Just like to formally announce my new pet-project. TheFaure.com
Continue below for our artsy mission statement. Way more info to come.
Gabriel Faure - Composer
Imagine for a moment a place - a place where musical minds of different ages, genres, temperaments and tastes could come together, work out their differences whilst celebrating those differences simultaneously. Imagine being able to change someone's mind for the better - not by shouting them down, but by opening their eyes. Imagine having an artistic voice - and having that voice not only heard, but listened to and acknowledged.
No one can give you these things - they must be stolen in the night - and you must be organized. This is our goal: to elevate the whole of musical taste. Not just the educated, not just the upper crust, not just the young and the wealthy, the whole. All of it together.
Rachelle Ferrell is as unique as a singer comes - but not because of musical genre. She’s one of those hybrid jazz, r&b, pop divas that have been on the scene about as long as there has been a scene. Ferrell’s got vocal chops galore. The highs, the lows, the screeches, you heard that right, screeches. She’s got it all. That’s the good news and the bad news all wrapped up into one. She can do whatever she wants, and typically does.
This particular performance of Autumn Leaves from 1989 starts off generically enough with the standard intro from the Cannonball/Miles version, but quickly gets out. When you see her mouth go all crazy around the 30 second mark you know this isn’t going to be your grandpa’s version of Leaves. And, as much as a singer with braces can get tribal, it gets a bit tribal in there before the intro is through. You don’t see many jazz/r&b/pop singers getting crazy on stage in front of a big crowd much these days, and I have to say, it feels quite refreshing. But on to the song. We’ve still got about eight minutes to go.
That sound she makes the first time she sings the word “autumn” is what we in the vocal biz call a “Brittany Spears.” It’s not really singing. It’s more of a guttural speaking of the word that certainly is meant to have a great deal of feeling, but always ends up sounding a bit digestive instead. Al Jarreau does this too, but, I dare say is the only one that can do it and still sound legitimate (Jarreau is not just another one of these jazz/r&b/pop singers - he’s the king).
Please pause a moment at the 1:55 mark and consider her pronunciation of the word “saouwuoung.” Thank you.
I’m definitely proud of her for improvising. It’s a tricky thing for a singer for a number of reasons, and many don’t even attempt it. Although I’ve heard some great solos by Ferrell, this one starts out with a combination of r&b stylized moans and, for the most part, random frills and runs. Not a lot of real melody there. Or rhythm. But when it comes to feeling, forget about it.
The high notes sound great and they really ramp well into the next chorus, but then we realize the frightening truth that all that high singing has temporarily turned Ferrell into a brain eating zombie. And then, just when you think she’s going to break out of your computer and knock on your front door the aforementioned screech pulls the whole glorious solo together.
At least the piano player has some class (4:30).
Once the saxophone takes over I’ve suddenly forgot what makes this performance so unique, as I seem to have stumbled into a Jamie Abersold after school special.
It’s gets real nice and ghetto the last time through the chorus and this most unique of unique vocal jazz rides is about to come to an end. But through it all we learned a bit about what is possible and can still hopefully fall asleep at night without the threat of a zombie Rachelle Ferrell knocking on our door.
Here's a brief caption from an interview the AV Club Twin Cities did a bit ago with singer, pianist, and composer Ben Folds regarding his most recent album with Nick Hornby.
He mentions towards the end of the interview that in the old days he used to sign as many burned CD's as real ones. The interviewer asked him if he though that was stealing. His response is copied below, and I think it's both telling and true.
AV Club: You never felt like burning CDs was stealing?
Ben Folds: Yeah, I’ve always been fine with it; I let people know that right up front. I feel bad for record companies now. No matter what kind of karma they had coming to them, I still feel bad about how they have to scrap to make a living, and how many of my friends have been laid off. [...] It’s not a pretty place. But having said that, I also know how much I made from royalties from record sales alone. It’s not very much. Most artists would be surprised at how much money they make from selling records. So the question becomes “Hundreds of thousands of people will listen to your music, but they’ll be stealing it from your record company,” and you say, “Well, what does that mean to me?” Nothing. Really, nothing. That aspect of my business didn’t make that much, so I don’t care.Metallica said that they care, and maybe they were making more off of record sales, I don’t know. But all those artists who signed those petitions to stop people from stealing their music, well, maybe they should have checked to see how much they were making from royalties first. But it doesn’t bother me, I’d rather have the hundreds of thousands of people hear my music. [Laughs.] To me, having a record company is the way you look famous and important, to let people know that you’re sanctioned by “the man,” and when you go play gigs, it’s like “as seen on TV,” that kind of thing. But I know that stealing music has been bad for people, I’m not going to say I’m happy for it, but it’s not a bad thing for music. It’s a bad thing for the music industry. And those two things are different.
You may have noticed (although probably not) that my website has been down for some time now. Well... I finally wrestled it back from it's captures and am in the process of rebuilding it.
Well, the bad news is that I didn't get to write a new melody today. The good news is that it's because I was busy putting together my awesome new bike.
Here's a melody from the vault. Written more than a year ago for my album "The Joy of Driving." It seemed fitting seeing as I wrote this song about travel and I have a new way of getting around.
After talking to my friend Nick M. today about the Bad Plus, I was in the mood to write a song with a little bass line and a few surprises (don't steal that musical assessment of the Bad Plus from me Pandora - you bastards).
Check it out. I considered calling it "Teeth," but upon reflection, that title seemed gross.
I just wanted to post my response to one of my friends recent posts on facebook. He's a great guy and a hard worker, but I feel like he's the prime target of a lot of misinformation spiraling around regarding healthcare. Now, I don't believe I'm an expert on the subject or anything, but I've heard enough from both sides of the argument to take a position. And, as someone currently without healthcare, I am most definitely an interested party.
Here's his post followed by my response(s).
Mike RobinsonThanks Obama and other various crazy-assed left politicians. The health care "reform" will end up taxing the hell out of us who actually worked hard for a decent job/career that provides health care. Hope you can buy back your senate seat from Blagoi..????..vich.
Not yet...but soon. I'm just worried, because all the big corps that employee all of us college grads, are announcing that they have to cut back on a lot because of new "tax issues" concerning the new legislation on health care.
Oh, Michael. Most likely they're lying to you... Those big companies want to lay you off to try to save a buck and their corporate asses, and poor people who can't afford health care are the ones they blame for it. Don't be mad at the poor people, or the ones trying to help. Be mad at the greed. Be mad at the insurance companies who have denied coverage to sick and dying children for years. Be mad at the financial policy makers of the last 16 years. And know that these "new taxes" will only apply to the disgustingly wealthy (who have ridiculous health care plans), and won't kick in for another two years. Everything else is a lie. The people creating these lies want to maintain the status quo of big big business and are leading us down a path were the middle class (you and I and our parents) no longer exist. There'll be just rich and poor. And I'd rather not be poor... (or poorer) right?
More money to the G-men, screws all of us.
This is in no way to try to humiliate Mike - instead, I thought we could continue the discussion on the blog?
While my revue of their venue (Catalina Jazz Club) wasn't on the rosy side, my review of their set(s) definitely was. They played with imagination and energy and were a bit of a breath of fresh air for someone who hasn't heard a high level of live music lately.
The next day we hung out at a great little taco place (which just so happens is owned by the cousin of jazz singer Diane Reeves) and hit up what is probably the final living saint of record stores, Amoeba Music... it's the highlander, there can be only one.
(the great thing about dropping names in a blog is that you can hyperlink all of them - or is that the worst?)
In a related story, Nick, Fabian and I saw one of the ZZ Tops and heard a guy utter what is, so far, probably the worst iPad joke - "Forget iPad, check out my iC@ck!"
