Jimmy Peggie: Sound | Vision

One of the greatest Irish jazz composers and performers is Ronan Guilfoyle. He is active on both the Irish jazz scene and the international scene. He has composed music in a wide range of styles including for both classical and jazz ensembles. Ronan is also a bassist and his instrument of choice is the acoustic bass guitar. This is an unusual instrument for either classical or jazz music and one which I hold in high esteem.

Ronan also writes about jazz and has a book entitled Creative Rhythmic Concepts for Jazz Improvisation which has been hailed by many present day jazz greats.

I also enjoy his essays on jazz. There is a copy of an interview from his website that goes into detail about playing by ear as opposed to being formally taught.

“I played by ear. This would be in a live playing situation as a jazz musician. I would hear stuff that I could not intellectually process but could aurally process. I was always waiting, as I said to you, to be unmasked as the impostor that I was.”

I think most musicians are constantly on guard about being found out to be the imposter they always believe they are. They reason being that learning music is a life long task, and even then at the end of the journey there is an endless spectrum of musical knowledge still to learn.

Musicians are also well aware of their shortcoming, which again puts them on the defensive. It’s cool that Ronan was able to state this in the interview. Long live all the imposters!!

One of the best things to happen to the Phoenix music scene is the Phoenix Creative Music Movement. Where else could go hang out and see a progressive vocal/drums duo?

Their latest show at Modified featured Theo Bleckmann on voice and John Hollenbeck on drums. Not the most extensive of line ups and not conventional instrumentation for a duo – but what a show they put on!!

Bleckmann looped his voice to produce sounds that were at times chant like, at times sounding like a choir, and at other times pretty indefinable. With a 3 ½ octave scale on hand (or rather on throat) the possibilities were endless. As the Chicago Reader said “forget everything you have heard before.”

Hollenbeck produced a wall of sound and rhythms, no – not loud and obnoxious, but subtle and sublime. Half the time I did not know what he was doing. I took a wander over to his drum set after the show and looked at his equipment. I did not know whether I was in Home Depot or ToysRUs!! And there was some rubber piping that looked as though it had been acquired from a colonic supply store.

Together they produced a mesmerizing performance.

January 25th means its Burns Day! What can I say – perhaps our greatest poet. His words say it all:

Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a’ that,)
That Sense and Worth, o’er a’ the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an’ a’ that.
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
It’s coming yet for a’ that,
That Man to Man, the world o’er,
Shall brothers be for a’ that.

(written in 1795 – a year before his death at the age of 37)

Just a quick word on the change of location for my Sunday morning duo gig with Mike Livingston the sax player. We are moving from Common Grounds Coffeeshop in Scottsdale to Coffee Talk in Mesa. We will play from 10:30 to 12:30. Our music is meditative/atmospheric and generally free form.

I’ve been meaning to write down my thoughts about the latest CD by Jaga Jazzist for a wee while now. Guess what? I love it! What do I love about it? Well, the tunes are so different, but they work so well. Its the transitions that I dig. Just when a tune is going in one particular direction there is a switch to another theme. I’ve heard other bands doing this, but never as well as Jaga Jazzist.

Having a 10 piece line up enables the band infinite possibilities with regards to dynamics and texture. And they use it to great effect. Take track 2 (Stardust Hotel) for example. It comes with a real rock feel and a terrific out there melody played on a distorted wind instrument (I’m guessing) things quieten down with a distinctly stringy /electronics feel. Then back for a triumphant finale. Another example is the last track (I Have a Ghost Now What) which takes things to even more extremes. Very hard to describe. But like I said it works. And the thing is that they have a certain sound that is distinctly Jaga Jazzist. The more you listen, the better it gets! Check it out.

Phoenix Creative Music Movement presents Theo Bleckmann (voice, loops)& John Hollenbeck (percussion, drums)at Modified ArtsTuesday, January 247:30 p.m. $7 These two New York improvisers intimately create melodious and mercurialsoundscapes. Bleckmann and Hollenbeck work with layering, contrast and harmonyusing voice, drums, percussion, found objects, low-tech electronic gadgets andtoys. Both have been working in the New York jazz and improvisers scene foralmost a decade performing with such greats as Anthony Braxton, Laurie Anderson,Bang On a Can and Merce Cunningham Dance Company (Theo Bleckmann) and BobBrookmeyer, David Liebman, Cuong Vu and Mark Morris Dance Group (JohnHollenbeck).

All the latest news from Vladivostok here. In English too. Some cool photos to look at. Always wanted to hop on a bus and go there.

Charlie Haden is one of my favorite musicians, and he just happens to play bass. He started in show business at the age of 22 months, singing with his family on the radio. In his teens he got into jazz and was a member of the Ornette Coleman group blazing the trail of avant-guard or free jazz in the early 1960′s. Since then he has headed in a more mainstream direction, but always producing music that is creative amd meaninful. Here is an article from a Springfield, MO newspaper outlining his career in detail.

It seems like everyone I know either speaks Italian or is learning to speak Italian! With these people in mind I would like to pass on this link to Jazzitalia That way you can read about jazz and practice your Italian at the same time.

It also includes a brilliant collection of photos form various Italian jazz festivals.

I bumped into Jim Pipkin the Americana Folk musician at a gig I was playing on Friday night. Last year I had the honor of laying down some bass on his recently released CD ‘Time is Talking.’ Please check it out if you can as it is great. It is available at Amazon.com amongst other places. Jim is a really cool guy and you can read all about him at his website here. After we chatted Jim led me out to his truck and presented me with two cases of Guinness. Jim you are truly a gentleman and a scholar….

I bought this CD a few years ago as it was publicized as cutting edge European jazz. Every year or so I dig it out and give it another listen as I can never recall what I dislike about it. Well now I have figured it out. Its the drumming. Its too how shall I put this – jazzy – if that makes sense. It doesn’t fit the music in my opinion. (I am being kind here as a found that damn persistent rat-a-tat-tat throughout the recording really obnoxious) Obviously the band was interested in seeking out new sounds but kept the jazz drummer just to retain their ‘Blue Note’ worthiness. In my opinion it would have been a much better recording if the drummer was dropped completely from the mix. Ouch….