READ: August 8, 2013] Shakespeare’s Nigga
The artistic director of the Obsidian Theatre Company (which put on this play) explains in the intro that with a title like that, you’re going to get attention. In fact he initially said that they couldn’t use that title, because it was too much. But they changed their mind because it really was…right.
This story looks at the two most prominent black men in Shakespeare: Othello (the Moorish general who is ruled by violent emotion) and Aaron (a Moorish slave who is basically pure evil—in Titus Andronicus). As the artistic development coordinator of the Obsidian Theater says, Shakespeare is the authority on writing characters, thus these two men have become entwined in Black masculinity. Which is a shame because “Moor” could basically be anyone who did not live in Europe and because Shakespeare likely didn’t know any black people (except as slaves). It’s not really a good sample.
Playwright Joseph Jomo Pierre doesn’t seek to rectify this or upend this or decry Shakespeare. What he does is much more subtle and much more powerful.
There are five characters in the play: Othello, Aaron, Tyrus (an older black male), Shakespeare and Judith (Shakespeare’s daughter). Shakespeare and Othello are comrades (I won’t say friends, but it seems like Shakespeare relies on Othello for protection and advice). Meanwhile, Aaron has tried to escape from his slavery and is currently chained up and beaten (usually by Othello). (more…)
I Just Read About That... 