Archive for the ‘Audio’ Category

• June Update: Announcements and Audio

  Date: 2006.06.16 | Category: Audio, Gigs, Updates | Response: 0

  Hi listeners–I hope everyone is enjoying his or her summers. In lieu of lemonade and hot dogs, I have one gig announcement, one travelogue, and one absolutely-free mp3 download for you.

  First, I’d like to announce a performance next month which I’m really excited about: on Saturday, July 8, from 8 to midnight, the Quintet will be playing at the Octavia Lounge on Market Street. This will be our first public performance since April, and will feature some new original music as well as selections from our CD (and most likely a few standards and classics). The regular line-up (myself on trumpet, Evan Francis on alto & flute, Adam Shulman on piano–last chance to hear Adam before he heads to France for the rest of the summer!–Fred Randolph on bass, and Jon Arkin on drums) will be there. There’s a $10 cover, but it’s a small price to pay to hear the band in a beautiful club (with a beautiful piano). So save the date, since I know Saturdays in the summertime book up fast.

  Second, Linda and I just got back from a whirlwind tour of Kansas City, where we were able to make it to several jazz-related events. See below for the full story.

  Finally, as a bonus for remembering who we are after these past few gig-free months, here’s a complete tune from our final House of Shields gig in April. Enjoy!

  • Con Alma (Gillespie) Dizzy’s classic Cubano chorale. You might subtitle this rendition “Requiem for a Steady Gig.” I especially like interplay between Evan and I toward the end of the tune.

• Announcements: All About Jazz Featured Download

  Date: 2006.04.16 | Category: Audio, Press | Response: 3

  All About Jazz, which is an excellent home for jazz reviews, profiles, and articles on the web, has selected “Thirteen,” the first track from our album, Sink/Swim, as its Featured Download for today. Click here to listen or download the complete song. (The song will be archived and available permanently at that location.)

  Also, for those of you in the Bay Area, I’ll be performing tomorrow, Monday the 17th, with the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra at Jazz at Pearl’s. The CJO is led by Alex Budman, who sat in with my quintet recently, and on any given Monday, the Orchestra features some of the area’s best improvisers, not to mention phenomenal sight-readers. Stop by and soak up some rollicking big band sounds.

  Starting in a few weeks, I’ll be posting some more highlights from our several-year run at the House of Shields–there may even be a “Best of” live CD-R available if anyone’s interested.

  Note: You can keep up to date with all the latest info from this site by subscribing to our RSS feed (through a feed-reader such as Bloglines), which will automatically update any time there’s new content.

  Thanks for listening!

• Audio & Photos: Tuesday’s Performance

  Date: 2006.03.15 | Category: Audio, Gigs, Photos | Response: 0

  Tuesday’s gig went well, and I was happy to see some familiar faces and return visitors. The group has really developed over the past year or so, and it feels good to know it hasn’t been in a vacuum.

  Alex Budman (who heads up the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra) also sat in for a few tunes, including the Evan Francis-suggested Have You Met Miss Green Dolphin Jones?, which actually worked out better than you would’ve thought.

  

  The photo is by James “in2jazz”, an avid jazz photographer and writer, who stopped by and took some pictures. You can see them all here. An added benefit of this is that I can clearly see that my posture is atrocious. (Especially when you compare it to James’s photos of Nicholas Payton, who looks like you could hit him with a wrecking ball while he’s playing and it would bounce off.)

  In keeping with our policy of offering something for those who couldn’t make it this week, here’s a long excerpt (the entire song lasted 18 (!) minutes, but I whittled it down to 13 and change) from a familiar tune by Herbie Hancock.

  • D*lphin D*nce (Hancock) Soloists: Evan, tenor saxophone; Adam, piano; and Ian, trumpet; with Fred, bass, and Jon, drums.

  Enjoy! (Bonus points for finding the spot where a bar patron shouts, “You picked the wrong scene, man!” Never a dull moment at the House of Shields.)

• Announcements: Quintet, 3/14/06 (+ Bonus Audio)

  Date: 2006.03.09 | Category: Audio, Gigs | Response: 0

  The “original” quintet is back for another hit at the House of Shields. Stop by and soak up some culture, without even having to make a generous pledge or end up on a government watch list!

  And as a bonus for those who might’ve missed it the first time around, here’s a sample from last Tuesday, followed by a fascinating interaction with a “fan” who really wants to hear When the Saints Go Marching In, and seems to think that insulting the band is the best way to make it happen.

  You just don’t get this level of service from ordinary bands!

  • Cherokee (Noble) The old warhorse burner was the last tune of the evening, so it’s fast and loose.
  • Can you play ‘When the Saints’?, featuring the vocal talents of Ian Carey, Evan Francis, a fan who proves that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and the background chorus of the patrons of the House of Shields.

  —

  WHAT: The Ian Carey Quintet

  WHO: Ian Carey, trumpet; Evan Francis, saxophone; Jon Arkin, drums; Adam Shulman, piano; Fred Randolph, bass.

  WHEN: Tuesday, March 14, 5:30-8:30 pm

  WHERE: The House of Shields, 39 New Montgomery, S.F.

  HOW MUCH: Zip.

  P.S. Jazz appreciators: Doug Ramsey linked to some great Charlie Parker clips over at Rifftides today. Check ‘em out.

• Audio: Highlights from Tuesday at the House of Shields

  Date: 2006.02.16 | Category: Audio, Gigs | Response: 0

  Last Tuesday’s gig was really satisfying, so I thought I’d share some of it for those who weren’t able to make it. Although we were short two of our regular members (pianist Adam Shulman and bassist Fred Randolph), Seth Ford-Young filled in ably on the bass, and Evan and I have been playing together long enough that the lack of a chordal instrument, rather than leaving an empty sound, actually opened up possibilities for loose, exciting interplay. Also, the fare was mostly standards, which was refreshing in itself–we usually play originals and arrangements, which are interesting and challenging, but it’s great to be able to really open up on some old stand-bys.

  Here are a couple of examples:

  • …What Love Is (DePaul/Raye) Featuring: Ian, trumpet; Evan Francis, alto saxophone; Seth Ford-Young, bass; Jon Arkin, drums.

  • All the Things… (Jerome Kern) Same personnel.

  There’s a little distortion in the sound, which I apologize for–this was the first time using my new MP3 recorder, and I neglected to check the levels until after we’d already finished. (Although this isn’t exactly CD quality, I’m mainly proud of the musical work, which I think comes through. For CD quality sound, click the album cover to your left.) Enjoy!

• Audio: Sink/Swim (Rough Mix)

  Date: 2005.09.07 | Category: Audio | Response: 0

  Well, the Quintet finally got into the studio, and I think the session went really well. We were able to record nine tunes, which I think would’ve been impossible if we hadn’t been playing together for over a year. Here’s just a (rough-mixed) sample–I’ll most likely be making the entire CD available online once it’s been mixed and mastered.

  • Sink/Swim [excerpt] (Ian Carey) Soloist: Ian, flugelhorn. With Adam Shulman, piano, Evan Francis, alto saxophone, Jon Arkin, drums, and Fred Randolph, bass. Recorded by Dan Feiszli.

• Audio: Au Privave [Live], 7/26/05

  Date: 2005.08.26 | Category: Audio | Response: 0

  I’m still working out the kinks of posting music clips, but eventually I’ll be offering more gig highlights as an ongoing feature.

  For starters, here’s an excerpt (apologies to Arun and Adam, whose excellent solos were pruned) of me and Joe Cohen doing some trading, from a Quintet (+1) performance of a month ago at the House of Shields:

  • Au Privave (Charlie Parker) Soloists: Ian, trumpet, and Joe Cohen, tenor saxophone. With Arun Luthra, alto, Adam Shulman, piano, Kurt Kotheimer, bass, and Jon Arkin, drums.

  Enjoy!