Monday Michiru Corner

[jazzbo]

Niiiiiiice. Thanks Rod!

[jazzbo]

Further spreading the word and piquing interest:

AAJ thread

[JSngry]

Noted and responded to, Lon!

[jazzbo]

And it only took you about three seconds longer than I thought it would!

[JSngry]

My damn Comcast cable internet's been requiring frequent power cycles ever since Saturday or else it would've been sooner!

Can an AAJ restraining order be far off?

[king ubu]

Got me "4 seasons" (thanks to who posted the above link to Amazon.co.uk!). Played it once, liked it, but I must confess it didn't jump at me (yet?). Will play it again over the weekend, though!

The arrangements reminded me a bit of some of the better Incognito things (the "100° Rising" I still like quite a bit, sort of a holdover from past...), but it's obvious there's more to it. Maybe like the music of Maria Schneider: subtle things that don't scream out how great they are and that you may not be able to really do justice to without repeated (and concentrated) listening?

[jazzbo]

Well, I must say that I DO find things to enjoy on repeated listening, elements and details that didn't jump out at me at first.

I love the fact that it's not this or that entirely. . . it's something else from this and that. . . .That's how it hits me.

Listening to "Jazz Brat" right now. Really like the bossa nova elements of "Scat Attack."

[JSngry]

Yep, it didn't jump out at me the first few times either. But when it finally did, it jumped out screaming.

There's just so much "there" there...

[jazzbo]

I think what keeps me coming back to her is the laughter, the happiness I hear in her music. Man oh man. Anxiety and gloom suck. Take that from me.

"With hope I just want to live." "In life I just want to give." (from "Play it by Ear", version on Recollections).

Right now I HAVE to echo those feelings. If not my present situation would crush me. I'm learning to play it by ear. Thanks Monday. As she says, "Peace."

[king ubu]

These positive vibes certainly are a quality per se - I can fully understand that! And I felt them, too, upon my first listen. Not that I always like this positive vibe, but it's good to have it somewhere, if one needs it!

Jim, thanks for plugging me to this new artist, and thanks for confirming my notion of the complexity of the music (or certainly of the arrangements, at least) - looking forward even more to a concentrated listen now!

[JSngry]

The complexity for me is not just in the arrangements, or evenin the songs themselves, although that certainly is there.

The real complexity, and the one that finally got in side my head and permanently messed it up, is the complexity of essence - the "unimusic" aspect of her work that I talked about earlier.

Think about it - how many people are able to naturally bring all they are to their work? And how many people are so many things, not in an "either-or" way, but in a naturally oraganic way? Not that many, and even fewer over the last couple decades as societal and industrial changes have led to music getting more and more segregated, even as people are getting more and more culturally integrated. The global village is a reality, whether we realize it or not.

You think about how special a person it takes to, not just "fuse" all these things, but to seemingly be all these things and still be an individual, much less what it takes to bring the nature of that individuality to a creative expression, and it makes one stop and take stock of exactly what it means to be a thinking, feeling, loving person in today's world. Not yesterday's world, but today's.

It's easy living in yesterday's world, where identities (and therefore destinies) of all kinds are pretty much pre-defined. It's a lot harder to let go of all that, stand in the present, and look towards the future with all of the good things from the past along for the ride as tools of propulsion, not anchors of inertia.

Monday seems to me to be the type of person for whom that more difficult way is the natural way, and for me, it's been a revelation to start thinking about my life in that way. I'd been getting old without realizing, and I'd been getting comfortable with that oldness. No more. I'm still more than willing to mature, gain whatever wisdom borne of experience I'm able to get, and to physically age. But I'll be damned if I'm going to get old.

Old means saying "oh well" instead of "why not?" Old means only dreaming with your eyes closed, never with them open. Old means letting your lifeforce dwindle away and pretending that that's the way it's supposed to be. Old means losing the ability to distinguish between defeat and surrender.

Old is the beginning of death. The body will die soon enough, regardless of the age of the spirit it contains, so why not keep the spirit alive, fresh, ready for surprises, and ever-growing? Why the hell not?

Give me wisdom, give me maturity, and give me age. Those things I will accept with gratitude as the blessings of life that they are.

But under no circumstances will I accept old.

[jazzbo]

I can see it now: Jim gets to meet Monday. He breaks into song. . . "God bless YOU. . . You make me feel BRAND NEW!"

[JSngry]

Nah, it'd be "Thank You...Falettinme...Be Mice Elf...Agin"

[jazzbo]

If I met her it'd be more like Barney Fife than anything. . . .

[jazzbo]

(Prettier than Bill Murray) Edited June 18, 2006 by jazzbo

[slide_advantage_redoux]

I know that Sangrey has touched on the music by this wonderful writer, since he laid some cds on me. This shit is very nice! She is all over the stylistic map. I hear hints of Chick Corea melodicism (Light as a Feather influenced things....whether conscious or not)

There is some very nice urban rap here, with incisive political observations. Not trite or for the effect here.

The horn writing is superb too. (specifically I am talking about the 2 disc set "4 Seasons").

The musicianship is superb on every cut. NY cats are killing it. Grooves out the ass!

Thanks Sangrey, thanks very much! I am digging this hard.

[jazzbo]

I know that Sangrey has touched on the music by this wonderful writer, since he laid some cds on me. This shit is very nice! She is all over the stylistic map. I hear hints of Chick Corea melodicism (Light as a Feather influenced things....whether conscious or not)

There is some very nice urban rap here, with incisive political observations. Not trite or for the effect here.

The horn writing is superb too. (specifically I am talking about the 2 disc set "4 Seasons").

The musicianship is superb on every cut. NY cats are killing it. Grooves out the ass!

Thanks Sangrey, thanks very much! I am digging this hard.

I'm digging her work as well. Enormously talented woman!

There's a long thread of appreciation and information here helping to spread the word:

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=26405

Monday with her son (husband Alex Sipiagin, arranger of those horn charts, not pictured)

[DatDere]

I've checked out some of her stuff after all the praise on this board. I like the music a lot, wish the lyrics were a little less cheesy though (nofi..)

[jazzbo]

That was my wish too at first.

BUT. . . .

Now I really love them because they're really sincere (my conclusion). She really means them. From all I can gather this is what she believes and feels and what has worked for her.

Hitting me now at a time when I need optimism and hope and love and trust more than ever, I have to say I ENJOY them. Not sure I would have as much in another time and place.

Plus. . . I love the way she sings them.

[JSngry]

I've checked out some of her stuff after all the praise on this board. I like the music a lot, wish the lyrics were a little less cheesy though (nofi..)

That was my wish too at first.

BUT. . . .

Now I really love them because they're really sincere (my conclusion). She really means them. From all I can gather this is what she believes and feels and what has worked for her.

Hitting me now at a time when I need optimism and hope and love and trust more than ever, I have to say I ENJOY them. Not sure I would have as much in another time and place.

Plus. . . I love the way she sings them.

Same here. If you have too much spare time than is good for you , you can read how at the beginning of this thread I was kinda snickering at her lyrics. But they won me over, and for the reasons Lon gives (LTB & I were in nothing like the type of situation that Lon & Helen are in, but crossroads is crossroads, if you get my drift...). It finally hit me that if you believe in love and life, then by god, you damn well better live like you do. No excuses. That realization, and my taking it to heart has revitalized my spirit, my marriage, and my life.

That may well be corny, but so be it. If you can believe it, then believe it. Works for me.

[JSngry]

Thanks Sangrey, thanks very much! I am digging this hard.

Hey, what are friends for?

[slide_advantage_redoux]

Thanks Sangrey, thanks very much! I am digging this hard.

Hey, what are friends for?

Uhhh, to pay your mortgage when you are a little light?

[jazzbo]

Auditioning for the role of Morticia Adams?

[jazzbo]

She's very charismatic. And she photographs in as many "variants" as her voice encompasses. (imo)

[jazzbo]

From Monday's My Space page:

Friday, January 27, 2006

Why People Don't Get Jazz

I recently went to see my husband perform at Birdland with a new group legendary bassist Dave Holland had put together, a Sextet including Mulgrew Miller on piano, Eric Harland on drums, Robin Eubanks on trombone, and Antonio Hart on alto sax. At my table was a friend who, while appreciating various forms of music on quite a wide scale compared to the normal folk, was still seemingly new to jazz. In fact, he had tried to wrangle some of his friends to partake in the evening, but as he explained, jazz was a hard sell. We talked a little about why people weren't too into jazz, and he factored in the very valid issue of poor marketing effecting people's image of jazz. But I think "marketing" or lack of is a poor excuse, and even when it is used effectively, such as in the case of Wynton Marsalis, it can hinder the true essence of jazz.

I will share with you something that is still under wraps, but for the sake of this point I am trying to make, I have been approached by a group of people who are attempting to put together a DVD record company of jazz music. Their vision is to make a company whose DVD images are unmistakably their brand, and the music to be something more digestible than what they call the more "academic" jazz. I had a meeting with them last week, and it was interesting to hear them talk about how jazz has a stale image, that there is no real modern jazz, etc. While I understand what they're saying, and it's true that many "jazz" artists have a tendency to regurgitate the past and do yet another version of "My Funny Valentine" or "Moon River," or the standard standards in be-bop, there are also the young crop of jazzers, some of who were on display that night at Birdland, exploring music in a new avenue, and while it's jazz, it's not jazz in the be-bop sense of what was going on in the 60s. Of course I didn't want to blow my deal with these people and say that to them, and I'm flattered that they want to include me in on this DVD project even though I don't really view my music as jazz. But that's another story.

I think music of all forms has taken a beating by the lack of education, again a subject we touched upon that night at Birdland with my friend. I was lucky in that I was in the House of. Because of my parent's involvement in jazz and music overall, I took an interest and fortunately showed talent at an early age and decided at 11 to study classical music and flute, all with the idea of becoming a musician one day a perfectly real career choice. I was listening to Stravinsky by the age of 8 alongside the Beatles. I was studying Mozart and Debussey in my teens while listening to Steeley Dan, Stevie Wonder, Chick Corea and funk music. I was playing in an orchestra doing Mahler and Dvorjak by age 16 while dancing to and appreciating Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and Oingo Boingo. And there was the ever constant flow of original jazz music my parents were composing and playing at home.

I'm not writing this to try and impress, but rather to impress upon the fact that I don't think there are kids in these age groups today who are exposed to such a variety of really deep music, at least not in the U.S. and perhaps some from other countries might find this to be true as well. The government and the educational system is definitely at fault here, and I hate to say it but parents as well. If it's not part of people's environment, how else are they going to develop an appreciation towards it?

Music is definitely a language. The different "tongues" and slangs are the different styles, whether it's jazz or classical or whatever, but first there are the ABCs (the notes). From there you develop your language (the melodies and songs), learn to string together your sentences (the scales), then understand the meaning behind the words (the chords), and so forth. If the language is foreign to you, well, you're not going to want to communicate or understand. It's too hard a work, and most people are too lazy to want to learn, or just don't know where to start.

Jazz is that original and beautiful art form where there is essentially a head, or the actual song which is the melody in a certain rhythmic meter (in 4, 6, 7, whatever) under certain chords in a certain format, then the musicians expand on the melody over the form of the song, meter and chords. When the musician is well versed, they can break the format but still stay in it. Which really wigs us out; it's a real ride. Unless the listener is educated enough in music, or used to hearing this type of music and understand what is going on or, again using the language metaphor, can understand the language, they're just not going to get it. It's going to go over their heads and it might as well be a person mumbling at them and BORING. Sorta like how the parents sound on the Peanuts cartoons. Like my son listening to the news. Although lately he's starting to catch certain stories: "Who's Bush?" Okay, that's again another story.

And that basically sums up my theory of why people aren't into jazz, or other "sophisticated" forms of music. Jazz in a most rudimentary form can be considered a little stale, yes. I would have to agree with that. As one musician friend sarcastically commented while listening to the radio, "Great, I needed to hear yet another version of XX." But in its modern incarnation, it is beautiful, masterful, deep, spiritual, and you can see each musician weaving around in what they have trained and studied years and years to be able to get under their fingers; it is truly awesome and quite frankly COOL. It is idiosyncratic. It is intelligent. I personally don't think it's academic. Do jazz musicians look academic to you? Sorry it's not dummified for people to "get." It is truth. You don't see a lot of b.s.ing jazz musicians. They see society and people as it is, have refused to partake in the mainstream, and have sought the harder route because they know there is truth to be found in that road.

And that is basically my theory of why people don't really get into jazz. It's easier to deal with b.s. than be challenged.