[Not a strictly jazz blog]
My high-school music teacher often said that popular music was 100 harmonic years behind avante-garde art music. To my reckoning, rock'n'roll has about 4 years. I'm watching 'The Nice Folk' and they are waiting to start; apparently an audience of a mother, boyfriend and aunt is not quite enough to allow the powerhouse of musicality that is modern rock to hit the stage.
Now, they're about to start. Before we're overwhelmed by power-chords, let me quickly explain the harmonicity argument.
As I hinted in my last blog, guitarists are consumed by a unique problem that makes it much easier for them to play in key than out of key, mainly because all guitar tuition is tuned toward learning to play quickly in-key. And no-one thinks to criticise this as limiting; all we get is guitarists playing sequential 3rd-less chords in poor imitation of harmonic progression. And in one of those beautiful meetings of popular culture & rigorous learning, teachers all are happy to let troublesome kids get away with playing the kind of music that makes the top 100 this year. And for the kids that are already having sex, they are allowed to copy music made 10-20 years ago.
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Devil's Spawn
Ends with the lead singer claiming "I stuffed that. Sorry.". Pretty good old-fashioned rock. The band is now having something of a burping contest. Somewhat less nice. By old-fashioned, I mean that very little other than the tonic, min 3rd and 4th degrees of the scale are used. By anyone. Still, he sings like he's angry. That does quite a bit.
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[Editor's Note: I'm not up to this]
They are playing the fourth song in the set now. There is nothing for me to say. It just makes no sense that a band that postures to be somewhat expressive can do nothing other than boys-only Mills & Boon. If you were passionate, spend some time thinking about how to make your music different. If you were poetic, find some rhymes. If you were looking for something to do when you've nothing else to do then advertise as much. Please.
Mark
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
John Mackey Quartet - February 13 2008, Hippo Club, Canberra.
Resolutely unable to secure a seat in any of the dank corners of the Hippo club, I'm next to the drummer, my laptop screen forwardlit by 'Cocorea Korean'. At least I'll have a good view of the charts and if early indications are anything to go by, the drummer will play the poorer for the distraction I'm clearly providing.
A quick note before we start: the drummer has noticed that I'm typing something that may be construed as a review and immediately bought me a drink. This will certainly colour my comments red.
'Shorter String'--------------
The trumpeter channels Hubbard and drinks Zywiec like a gentleman, the tenor player is stuck in the harmonicity peculiar to post-bop stragglers. It is excusable for guitarists to play within their chords whilst soloing but fingersists as unhindered as horn players can do better.
Regardless, a pleasant Sunflower-esque rendition with - surprising for our earlier interaction - solid and artistic propulsion from the drummer.
A Minor Blues ---------------
The provenance of this tune is not announced, but it is a straight-ahead minor blues, without even the tritone variation of the classic of the genre 'Mr. P.C.'.
The band performs reasonably adequately here. The guitarist is given the first solo and out-performs his earlier effort. But then, is it really difficult to solo in a tune that requires only two variations on a harmonic scale?
The rhythm section here is particularly good. The bass player is effective and interesting, and the pianist and drummer are especially attentive; hang-on, the bass player just played an AWESOME response to the drummer. Boo yah!
And the trumpeter here is playing especially well. Easily the most mature of the group, he makes a good play of space and drama.
Disappointingly, the head is quite average. I think this is an original.
The rest--------------------
[The best way to secure your seat whilst at the bar is to leave an open laptop at the table* {*Canberra only}]
Another modal blues rescued by enthusiastic drumming. Very, very good drumming, actually. Extremely nice weighting of cymbal and fills during an otherwise stale instrumental solo: Tain-like rumbling that doesn't alter the frequency balance of the group whilst really pushing the tune along. The bass player here is also working the pedal-points nicely in sync with the drums; 7ths and 11ths landing on 1. Guitar disappoints here.
[Well, it always comes to this]-----
Being a trumpeter/group I'd not seen before, I was of course won over by licks-dressed-as-lamb, and it is now that I'm hearing the same repeat-note/ascend-scale lamb over and over. And the alternative is so simple! Don't play so much. Think about what you're about to play. Play it well.
What the fuck?!?
Mark
P.S. Even more disappointingly--------
During a rousing minor blues that substitutes chord 4 for the min. 2nd, and gives 5 barely a hearing, the up-till-then-good trumpet solo comes acropper: the drummer picks his riff! Obviously over-rehearsed. And it casts the rest of the gig in that particularly yellow glow reserved for pre-heated honesty.
A quick note before we start: the drummer has noticed that I'm typing something that may be construed as a review and immediately bought me a drink. This will certainly colour my comments red.
'Shorter String'--------------
The trumpeter channels Hubbard and drinks Zywiec like a gentleman, the tenor player is stuck in the harmonicity peculiar to post-bop stragglers. It is excusable for guitarists to play within their chords whilst soloing but fingersists as unhindered as horn players can do better.
Regardless, a pleasant Sunflower-esque rendition with - surprising for our earlier interaction - solid and artistic propulsion from the drummer.
A Minor Blues ---------------
The provenance of this tune is not announced, but it is a straight-ahead minor blues, without even the tritone variation of the classic of the genre 'Mr. P.C.'.
The band performs reasonably adequately here. The guitarist is given the first solo and out-performs his earlier effort. But then, is it really difficult to solo in a tune that requires only two variations on a harmonic scale?
The rhythm section here is particularly good. The bass player is effective and interesting, and the pianist and drummer are especially attentive; hang-on, the bass player just played an AWESOME response to the drummer. Boo yah!
And the trumpeter here is playing especially well. Easily the most mature of the group, he makes a good play of space and drama.
Disappointingly, the head is quite average. I think this is an original.
The rest--------------------
[The best way to secure your seat whilst at the bar is to leave an open laptop at the table* {*Canberra only}]
Another modal blues rescued by enthusiastic drumming. Very, very good drumming, actually. Extremely nice weighting of cymbal and fills during an otherwise stale instrumental solo: Tain-like rumbling that doesn't alter the frequency balance of the group whilst really pushing the tune along. The bass player here is also working the pedal-points nicely in sync with the drums; 7ths and 11ths landing on 1. Guitar disappoints here.
[Well, it always comes to this]-----
Being a trumpeter/group I'd not seen before, I was of course won over by licks-dressed-as-lamb, and it is now that I'm hearing the same repeat-note/ascend-scale lamb over and over. And the alternative is so simple! Don't play so much. Think about what you're about to play. Play it well.
What the fuck?!?
Mark
P.S. Even more disappointingly--------
During a rousing minor blues that substitutes chord 4 for the min. 2nd, and gives 5 barely a hearing, the up-till-then-good trumpet solo comes acropper: the drummer picks his riff! Obviously over-rehearsed. And it casts the rest of the gig in that particularly yellow glow reserved for pre-heated honesty.
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