Pianist Myra Melford’s most recent recording is The Guest House (Yellowbird Records, 2012) with her collective band Trio M, featuring Matt Wilson and Mark Dresser. In this interview, Melford talks about the recent premiere of her multimedia work “Snowy Egret” in New York; the formation and continued success of Trio M; and how she balances a busy life as a performer with a full schedule as a professor. Learn more at www.myramelford.com.
Concert Note: Trio M is playing two East Coast CD release shows this week. On Friday, April 6, they’re at Firehouse 12 in New Haven, CT and on Saturday, April 7, they’re at the Kitano Hotel in New York City.
Vocalist Melissa Stylianou’s new CD is Silent Movie (Anzic Records, 2012). In this interview, Stylianou talks about her accidental entrance into the world of jazz; the importance of storytelling; and how her training as an actor has impacted her musical career. Learn more at melissastylianou.com and follow her on Twitter at @sleepinbee.
CONCERT NOTE: Melissa Stylianou is performing two CD release shows in honor of her new album — at Jazz Standard in New York City on April 3 and at The Rex in Toronto on April 7. More details at melissastylianou.com.
Raya Brass Band’s new CD is Dancing On Roses, Dancing On Cinders (2012). In this interview, four of the five members of the band discuss its origins; the rhythmic underpinnings of Balkan music; the uses of improvisation in their performances; and how a movie caused one of the members of the band to quit his job and take up the accordion. Learn more at rayabrassband.com and follow them on Twitter at @RayaBrassBand.
Drummer Billy Hart’s new CD is All Our Reasons (ECM, 2012). In this interview, Hart talks about the “European sound” of this band; what he looks for in bandmates and why this band fits his needs so well; and what he believes powered Coltrane’s musical explorations. Learn more at billyhartmusic.com.
Nellie McKay performs at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency in New York City. (Photo from a 2010 performance by Amy T. Zielinski)
Nellie McKay Occupies Feinstein’s:
Tin Pan Alley Environmentalism In The Belly Of The Beast
(NEW YORK CITY – MARCH 23, 2012) Hearing Nellie McKay sing about Rachel Carson at Feinstein’s on March 22 was like watching a Michael Moore movie at a Goldman Sachs board meeting.
The evening didn’t start well. In line was a couple complaining about how they’re always there and they just can’t understand why they don’t have their usual table and blah blah blah blah. (“We’ll seat you at Mr. Feinstein’s personal table, ma’am.” Ugh.) Everyone had fur on and the place looked like the set of a 1940s mob movie, except for the very modern prices. Given the announced program for the evening — a musical revue about an environmentalist — it seemed that something must have gone horribly wrong.
But it took just a few minutes into the first song to see that if a joke was being played, McKay was definitely in on it. Her subversive set of activist-inspired protest pop would have found a friendlier audience in Zucotti Park, but part of the genius of the show was that people in furs paid $40-70 each plus a $25 food-and-beverage minimum to have someone criticize their existence while playing a ukelele.
Rachel Carson was a pioneering environmentalist whose book Silent Spring galvanized the nation in support of protecting natural resources. McKay’s revue (“Silent Spring — It’s Not Nice To Fool Mother Nature”) was part biopic, part polemic, part iVictrola playlist of music from the Tin Pan Alley era.
McKay never stopped smiling for the entire show, except during the few occasions when it was appropriate for the narrative. But the smile seemed to be directed as much at her band or at Carson’s hovering ghost as at the audience members eating $15 plates of lettuce. This was cabaret for the endtimes, which is appropriate given that global warming means the piano at Feinstein’s will likely be underwater during McKay’s lifetime once the Atlantic Ocean reclaims the isle of Manhattan.
The evening’s song selections included a host of standards, from Irving Berlin’s “What’ll I Do” and Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It” to “Ten Cents A Dance” by Rogers & Hart and “Lazy Bones” by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer. But in between these more Feinstein’s-appropriate numbers were surprising choices – Neil Young’s “Ohio” and Charles Mingus’s “Fables of Faubus,” for example, both probably being performed for the first time on that particular stage.
McKay also included several of her own compositions. They were among the strongest performances of the night, even given the illustrious songwriting company mentioned above. Her puckish humor and coquettish delivery were perfect for the deadpan (is it deadpan if you’re always smiling?) punch to the stomach she delivered with the story.
The story followed Carson’s life from childhood to her death in 1964 at age 56. Along the way, McKay used props, recorded dialogue and live acting to tell the story of Carson’s evolution from a nature-loving child to a Washington bureaucrat to a popular author and crusading environmentalist. The biographical elements of the story weren’t overly detailed, often hinting at the elements of Carson’s life rather than providing specific descriptions. At times, the songs served to fill in the gaps, although often they were as much to create a mood or illustrate the time period as they were programmatic devices.
McKay ended the revue with a James-Brown-inspired performance of “Let’s Do It,” complete with the Godfather of Soul’s patented drop to the stage and cape-assisted exit. The cape, by the way, had the initials “RC” on the back.
McKay then ran back on stage and performed a joyous version of her reggae tune “Caribbean Time.” Incredibly, she got the Feinstein’s crowd to join her in a call-and-response section. Never have so many men in bow ties sung “oh-ee-oh.”
The revue is an excellent idea, well executed. It deserves to be heard by a wider — and more ecologically minded — audience. But kudos to McKay for having the guts to perform this music in the belly of the beast.
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VIDEO: Here’s McKay performing “Caribbean Time” in 2010:
NOTE:Photo of Nellie McKay as Rachel Carson by Rick Gonzalez.
Trumpeter Nate Wooley’s recent albums include the solo records The Almond and 8 Syllables and the quintet recording (Put Your) Hands Together. In this interview, Wooley talks about putting 100 trumpets on one solo (!) recording; why he was surprised when one of his albums made him feel good at the end; how he started playing solo trumpet; and how the death of his grandmother led to his recent quintet album. Learn more at natewooley.com and follow him on Twitter at @nate_wooley.
Pianist and vocalist Champian Fulton’s latest CD is The Breeze And I. In this interview, Fulton talks about the bebop record she listened to exclusively for months (starting the day she was born); her father’s influence and how his friendship with Clark Terry shaped her life; and her transition from student to working musician. Learn more at champian.net and follow her on Twitter at @ChampianFulton.
The Tierney Sutton Band’s latest CD is American Road (BFM Jazz, 2011). In this interview, Sutton talks about why the band chose to focus on Americana for this record; how the band functions as a collective in everything from song arranging to business; and how her Baha’i faith has influenced the way she approaches making music. Learn more at tierneysutton.com and follow her on Twitter at @TierneySutton.
Ottawa trumpeter Craig Pedersen’s new album is Days Like Today (2011). In this interview, Pedersen talks about how literature influences his musical compositions; why he gravitates toward the avant garde; and the nature of the improvised music scene in Ottawa. Learn more at craigpedersen.com and follow him on Twitter at @pedersencraig.
Vocalist Ed Reed’s new CD is Born To Be Blue (2011). Reed, now 83, has lived the kind of life about which movies are made. This interview charts the story of his life: his childhood in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, where a young Charles Mingus was a frequent neighborhood visitor and the big bands were a constant source of entertainment; his time in the military, where he was introduced to drugs; his years in San Quentin and Folsom prisons, where he played in the prison bands with the likes of Art Pepper; his eventual rehabilitation after many attempts; and his turn to performing and recording in his 70s. Learn more at edreedsings.com.
Vocalist Amy Cervini’s new CD is Digging Me, Digging You (Anzic, 2012), a tribute to Blossom Dearie. In this interview, Cervini talks about her early exposure to Dearie and why she fell in love with her music; how she chose the songs for this album from Dearie’s large repertoire; why she favors working bands; and the itinerary of her upcoming tour. Learn more at amycervini.com and follow her on Twitter at @amycervini.
CONCERT NOTE: Amy is playing two CD release shows in New York on March 6 and 7, 2012, from 7-9 p.m. both nights at the 55 Bar, 55 Christopher St. She is also touring throughout North America. Visit her website for details.
Saxophonist Ochion Jewell’s debut CD is First Suite For Quartet (Mythology, 2011). In this interview, Jewell talks about his upbringing in a dry county in Appalachia; why he started his recording career with an ambitious multi-movement work; and how the piece took shape from inception to completion. Learn more at www.ochion.com.
The Jazz Session celebrates its fifth anniversary with one of the giants of the music, saxophonist and composer Jimmy Heath. In this interview, Heath talks about his early days as a writer and arranger; his Queens neighborhood and its importance to jazz history; why he loves the sound of a big band; and how he keeps himself moving forward and growing at this stage in his career. He also shares a fax of a 1947 concert poster, received the morning of the interview, with some hilarious text. Learn more at jimmyheath.com.
CONTEST: I’m giving away 55 CDs to celebrate the 5th anniversary of The Jazz Session. Listen to the show to learn how to win.
Composer Darcy James Argue’s latest work is a multimedia piece called Brooklyn Babylon. In this interview, he tells the amazing story of how he and visual artist Danijel Zezelj created the piece; goes behind the scenes of the composition and the technical aspects of producing such a large work; and also talks about a performance on March 9, 2012 at which his band Secret Society will play his works and the works of other composers. Learn more at secretsociety.typepad.com, see much more of Brooklyn Babylon at brooklynbabylon.com and follow Darcy on Twitter at @darcyjamesargue.
NOTE: This interview is part of a new monthly collaboration with JazzDIY, the online journal for the 21st century jazz musician. Visit JazzDIY.com to see a video interview with Darcy James Argue in which he talks about the business of music.
The Wee Trio is James Westfall (vibes), Dan Loomis (bass) and Jared Schonig (drums). Their new album is Ashes To Ashes: A David Bowie Intraspective. In this interview, the trio talks about why they chose David Bowie — and why they were initially reluctant to do so; how they managed an 8,000-mile tour across the United States; and what makes the trio work as a unit. Learn more at theweetrio.com and follow them on Twitter at @weetrois.
McKay never stopped smiling for the entire show, except during the few occasions when it was appropriate for the narrative. But the smile seemed to be directed as much at her band or at Carson’s hovering ghost as at the audience members eating $15 plates of lettuce. This was cabaret for the endtimes, which is appropriate given that global warming means the piano at Feinstein’s will likely be underwater during McKay’s lifetime once the Atlantic Ocean reclaims the isle of Manhattan.
