Grave Error

Believe it or not, I used to be a Randy Travis fan back in the early 90s. He had some pretty great songs like “I Told You So“, “Reasons I Cheat” and “On the Other Hand.” That’s right — I have some pretty strange tastes in music (and other things). I also used to be an Opera aficionado, Reggae junky, and even got into some of my college roommate’s Metal. It is also no secret that I think Lyle Lovett is king, and I dig Mos Def, The Roots, and other quality Hip-Hop. I get nostalgic for the 80s classics, regardless of the haircuts, and I love my old 18th Street Lounge days. Now I spend most of my time listening to Jazz, but I do give myself ample time to reminisce with former tastes and even check out more eccentric stuff. If it’s good, I’ll listen.

In any event, this post had a purpose. Yes, now I remember. At work, we’d been putting together a customer loyalty program directed at regaining inactive users. Whenever we’d meet to discuss it, I’d always get distracted from debating the finer points because I’d be lost singing the lines from Randy Travis’ song “Promises”. My contribution to the efforts was giving the whole thing a nice, catchy name — the “Broken Promise” program — for internal purposes only, of course.

I woke up early this Saturday morning. Instead of of wasting my time, I stayed in bed and listened to a bunch of Charles Mingus albums featuring Eric Dolphy, including

• Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus
• Cornell 1964
• The Great Concert of Charles Mingus
• Mingus at Antibes
• Town Hall Concert 1964

My favorite is the last ten minutes of “Fables of Faubus” from Cornell 1964.

On Friday, I went to Toledo — just a short thirty minute train ride from Madrid. I just happened to be wearing one of my Barack Obama t-shirts, and I must say that I haven’t gotten so many stares since I used wear my Rastafarian hat to junior high school back when I was fourteen.

Believe it or not, people were pretty excited when they saw my t-shirt. I think Europeans really like the idea of a true change in U.S. politics and in a new candidate. They were also probably pretty shocked to see a politician on a t-shirt; candidate pins, bumper stickers, and t-shirts simply do not exist over here — which is probably a good thing.

In any event, it was a beautiful sunny day in Toledo, and I made this cheesie video of me, my Barack Obama t-shirt, Toledo, and Duke Ellington with John Coltrane playing “Big Nick”.

One year a later, I spent another April in Paris and also without rain! That’s a real surprise because for the past year, traveling to Paris at least once a month, I think I haven’t had to fortune to live through a single rainless weekend.

But not this weekend. We had a beautiful weekend of sunshine. I tried to capture — unsuccessfully — the wonderful day in Montmartre with another low budget video. This time with Thelonious Monk playing “April in Paris“.

The past few days have been perfect spring days here in Madrid, and today was no exception in my neighorhood of Chamberí (sunny and 75ºF). First I set out to to visit the newly opened museum at the Chamberí ghost metro station. In 1966, Metro de Madrid closed the Chamberi station, but it continued to exist in darkness along line one between the Bilbao and Iglesia stations. For the past 40 years the trains have continued to pass through the station without stopping, and you can peak out the window for a glimpse of the ghost station. The station has just been restored to its 1966 aspect and converted into a museum.

After visiting the museum, I took a walk a through my neighborhood and made this low budget video to “Alabama Song” by the Sextet of Orchestra U.S.A. from the obscure album Mack the Knife and Other Berlin Theatre Songs of Kurt Weill. The album’s highlights are Eric Dolphy and John Lewis, and Dolphy’s bass clarinet on “Alabama Song” is perfect for any sunny day. If the video quality is too ghetto for your taste, at least you’ll enjoy the wonderul music.

Thelonious Monk. He was a very strange, eccentric, and cool character — completely unique in every sense. Sometimes you just have to watch to fully enjoying listening.

A friend of mine gave me John Coltrane’s Olé about six years ago, but it was not until last year in November that I really listened to it closely. Then a few weeks later while in Marrakech, I suddenly could not get the tune out of my head. From that moment on, I have become a Coltrane addict, and for no reason in particular, I found myself this past weekend listening over and over to “Olé“.

Although the piece appears to be dedicated to Spain, it is much more reminiscent of Northern Africa. With the exception of McCoy Tyner’s big piano cords and Freddie Hubbard’s trumpet both of which give the feel of a paso doble at a bull fight, the rest of the music is like you’re in Marrakech’s Djemaa el Fna or in a medina. Eric Dolphy’s flute reflects the incessant sound of North African flute players in the plaza and on the streets, and the excellent play between the two bassists (one plucking, the other one using the bow) together with Elvin Jones’ drums create the almost spiritual trance. And then there is John Coltrane soaring over the rest.

In a second rate effort to replicate this experience, I have created this third rate nine minute video (from the 18 minutes that the song endures) with photos from Spain and Morocco.

Rewrite just pointed me towards this review in The Economist of Ben Ratliff’s new biography of John Coltrane. Here is the review in full: (more…)

Last night I went with some friends to hear the Joshua Redman Trio at the Festival de Jazz de Madrid 2007. Opening for Redman was a quartet lead by Carles Benavent. Benavent, a veteran who has played alongside Paco de Lucía and Jorge Pardo, was pretty good, but the contrast between the first and the second shows was enormous. (more…)

I have significantly slowed down my leisure reading and substituted it with podcasts. I haven’t given up reading altogether, but I generally go through a period each year where I take a little break from books. Now one of my favorite podcasts for listening to while falling asleep or traveling is NPR’s Jazz Profiles.

Even if you’re not much of Jazz fan, I think that listening to Jazz Profiles is still fairly entertaining at least for anyone who is interested in 20th Century U.S. history. Jazz is such a unique American experience and art form, and the stories of its musicians are very much a part of that experience. (more…)