It's nice to know you won't forget

Because other people will take pictures for you

Sharda

I hate to keep writing in hear when someone fucking dies.  But I guess that's when most people become famous anyways.  When the community in which they belong starts to evaluate their contribution, their importance, and their legacy.  And usually when doing that, you can find greatness in most people.

Sharda Sahai was the reason I started playing tabla.  I was interested in Indian music and for me, the best way to understand how a music works is to play it.  I heard a live CD.  A solo tabla CD.  The sound completely knocked me out.  It wasn't necessarily a "pretty" sound or even a "clean" sound that many tabla players strive for.  It was big, boisterous and very striking.  Towards the end of the CD he speaks some compositions like this one and it was hilarious to hear both in the sense that the music was so great that it was hard not to smile but also because his voice sounded like his drums!  Old, grumpy, but sincere.
I listened to the CD in my car for weeks, pretending to sound out his compositions and taping long.  Always full of surprises.  I listened on my way home from a Binghamton trip with Dan Sherman.  He liked it.  In fact, everyone who was in my car for those few weeks or months like it.  For the same reason I did.  The sound.  Like John Bonham, or the guy from the Melvins, or whatever.  Think big and round.

There's not too much else I can say.  First of all, I don't consider myself a tabla "player."  Second, what can you say about someone you never met, who doesn't know who you exist, but is the reason for you having started playing and understanding music?  It's his gift to me.

His legacy is in his students and his recordings.  He was a teacher up til the day he died.  Giving classes, demonstrations and lessons.  Imagine a teacher who's not apprehensive about sharing?  Imagine a teacher who encouraged the practice of Indian music by non-Indians?  Notably Bob Becker.  If I had that recording on me I'd put a link to it but I'd have to dig through my shit and I'm not 100% sure I even have it any more.

Here's a nice right hand work out for ya.  Watch how he builds his solo and keeps adding new little ideas til the end.  You think he can't play any faster or add any more notes but he does!  And he's having fun.

Thanks Sharda.

Why Titus Andronicus Should Be Removed

I guess some people like music like this
I saw Titus Andronicus open for Bomb the Music Industry Sunday night.  And it occurred to me that they were one of the few bands I've seen live that had no redeeming qualities.  If I can make some statements that nobody will care about and are probably false:
- they take the punk out of punk
- they take the rock out of rock and roll
They didn't play in tune, they took 45 minutes to set up, the lead singer talked a minimum of 5, often 10, minutes between each song.  These talks were anything from irrelevant political ramblings to uninteresting facts about Lou Reed's Berlin album and the kind of musings that really jerk off an audience of Brooklyn hipsters who primarily were under 21 and many around 18.  They all look like Rivers Cuomo.  I hate to say it but you can often size up a band by what the members look like.  The main musical concern is that I don't think they have any concept of themselves.  That is to say that their music sounds like 90's punk, but played much worse than any 90's punk band.  Their guitar solos sound like 90's rock, but played worse than J. Mascis or Ted Leo for that matter.  Their slow jams sound like southern folk-rock, but played worse than Laura Stevenson who played just before them and played many slow jams and sounded incredible.  She played a new song, a lot slower than the one I linked here.  And yet, they are kind of famous!  People know them.  They know the words.  Jeff Rosenstock personally invited them to open for BTMI.  It's a concern of mine and I don't fully understand it.  If someone asked me (and people often do) "what is indie rock?" or "who is an indie rock band?"  I would respond (if I wanted to be real negative about it) by saying generic rock music played in Brooklyn, NY.  Check out Titus Andronicus cause they sound like everybody and like nothing.

I'm usually not so negative or at least don't fucking care enough to say anything bad about anyone.  This blog is meant to bring listening pleasure to myself and whoever's bored enough to read it.  But hey, I'm allowed to hate and I'm sorry if you like them.  I'm sure there's a lot in their music that I just don't get and it's my fault for being too closed minded and judgmental.  

Christmas Time Is Here

The past two years I've been out of the country for both Christmas and New Years.  This year it's kind of weird knowing that I'll be here with no real plans of any kind.  Without getting more personal, I'd like to share some of my favorite Christmas/New Years music.  For as cynical as I can be about "commercial" music, I happen to really enjoy Christmas music for some reason.  I'll just post links to youtube.  That's probably the easiest way.  This list is in no particular order.  Hopefully there's some familiar songs and some new ones for ya'll.

1. ELP - I Believe In Father Christmas
2. Death Cab For Cutie - The New Year
3. Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime
4. A Passing Feeling - The New Year
5. Unremarkable People - Hey, My Leg Freakin' Hurts Over Here
6. The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping
7. Vince Guaraldi - Christmas Time Is Here
8. Wham - Last Christmas
9. The Mountain Goats - This Year
10. Tom Waits - Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis


Ten seems like a enough.

Interview/New Song

It's been longer than I thought.  I'll try and keep writing more.  For now check out this stuff.  Next show at Mr. Beery's Jan 7th with good bands. Thanks to Tom Mauro for taking the time to do this for us.  Please check out http://www.youtube.com/user/MauroInMusic?feature=g-all to see what Tom is all about.

Paul Motion

I was about 16 or 17 years old when I first heard the Sunday at the Village Vanguard, the Bill Evans trio album.  It completely changed everything for me.  I was young, but I was experienced enough to know that the "piano trio" had a specific purpose.  And that was to make a piano virtuoso sound even better than he would as just a solo act.  Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum, Ahmad Jamal, etc.  The rhythm section accompanies the pianist.  While this is concept of how to play jazz is as valid as any, it was trapped in its own genre.
The Bill Evans trio changed this.  All were equal.  I remember writing a live journal entry years ago about why I thought Scott Lafaro was the greatest musician of all time.  His playing took the "walking" bass line out of context and, as I hear it, it's just continuous melody.  However, his genius is not only this new approach, but the ability to still provide the foundation and the "normal" function of the bass in general.  Paul Motion's approach to the drums was the same.  He got rid of the standard swing beat and played primarily colors.  Again, it swings like hell and provides the same musical information that any other drummer would provide.  To use a Schaapism, this is an incredible insight:  expand the typical functions of the rhythm section, and you get a piano trio that sounds nothing like anything that came before it.  Colors, contours, dynamics, emotions.  If Debussy freed classical music from form, harmony, rhythm, themes etc, than Bill Evans did the same for jazz.
Listen to the brush work of Paul on Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby and you'll get a full realization of what I'm talking about.  His playing is romantic, delicate, colorful, groovy and highly original.  His influence is heard in many of today's drummers and to use a contemporary example, the Brad Mehldau trio I would argue is a direct descendant of this approach to music making.  I remember clearly me and Chris Reardon discussing the bass entrance on Alice In Wonderland.  I remember trying to figure out how they could play with such elasticity.  I remember feeling much older than I actually was and being s saddened that Lafaro died so young.  I was fortunate to see Paul play with his own group a few years ago at Carnegie Hall. Joe Lovano and other were playing with him and they were doing some pretty out stuff. But his compositions were like his playing, it was out but not too out.  His melodies were dissonant but romantic.  And because of his playing, the group just sounded so unique.  He'll be greatly missed.  One of the last greats in jazz.

Here's the first song I ever heard by them:

Happiness

Happy Birthday.  

Music in Similar Motion

First time ever playing a Philip Glass piece!  Fun music.  Check out http://www.iktuspercussion.com/.  I play with them sometimes.

“ ‘I want you to play like you’re 7 years old at a recital. I want you to play like your mom’s in the room. I want you to play like you’re miles from home, and your legs are dangling from a boxcar. Or play like your hair’s on fire. Play like you have no pants on.’ ”




I offer this quote as a possible reason why Tom Waits albums sound the way they do.  

Ship Without A Rudder

Lemonheads on Sunday was interesting.  Evan Dando either had teeth surgery, was on serious drugs, or was just exhausted.  Whatever the case, people seemed upset.  http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2011/10/evan_dando_its_a_shame_about_ray_bowery_ballroom.php just about sums it up.

Regardless of the huge disappointment for not playing It's A Shame like they promised, and the hour or so wait, the band sounded good.  Evan's songs are simple and honest and special.  If sung by anyone else it wouldn't be the same.  He has a arsenal of like 50 songs that he knows he can play at any given moment.  The past two times I saw him and the band were much better, but hey, I'll take a sloppy Alison's Starting To Happen over no Lemonheads at all any day of the week.

New Butterscotch Stanley EP and free acoustic album now available at butterscotchstanley.bandcamp.com.  Or for a hard copy, send me an email at aforman86@gmail.com.