My youth is drenched in the blues-inspired guitar rock that was in constant rotation in my dad’s car and at home. Artists like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimi Hendrix, Albert King, Eric Clapton and ZZ Top can give a rough outline of his musical tastes from the 80s to late 90s. Classic rock staples like The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd were strictly forbidden, as they were deemed “too poppy” by Dad. As all young children do, I blindly agreed with Dad’s position. The British Invasion and soul music would have to wait for me until my late teens when I moved out on my own.

Despite this, I still remember being exposed to a variety of good music living at home. Rock, blues, country and everything in between was played. But it was Dad’s passion for the guitar solo that affected me in such a way that led to my pursuit for finding (and critically listening to) the perfect instrumental performance. Before I ever began to study music, I remember listening to SRV’s Texas Flood endlessly, memorizing each note of every solo and the way it sounded. I would often sing it back trying to mimic with the right articulation. Anything was fair game because I was learning: Santana’s “Oye Como Va”, Clapton’s “Layla”, Hendrix’s “Fire” and even (the forbidden) Jimmy Page’s solo on “Heartbreaker”. It was the kind of active listening that is required of any serious music student, and I can still sing most of these solos verbatim today.

I strongly recall evenings listening together with Dad to his old LPs and discovering all the cool music that he listened to in high school and college. I remember my excitement when I first heard Jimi Hendrix’s “Gypsy Eyes” for the first time and my initial puzzlement at Buddy Guy’s guitar style. There were also occasions when we took a timeout while woodworking in the garage to hear Albert King deliver another furious guitar solo (“Crosscut Saw” was always my favorite). These are memories that I still treasure and these days, I understand how great it must be to experience those moments with your son.

Dad’s passion for music was always there, and it’s proven to be a strong bond between us still. There are so many lessons and skills that the man taught me over the years, but I think this was the one that he never planned out. When I think of all the times I was chauffeured to and from band rehearsals or lessons or gigs or whatever else, Dad was more than happy to be there. Mom and Dad both were, really. I can’t neglect my mom’s constant support of my musical path. They loved to hear what I was doing even when they didn’t like or understand the music I was pursuing in the same way that I did.

I’m sure that he was eventually won over (even just a little) by my involvement in jazz, ska and reggae music, too. Dad always had an open ear and an opinion of my practice sessions, recordings and live shows, for better or worse. That kind of communication meant a lot in those formative days, because he was my first critic of content and taste. It’s because of my dad that I was able to find the path that I’ve been on for as long as I can remember.

Thanks Dad. I’m eternally grateful.

I’ll post the significant updates here on the blog, but I invite everyone to contribute submissions by either emailing me directly or posting a link in the comments section of the History page. Photos, articles, videos and interviews are welcome (and needed!). Eventually I’ll be able to categorize and sort everything for quick access via search.

Not this year, Kenny. Not EVER.

Don’t let your party get to this point! Instead of playing these worn out, tasteless choices, why not something interesting and fun?

I’ve never been a fan of Christmas/holiday music, not even a little. It’s been a topic of loathing for me ever since I was old enough to develop opinions. I guess the whole “Christmas Creep” thing is a sore subject for everyone. Artists usually turn out a holiday-themed album as a secure entry into their cannon as a marketing ploy. After all, Christmas music sells at least once EVERY year, so why not? Right? Unfortunately, most of this music (also: movies) really REALLY stinks. So, why not trade that bad music in for something better?

For an incredibly thorough list, check out eMusic’s Ultimate Guide to Holiday Music. But I’ll list just a couple here:

For the traditionalist

Vince Guaraldi Trio, A Charlie Brown Christmas
Elvis Presley, Elvis’ Christmas Album (and subsequent reissues)
A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector

Rock, R&B, Soul & Jazz
Rockin’ Little Christmas
Joey Ramone, Christmas Spirit…In My House
Stax Records, Christmas In Soulsville
James Brown, James Brown’s Funky Christmas
Jimmy Smith, Christmas Cookin’

For the Classicist

J.S. Bach, Christmas Oratorio
Benjamin Britten, A Ceremony of Carols
Christmas With The Symphony Brass Of Chicago
Ludwig Guttler Brass Ensemble, Christmas Brass Music

An Esoteric Christmas
Various Artists, Badd Santa
The Mexicali Brass, Christmas With The Mexicali Brass
Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra, A Very Ping Pong Christmas: Funky Treats From Santa’s Bag
Andy Cirzan’s Annual Holiday Mixtape (for a limited time!)

I’ll be playing with Thomas Helton’s Tribute band on January 9 at Ovations. I’m really excited about this because we’ll be performing Miles Davis’ classic Birth of the Cool in its entirety. It’s my first time playing any of these tunes, so I’ve been really studying up on my classic bebop and cool jazz improvisation styles. Sometimes orchestras perform historical concerts on period instruments, and I feel like this is no different from that. But The Birth of the Cool is an historical artifact that I feel is still relevant and influential to many jazz musicians. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

Finally, on February 25 & 26, the 13th Annual Moores School of Music Jazz Festival is taking place. This year’s guest artist is trombonist Andy Martin. He will be giving free noon clinics and a performance with the MSM Jazz Orchestra on Saturday night’s concert. You won’t want to miss the spectacular concerts on both nights, though.

You can always keep up with what I’m doing by checking out my calendar of events, too.

Teaching

I’m still rehearsing the MSM Jazz Ensemble, but I’ve also added to my load with a music appreciation class this semester. Instructing a class is a lot of work, even my little class! While I never thought I’d be on the other side of the grade book, I have found it to be an enjoyable experience. Teaching students how to comprehend music has been an exhausting challenge, one that I hope I’ve been successful at. The learning curve has been difficult, though. Preparing lectures, organizing materials for presentation, handouts & guidelines for assignments, grading those assignments takes a lot more time than expected.

My big goal has been  to offer solid, practical advice on understanding jazz music as an art form. The ability to communicate one’s thoughts are critical, and I only hope that I’ve sharpened some students’ skills when it comes to expressing their opinions more clearly. It’s a lofty goal, I know. But one that I’m interested in seeing accomplished, if only marginally. Between the classroom and the rehearsal room, I’m constantly telling people that they need to be clear in their message. My days are filled with a longing forclarity. This is most certainly a metaphor for my life, I just haven’t pinpointed exactly what yet. Too busy.

There have been some great moments, however. My favorite comment from my class this semester has been from this listening journal entry (in reference to this video of the Stan Kenton Orchestra):

It’s the first time I’ve seen a big band drop all of their instruments and sing together with June Christy. The sound is good but honestly the lyrics ruin the song I think. It’s almost like they are complaining about all the cheap products in Mexico. Nobody likes a complainer. June Christy’s voice is good though. Malaguena >Tampico

And my favorite quote from another jazz history class: “Jazz is more profound when it doesn’t help pay the bills.”

JAZZ: The Smithsonian Anthology

Speaking of jazz, history and jazz history…did you know that the Smithsonian Folkways label is releasing an updated collection of jazz recordings? It’s about time, since their last update was nearly 30 years ago. With it, there is a revised track listing and several [drumroll] NEW recordings! There’s a better representation of the last 60 years, especially, with a more diverse selection of cool, hard bop and avant-garde artists. It seems that they could have done a better job with newer material from the past 15 years, but I appreciate the inclusion of newer artists all the same. Maybe a completely new set featuring jazz music from 1970 and onward? Just a thought.

As part of their marketing campaign for the new set, Smithsonian Folkways has posted a jazz history listening test for all 111 tracks. If you’re on limited time (like me) you can also take the shortened 25-track test. I’m pleased to say that I named all 25 fairly easy: usually identifying the artist better than the song title.

Infographic Madness!

The Beatles are the J.S. Bach of popular music. Their output is both prolific and incredibly influential. More than any other pop group EVER. Time well tell, but I’m fairly certain that I’m correct in this assumption. Which is why there are so many analytical and historical reports on the guys. As a musician, though, I get totally excited whenever I see study of their musical compositions, like this infographic:

Michael Deal did a great job of compiling several strains of information (from song keys to lyrics to collaborations) on the Beatles, resulting in this fantastic page of graphic goodness. For a complete musical analysis of their output, I suggest reading The Beatles As Musicians: Revolver through the Anthology by Walter Everett.

winter Project

I’m loving the recording of “Love for Sale” by the Miles Davis Sextet on The ’58 Sessions album. Especially noteworthy is Cannonball Adderley’s solo. I need to transcribe this and use it in an arrangement for big band. I’ve never spent a lot of time listening to The ’58 Sessions, but if my Listening to Jazz class has done anything for me on a personal level, it’s been a joyful revisiting and rediscovering of jazz classics.

Watch Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense. Just watch it. There’s something for everyone. Young or old. Black or white. From the Lincoln Center to Europe to New Orleans to Africa. It’s the only documentary I’ve seen that gets to the point about jazz music as it stands today. No punches are pulled, no histories are re-cast.

Savory worked as an audio engineer in New York City and recorded radio broadcasts that were previously lost to the ages, but have now been generously donated by his heirs for restoration and digitization. Luckily, The New York Times has been reporting all the latest news in a frenzy.  You can read the full story there.

Also, check out this great interactive feature.

Assembling a YouTube playlist

As part of the course, I’ve decided to implement a journal for students to record their listening habits and tastes as a means of developing their “active listening” skills. To help with this, I’ve started to build a YouTube playlist for each student to remotely access and write about. (Remember less than 10 years ago when copying CDs for playlists could be such a hassle?) In a recent post by another Houston jazz artist/advocate, I noticed the phrase, “Isn’t it funny…how YouTube has become the world’s largest free music jukebox?” This is so true, and yet, I’m a little apprehensive about the notion of assembling a large playlist of videos to obligate students to write about.

First:

Should I program their listening selections? They will already be responsible for knowing a handful of truly great landmark recordings for exams. Is it smart that I should try to continue to cram this stuff down their throats? Would that give me or the student a more honest depiction of their habits and observations? At first, I thought that maybe I should instead open up the listening journal to all musical styles, but this seems counter-productive. After all, I’ll need to be reading these entries and I don’t really need to read 20+ entries on hip-hop or country music or whatever else. Instead, I’ll just try to include as much significant jazz music (and jazz-based music) that can be had on YouTube, whatever I feel will be relevant to the course. I just hope it doesn’t discourage anyone from exploring a new realm of music, something I consider to be the most exciting aspect of listening.

Second:

YouTube has those darn user comments. Do we really need to be subjected to some anonymous person’s pretentious and/or racist remarks on ANYTHING? I just read a great CNN article on this. My vote? Eliminate these completely from YouTube.

Future of Jazz?

Here’s another good read on the future of jazz, or better yet: jazz today. I’m really looking closely at the history of jazz music in the United States, its cultural impact and its significance. I’ll have to be teaching this to people who I assume will have had little to no encounters with the music in their past, and if they did, it was probably unpleasant. Because of this, I’ve been reassessing all those big artistic questions that need to be answered in order to explain and defend anything deemed “relevant” or “important”. I have no problem doing this and I think it’s something that a lot of artists should do more often, especially in the 21st century. (For instance: “cool” ≠ “art”)

I have yet to watch Icons Among Us, but I speculate that it’s a worthwhile documentary that appeals to both the jazz enthusiast as well as the newbie without being shackled by the pre-conceived notions of historical conventions of the art form. And really, that’s my goal for this course. I want new people to appreciate a music that has played a crucial role in the development of our country, in addition to understanding why it’s still significant and NOT dead. While you must acknowledge the history and the classics, you cannot also lose sight of the present and future.

I just hope this works. (crossing fingers)

It’s commencement day at the University of Houston.  That means we’re unleashing a whole new batch of young and energetic college graduates into “the real world”.  Regardless of their major, age, interests or skills acquired while in college, I encourage these new graduates to continue to focus on a bigger goal: communication.

Whatever it is that you want to do in life, it’s important to know that you can’t get there alone.  People need people, and building a supportive constituency is critical. So please, work on your communication skills in order to spread your ideas and goals to people outside of your immediate circle.  In 2008, Robert Krulwich over at WYNC’s Radiolab gave what I consider to be the best advice to a graduating class at California Institute of Technology. Do yourself a favor and give his speech a listen.  It’s worth every minute you have.