Archive for the ‘Audio’ Category

• Gigs: Berkeley 4/12, Oakland 4/17 + Bonus Audio

  Date: 2011.04.12 | Category: Audio, Gigs | Response: 1

  Hi folks, hope everyone’s swinging through spring and enjoying the weather while avoiding giant villainous clouds of pollen. I wanted to let you know about a couple of shows this week, plus give you a few musical snippets to hopefully whet your appetites.

  First up is a show Tuesday in Berkeley with some longtime musical pals–we’ll be playing a variety of tunes old & new to a steady accompaniment of espresso grinding and milk frothing:

  What: Noah Schenker Quartet
  Who: Noah Schenker, Adam Shulman, Jon Arkin, Ian Carey
  Where: Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley
  When: Tuesday, April 12, 7-10pm

  Next up, this Sunday will be the premiere of my new group, Takoyaki 3, as part of Jacob Zimmerman’s Actual Jazz Series right here in Oakland. For some reason, I described the group this way:

  Takoyaki 3 is a streamlined, street-food-style version of Ian Carey’s successful quintet, featuring longtime collaborators Adam Shulman on Hammond B3 organ and Bryan Bowman on drums. The recipe begins with a delicious batter of original composition and improvisation, adds meaty chunks of the jazz tradition, cooks til golden brown, then tops with a generous handful of experimentation and plenty of mayonnaise.

  We’ll be sharing the bill with the amazing vocaphonist Lorin Benedict who is the curator for the evening and was kind enough to invite us along:

  What: Actual Jazz Series featuring Lorin Benedict/Sam Ospovat Duo and Ian Carey’s Takoyaki 3
  Where: Actual Cafe, Oakland
  When: Sunday, April 17, 5-7pm (My group’s going on first.)

  Believe it or not, both shows have NO COVER! So please come out to either or both of them and support live music. It’s what our founding fathers would have wanted!

  Now as promised, here are a couple of little audio tidbits for your perusal–first, a tune of mine from Takoyaki 3’s rehearsal today. In the spirit of adventure, it’s not a complete take but gives you a taste of what the group is sounding like:

  • “Nemuri Kyoshiro” (Rehearsal take)

  And for the real die-hards, here’s an interesting Tristano-esque experiment I did recently–I took a playalong of “Cherokee” in a weird key, slowed it to half-time, recorded myself playing over it, then sped the recording back up to normal tempo. The result is strange and kind of interesting and might be a glance at what I could be sounding like some time in the future. Here you go:

  • “Cherokee in E” (slow/fast version)

• Audio: “The Blessing”

  Date: 2010.07.29 | Category: Audio | Response: 0

  Hi folks, just for the heck of it, here’s a live track from a pianoless trio gig I did last week with bassist Adam Gay and drummer Bryan Bowman at Kaleidoscope in SF. It’s the classic Ornette tune “The Blessing”–listening back, we basically stayed true to the form, while not really playing the changes per se (wouldn’t have been very harmolodic if we had). It’s also the first time I’ve played my cornet in years (it’s an old British Besson), which immediately put me into a different sound/idea zone, somehow.

  Enjoy (hopefully)!

  • “The Blessing” (Coleman) Adam Gay, bass; Bryan Bowman, drums; Ian Carey, cornet; recorded 7/21/10.

• KVLU Interview + 2 Gigs

  Date: 2010.07.21 | Category: Audio, Gigs | Response: 0

  Hi folks: 2 things–first, want to hear my dulcet tones talking about my CD and my career so far, plus my mumblings about jazz philanthropy and the State of the Gig? Here’s an interview I did last week with KVLU’s Jason Miller. It also features a live cut from our CD release show with guest vocalist Lorin Benedict. Check it out:

  • Ian Carey interview with Jason Miller, KVLU FM (7/17/10)

  Second, I have a couple of short-notice gigs to tell you about: tonight, I’ll be playing and hosting a jam session with drummer Bryan Bowman and bassist Adam Gay (while Ben Stolorow wows them in Japan) at Kaleidoscope in the Mission. Come on by and bring your music-making things!

  WHAT: The Kaleidoscope Session
  WHO: Adam Gay, Bryan Bowman, and Ian Carey
  WHERE: Kaleidoscope, 3109 24th Street (@ Folsom), SF
  WHEN: Weds., July 21, 7:30-11:00
  HOW MUCH: Free!

  I’m also excited to be playing with the 16-piece Contemporary Jazz Orchestra (the former Pearl’s Monday night band) this Sunday at the Benicia Fine Art & Jazz Festival. Come on out for a bonanza of big band bodaciousness!

  WHAT: The Contemporary Jazz Orchestra (led by Tod Dickow)
  WHERE: The Benicia Fine Art & Jazz Festival, First Street Green, Benicia
  WHEN: Sunday, July 25, 5:00pm
  HOW MUCH: $8 adults, kids free!

• Technique in Jazz: One Guy’s Take

  Date: 2010.07.08 | Category: Audio, Thoughts | Response: 7

  Somewhere in the middle of a notey solo on “Moment’s Notice” last night I started thinking about the role of virtuosity in jazz. (For those unfamiliar with the tune: that is not a good time to start thinking about abstract concepts, because it can lead to “Did I really mean that phrase there? How about that one? Crap, where am I?”–but we can’t always control what pops into our heads.) (UPDATE: Listen to this happen in real-time below.)

  Tunes like that often get me thinking along those lines, though, since their chock-full-of-chord-changes-ness tends to give one the sensation that he or she is being played by the tune rather than the other way around. (The solution, it turns out, is to learn the crap out of the tune until it feels as unconscious as a medium-tempo blues. Check back with me in another 20 years and I’ll let you know how that’s going.)

  Coincidentally, the jazzoblogowebosphere offered two interesting posts on the same subject this morning–one from Peter Hum and a somewhat related take at Nextbop, both worth reading–exploring the role of technical wizardry in the genre. I don’t claim to have any universal insight on the topic, but I have had an evolving thought process about it, which is tied in with my development as a player (as I suspect is the case for most players).

  The short version: when I started getting serious about playing in my teens, I was focused on the high/loud/fast side of things, mainly because it came easily to me in the early days. But by my college years I had started to reach the limits of that ease, and entered a long period of struggles with my instrument. I think this is true for many instrumentalists, and trumpeters especially. My chops became a harsh and fickle mistress which I could never count on from day to day. I fantasized about the sound my horn would make as it was slowly flattened beneath a steamroller into a large brass pancake more than I care to admit. I felt in those days that if I wasn’t able to play to a certain level, it wasn’t worth trying to make music at all.

  Here’s a clip of one guy who made me rethink this equation:
  Read the rest of this entry »

• Contextualizin’ on “Fresh Air” (sort of!)

  Date: 2010.07.06 | Category: Audio, Press | Response: 1

  Thanks to some quick listening by our bassist Fred Randolph (who was in a cab on his way to the airport) and some help in tracking down the details from Mitchell Feldman, I learned this weekend that the tune “Sockdolager” from our latest CD was used as “interlude music” on NPR’s Fresh Air on June 24.

  While it’s not quite the same as a review, it’s definitely cool to hear us while Terry Gross reads the credits, and I like the idea of the tune going out on the 450 or so stations which carry the show.

  You can listen to the entire story where the tune was heard at NPR’s website, or just the snippet of us rocking away behind Ms. Gross’ dulcet tones right here:

  • Ian Carey Quintet: “Sockdolager” on NPR’s Fresh Air

  UPDATE 7/26: And another track! “Shake & Joe,” one of the cheerier tunes on the record, was heard last week. Hopefully it helped counteract a depressing (but interesting of course) analysis of the new financial bill. (Thanks again for the quick hearing, Fred!)

• Links: Music at Minimum Wage, EJN Sampler, Hank Jones

  Date: 2010.05.17 | Category: Audio, Thoughts | Response: 0

  Still working on part 3 of the big jazz philanthropy/gig discussion, but in the meantime, here’s a cheery infographic about the kinds of numbers a 21st-century musician would have to move to earn minimum wage selling albums (either physically or digitally). Needless to say, it makes me think the whole shebang is better viewed as a way to “get your stuff out there,” than as a moneymaking endeavor, unless you manage to get a cut on a car commercial or something. (Fortunately, Taco Bell is hiring–be sure to tell them about your jazz theory expertise!)

  Speaking of digital distribution: the title track from Contextualizin’ is being featured on this week’s edition of the eJazzNews Sampler, along with some vintage Jaco and other great artists. Download it for FREE here.

  Also: in memory of the amazing Hank Jones (who passed away today after an incredibly long and productive career), WKCR, the world’s greatest jazz station, is playing a marathon of his music right now. Check it out immediately!

• Audio: 8LM on Baytaper + Bonus Live Quintet Tracks

  Date: 2008.06.13 | Category: Audio, Photos | Response: 0

  

  Joe Cohen, Me, and Noel Jewkes with 8LM. Photo from Baytaper.com.

  Hello, listeners, and a happy summertime to you all. I wanted to share two things with you: the first is that the great local music website Baytaper.com has posted photos and audio recordings from last months 8 Legged Monster show at Club Deluxe. The band featured local luminaries such as Noel Jewkes, Rob Barics, Vince Lateano, and others, and I really enjoyed playing with them. There’s also a guest appearance by local trumpet phenom Mike Olmos, who stopped by and sat in on a tune written especially for him by bandleader Mike Irwin Johnson. So swing by Baytaper and check it out (and be sure to browse their extensive library of recordings of other fine local musicians).

  Secondly, I promised to put up some recordings from my April Quintet show at Anna’s in Berkeley for those who weren’t able to attend. The band was smokin’ (if I may say so), and we played some interesting new (or new to us, anyway) material. So here are two tracks for your (absolutely free) enjoyment–if you like what you hear, please consider buying our CD (if you haven’t already).

  • Sink/Swim (I. Carey): The title track from our CD, in maybe the best live version we’ve done.
  • Sockdolager (I. Carey): A disjointed minor blues in 6/4 time, which I wrote in NYC years ago but updated for this group. Personnel on both tracks: myself on trumpet; Evan Francis, alto saxophone; Matt Clark, piano; Kurt Kotheimer, bass; Tim Bulkley, drums. Recorded live, 4/23/08.

• Thanks + Photos + Bonus Audio

  Date: 2007.10.13 | Category: Audio, Photos, Thoughts | Response: 0

  
  I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who came out to our shows last week at the Parc 55—I had a great time playing with Adam, Ron, and Noah, and with any luck I’ll be able to play there some more in the future. For those of you who weren’t able to make it, here’s our version of the standard “I Love You,” from Friday night.

  • I Love You (Cole Porter) With myself on trumpet; Adam Shulman, piano; and Ron Belcher, bass. Recorded live, 10/05/07.

  Also: last Saturday, I played with one of three pickup jazz groups (mine had Jeff Marrs, Eugene, and Evan Francis) that performed for the Fillmore Street “Indian Summer” Stroll, which culminated in a wild sidewalk jam session featuring 15 or so musicians wailing away amid the pedestrians. I told another musician it would be cool if random jam sessions just broke out all the time on sidewalks around the city–kind of like “Critical Mass.” (Which then led to the mental image of thousands of jazz musicians clogging the streets and stopping traffic to play 500 or so choruses on “Now’s the Time,” as well as the unfortunate nickname “Critical Jazz.”)

  For more photos of this and many of my other gigs, visit my Flickr site here.

  

• New Year’s Update + Bonus Audio

  Date: 2007.01.17 | Category: Audio, Updates | Response: 0

  It’s 2007, and I thought I’d give a little update about what’s going on musically for me and my co-conspirators in the new year, as well as provide a little downloadable jazz goodness for you, the listeners. First the update:

  • I’ve been rehearsing regularly with the Joe Henderson Memorial Big Band, led by the excellent trumpeter and Bay Area native Warren Gale, Jr. It’s been a great opportunity to play a book of superb arrangements and compositions by Henderson, Woody Shaw, McCoy Tyner, and other greats of the Blue Note era (as well as a chance to hear Warren tear it up on a weekly basis). Performances and a recording are planned for this year, so I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

  • I’ve been working on new music for the Quintet, and hope to premiere several new compositions at our next performance, which will be… soon, I hope.
  • I’ve also been attending some fine jam sessions, including the Beep Trio session at Uptown in Oakland (unfortunately no longer happening), and the Michael Parsons Trio session at Octavia Lounge.
  • Adam Shulman, the great pianist who has been a member of my Quintet for several years, recently recorded his second album as a leader, which will be released in the spring. It features saxophonist Dayna Stephens, bassist John Wiitala, and Jon Arkin (also an I.C. Quintet member), and I was pleased when Adam asked me to create the graphic design for the CD.
  • Fred Randolph, longtime bassist for the Quintet, also released a fine album, New Day, featuring many local luminaries and some beautiful original writing by Fred.
  • Rounding out the Quintet-member news, saxophonist Evan Francis released a CD last fall with his outstanding electro/jazz/hip-hop group Spaceheater, which cracked the Top 100 in the Electronic genre in iTunes.
  • Finally, I’ve been listening to a lot of great music, soaking up excellent releases from Jacob Varmus, Scott McLemore, Joe Lovano/Gunther Schuller, and Ron Horton, among others. I also really enjoyed the week-long Bach Festival from WKCR over the holidays—that radio station is a treasure, and I’m glad that, thanks to the internet, I didn’t have to give it up when I left New York.

  Well, that’s just a bit of what’s going on. I’ll keep you updated about upcoming gigs or other news as information becomes available. I’ll leave you with a bonus track from a performance of the Quintet from last March, just before we left the House of Shields’ nest for good:

  • Groovin’ High (Gillespie) Dizzy’s bop burner. With myself on trumpet; Jon Arkin, drums; Adam Shulman, piano; Fred Randolph, bass, and Evan Francis, saxophone. Recorded live, 3/14/06.

• Audio: KCSM Interview, 6/30/06

  Date: 2006.07.03 | Category: Audio, Press | Response: 0

  For those of you who were unable to catch my radio interview last Friday, you can hear it at the link below in its entirety (except for the album cuts, which are of course available on the album). (However, it does include my very impromptu solo rendition of “Body and Soul,” a.k.a. “The Man Who Didn’t Warm Up”).

  Chris Cortez did a great job steering the conversation in interesting directions and making me sound like a decent public speaker–we covered a lot of ground, talking about the history of the Quintet, my background and influences, and the trials and tribulations of playing the trumpet and finding places to perform jazz. (Bonus points for finding where I use the word “fabulous.”)

  Enjoy, and I hope to see you at the Octavia this Saturday night!

  • Ian Carey Interview (34:55, 40 MB); with Chris Cortez, KCSM 91.1 FM, June 30, 2006.