When David Bowie passed away, I was motivated to listen to more of his music, as I had really only heard his big hits previously. As I have occasionally done with other artists in the past, I decided to start with his early albums and move through them chronologically (I wrote about this approach previously […]
Category: Listening
Library Music Finds
I’m going through another heavy library-listening phase, checking out CDs by the armful! Here are some things I’ve been checking out: Grant Green, Idle Moments – The more I listen to Grant Green, the more I like his playing, specifically the thematic way in which he improvises. Although it is sometimes repetitive, I think that […]
Listening
I’ve been able to put in some significant practice time recently, which has felt great! Here’s what I’ve been working on: This was a track I heard in the Polyrhythmics van; Ben had recently came upon a Grant Green boxed set, and although it’s off of a Lou Donaldson album, Green’s solo really intrigued me […]
More on Musical Circles
Although I won’t be in town, I was excited to see that Kamasi Washington is coming to Seattle, playing at Neumo’s on July 30: I’ve read a fair amount about Washington in the last couple of months, but one aspect of his approach that particularly interested me was his participation in creating the West Coast […]
Tour Blog 3
San Diego: Our San Diego show was in the beach town of Ocean Beach, at Winston’s, where we’d played once before and had a really successful show. Unlike last time, I went to the beach for a little while before we started, which was gorgeous! A nice last look before we turned East. Then I […]
Tour Post #2
Writing this in the backyard of Scott’s friend Josh, a saxophonist in New Orleans who is nice enough to put us up for the week. There is a warm breeze and it is a sticky but beautiful 80 degrees, although it is kicking up a bit and there are some storm warnings. Some carryovers from […]
Happy Holidays!
One of the many Love’s Truck Stops in the great state of Idaho: The end of this year has been punctuated with tours to Los Angeles and Montana, as well as working with new recordings and new musical ideas. I’m still trying to find a sound and approach that I can consistently use in all […]
New Listening
WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE I love that movie. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve enjoyed a real boost in new stuff to listen to. When I heard that Easy Street Records in Lower Queen Anne was going away, I headed over to Sonic Boom in Ballard. I hope to make it a monthly trip. I […]
Listening
Two tracks I can’t get enough of right now: Claudia Quintet – Keramag, from Royal Toast I love the melody that first shows up at 1 minute 1 second that the vibes and piano play together. It gets moved around and displaced throughout the entire song. Christian Scott – American’t, from Yesterday You Said Tomorrow […]
Listening
Above: an old favorite from dogsitting not too long ago I’m in a funk, and not the good kind. Some tunes that have been helping me when I’m feeling down lately: Homebase NYC – Sleep (featuring Coco O.) Band of Horses – No One’s Gonna Love You Gretchen Parlato – Weak