SATCHMO

Being that this has been a create-as-you-go project, I've definitely hit some periodic creative obstacles in regard to this thread. That and my usual exploratory jaunts into new and exciting styles and genres of music, but I really think its time to pick this up again.

SATCHMO

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges in regard to this thread, and the primary reason why I've been resting on its laurels for so long, has not been for a lack of decent albums to include in this thread, but because of the progressive nature of the entries from a rock rhetoric to a straight-forward jazz aesthetic. It's simple in the beginning. Jazz influences on contemporary music can be seen in nearly all genres, in fact jazz' influence is so ubiquitous that one could say the challenge is in discerning where and when it's obviously not the case of an ensemble leaning on a well worn cliche that has simply been assimilated into a common contemporary style. When we hit the doldrums of jazz fusion, where soul, hip hop, and of course, more fusion seem to be the only figurative land masses in sight, that's where the real confusion set's in. In retrospect I think I was leaning on a particular way of thinking that really sold short a lot of great current and contemporary music.

Perhaps I've thought about it more than most should, but I think Jazz fusion, as it regards the particular sub-genre that came about in the late 60's/early 70's, is really a misnomer, as it was more a reaction to rock's domination of charts and sales and the decline of the public's overall interest in jazz in general. What one hears when one listens to say Return to Forever's Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy is without a doubt a lot of talented and creative music, but also a huge exagerration of the rock dynamic as if to get a point across.Now to say that jazz fusion's birth was strictly reactionary and retaliatory would be absurd, but I do identify it as an influence and a very off-putting element of the genre in general.

Ironically while most jazz fans are very quick to embrace both fusion and every part of its history that led up to it, there is an unspoken consensus among jazz buffs that all good jazz stopped being produced prior to around the mid-70's with few exceptions. While it is true that it has been a very rocky road for the genre for the past 30 years or so, the advent of smooth jazz and the likes of Kenny G and David Sanborne did nothing to help matters, I think we have reached a point where the new school of jazz is ready revive what was once thought to be a dead art form.

I'm a big fan of the jazz piano trio. Strangely enough it's not the diversity of tone and timbre within the genre that interests me, but rather the opposite. It's the fact that most of the dynamics and tone of upright bass, drums, and piano overlap in such a way that the distinctions between the three, with the exception of perhaps the drums, are subtle and very textural. In the scope of the piano jazz trio one is used to the laid back wire brush percussion and cohesive rhythm section playing the supporting cat to a piano player gently, or not so gently, pushing out the harmony and melody. I think the fact that The Aveshei Cohen Trio so blatantly defy that standard convention is one of the reasons why I so like this album.

The Aveshai Cohen Definitely paid his dues before recording this album. As the bass player and founding member for Chic Corea's fusion sextet Origin he firmly established himself as one of the most innovative and unorthodox upright players in modern jazz. He's joined on Gently Disturbed by pianist Shai Maestro and drummer Mark Guiliana, and the chemistry that comes about from their three distinct styles is nothing short of captivating.

The piano, while not the driving force, is refreshing as it doesnt pigeon hole itself into the stereotypical laidback whimsical style of the typical rhetoric one associates with the instrument in jazz. It pushes forward and lilts on an idea, as if catching oneself in mid conversation to think about exactly what one just said and then, without missing a beat, pushes on. Cohen's bass playing, much the same way alternates between being cohesive and abrasive, hiding in the pockets here and there to increase the impact of when he makes his presence fully known. Guiliana's drums are dynamic without being overbearing and seamlessly alternate between lightly carrying the rhythm in a jazz fashion and being aggressive and precise when the song calls for it. At varying points thee songs dissipate to a song-writer piano man type feel with the piano only to expand and contract to explore new territories the musicians seem to create for themselves. Fans of Ben Folds and his piano style will definitely appreciate the scope of this record.

All in all, as has often been the case with my reviews, a song breakdown isn't necessary as this album is truly a journey, but I really think this album will have instant appeal to those who like the conceptual nature of jazz without partaking of it's somewhat dissonant nature which can, admittedly, be annoying at times. It captures all the positives of Jazz's exploratory nature, exploits it's dynamics, yet still keeps the overall melody and harmony in familiar enough territory.

Schizotypic

Finally!! Great to see this thread up again! Great review too, I'm definitely getting this album.

SATCHMO

Gotcha' covered

music_phantom13

Wow. I'm very glad that you posted again, because otherwise I may not have ever found this thread. I am completely obsessed with most music that fuses jazz with other sounds, but countless times I've asked for suggestions and gotten "Jazz fusion is great! Check out Bitches Brew, Weather Underground, and Herbie Han****!" Now Bitches Brew just honestly never "did it" for me. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely appreciate the music; I regard it as a classic, I just don't enjoy it too often. Herbie Han**** I enjoy, and Headhunters is amazing. Absolutely loved your review. I also thought I was possibly the only person in the world that considered Entroducing to be more jazzy than trip hop, as I usually hear it classified.

This is pretty much now my favorite thread on Music Banter, you're getting into the music that I ****ing love. So I am telling you you have to finish it. Sorry. I've already found some great stuff on here, I read through the entire thread and checked out Hepcat and Natty Dread so far, and intend to find Medeski, Martin & Wood next. I usually don't like ska, but wow. Hepcat got it right. I enjoyed the Natty Dread better than Bob Marley, to be honest with you. Don't hate me, I've just never been able to take large doses of reggae. Minutemen have long been a favorite of mine, and Low End Theory and to an even greater extent, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythym were the two albums that first introduced me to the hip hop I now love, and led to my discovery of Entroducing.

So pretty much, please continue this. I'll be reading. In fact, it is now the 3rd thread that I am actually following.

SATCHMO

Thank you. I will be, and I can help you out with any of the material.

SATCHMO

Yet Another Interlude...

The summer of 97’ was a year in which I found myself exploring a lot of new musical concepts in my own playing style as a guitarist. Being strongly influenced by the jazz style of legendary guitarist Wes Montgomery and his often used technique of employing the underside uf his thumb as a plectrum to push out beautiful single line jazz melodies, my imagination and creativity was thirsty to explore the possibilities of this mode of playing. In other areas I was being strongly influenced by a lot of 70’s soul and funk music, folks like Sly Stone, Van Morrison, and Parliament Funkadelic were beginning to make their influence known in my playing and songwriting style. Around the time that this was occurring there came a night that seemed to take all of the disparate elements of everything that was turning me on musically and manifest them all in one package.

I took a trip down to Ithaca to The Haunt, My favorite music venue at the time, no longer at it’s legendary hole-in-the-wall location, to see a band that a friend of mine had casually recommended to me. Moonboot Lover, what kind of name is that for a soul band, really?

Nonetheless, I was pretty well guaranteed by my friend who was meeting me at the club, that it would be time well spent. The band was a 3-piece out fit that consisted of Hammond organ, drums, and guitar. It was hard to tell what was more enthralling about the whole outfit, Guitarist singer Peter Prince and his utterly infectious and high energy playing and soulful Van Morrison-esque singing, or the two brothers, Al and Neal Evans, Situated on opposite sides of the stage facing each other, obviously to me communicating with each other on a level that was far deeper than just music, which was the most glorious, soulful music that, at that time, I’d ever heard. I noticed at varying points in the show that Prince would lose the pick and opt to let his thumb and fingers do the work. It wasn’t so much that he was sans pick, as that that he was man-handling his instrument in such a dominating, visceral way. I was mesmerized by the results. it was like nothing I’d ever heard before, as if some barrier between his own passionate soul and the instrument had been lifted and what I was witnessing was pure joyous energy.

During the set break I took some time to talk to him. He was very gracious; smoking him out probably contributed to that fact, but we spent the whole of he set break talking about his playing style, a little bit about Wes, and everything that I observed about the pureness of his expression. During the second set there came a climactic point In the song that they were playing where he was about to go for his solo where he turned, look directly at me, and when he had my attention, flung his pick at me and systematically proceeded to tear apart my reality piece by piece, ever so emphatically that 5 minutes and 5 broken strings later, the show was over and my mind was sufficiently blown.

Fast forward 2 years later, I was 28, in college, playing in 2 bands, booking shows around the general area, doing live sound engineering with one of Upstate NY’s biggest reinforcement companies and still, somehow I had time for 2-3 shows a week. I’d taken the weekend off to go to a 3 day music festival called The Flash of Light Festival. At that time, it was something that I would normally not have time for, as the live sound production company that I was affiliated with already had cornered the market on upstate NY’s the 3 day hippie fest scene, but this was one of those rare weekends where I had nothing booked, and It was especially fitting that the predominate theme of the festival was to represent the Jazz/soul/urban influences that were progressively making themselves known in the jam band scene.

I had thought that the highlight of that Friday night was going to be Charlie Hunter. I’d seen him before, but never with his Duo, and yeah it was hot, but as I was taking the time at my campsite to get sufficiently blazed and take in a few home brews after the show, a sound that was new and at the same time vaguely familiar. I rushed up to the main stage area and immediately proceeded to be overtaken by the music which was very organ heavy and seemed to have one foot planted in both the jazz and funk vain. I knew that I heard this sound before, but where? I made my way closer to the stage and that, gracing its presence were to familiar characters that I knew I would never forget anywhere; Al and Neal Evans. But this wasn’t Moon Boot. The man at the center of the stage was someone I had never seen before, and he played in a style that was equally as infectious as Peter prince’, but extraordinarily different. By the end of the show I’d found out that his name was Eric Krasno, and the name of the band was Soulive.

SATCHMO

#26

Soulive
Get Down!

I ended up spending the majority of the summer of 99’ following this band around. It also worked out in my favor that as soon as I latched onto them as my new-found obsession, they became a band that regularly began making appearances on the various stages that I was engineering monitors on, so consequently I got to know these 3 musicians pretty well.

Soulive is a band who are definitely a product of common influences and uncommon energy. Brothers Al and Neal Evans bring a cohesive platform to whatever they do. There is such simplicity in Al’s drumming that one hardly stops to think about it. it just works, between the two, it always has. Neil’s dual duty style of playing the bass line with his left hand while simultaneously playing harmony and melody with his right has to be seen live to truly be appreciated. The fact that the two are brothers is not lost in the mix. The musical foundation that they generate with just drums and organ provide a solid and cohesive platfom with which any solo performer, in this case Eric Krasno can utilize to get off with the greatest of ease.

But their sound, apart from being soulful, jazzy,funky, and infectious as all hell can be hard to pigeonhole. They are the masters of the off-kilter dominant jazz melody a la jazz guitarist Grant Green, who’s influence on Krasno is so transparently obvious that comparisons to him and the late legendary guitarist are something that he will never live down and will likely never be able to move away from. Much like Moon Boot Lover the band that 2 of the 3 members originated from, they are purveyors of energy.

This album, their debut, represents, to me Soulive in their prime. That, in a certain sense is unfortunate, because at the time when this was all going down I was riding the wave of what the future possibly held for these guys, and yes they did get signed to Blue Note for their follow up album with guest performers like Oteil Burbridge from Aquarium Recue Unit and The Allman Brothers, and John Scofield. Nothing was ever quite the same with any of the bands subsequent releases. They added on a sax player and at varying points, have had singers, but the truth is, lightning never struck the same place twice with these guys. So in this album what you have is purely the potential for greatness and the freshness of passion locked in a moment. It was amazing and this album still means the world to me.

This seven song EP is just under an hour long, and in it, you see many of the varying flavors of Soulive.So Live presents in greatest form, the bands propensity to stretch out in a relaxed way and let a lazy melody overtake the song. Both Krasno and Evan’s solos are a reflection of this. Uncle Junior is an upbeat funky number that has made it’s way onto two subsequent albums, once with the Fred Wesley horn section taking over the melody, but here it’s Krasno’s baby and he shines throughout.Rudy’s Way, very similar to So Live is slow and plodding but still intricate in it’s melody. Cash’s Dream starts out with a very urban feel that is only disrupted by the melody which goes against the grain of the theme here you see Krasno and Evans doing what they're known for: synchronized melodies, which is something that can be found throughout. Turn it Out is a blending of their slower and more upbeat songs and has a more dreamy feel to it. Brother Soul is very gospel-esque blues number which lets both Krasno and Evans go to town in a simpler, more refined 12 bar structure. The last song , and by far my favorite, Right On, is a live version of what was the song that for me encapsulated the essence of the bands live energy. I can’t hear this song and not dance. Krasno’s chicken pickin’ guitar and Neal mirroring every note of the melody, make this a beautiful high energy example of what put this band on the map, as well as the energy that they brought to every single show.

These guys were at one point a huge part of my life and I have mixed feeling for them now, as the trajectory of their career has gone in a direction that I think didn't represent their inherent greatness. This album though, is amazing, and a handful of their follow up releases are definitely not without their strong points, but with Soulive, this little time capsule will always be where it’s at for me.

dankrsta

This is weird. I found this thread a few days ago searching for...Ornette Coleman, I think. Anyway I ended up here, started reading and eventually subscribed so that I can find it later. And bam...new posts after a year . I really like the concept, this different approach to jazz. Great read!

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SATCHMO

Yeah, I guess it's an understatement to say that it's taken me a while to get off my ass and sally forth with this thread. I'm glad you're appreciating it.