Rakatá!

So I've been playing trombone with a new band for two or three weeks now- a local latin pop band called Rakatá. The two percussionist/singers who run it really know their stuff. They do pop songs with a latin flavor (Colombian, Brazilian, salsa, merengue, timba, etc.), and traditional latin songs with a more soulful crossover sound. If you've heard modern pop music from Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil- it's that kind of thing. Phoenix is full of salsa bands, but these guys are doing something unique here, as far as I know. Very fun, very danceable, and a great situation for a trombonist.

I haven't been able to invite people out to the gigs yet because I'm not a member of the band- they just hire me when they can afford an extra person- and so far I haven't known about the gigs until a few days before- but I definitely recommend seeing them (for you Phoenix folks). They (we?) play every Tuesday at the Asia de Cuba (in the Hotel Mondrian in Scottsdale), every Friday at Trader Vic's (by the Valley Ho in Scottsdale), and I think they have a Saturday gig starting soon, somewhere on the west side.

Here's their myspace page, if you're interested.

Sextet Concert Last Month

A month ago, I got to present a concert of original music as part of the Jazz in the Hills series, in Fountain Hills, AZ. The musicians were Mike Krill on saxophones, Denny Monce on trumpet, myself on trombone, Dave Henning on piano, Tim Paree on bass, and Andy Ziker on drums, who all learned a lot of my tunes in a very short time. I've posted a few of them here, on the left, just below my gig calendar. I really want to record cleaner, tighter versions, but for now, enjoy! The first four are originals- Mo' Better Blues is the theme from the movie of the same name, composed by Bill Lee.

Why did it take me a month to get these up here? Well, I've had a long month. If you're a friend of mine (and I doubt many other people ever read this), then you probably already know what's been going on for me- if you don't, just ask. If you're an enemy, I'm not telling.

Corporate Affair

Last Sunday, I was accepted into Corporate Affair, a very special function band here in Phoenix. It's run by Michael Pollack, who, aside from being a drummer, is a successful businessman and local philanthropist. (I'm also in his debt for starting my favorite (and the only) local discount movie theater.) The band is dedicated to helping raise funds for local causes and non-profits, and keeps very busy playing benefits, charity events, and city functions. It's a full-out show band, with background singers, a dedicated percussionist, and now a full horn section ('cause it ain't full unless there's a bone in there!) I'll be adding their dates to my calendar- we're basically off for the summer after a July 4th gig, but then have a regular schedule all winter long. Anyway, I'm psyched, for the music, the new folks to know, and (as my friend Tyrone of K2 always said) the cha-ching.

More Practicing

Last week I tried to coordinate a session to record a few of my jazz tunes that have been sitting around forever. The session ended up not happening- the people I called couldn't find common time, at least not yet- but in the five days before I found out it wasn't going to happen, I started practicing a lot- first by being more consistent about playing at the community college in the morning before work, and then for the last two days, after work as well, usually about 40 minutes each. I guess when I imagined recording myself, I immediately heard things I wanted to change in my playing- plus I had to learn all these tunes I had written so long ago. Anyway, it's been a heavy schedule sometimes, and if I want to keep it going I'll probably have to lessen my other commitments- but it's felt really good too. The disheartening feeling of having to relearn the horn every time I pick it up is finally disappearing. My a.m. routine is the Schlossberg daily drills book, sight-reading, and etudes for technique, and my p.m. routine is Caruso excercises, learning jazz tunes, and working on improvising.

Funny picture

This is the gig I played Friday night with the "Sonoran Serenade" big band at a golf course in Carefree, AZ. I thought it was a funny picture.

Part Two: 21st century trombone

So then, in the same weekend, I was lucky enough to go to a concert by saxophonist Kenny Garrett. Garrett is 44, played in some big bands early on, but has made a long career leading small groups. At different times, his playing and compositions are playful, funky, spiritual, and often draw on various world cultures. I've known many saxophone players who consider him one of their favorite players. Anyway, on Sunday he played a concert in Chandler, AZ as one of the headlining artists for the Chandler jazz festival. Let me see if I can describe why this show was so inspirational:

The show's MC introduced the band as "a swinging good time", but when they hit it was like stepping into a trendy shoe store in NYC- very modern house rhythm, very ambient, evolving slowly through textures. The organist played cloud-like morphing synth pads, drums and bass slammed out the house beat, and Garrett played his saxophone sparingly, and only through effects pedals, using wah and distortion to get an evocative, electric sound. Garrett also played his sax through a keyboard synth, distorting the sound even farther beyond recognition. They still played some songs with heads and solos, but the emphasis was on continuously evolving texture, subtle rhythmic play, and relentless modern groove, not on blowing hard and fast through chord changes. Garrett also had a Rhodes onstage, and he would often put down his saxophone and join the rhythm section, picking out repeating rhythmic figures that would be picked up by the band and take the feel in a new direction.

Anyway, after a weekend of being sad that the 20th century was gone, this made me psyched for the 21st. I was just so inspired to see his approach- that his band was as danceable as any dance music- that his solos weren't about "showing off" or even playing choruses, but were more directly evocative, often like vocal cries- that there's still room for creativity about form and texture- and that there doesn't have to be anything old-fashioned about jazz. It was really a good model for me, and really inspired me to keep playing and to put together my own band. Of course, it's hard enough to do what's been done before; doing something that's never been done before, like Garrett is doing, probably requires exceptionally talented and creative musicians- but it's an exciting goal. I gotta go buy some pedals...

Part One: 20th century trombone

Two weekends ago I had two experiences that really showed me what it means to be a trombonist today. My write-up of them is LONG, so if you don't have the attention to read it all, the conclusion is: I'm sad the 20th century is gone, but I'm hopeful about the 21st. This is part One.

On Saturday, I went to Charlie Small's monthly invite-only trombone group (usually 8-12 of the better local trombonists), which mainly plays Charlie's arrangements of classical works. I've been many times, and I knew that Charlie used to be a trombonist with a TV station in New York, but didn't really know what he'd done. On Saturday, he was asked to tell his life story as a trombonist, which follows:

Charlie grew up in New York City, a Jewish kid on the lower East side in the 1930's. At night, he listen to the radio and hear live broadcasts of dance bands from around the country, often with beautiful trombone solos, so when his parents asked him to learn an instrument, he chose the trombone. He played well enough in high school to get a gig with a local dance orchestra that payed him $125/week, which at the time was a decent salary. Through that gig, he was asked to sub with trombonist Tommy Dorsey's band when they played a New York theater. The gig was sold out, and Charlie read the Dorsey book well enough that they offered him the chair, which he accepted as soon as he graduated high school.

Charlie made lots of money playing with the Dorsey band, but he didn't enjoy being on the road, so after a few years of touring he returned to New York. A local contractor quickly put him to work as a substitute trombonist with the NBC New York television orchestra, and after a short time he was hired as a permanent musician. At that time, each broadcasting TV station in major cities had an staff orchestra to record music for all the shows produced there. He would arrive each morning to find a schedule of recording sessions for the day- a mystery show one day, a drama the next day, etc.

Charlie stayed at NBC for most of his career, until broadcasting stations began making producers rent their own sound stage and hire their own musicians, which made recording musicians into freelancers. In his last working years, he made a living playing trombone in Broadway shows. He retired to Phoenix, and now leads this very informal monthly group.

I was really, really depressed by hearing his story. I think this is because some part of me wanted to take him as a role model- after all, he's been successful as a trombonist in a way I often imagined being, when I was in college, and in the years after, as I tried to figure out what I could possibly do with my musical ambitions. I was depressed because almost no part of his career could exist today. There are no trombone solos on popular radio. No one can make a living gigging one night a week with a dance band- if they can find such a gig at all- and certainly, young players don't "just stumble into" such a band. Big bands are a small niche market, few rock bands tour with horn sections, and there certainly aren't any trombonist/bandleaders like Dorsey that sell out major venues. Sample libraries have replaced most recording work, and what's left is much more geographically focused and competitive, with movie and TV scores being recorded almost exclusively in Los Angeles (or overseas). Even Broadway shows now use mainly pre-recorded music.

And there's a professionalism that comes from experience, from steady work and regular opportunities, and I don't think that professionalism can be imitated or learned any other way. I was envious that Charlie got that, as a trombonist, in a way that I never will- and mainly I was just sad that I had missed the 20th century.

No Dragonfly for now

I guess we'll be back at Dragonfly sometime soon- but for now I have Fridays free. Anybody know of a good Friday jam session?

Gigs!

I have my first regular gig in Phoenix!

Privas is me on trombone, Nick Watts on drums, Harald Weinkum on bass, and Dave Henning on keyboard. I was stressing about playing keyboard with them (see my last post), but I couldn't make their first gig, and my sub Dave asked if he could stay. So now there are four and I get to play trombone, and I'm psyched. We're playing every week at a Vietnamese restaurant in Tempe called Dragonfly. I posted before that it would be Thursdays, but we may be switching to Fridays. Stay tuned.

Musical Identity Crisis

Can anyone give me some advice about this?

I think I have sideman's fever. I'm tired of playing in other people's musical groups and working hard to do what they want. I want to be in charge of some music that's MINE, based on my thinking and my creativity.

And I'm having a bit of a musical identity crisis. I teach piano and guitar lessons, I practice and play trombone at jam sessions and in a big band, I'm occasionally playing drumset at my boss' church, and at work I pretend to play all the instruments- and it's all fun!

At this point, the main ways I can think of to be creative and in charge are to:

- lead a combo playing trombone
- lead a combo playing piano
- sing my vocal songs alone at the piano
- compose music for local independent filmmakers

The last one sounds a little too much like going to work after work, so I think I won't worry about it right now. But the other three seem equally exciting and ambitious. I could do any of them if I worked at it, practiced, etc.

Any one of these would probably require me giving up the others. Being in charge of something takes more time and energy than just being a sideman. And I want time to relax and cook and be social, after all. I'm excited about playing trombone, and piano, and singing my songs, and don't want to give up any of them. But as long as I try to do everything, I don't seem to have time to do anything. So I have to pick one. I've spent a million hours writing, thinking and talking about this choice, and I STILL CAN'T DECIDE.

I've been stressing about this off and on since I moved, but part of the reason it's up now is that I just took a weekly trio gig at a Vietnamese restaurant in Tempe. I'll be playing piano, with my friend Nick Watts on drums and the amazing Harald Weinkum on bass. It was offered to me, it paid okay, and I was excited to be leading something, so I took it. But now I'm thinking- does this mean I'm about to give up trombone, just when I'm playing so beautifully? Does this mean I'm never going to be the singer/songwriter I imagined being? Why can't I make a decision about this part of my life?

If any of you reading have any ideas, perspective, or advice for me, please let me know!