Cadence Reviews CONTEXTUALIZIN’

Date: 2011.02.24 | Category: Press | Response: 1

Hi folks, hope everything’s well and good, and the gigs are as plentiful as copies of “The Da Vinci Code” in a thrift store. Things have been light in that area for me since the unfortunate closing of Coda–though of course the hunt is on for greener pastures on which to do our jazz grazing–but I’ve been hard at work on writing new music for the group, hitting local jam sessions, plus some good old-fashioned woodshedding. I’ve also got an exciting recording session coming up with Rob Reich and his fabulous Circus Bella All-Star Band (which could use some support–please chip in a few bucks if you can).

In the meantime, some good news–Cadence Magazine, a great in-depth independent quarterly which has been keeping the jazz journalism flame burning since 1976, reviewed my album Contextualizin’ in its new issue, and had some really gratifying things to say. Here’s the whole review–if you like it, I encourage you to support the magazine and subscribe.

Trumpeter Ian Carey interprets his own compositions (with one exception) on his second album, Contextualizin’, with straightforward melodic lyricism—deceptively straightforward, in fact. The modesty he presents in the liner notes he wrote coyly invites protest. Carey wonders in written form how he would ever be able to make his performances stand out among all of the Jazz trumpeters who exhibit blazing technique in an exclamatory voice. Well, Carey’s voice is declarative in a “discursive” (Steve Lacy’s word) way that draws in the listener with warmth and wordless narrative logic. Carey’s stories suggest one-on-one familiarity, as if he were imparting new information to a friend. As for influences, Carey makes plain that he has an affinity for the cooler trumpeters like Miles Davis or Tom Harrell, instead of those who fearsomely brandish technique for exhilarating effect. In fact, the first track on Contextualizin’ is named “Tom/Tom” after Harrell and trumpeter Tom Peron who likewise value linear improvisational movement throughout a performance while staying mostly in the middle range of the instrument. Carey’s composition is engaging, with prodding anticipations of the beat and vertiginous intervals involving harmonic interplay with saxophonist Francis. Carey realizes that listeners can be drawn into a performance, as well as being startled to pay attention to it. Without so much as merely raising his voice, so to speak, Carey continues through all eight of his compositions to establish moods, varied according to the thematic material at hand, and “discursively” explores them. “Questions,” which follows “Tom/Tom,” involves minor-key suggestions of mysterious forces as the quintet remains subdued and almost hushed until the soloists smolder without the occurrence of actual explosion despite Carey’s intensification of feeling and Francis’ darting and sweeping outlines over the modal basis. Keyboardist Shulman changes the background texture on some of the tracks by switching to Fender Rhodes, even as the horns remain at the forefront of improvisational activity. Although Carey has studied and performed in widely separated cities in the United States, including New York, Reno and Binghamton, his recording career commenced after he moved to San Francisco in 2001. Contextualizin’ is one more result—an opportunity to showcase “discursively” not only Carey’s distinctive style, but also his varied compositional talent. Like most other Jazz musicians, Carey plays standards too. On this album, that standard is “Just Friends,” which in beboppish fashion, Carey’s group transforms into another song based on the same chord structure. The quintet performs “Just Friends” contrapuntally somewhat like Gerry Mulligan and Paul Desmond’s work on Two of a Mind, except for Shulman’s pointillistic adherence to the melody. Carey’s burnished, technically precise cadenza at the beginning of “Disinvited” suggests infinite possibilities for continuation but few hints of the stop-and-start, teasing melody to follow, subject to the whimsical modification by each of the musicians. Carey intentionally apostrophized the title of his album to invite comfort with his music which attracts listeners to its content. Even so, Carey doesn’t sacrifice technique or depth of thought for his intimations of informality.   –Bill Donaldson

New York: Jazz Mecca, Economic Hell, Talent Sap?

Date: 2011.01.20 | Category: Thoughts | Response: 3

Over at Mostly Music, bassist Ronan Guilfoyle has some really insightful thoughts about the joys and challenges of the New York jazz scene, its impact on players there, and the repercussions on the US jazz scene as a whole of having such an overwhelming percentage of the country’s best musicians in one place. Since I agree with pretty much all of it, I’m going to just present a big excerpt:

On the one hand there’s an extraordinary concentration of great musicians in a very small area, making for a hothouse creative atmosphere and an abundance of players on every instrument who play on a very high level… On the minus side it has to be said there are just far too many musicians in New York for it to make any sense on an economic level. … The abundance and availability of musicians and the lack of places to play drives the price musicians can charge for NY gigs down to below subsistence levels. … A lot of the New York musicians I know work in (often menial) day jobs that have nothing to do with music, and the reality for them is that they’re not going to get out of that situation anytime soon.

Been there, done that. It’s the biggest reason I left after 8 years–it was painful to be surrounded by so much creativity and yet be so burnt out by a demoralizing but necessary day job that I had very little time or energy left for the music. But that’s not the only problem:

As a jazz scene New York reminds me of one of those huge edge of town malls that arrives in an area and sucks all the economic life out of the high streets of any town within 50 miles of it. Nearly the entire US scene is based there, and this ‘gotta go to New York’ mentality means that it’s almost impossible for a regional scene to hold on to its good players. They in turn all arrive in New York where they have to scuffle and jostle for financial crumbs. … Let’s imagine that say 30 players of every instrument were to leave NY tomorrow and go back to their home cities and expend their energy there and develop their own scenes there, how much healthier would both those regional scenes be and how much better economically would the New York scene be for giving the musicians there a little more economic room to breathe?

I think this does happen to an extent–here in the Bay Area, for example, there are players coming and going from New York all the time, largely for the reasons he mentions above: going there to learn and test their mettle, coming back to have more time for music and feel like a human being again. But as much as I like it here, and know there are great players, how are we supposed to keep good musicians in town when all the clubs are closed and DJs have most of the gigs? Jam sessions are fun (here, I mean–New York, not so much) but they don’t pay, not even for the house band.

I also think he has a point about a higher level of musicians creating a better scene–I firmly believe that having bad jazz played in public is bad for jazz (since any given performance a passerby witnesses is likely to be his only exposure to jazz that year, and if it’s bad, that person will be lost as a potential fan). Of course, you have to play bad jazz before you can play good jazz, and I wouldn’t suggest developing players not be out there working through their shit–just that if there isn’t plenty of good stuff to show people the music’s potential (because most of the best players have already left for NYC, for example), then locals won’t be inclined to go to jazz shows and the scene will wither.

Anyway, lots of food for thought. Anyone agree/disagree? Ideas to rectify this other than (as Guilfoyle jokes) “forced repatriation”?

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.)

Read the rest of this entry »

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:

Read the rest of this entry »

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…)

Read the rest of this entry »

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.