Musical Ramblings

Saturday Night (Part II): Bob Brozman

I've been a fan of Bob Brozman's ever since I saw him on TV (yes, there used to be a blues show on French TV, sadly it didn't last...) in 1997. Since then, I saw him live once in 1998 solo in Roubaix and once in Paris with Djeli Moussa Diawara and Takashi Hirayasu in late 2000. Ever since, I've looked around for Brozman gigs near Paris but sadly they are few and far between.

As you know, I'm still preparing the next podcast, which will be about New Orleans and Katrina. A few weeks back I found Bob's latest record, Post-Industrial Blues, and I purchased it. There's a song on it about Katrina, so I wrote to Bob to see if I could use the song in the podcast. That was on Saturday afternoon, two weeks ago. While I was at it, I asked him if and when he was playing in France. About five seconds later, an answer comes, not only allowing me to use the track, but saying

I play tonight in Beauvais at Blues Zinc festival !!!

Beauvais is about an hour's drive from where I live, so fairly reasonable. I drove up there, and enjoyed Moriarty, as I've already described in Saturday Night (Part I): Moriarty. Then Bob quickly set up his numerous stringed instruments (no less than six, which must make traveling awkward to say the least!) and we were on to the second part of an evening of great music.

The set started with what is perhaps Bob's greatest "classic", his Down the Road which is part Trinidad and part plain-crazy. It's both a stunning moment for those who have never seen him play it, and an exhilarating moment for all. The early set continued with a few more Bob Brozman "classics" including Hawaiian Heat Waves and Debussy at La Réunion (which, I think, Bob dubbed Debussy en Vacances à Madagascar.) There seemed to be quite a few people from Reunion Island in the audience, so his frequent use of sega rhythmic patterns (even over "traditional" blues material) found appreciative ears. Not that you have to be from La Réunion to appreciate it, obviously, but I guess it had more effect on the "natives".

The great thing about Bob Brozman concerts is that even if you've seen him several times and even if he plays roughly the same material you've seen him play the previous times, the execution is such that it's simply impossible not to enjoy. Bob's reputation for musical eccentricity is clearly deserved and it's a large part of the enjoyment. He's like a live battery, seemingly never out of juice.

What I found interesting and refreshing about this concert, however, is the deeper tone to his material and commentary. I've always known (well, ever since Youtube, I guess) that Bob was this rare breed of American whose heart is further left than many Europeans'. It was never openly expressed in his music, however, and in a way that only left the mad eccentricity on his solo records, enjoyable as it was. I felt a change with Blues Reflex, which had the gripping Rattlesnake Blues and the very somber Death Come Creepin'. As I said when I reviewed it at the time, [Blues Reflex is] more focused and [...] more sober than most of his earlier stuff, and [...] if it’s an indication of the directions Bob Brozman is steering towards, it’s also a great omen of things to come.

As was made evident at this concert, Bob has now taken it one step further. He no longer shies away from being overtly political, and whether you agree with him or not (I tend to, although I think his admiration for European social models may be a little idealistic) there's a sincerity there which is evident and magnifies the music. When he played Look at New Orleans that night - the song I contacted him about using for the podcast - my throat was actually tight. It was moving and true.

From this point on in the concert, I felt that depth everywhere,even in material I'd heard him play previously, and even in material that is more light-hearted. But when Bob closed by playing Love in Vain, which is a chestnut of his and many others' repertoire, I was strongly moved again. His interpretation that night was truly deep, heartfelt, powerful.

A musician who can marry virtuosity, emotional depth, eccentricity and strong positions is a rare thing indeed. Bob Brozman has become that musician. If you have not yet seen him live, you owe it to yourself to make the effort to go whenever he comes near you. You will not regret it one second. I came out of that concert exhilerated and moved, a strange combination for sure, but with enough adrenaline to drive home safely.

Thanks, Bob, for such a great experience. Next time I will bring the kids, they just have to experience this.

If you want to see photos if the concert, they're here.

Moanin' and moanin'

Ah, the miracles of the iPod shuffle function...

The other day, I was walking down a London street listening to my iPod. I don't know how the shuffle function works (and sometimes I think it's a little strange, with the same artist recurring several times over the course of 10 tracks played) but on that day it produced a little miracle for me. It played Moanin', by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, followed a few tracks later by Moanin', by Charles Mingus.

Now you would be forgiven for thinkin that these are two versions of the same tune. After all, reinterpretation has always been a staple of jazz exploration. But youd be wrong. They are just two tunes from the same era, and both are masterpieces.

The Jazz Messengers have precedence of age. Moanin' was composed by Bobby Timmons (the Messenger's pianist) and recorded in 1958, it was released on the album Moanin' and became the Messengers' first ever hit. Unsurprisingly for a track written by a pianist, the backbone of the harmony of this tune is laid by the piano, as evident from the very beginning of the theme. The theme is very characteristic of the two elements that make this tune memorable. It starts with a soulful vibe, low key saxophone, but the phrase evolves into something harder, more driven, in the second part. As the theme fades, Lee Morgan's trumpet soars into a wonderful solo, with Blakey's drumming hard and steady, very much at the front. Tenor sax Benny Golson then picks up the last phrase from Morgan's chorus and builds on it. This is typical hard bop sax, not focused on fast, but rather on deep and hard. There are some fast passages, but they are there more to build the tension that gradually increases towards the end of the chorus and then suddently drops when Timmons produces his rather subdued, soulful solo. Bassist Jymie Merrit picks it up from there with minimal accompaniment by Blakey, and his deep solo segues back into the theme, subdued, then hard, and into a rousing finale.

Mingus' Moanin' is a whole 'nother kettle of fish, although it also swings hard, even harder than Blakey's. It's also a more intricate, composed affair, in the manner of Mingus. It was released on Blues & Roots, an album that Mingus designed as a challenge to the jazz critics who dismissed him as being unable to swing. It opens with a strange, wonderful and deep barytone sax hook played by Pepper Adams, and gradually a somber trombone backline adds a layer of harmony (and sometimes disharmony) as the rhythm section swings harder and harder. The saxes add a second voice to the barytone theme, then suddenly, the harmony shifts and for a short moment you think it's going to get mellower, but no, the swing builds up again until Pepper's catchy barytone brings the theme back to its completion. There follows a fairly classic alto sax solo followed by a more out there tenor sax solo that ends sans backing for a good while. At the end of that solo section, the rhythm section goes mad with double time until the chord sequence resumes, the solo ends and Pepper Adams' hook comes back again to reenter the theme. The buildup this time is even harder than the first time, and the ending is simply wild.

I like these little miracles of life. Moanin' and Moanin', two monuments of jazz, same title, in sequence, all by the randomness of the shuffle function...

Slide guitar at its best...

While I'm writing up on last week's concert with Bob Brozman, here's a video of another slide player I admire greatly, Kevin Brown. I'll let the video speak for itself...

Still in a New Orleans mood...

I'm still preparing the next podcast (it's going to be long and needs to be documented, so...) and I stumbled upon this little gem of N'awlins Funk ! The Meters' Lokk-Ka Py Py...

Brüno reinterprets jazz, soul and funk...

I just spent half an hour skimming through the blog of comic book writer Brüno, and discovered that he had a passion for roughly the same musical era I have. There's a section on the blog called zik where he draws covers for famous CDs in these genres. I can't resist reproducing one of them and strongly encourage you to check it out, this is pure talent !

Saturday Night (Part I): Moriarty

For reasons I will explain later - see Saturday Night ( Part II)  - I found myself in Beauvais on saturday night at a venue called L'Ouvre-Boîte for a double-bill concert closing the Blues autour du Zinc festival. The opener that night was a band I'd never heard of called Moriarty. While the name surprised me a little, I nonetheless expected a local blues cover band as is usually the case in small festivals.

As the lights went down, the musicians entered. Double-Bass, drums, harmonica, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and vocals (female). Sounds familiar? Well, it turns out you can do something very different from blues with that instrumentation. I don't know how these guys ended up programmed at a blues festival, but I don't mind one bit, quite the contrary. That night I discovered a superb band with a real personality and a world of their own.

Describing the soundscape of Moriarty is not easy. There's a large chunk of folk/americana, but it's infused with a dark romantic streak that's clearly a product of the rock era. At times, I was reminded strongly of 16 Horsepower, without the heavy edge. The sparseness of the instrumentation brought to mind an acoutic brand of Treat Her Right (their MySpace page says they have Bostonian roots, so who knows ?). The occasional, mild crazyness reminded me of Weill and Brecht. I don't know if any of these are conscious influences, but if you these references speak to you, you're likely to fall into Moriarty's world head first.

Clearly, nothing about this band is about instrumental prowess. And yet, they are all excellent musicians, capable of supporting their magnificent singer(s) in subtle yet very effective ways. I have been subjected to so much upfront harmonica in the last ten years that I'm always pleasantly surprised by bands that use harmonica for it's percussive or atmospheric sound rather than the in-your-face thing. And it made the one or two solo outings of the harp player all the more efficient (as on Motel). Similarly, the guitarists laid intricate, mostly picked, lines underneath the singing, with few discreet but exploratory solos on electric guitar or dobro.

The singer, Rosemary, has a very distinctive voice, powerful and high, very old fashioned, and it works perfectly with the dusty look of their stage props and the romantic, often melancholy lyrics. Listen to Private Lily below to see what I mean. Her delivery and stage presence were really great too. Moriarty know that they have a slightly wacky musical world, but they're amazing at drawing you in...

Another thing that impressed (and delighted) me was their mastery of the overall sound. Arrangements are not always as simple as they seem at first, and there's a lot happening in the background, but it's all well under control. Not unlike 16 Horsepower, they like to use odd instruments occasionally, such as a harmonium or a toy metallophone.

In fact, they did one thing which I have never seen live and wich I thought was superb: at one point in the concert they put a non-directional mic on a stand at the front of the stage, and the whole band huddled around it and played a few tunes "acoustically". The feeling was amazing, and it conveyed a proximity that was very beauitiful to experience.

I don't know if the audience came specifically for Moriarty, since they seem to be getting some traction in France right now, but regardless, the audience enjoyed the concert greatly and a ot of them seemed to know Moriarty's current single Jimmy, or at least learn the lyrics real fast. I for one enjoyed myself thoroughly, even more than usual as I was stumbling on a band I'd never heard and really dig...

So much was I impressed with them that I went to the local record store at lunch today and got hold of their recently released first CD Gee Whiz but this is a Lonesome Town. I'm listening to it as we speak and while the feeling is by necessity different and not as intense as the live thing, the music is just as wonderful.

There are quite a few videos of Moriarty on Youtube, if you want to get a feel for their sound. Here's Private Lily that sounds much like what I saw on Saturday night.

If you want to see my photos (inadequate as they are) of the show and the follow-up, they are available here.

Whole Batch of Harmonica CDs for sale...

The time of Spring Cleaning has come and I find myself forced by the powers of my family's ultimate ruler to shed out some CDs. I've put a whole batch of them for sale on Ebay for 3 EUR. Some of them end tonight, some end next week. Here's a direct link to see them all. If you purchase some, let me know you read Musical Ramblings, I'll make sure I include some extra goodies for you.

Olivier Ker Ourio - Oversea

I've always loved Olivier Ker Ourio's harmonica playing, and I consider him to be one of the most interesting jazz guys around, all instruments considered. What I particularly love about him is that he has strong roots in the Indian Ocean Isles (Reunion, to be precise) and has not shyed away from making that felt in his records. In the past, however, his projects have tended to be either strongly northern hemisphere (european jazz) or strongly southern hemisphere (world). My preference until now went to the more world projects, Oté l'Ancêtre and Sominnkér.

Oversea is his most accomplished record yet, and it's a marvelous blend of these two hemispheres. It's clearly a jazz project with strong island undercurrents. It's also a jazz album that manages to stay focused, with mostly short and sweet improvisation rather than the longer meanderings which, in my opinion, made Olivier's previous album with Ralph Towner (Siroko) not quite as succesful.

On Oversea, Olivier combines focus, fun and roots, he's clearly enjoying himself, and the music that is produced comes straight from the heart. In other words, this is a winner, and while I may still have a little trouble relinquishing Sominnkér as my favourite Ker Ourio record, I have to admit that this one is damn near perfect.

Another sign of the musical maturity Olivier has reached is that the album is filled with hugely talented guests to whom Olivier is not worried of handing over the spotlight. In fact, he has chosen them well, because they are all polite and talented enough not to show off, and they blend marvelously in his musical universe.

First and foremost is long-time collaborator Sylvain Luc who adds his particular brand of minimalist guitar playing to a little over half the album. He also contributes some strange percussive tracks played on crumpled newspaper or soda cans, to great (if discreet) effect. Olivier also invites Danyel Waro over for two vocal tracks in Creole, the romantic Mangé pou le coeur and the oddly poetic Le roi dans le bois. Waro's voice is as fine as ever and the traditional maloya rhythms and percussion blend in with the jazz arrangements at least as naturally as they did on Sominnkér.

The more jazzy guests include bassist Diego Imbert, drum giant André Ceccarelli, violin master Didier Lockwood (for a magnificant Santa Cruz, the sweetest unison-then-harmony theme you have ever heard) and renowned pianist Jean-Michel Pilc for Dimitile, a slow waltz that echoes of Satie. Oddball singer André Minvielle also collaborates his particular brand of non-verbalised vocals to 7 en Septembre.

Despite these numerous guests though, this is clearly Olivier's own world, from start to sweet finish. A good section of the pieces are self-penned, and even those that aren't are intrisically his. As a case in point is his cover of Stevie Wonder's Alfie. Covering wonder is no picnic at the best of times, but playing one of his harmonica masterpieces is even more daunting, so particular is his playing. And yet Olivier pulls it off with apparent ease, not echoing Stevie, but bringing his own rich and deep tone as well as his particular sense of harmony. Making it, in other words, his own.

As you've probably figured out by now, I love this record.

I am under the Oversea spell.

Mildly iPod annoyed...

I love my new iPod. It's crammed full of goodness, especially now that iPod Fully Loaded has taught me how to get videos on there. There's one thing that annoys me though.

I still buy CDs. And why shouldn't I. CDs are cool, and while I see the practicality of digital downloads, I still enjoy sorting through piles of records and impulsively buying one or more.

With my iPod though I've lost a crucial component, and that's the instant gratification of the CD purchase. I can't go out of the shop and feverishly rip the protective film, push it in the player shakingly and enjoy my latest purchase. It's a little bit frustrating, but I can live with it...

What's more annoying is that content protection and Apple's compulsive closeness makes it impossible for me to load music onto it from any computer, and since my music collection is hosted on my home computer and I'm abroad, I'm now sitting with four CDs I purchased yesterday and won't be able to listen to on the train home tonight.

I understand there's a good piece of software for Apple Mac that allows you to circumvent that (Senuti, I think it's called) but no equivalent for PC as far as I know. I wish Apple would apply the care they devote to user-experience beyond the device itself in a slightly less proprietary way...

Oh, and the four CDs?

• Warpaint by the Black Crowes
• Post-Industrial Blues by Bob Brozman
• Pointless Nostalgic by Jamie Cullum
• Bokoor Beats, a compilation of Ghana Afrobeat from the 70s (with tons of harmonica!)

I'll let you know what they're worth when I've been able to give them a good listen...

This is what Galactic was like...

This morning I scanned Youtube for Galactic videos similar to what I saw on Friday night. Here's one with Boots Riley which is exactly it and give a good feel for how cool that gig was...