New Years’ Update: Year-End Lists, So Long Coda

Date: 2011.01.12 | Category: Press, Thoughts, Updates | Response: 1

Hi folks, I’ve been MIA lately but it seemed like a good time to catch you up on music-related news–good, bad, and who knows.

First the bad–you’ll notice the Quintet’s show scheduled for mid-January has been canceled, due to the unfortunate fact of the venue, Coda, following too many clubs to mention into nonexistence. This hits me, and the scene in general, particularly hard, as Coda was the perfect venue for jazz and related musics–the place looked great, treated the musicians well, paid decently, and took an interest in promotion, so of course it couldn’t last in the Bay Area. I was asked recently in an interview to name my favorite venue, and I said, “I used to like Pearl’s, until it closed. Then I liked Octavia Lounge, and it closed. And Anna’s Jazz Island, closed. My favorite venue is any venue that’s open.” So we can tack another on to that sad list.  (Note the title of the Times article: “Death of Jazz Club Underscores a Changing Scene”–I wish that this represented changing. Seems like the same old same old to me.) Oh well–the hunt for places to play continues.

On a more positive note, my album Contextualizin’ has been featured on several “Best of 2010″ lists recently–the first from The Jazz Page (“Another solid band out of the Chicago area”–close enough, maybe this’ll get us a gig there?–”Ian and the Quintet have a nice sound that can appeal to music lovers across the jazz spectrum and beyond”), and the second from Arnaldo DeSouteiro’s Jazz Station (I also made the trumpet and flugelhorn lists, with some very heavy company, and Adam Shulman was recognized in the electric piano category). Both give me the warm fuzzies, especially since the record was released so early in the year and has been off the jazz blogosphere’s radar for a while. (This would be a good time to put in a word of thanks to Terri Hinte, whose tireless work getting the CD to the right ears has been a huge part of its success.)

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The “New to Me” Top 10 for 2010

Date: 2010.12.01 | Category: Press, Thoughts | Response: 8

It’s that time of year when people start cranking out Top 10 lists like fruitcake, so I thought I’d toss my cake in the ring and do one myself.

But since I usually come across new albums via used record stores and word of mouth, I decided my list would be not necessarily the best albums which came out in ‘10, but the best albums that showed up on my radar for the first time this year (hence “New to Me”). Some of them are actually new! (But most aren’t.) Hopefully some of them will be new to you, too.

So now, in no particular order, here are ten albums which made my year:

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Ian Carey Quintet at Coda, Weds., 10/13

Date: 2010.10.01 | Category: Gigs | Response: 1

Hi listeners—

I wanted to give you a heads-up about a show coming up in a few weeks which I’m excited about—the IC Quintet is returning to Coda (the site of our CD release party and one of our favorite new venues), right in San Francisco’s Inner Mission/Duboce neighborhood. (The food and wine are excellent, the Hammond B3 is the real deal, the music is happening, and the stage banter is… well, it is what it is. I’m working on it!)

We’ll be playing music from our new CD, Contextualizin’ (“a digital masters’ seminar” —All About Jazz), and 2006’s Sink/Swim (“Catchy and original” —Lewis Porter), plus several new original compositions and arrangements of tunes by American heavyweights like Charles Ives, Wayne Shorter, and Neil Young. (That’d be an interesting trio of dinner guests.)

So come on by if you can, and please share this with people who like jazz (or could just stand to get out of the house and away from “Jersey Shore” for a few precious hours). Here are the details:

WHAT: The Ian Carey Quintet
WHO: Ian Carey, trumpet & flugelhorn; Evan Francis, alto saxophone & flute; Adam Shulman, piano and Hammond B3; Fred Randolph, bass; and Jon Arkin, drums
WHEN: Wednesday, October 13, 7-11pm
WHERE: Coda Live Music Supper Club, 1710 Mission St., San Francisco; tel: (415) 551-2632
HOW MUCH: Just $7

Thanks!

Ian Carey Quintet @ The Jazzschool, Sat. Sept 4

Date: 2010.08.30 | Category: Gigs | Response: 0

Hi listeners–I’m really happy to announce a show for the Quintet coming up this Saturday at one of my favorite local venues, The Jazzschool, where Susan Muscarella and a small army of players and instructors have been teaching and presenting great music in the East Bay for over a decade. The performance space is a nice room in downtown Berkeley just steps (and stairs) from Shattuck Avenue, with a cafe for your coffee and vino needs (plus Charlie Parker’s “Confirmation” helpfully spelled out in donor plaques on the wall–feel free to start singing it if you get bored).

We’ll be playing music from our new CD, Contextualizin’ (“a digital masters’ seminar” −All About Jazz), and 2006’s Sink/Swim (“An exciting set of music with a heavy-hitting lineup of musicians” −Greg Bridges, KCSM), plus several brand-new original compositions (no quotes yet but you could be the first!) and new arrangements of music by American greats Charles Ives and Neil Young.

Please come out if you can, and tell your friends, enemies, and enemies’ friends. Here are the details:

WHAT: The Ian Carey Quintet
WHO: Ian Carey, trumpet & flugelhorn; Evan Francis, alto saxophone & flute; Adam Shulman, piano and Hammond B3; Fred Randolph, bass; and Jon Arkin, drums
WHEN: Saturday, September 4, 8pm
WHERE: The Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St., Berkeley; t: (510) 845-5373
HOW MUCH: $15 ($5 for Jazzschool students)

UPDATE: We’re a staff pick this weekend in the East Bay Express! “Album titles might not be a window to the soul, but they can certainly reveal something about intellect. In that sense, Ian Carey’s 2010 album, Contextualizin‘, seems apropos. It’s a well-crafted work by an incredibly thinking musician. Carey seems intent on using his trumpet to tell stories and create landscapes, but he’s also good on building on other people’s ideas. His version of “Just Friends” is about the most inventive you’ll find on disc… Bolstered by a talented band — drummer Jon Arkin, saxophonist Evan Frances, bassist Fred Randolph, and pianist Adam Shulman — Carey performs Saturday, Sept. 4, at The Jazzschool.”

On the Jazz Curmudgeon

Date: 2010.08.30 | Category: Thoughts | Response: 1

I’ve seen a few examples on the jazzerwebs lately of that well-known species of jazz fan who, while passionate about his own particular area of interest (say, Lithuanian swing revivalists of mid-1936 to late spring of ‘52, or Archie Shepp’s bossa nova period), is nevertheless vehemently dismissive of anything falling outside that area. (For prime specimens, see A Blog Supreme and this video by Tyshawn Sorey.)

My initial response to the first guy pretty much sums up my thoughts about this phenomenon: “There are as many restrictive definitions of jazz as there are curmudgeonly jazz fans (seems like their numbers are growing–or is it that the number of non-curmudgeonly fans is shrinking)? These types of arguments can go on infinitely–[Esperanza] Spalding is a hell of a lot more straightahead than Chris Botti, for example, but he gets referred to as a jazz artist all the time. You can argue over where to draw the line until the cows come home (and the audience leaves), but don’t expect it to accomplish anything for the music.”

As I think about it more, though, I think the reason these voices ring so loudly (especially to musicians) is that the audience for jazz is already so small that to be attacked from inside what one would presume to be one’s own camp makes it more unpleasant–and often using the same critiques (no melody, too intellectual, whatever) that someone ignorant of all jazz would use. (With friends like these…)

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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!

The Jazz Bucket List (via Twitter)

Date: 2010.07.20 | Category: Thoughts | Response: 5

Lee Mergner of the happily resuscitated JazzTimes recently published (and A Blog Supreme mentioned) a list of “jazz-related things to do before you die (or Keith Jarrett kills you)”–an unfair jab, really, as it’s been years since Keith has murdered anyone, unless you count the fatwa he ordered after Umbria.

Anyway, the list had a few I’ve done:

• “visit the Village Vanguard and soak up the history” (I think that was history I found on my shoes);
• “walk on hallowed ground at Congo Square in New Orleans” (actually it was more like stumbling–3 hurricanes will do that to you);
• “memorize at least one solo from a famous jazz record and hum it for someone who might actually recognize it” (welcome to my college social life); and
• “Buy the CD of a local jazz musician playing a gig where no one pays attention to the music, ever” (That was me. I bought 1000 of them. Most are still in my garage).

Following JT’s lead, I came up with a few more musician-centric suggestions of my own:

• Make a waiter call his boss at 1am to get the band paid
• Be told by a relative he only likes “real jazz, like Al Hirt and Kenny G”
• Take out thousands of dollars in loans to prepare for a career which pays tips and sometimes beer
• Listen to Trane’s first recording and feel ecstatic joy at how crappy he sounds
• Get a request for “Summertime,” within 5 minutes of finishing playing “Summertime”
• Consider renaming your band “[Your Name]’s [Exotic-sounding word]” to get more gigs
• Consider hiring a DJ, tubist, theremin player, hog-caller, and bearded lady to appeal to the indie crowd
• Get shredded at a jam session by some kid from Lithuania who looks 14 years old
• Get asked by a club to play something “jazzier”
• Get into a physical fight about straight-8ths odd-meter jazz
• Practice Bird tunes in all 12 keys on a NYC rooftop, get yelled at by neighbors
• Quit music in heat of passion and then come crawling back
• Buy 20 copies of my CD and use them as coasters, doorstops, cat toys, or pizza cutters

There were also a few good suggestions from Twitter’s peanut gallery, including the notorious Jazzfamoose (“Realize that Del’s Frozen Lemonade is so much better than who’s on the mainstage at the Newport Jazz Festival,” “Get berated by Lorraine Gordon at the Vanguard” (done that!), “Have your CD get reviewed by @natechinen & still sell less than 500 copies in 2010″), and improviz (“Contact Mingus by Ouija board”–I wouldn’t recommend that, I think he can still punch you from beyond the grave). Got your own? Throw ‘em in the comments.

Subway Playlist: Summer ‘10

Date: 2010.07.14 | Category: Thoughts | Response: 1

I’ve recently found myself with some listening time I can count on each day, so I figure it’s time to pay more focused attention to a handful of tracks and put together another of my Subway Playlists (that’s a set of tracks I listen to every day for a few months, to try and absorb on a deeper level than random listening allows, so named because I originally listened to them on my subway ride–some more background here). This one is a little long (although I like iTunes’ option to set markers for the beginning and end of playback on a track–I won’t tell you where I’ve done that, to protect those bass players fine musicians whose solos were sacrificed for time). Here goes:

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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:
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