Almost Back

Quick life announcement: I am heading back to school next year to pursue an MBA, so for the past month or so I've been swamped in B-school applications. I'm almost through, though, and will be back to blogging when the applications are done. In the meantime, check out this version of Nick Drake's Three Hours recorded by the Jason Parker Quartet on their recent tour. Jason recently reposted it to his blog, and it is a wonderful rendition, featuring a beautiful bass solo by Evan Flory-Barnes and some great trumpet work from Jason (dig the half-valve effect starting at 3:54, when Jason's horn starts to sound like an overdriven guitar amp).

Jason is currently working on a rearrangement of Drake's debut album, Five Leaves Left, for his band, and he is hoping to finance the project using a Kickstarter campaign. You can read more about the project at Jason's blog, or you can pledge your financial support for the project here. Jason is not afraid to try any method of financing his various musical projects, and he has seen some great successes with his fan-supported efforts. Help him keep up the good work and support his collaborators as well. You'll get to enjoy the music and the smug feeling of superiority when you tell all your friends about the independent artists who benefit from your largess. It's a win-win!

Must Reads

Did you hear? The jazz wars are back on. Well, sort of. This week saw two takes on the ongoing debate over what is and isn't jazz from Peter Hum and Nextbop's Anthony Dean-Harris. You should read them, for I don't want to spoil their arguments by excerpting them here.

I suppose I should weigh in, and I may work out my thoughts for a long-form piece later this month. In the meantime, suffice it to say that I'm with Esperanza, with the added rejoinder I posted on Jason Parker's blog a few months ago on the declining utility of jazz as a brandname. More on that later, though.

April links

I'm not in Paris, but Charlottesville is pretty nice in April, too. Time for some links to wash away the Monday.

• Ethan Iverson on Mal Waldron. I may say this too often, but it bears repeating: if more musicians shared Iverson's zeal for writing, the world (and internet) would be a better place.
• Is Dr. Teeth a jazz muppet? An excellent post with equally incisive comments (mine excluded). 
• Pat Metheny discusses Orchestrion with Philip Booth. I will be reviewing the album and revisiting this Metheny post soon.
• Bop and Beyond is reconsidering the music of Lee Morgan. I was a bit surprised that Christopher did not care for The Sidewinder, but share his enthusiasm for Search for the New Land. Here's Part 2.
• Josh Jackson interviewed Randy Weston last week.
• Jason Parker issued a thoughful piece of media criticism over the weekend.

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Via two tweets from Nate Chinen, Christian Scott had this to say about the latest "Jazz is Dying" meme:  

If anybody says that jazz is dead, you should kick 'em in the teeth, for me. And when they're passed out and they wake up swallowing their teeth, leave a note saying that it was from me.

Strong words, which I think readers of this blog will appreciate. With that in mind, allow me to implore you to help secure the future of the music: Buy stuff! Purchase an album on Amazon, go to a live jazz show in your hometown,or do some web 2.0 commerce. Jason Parker is running a pledge drive of sorts to help fund his quartet's West Coast tour, and he's offering some choice donation gifts. You can also donate to support The Jazz Session, a Hot House favorite. Here in America, we depend on the private sector to keep jazz thriving, so do your part to support the music you and I both cherish.

Image via Smithsonian

Links From Out In The Cold

• George Wein is still going strong. I hope I'll have that much vigor when I'm 65, much less 85!
  
• Jason Parker reflects on the Grammy Awards and the state of the music industry. He likes where he stands.
• In case you missed it, read Peter Hum's thoughts on competing aesthetics of beauty in jazz, his thought-provoking response to David Hadju's profile of Fred Hersch.
• Dave King of The Bad Plus just released a solo album (you can preview a track at Nextbop), and bandmate Ethan Iverson offers his thoughts on the album.
• Mark Myers continues to kill it over at JazzWax. Check out his recent interviews with Dave Brubeck, Gunther Schuller, and Buddy De Franco.
• If you're interested in the academic side of jazz, do yourself a favor and head on over to Lubricity, where Alex Rodriguez, an M.A. student and trombonist at Rutgers, is blogging with renewed vigor, focusing on "the history of how jazz has been represented in writing." Recently, he reviewed Bruce Boyd Raeburn's New Orleans Style and the Writing of American Jazz History. I recommend this blog highly.
• Christian Scott's Yesterday You Said Tomorrow is becoming one of the most anticipated jazz albums of 2010. Over at Nextbop, Seb has the first review. He also has some nice words for yours truly. Here's Christian playing Died In Love at the 2008 Newport Jazz Festival:
  

Wein photo via New York Times

Review: No More, No Less

Jason Parker Quartet
No More, No Less

Before I review, a disclosure. Jason Parker is a Twitter friend of mine. But then again, if I didn't like this album, I probably wouldn't bother reviewing it, so at least you'll know I'm sincere.

Parker, a seasoned veteran of the Seattle jazz scene, released his second album late last year. Like his self-titled debut, the new album features his regular quartet, which includes Josh Rawlings on piano, Evan Flory-Barnes on bass and D'Vonne Lewis on drums. Alongside Bashert, a Parker original, Parker & Co. tackle a number of standards, including the Sam Rivers classic Beatrice, as well as Nick Drake's Three Hours.

It's one thing to make some bold song choices, but following through with rewarding interpretations of those tunes can be a beast of a task, one at which Parker and his sidemen excel. On Love For Sale, the group sets up a bouncy groove before launching into the melody, giving fresh perspective to a familiar tune. Parker's amalgamation of Summertime and Footprints does the same, with Flory-Barnes and Lewis creating an elastic backdrop for Rawlings, Parker, and guest saxophonist Cynthia Mullis.

Overall, the album has the feel of a mid-60s Blue Note session: swinging and spontaneous while remaining tightly orchestrated. You can name your price for a download of the album at Jason's website. You may be tempted to grab it for free, but after listening to it, you will probably guiltily go back and give him some cash. It's ok, I'm pretty sure he'll be fine with that. Want more Jason Parker? Check out his blog, where you'll find thoughts on promoting his album, being inspired by Dizzy Gillespie, and government funding for jazz, among other subjects.


Track Listing: Bashert; Mance's Dance; Idle Moments; Three Hours; Love For Sale; Beatrice Summertime/Footprints
Personnel: Jason Parker, trumpet; Josh Rawlings, piano; Evan Flory-Barnes, bass; D'Vonne Lewis, drum; Cynthia Mullis, tenor saxophone (2,3,7)

November Links

• Via One Working Musician, Nas mashed up with the Jason Parker Quintet. Be sure to also check out Jason's 100 CDs Project. I'll be reviewing his new album in this space soon.
• Also to be reviewed soon, Robin Kelley's exhaustive new Thelonious Monk biography. I would review it sooner, but I'm taking my time with the book and enjoying it. In the meantime, Kelley was a guest on NPR's On Point last month.
• WTF: Louis Armstrong Sings Pharoah Sanders, via D:O. Also at D:O this week, a special guest post from Ethan Iverson of The Bad Plus, on Paul Bley.
• Someone discovers jazz from an unlikely source. Whatever it takes, right?
• On The Jazz Session, Jason Crane asks Sonny Rollins if jazz is still relevant. Sonny answers the question better than I could ever hope to.
• Chris Albertson recounts a lunch interview with Miles Davis in 1971.
• More 1971 Miles: