Cristian Amigo's "Kingdom of Jones" Beyond Category

Duke Ellington once said that great music is "beyond category." But if he were alive today, writing a blog on the internet, he'd be pulling his hair out. The internet and its search engines thrive on pigeonholing absolutely everything. Is it music? OK, what kind? Well that isn't always easy to put in terms of keywords. But they need that so that when somebody searches for Ugandan Traditional Tribal Music, for example, they get a ranked list of links.

Now that's fine in its own way but in the advanced worlds of modern music-making, categories that once were hard and fast seem to be breaking down. And that doesn't mean that it's all "Fusion," either.

Today's recording is a good example. Composer-conceptualist-musician Cristian Amigo has put together a program of music in his Kingdom of Jones (Innova 671) that proceeds, so to speak, from station to station, each station evoking a sound world that doesn't always easily translate into some musical category. You find contemporary improvisation, jazz and rock elements, electronics, ambient music, funk, a sort of drums 'n' bass sound, hints of electronica, hip hop inflections, a hint of world music influence, with some sampling involved, electronic collage, blues-like segments, musique concrete, new music, avant garde classical and things that combine more than one element at a time.

Cristian Amigo plays electric and acoustic guitar in parts throughout the recording, and so that's one factor that provides a point of reference. And he plays interesting things too. But the thrust of the work is contained in all the pieces and stylistic elements considered as a whole. Art imitates life, one well favored version of a world view has it. If that's so, Cristian Amigo has created the equivalent to a walk through Grand Central Station, where every imaginable sort of person may be walking by you. Would you classify the people in Grand Central Station as one sort of group? If you did, you would have to come up with generalities that are meaningless in some ways. "Travelers by train?" Mostly. But so what? I feel that way in trying to describe Kingdom of Jones in some straightforwardly ham-headed way. So I wont.

This is music. It is music that goes from point A to point B in a non-direct route through all kinds of geometric thickets. It is music that can be heard profitably many times because it is born of a complex aural orientation. It is not written out, apparently, as much as it is performed and assembled. So it is like a visual art assemblage combined with a performance piece? Not exactly.

What makes this recording worth hearing is that every piece in the puzzle somehow fits the whole; and every piece has intrinsic interest as music. There are quiet sections of dreamy contemplation. There are toe-tapping grooves, some psychedelic rock moments, sprawling but brief soundscapes, and some really interesting guitar work.

Don't expect a certain thing when you listen to this music. Take that tact and you'll be surprised and I would hope delighted with the various outcomes in any given section. Amigo makes music here that expresses a something that might not be defined in words to good advantage. It is the multiplicity of the modern experience.

Charlie Parker and the "Bird in Time" Box Set

Originally posted on November 26, 2008

Alto sax and bebop godfather Charlie Parker has been represented on disk by hundreds of releases since the beginning of his career and especially after the advent of the long playing record. Private recordings, radio airchecks and other rarities have come in and out of print rapidly and, in some cases, repeatedly. There’s a new CD box set out there that consolidates some of the best and the most rare, along with some of his commercial recordings, all covering the important period of 1940-1947, when he and Dizzy Gillespie established their revolutionary innovations as a full-blown musical movement. That set, Bird in Time (ESP), gives you four full CDs and a duo of informative booklets.

They approach Bird’s career chronologically, allowing you to follow his first entrance on the scene with Jay McShann and others, and then on to the Parker style in full flower. It’s remarkable to listen to his first demo and compare it with some of the last recordings in the set, to see how much he matured in that period. The compilation is sprinkled with interesting interviews with Charlie himself and some of his fellow travelers. But the thrust of the music is what is critical.

This boxed collection is a well-produced, thoroughgoing supplement to the absolutely critical sides he made for Savoy Records from the latter half of the forties, as well as many of those he made for Dial records at that time. There are a few of the Dial recordings in this set, but someone who wants a truly representative slice of Bird at his most influential and astounding should look for the complete master takes on those labels, which are readily available last time I checked.

The Bird in Time set fills in with Bird evolving stage-by-stage, mainly in a live setting. It is certainly a must for dedicated Parker aficionados and an ear-grabbing listen for anyone who wants to know how this music developed. His breathtaking performances with Diz and others show you that, when the music was fresh and everyone in good form, this was a major milestone in American music, truly the beginnings of what we call modern jazz. And it’s just great music!

The First Recordings of Ray Charles

Originally posted on December 12, 2007

Nat “King” Cole. Right. Everybody remembers him singing “Unforgettable” or whatever in front of a microphone. But who remembers that a.) He was one of the most important jazz pianists of the ‘40s; and b.) long before he was fabulously popular he had a trio of bass, piano and electric guitar and would do advanced instrumental pieces as well as vocals? He was not so commercial as he became, but tremendously respected in those days by musicians and those who liked jazz.

Ray Charles had a similar period (really a few, but that’s another story). When he first started recording for Swing Tone and Down Beat records (1949-1952) he had a trio just like Nat’s and sometimes even sung like him. Other times he would do blues and soul sides that set the stage for what he would start doing so well and successfully for Atlantic Records. On these early sides his trio was on the beam and there are some larger band arrangements as well from then. A Night Trane 2CD set of his early work (complete) came out a little while ago and it’s well worth having. The man was terrific, even then. Listen to “Hey Now” or “See See Rider” and you’ll get the idea.