http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/nzlive/audio/201859588/nz-live-allana-goldsmith

X-Factory: Te Vaka – We Know The Way

X-Factory NZ Musician Click Here to download

Go on, do it! Google the word ‘soulquarians’. You may already be familiar with this term or you may, as I was, be on the brink of discovering something truly wonderful. Looking back at movements in the history of popular music, occasionally it seems like certain random events lead to a seemingly random group of musicians creating music so revolutionary that it causes a paradigm shift in our global musical consciousness. In the case of the Soulquarians, this is such a movement, and it lasted almost five years. Further internet searching may lead you to discover the article J Dilla Essentials, shedding some light on seminal tracks produced by the late James Dewitt Yancey (J Dilla or J Dee), or you may read about the Soulquarian experiences at Electric Lady Studios. Wherever you head, it won’t take you long to realise the influence that a small group of musical pioneers made on music ever since they started collaborating in the late ‘90s. Founding members of what was to become a revolving collective were Questlove from The Roots, D’Angelo, James Poyser, and J Dilla, sharing the same star sign – Aquarius. Even though anecdotal narrative suggests that it was initially a zodiacal epiphany that helped bond these pioneers, it was their shared love for the unconventional, whether in rhythm, harmony, melody, or production style that secured their musical bonds. Original members of the Soulquarians were soon joined by artists such as Erykah Badu, Mos Def, Common, Pino Palladino, and Roy Hargrove for a creative period that lasted between 1997 and 2002. Borrowing from an article by the Chicago Tribune in the early 2000s: ‘Many of these artists have performed on one another’s records, creating a community of likeminded musicians forging a style that\ doesn’t have a name yet. Organic soul, natural R&B…it’s music that owes a debt to the old-school sounds of Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix and George Clinton without expressly mimicking any of them. It refreshes these traditions with cinematic production techniques gleaned from hip hop and with attitude that is street-smart but above all highly individual, celebrating quirks instead of sanding them down for mass consumption.’ Using musical analysis, but also applying suitable caution necessary when engaging in reductive pursuits, we need to ask some questions.

1. What do these quirks consist of?

2. How have these artists influenced contemporary songwriters/producers today?

One obvious place to start is D’Angelo’s album ‘Voodoo’ where the whole album uses a characteristic rhythmic ebb and flow, a constantly moving groove often referred to by musicians as ‘push-pull’. One Mo’ Gin is a great example. The keys lay so heavily ‘back’ on the beat, and the drum groove (played by Questlove) is so beautifully loose to the point where sometimes you lose the sense of where the ‘one’ is – if only for a moment. At the time, the focus was aimed at the feel-good factor, without being over analytical, and is a great example of technology having a positive influence on musicians and musical groups (i.e. MPC-derived J Dilla-isms).

Erykah Badu is an artist who embraces polyphony and harmonic ambiguity (another Soulquarian quirk). A great example is Apple Tree, chord sequence derived from a harmonic technique called constant structure, where the type of chord is the same. In this case the sequence is built solely on minor harmony, which moves non-diatonically through the first 5 notes of E major scale – Em7, F#m7, G#m7, Bm7, Am7. So what does the Soulquarians have to do with the Leisure’s Money? Well, as you may have guessed, this NZ band utilises some of the influences that these early neo-soul pioneers developed two decades ago. Money, like Leisure’s earlier hits (and suggested by their name) is all about the groove and vibe. As suggested by Pigeons and Planes Magazine: ‘They’ve got an effortless cool about them, mixing elements of R&B, funk, and electronic for something totally fresh and completely natural.’

You can hear the R&B influences throughout the track via the drum groove and ‘70s production style, a laid back but funky backdrop to an ephemeral vocal and dreamy electronica. The guitar break at 2min 30s is reminiscent of Groove Armada’s My Friend, being in the same key and using a similar guitar sound, as well as containing shared melodic attributes. Jaden Parkes, Djeisan Suskov, Tom Young, Josh Fountain and Jordan Arts are the personnel behind Leisure. Each member works elsewhere in the music industry, and much like the Soulquarians, Leisure’s creative muse is firmly rooted in collaboration.

‘The album is entirely collaborative but remarkably cohesive, blending influences from The Beatles, 1970s funk and soul, and Leisure is “more concerned with what’s best for our songs, than what’s best for someone’s ego,”’ bassist Suskov told Kate Richards in Noted. Listening to Money, perhaps the elephant in the room is that the key link to Soulquarians and Leisure’s Money lies in the rhythmic displacement evident in the groove. In Money, the bassline is polyrhythmic in the sense that different parts of the pentatonically-derived four bar pattern are played in different places on the beat by the bass player. Additionally, the bassline is largely played using a straight feel which rubs against the swung vocal line. Pushing and pulling of time by the bass (Djeisan Suskov) in Leisure’s work provides the x-factor for me, its complexity incongruent to the relaxed vibe of this song. Perhaps if we were to reach for meaning here, it may be possible to draw parallels between tension found in the music and tension and rub of the message inferred in the song – i.e. money (and our flawed relationship with it). Understanding that correlation does not imply causation, and being reminded of the debate that it is always possible to find things in music that don’t exist and miss things that do exist, I would like to propose that, like many tracks since D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Questlove and the other Soulquarians decided to celebrate the ‘distinctive’ or ‘remarkable’ in music (with an emphasis on harmony and rhythm in particular), Money is a wonderful offshoot of the Soulquarian era, and its place in mainstream Kiwi music is warmly welcomed.

Looking for the x-factor in the X-Factory? Then you could do worse than embracing the different/strange/unique, rather than relying on genericism and the well-beaten path. Although ironically perhaps, unless you are careful to find your own uniqueness, then even by following the Soulquarians you could be falling into the same trap!

https://nzmusician.co.nz/lessons/x-factory-six60/

Six60 – two new NZ Top 10 songs in 2 weeks – how do they do it?

The word Authenticity (in existentialist philosophy) is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘relating to or denoting an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive, and responsible mode of human life’.

Other words that are sometimes used as synonyms of the word authentic are genuine, real, true, and honest. Talking with fellow MAINZ tutor Buzz Moller after he had just read my article on the APRA Silver Scroll Finalists, he recalled that during the deliberation process all finalists and their songs were deemed to contain an authentic quality – though it seemed that at the time, this term wasn’t defined by any members of the panel.

I tend to define authenticity in music too, perhaps coming from the other direction. I may judge a piece as containing a lack of authenticity if my experience of it makes me feel it is contrived, generic, lacking depth, excessively commercially driven, or motivated by assessment and deadline (in my role as a music tutor), rather than a genuine attempt at creativity.

To avoid these traps is no mean feat, as popular music is defined by lyrical and musical idiosyncrasies, sub-cultural traits that help contextualise and popularise any given song. There is even a science for this! The study of musicology and the semiotics of popular music, developed by Philip Tag is a way of understanding the literal denotation and contextual connotation found in popular music.

Anyway, enough of that – let’s get back on track. The Dunedin-formed band Six60 is a five-piece band comprising Eli Paewai on drums, Chris Mac (bass, synths), Ji Fraser (lead guitar), Marlon Gerbes(synths, samples) and guitarist/singer Matiu Walters. Named, as I am sure you will know, from the house they lived in – 660 Castle Street – the band have released a couple of albums, three EPs and numerous singles in their 10-year career so far, earning several platinum and gold awards along the way.

Listening to (and watching) Rivers, the second of two tracks currently in the NZ Top 10, the vibe is relaxed and uncontrived. [Note by Silke: At the time of writing -they’ve released a full, self-titled EP since of which all tracks subsequently also charted.] There is no sense that the track is ‘trying’ too hard at all. Even the video is simply sketches of the band in a studio environment, seemingly either listening, reflecting on, or hanging in the studio; very low-key.

Congruently, the music is minimal of course. An economic and efficient production style is very fashionable these days, but this track is also very musical, employing a range of solid melodic techniques (melisma, use of coloured tones e.g. 9ths 6ths etc., appoggiaturas, clever lyric writing etc.) creating interest, on a backdrop of reassuring familiarity.

There is nothing challenging here, think beer on a sunny Sunday afternoon and good vibes. The core of the tune is a synth bass that holds the rhythmic pulse, a choral harmony and the lead vocals. Dashes of acoustic and electric rhythm guitar are scattered sparsely, throughout, as is the electronic drum track.

Vocal harmonies are R’n’B derived with a gospel feel, and consist of I and IV chords mainly, with the occasional non-diatonic IVm-I progression (e.g. 48s) and the cadential V-I at the end of each strophe. Use of occasional non-diatonic harmony seems to be a current trend, another spice to enhance but not overpower, the minimalist production style. A tresillo rhythmic feel that Rivers has adopted is also reflective of current production inclinations.

Six60 have a very happy knack for simultaneous sales success with multiple tracks and Don’t Give It Up is currently also in the NZ Top 10. This is more of a band track with some programmed elements. This track also contains tasteful vocal harmonies, is diatonic, and borrows from a familiar rhythm – this time from the ‘60s (think Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison – chorus and post chorus sections).

Interestingly there are a couple of unique sonic identifiers (sounds specific to a particular track). The first is the unintelligible vocal sample that plays throughout the entire song, slightly off key – a great use of intonation as a production tool, sparking interest from the start. The other is the affected synth-like vocal that is first heard at 53 sec, at the beginning of the first chorus.

The keyboard skank pattern and the track generally is reminiscent of NZ reggae and could reveal some of the answer to why Six60 are able to produce two NZ Top 10 hits in two weeks. I think the key is in the band’s combination of authenticity, NZ stylistic popularity, and sub-genre familiarity.

Perhaps when a band is permitted over time to evolve organically and naturally, conditions are ripe for them to maintain a sense of authenticity. The band’s music is a mix of soul, rock, and reggae and Six60 perform it well, without trying to re-invent the wheel, maintaining currency in terms of production within the subgenre of pop music that is perhaps yet to be defined. Six60 can easily be (and have been) described as no-frills, roots-flavoured, pub music for the masses, but they do it well and their music is consistently popular as a result. Importantly though, amongst all of that Six60 are authentic, genuine, honest to themselves, and their ever-growing international audience.

The five songs in with a chance to win this year’s APRA Silver Scroll Award are Close Your Eyes by Bic Runga, Life of the Party by Chelsea Jade, Horizon by Aldous Harding, Richard by Nadia Reid and Lorde’s Green Light. Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue…

Okay, so maybe the ‘blue’ part of that familiar expression is pushing it a little – other than as a reference to the Afro-American origins of popular music over a century ago, arguably from which much contemporary music is derived. But still, reflecting on the finalist choices for the 2017 Silver Scroll Awards, I couldn’t help but notice that these songs are all connected by concept.

They each: (1) adhere to cultural norms currently situated in contemporary pop music (further discussion of which is provided below); (2) contain distinctly salient features framed within those cultural norms; and (3) pay homage to previously established musical styles, borrowing from older generations of musicians and their creative legacy.

Borrowing from the past is nothing new. Recent innovators such as Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson are no strangers to using genre specific compositional techniques, and the result helps frame songs in a larger timeframe, perspective, and consequently audience. With the above observations in mind, let’s look at the final five.

BIC RUNGA: CLOSE YOUR EYES

Bic Runga’s Close Your Eyes plays stylistic tribute to the ephemeral sounds of the flower power ‘60s, The Beatles, Small Faces, The Byrds, and perhaps even a pinch of Stone Roses. Yet at the same time Runga employs the kind of attention grabbing devices found in 21st Century chart culture. For example, the intro is just long enough to hear a rhythmically stabilising analogue synth-type hook line (against an energetic drum groove), but being only 8-bars long it doesn’t make the listener wait too long before the vocals enter.

Current trends in arrangement rely on the need to generate almost instant limbic reward. Hooks and melodies need to be almost instantaneously appealing, there is no space for dead bars, competition is high, and simply put it is ‘survival of the fittest’ in musical format. Runga achieves this via the combination of nostalgia mixed with a modern twist.

Vocals are mixed in front (a modern norm to allow for a satisfactory performance on any device). The major sub-dominant chord employed in the piece lifts the mood if you subscribe to theories of musical equilibration, which is congruent to a positive lyrical semantic, even though the piece is in a minor key. Very clever work. Harmonic expectations are thwarted via the lack of cadential movement in bars 7-8 in each 8-bar hypermeter. This is an attention grabbing device, and a way helping perpetuate the forward motion of the strophe.

CHELSEA JADE: LIFE OF THE PARTY

Chelsea Jade’s Life of the Party contains an interesting backbeat-focused accompaniment heard in the verses by finger clicks and vocals on the 2 and the 4 – but at the same time the supporting groove is very 8th note-based, echoing the pulse-like-ness of tunes reminiscent of the 1980s. The chorus is extremely catchy and syncopated and cleverly stated instrumentally during the intro of the track, so that when you hear the chorus for the first time, you feel you already know it.

Prolific songwriter Max Martin uses this device to help aid the listener’s sense of perceived familiarity, a precursor to limbic reward. The clinical sounding root- and fifth-focused melodic line is reminiscent of the trend heard by singers such as Taylor Swift and Lorde, as we currently favour a simpler harmonic and melodic palette compared to earlier decades. Another salient feature of this track is Jade’s use of ‘cockney’ accent-type phrasing over the lyrics, ‘Got gravel embedded in my hands’ in the bridge. This affected singing technique plays a distinct part in this track.

ALDOUS HARDING: HORIZON

In Horizon, the elephant in the room is Aldous Harding’s prominent vocal style, reminiscent of Edith Piaf, a popular French singer in the mid 20th Century. This strong vocal vibrato is unapologetic in nature and requires an equally unapologetic accompaniment, provided by effected strings and piano. Harding’s accompaniment further adds to the boldness of this track via a simple, deliberate, and economic production style.

Again, if one were to subscribe to musical equilibration then use of the harmony derived from the natural minor mode creates a sense of courage, adventure, tension, danger, severity, a challenging situation (think music to Game of Thrones here), which is resolved in the chorus to a major tonality, alluding to a sense of narrative success inferred by the lyrics, ‘here is your princess, here is your horizon’, providing prosodic congruence.

NADIA REID: RICHARD

Richard by Nadia Reid immediately breaks taboos for a folk musician, firstly with the choice of snare sound and drum groove throughout providing a modern take on an established feel; and secondly the verse length, practically devoid of phrasing space for surprising long 8-bars!

This device is heard in The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel, to some extent, and is unusual as it doesn’t allow for lyrical reflection by the listener. Perhaps this is a deliberate move as ironically, the first lyric is, ‘Richard liked the sound of his own voice…’ Nadia Reid’s Suzanne Vega/Tom’s Diner-esque inspired lyrics again borrow from an older time, and the hypnotic state that one reaches as a result of the repetitive snare drum and ethereal guitar (Sam Taylor – guitars and male vox) juxtaposes the over-active vocal line. Genius.

LORDE: GREEN LIGHT

Finally, Lorde’s Green Light resembles the economic-ness of Taylor Swift-like melodies, but adding a touch of spice by employing some well-crafted surprises, providing the quirky backdrop that Lorde’s vocal and stage persona requires – another singer with a remarkably unique voice.

Green Light contains the kind of production mastery of successful Top 20 hits, but Lorde is afforded the opportunity to take more risks due to her astronomical fan base. I am referring in this case to the jarring effect of the syncopated piano and vocal heard at the end of each line of the verse, which is particularly audacious due to the sparseness of the arrangement.

The temporal density of the pre-chorus is perhaps a reaction to the lyrics, ‘Those great whites, they have big teeth’, almost like the notes are trying to run away from a dangerous animal. The chorus transfers into a dance track just after the lyric, ‘How we kissed when we danced on the light up floor’, and Lorde borrows harmonic movement from tunes like Hey Joe (Jimi Hendrix) and Hush (Deep Purple), with the use of major chords descending in fourths. The pre-chorus is also reminiscent of brisk Bollywood melodies consisting of an anapaestically-derived rhythm (two semiquavers followed by a quaver).

So it does seem like the secret of writing critically acclaimed tunes in the current climate requires:

• Stylistic familiarity pertaining to post 1960’s pop and rock music.
• An understanding of tools that allow artists/producers to compete sonically with their contemporaries.
• Artistic audacity to reach beyond homogeneity in a creative environment.

Dr Mark Baynes is the Programme Manager for the Bachelor of Musical Arts degree at MAINZ, Auckland; a degree program that fosters students’ ability to find their own musical voice, culminating with the creation of a capstone project such as an album, film score or music for game audio. 

An article recently published on incongruence in music. Article can be downloaded here.

Thanks, Mark

APSCOM6 Conference Paper for KYOTO 25-27th August

Excited to be presenting my research at APSCOM6, Asia-Pacific Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music, August 25-27, in Kyoto, Japan. The theme is Music as a universal human faculty: Exploring its biological, psychological, and cultural dimensions. Click above for a link to the full paper.

Conference details

Cognitive sciences on music is a field of study which aims to clarify such aspects as perception/cognition, thinking, feeling, the mechanism and process of development which serve to mediate music. Depending on the object of research, a multi-disciplinary approach can be adopted incorporating such fields as psychology, brain science, acoustics, information engineering, medicine, physiology and musicology.

The conference is therefore open to everyone from all fields of study and from around the world. In APSCOM 6, there will be key note lectures, research presentations, and concerts such as jazz, gamelan, gagaku, and didgeridoo. The theme of APSCOM 6 will be “Music as a universal human faculty: Exploring its biological, psychological, and cultural dimensions” Since ancient times, music has been with human beings.

Through studies of the musical faculties of human beings, we aim to explore the great potential of human beings. We are therefore awaiting presentations and lively discussions on this theme. Kyoto Women’s University, located near the famous Honganji temple, is a Buddhist university with a history of 105 years. The university is in the center of Kyoto city and has easy access to the Kyoto National Museum which will hold some of the APSCOM 6 events.

Do Y’wanna Know What I Know – A Christmas Case Study Of Musical Irony

Do Y’wanna Know What I Know – A Christmas Case Study Of Musical Irony from Australian Music Psychology Society Newsletter Edition 5, 2016 – Mark Baynes.

Spoiler alert – if you love Christmas carols then please read no further. In the book, The evolution of emotional communication, Altenmuller, Schmidt, and Zimmermann suggest that emotional responses of basic emotions (e.g. happiness, sadness, anger, fear) are ‘remarkably invariant across listeners of different ages’ (2013, p.277). Juslin and Sloboda found that ‘the ascribed emotion of a music performance could be well predicted from a fairly small set of characteristics, relating to pitch, speed, intensity, and articulation etc.’, and that these characteristics are also used to evaluate emotions in a person’s speech (Juslin & Sloboda, 2011, p.84). But in Expression of emotion in music and vocal communication: Introduction to the research topic, Bhatara, Laukka, and Levitin agree that emotions resulting from incongruent songs (containing incongruent interaction between music and lyrics) are more complex than basic emotions, due to the ironic context from which they are experienced (2014, p.212).

“Incongruent interactions transform meaning from what might be gleaned from listening to either the music or the lyrics alone…incongruent interactions make messages more poignant and can serve as an anthem for social movements…however, incongruent interactions run the risk of listener misinterpretation” (Herrmann and Herbig, 2016, p.72). For example, incongruence can be found in a track entitled Perfect day (Reed, 1972), where the subtext of the song alludes to a premise that the singer’s day is made ‘perfect’ from an addiction to opiates. The musical accompaniment is innocent but the lyrical meaning is darker. Another example is Do you hear what I hear? made famous by Bing Crosby in the 1960’s. On one level, this is simply a contemporary Christmas song, arguably an interpretation of Christian nativity. Lyrical indicators in this carol that corroborate this interpretation include phrases such as “Shepherd boy”, “A star dancing in the night”, “Mighty king”, and “A child shivers in the cold”. With the exception of the military style drumming the music accompaniment could easily be described as initially calm, choral and reflective, moving towards a denser climatic finale using strings, a transposition up a minor second, use of a brass section, and increased counterpoint.

Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker composed this carol during the period of unease caused by the Cuban missile crisis and its lyrics reflect a message for peace. Ironically (and anecdotally) Bing Crosby recorded his vocals to the song on November 22, 1963, the day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas (see https://www.carols.org.uk/do-you-hear-what-i-hear.htm). Non-congruence is effective in providing the listener with mixed messages, arguably interpreted as irony through a darker twist of a seemingly positive message. In the case of Do you hear what I hear, the lyrics “A star, a star, dancing in the night with a tail as big as a kite” now suggests images of war; a nuclear missile heading towards an innocent narrator perhaps, rather than a navigational constellation and interstellar awe. Likewise, the lyrics “A song, song, high above the tree with a voice as big as the sea”, infers images of a thermonuclear explosion, rather than a choral culmination.

This was a surprise, and the psychological affect that this song has on me is forever changed. In Sweet anticipation, David Huron states, “The phenomenon of ‘surprise’ represents a failure of expectation. From a biological perspective, surprise is always a bad thing. Even when the surprising outcome turns out to be good, failing to anticipate the outcome means that the brain has failed to provide useful information about possible futures. Predictive failures are therefore cause for biological alarm. If an animal is to be prepared for the future, the best surprise is no surprise” (Huron, 2006, p.21). From a phenomenological perspective, my lived experience of listening to Do you hear what I hear? after my hermeneutical epiphany, is quite different from my initial listen – the snare drum has much more significance, clearly inferring military action, and the lyrics far more sobering. The surprise that I felt gave salience to my perception of this track, and has continued to do so every listen since.

References

Altenmuller, E., & Schmidt S., & Zimmermann E. (2013). The Evolution of Emotional Communication: From Sounds in Nonhuman Mammals to Speech and Music in Man. Oxford University Press.

Bhatara, A., Laukka, P., & Levitin, D. J. (2014). Expression of emotion in music and vocal communication: Introduction to the research topic. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 399. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00399

Huron, D. (2006). Sweet anticipation: Music and the psychology of expectation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Herrmann, A. and Herbig, A. (2016). Communication Perspectives on Popular Culture. Lexington Books.

Juslin P.N., & Sloboda J. (2011). Handbook of Music and Emotion: Theory, Research, and Applications. Oxford University Press.

Reed, L. (1972). Transformer. RCA, London.

I have recently accepted the post of Programme Manager for the Bachelor of Musical Arts Degree, at the Music and Audio Institute of New Zealand (MAINZ), part of Tai Poutini Polytechnic.

This role predominately involves researching, running, and developing the music degree offered at MAINZ, which has a contemporary music focus.

Unfortunately this means that I am no longer able to teach piano privately any more. If you wish to study at MAINZ however, drop me a line on markb@tpp.ac.nz

Click the link above to watch my new video on contrastive valence on www.psychologyinmusic.com.  Wondered when singing flat was a good thing? Wondered when a wrong note is actually the right note?

Please support my new venture, www.psychologyinmusic.com.  This is a new website containing videos and articles linking music and psychology.  The aim is to create a set of videos that outline techniques, grounded in psychology, that can be used by performers, composers and arrangers.  All articles are grounded in recent research; in this site, the bias is on musical tools rather than academic discourse.  Psychology in music is very young, and study of it is really exciting!  Please visit the site at www.psychologyinmusic.com and subscribe if you like what you see!  I will be uploading more videos this week; the first one is a psychological analysis of the bridge of Fallin’, by Alicia Keys.

Thanks for supporting my music.

Dr Mark Baynes

Please support my new venture, Vintage Key Studios. As you may be aware, I have been collecting vintage keyboard instruments for several years, and now I am in a position where I can offer recording services.  Please read the welcome page below and visit the site, if you get a chance.

Welcome to Vintage Key Studios (www.vintagekeystudios.com)

Vintage Key Studios specialise in the recording of quality vintage keyboards. Situated in Auckland, New Zealand, we can either record you on one of our instruments here in the studio, or we can record the session for you, using our house keys player Mark Baynes. Please read about each of the keyboard instruments we have on offer by clicking on the links.

Tired of the thinness of plugin keyboard instruments? Want a real keyboard sound in your mix?
Then maybe this service is for you. Previous clients include Tiny Ruins, Anika Moa, Tim Finn, King Kapisi, Kora, Henrique Morales and Seth Haapu. We use high end Apogee digital converters, top shelf microphones (Neuman U87, AKG C414s, and an Earthworks PM-40), and Avalon, Vintage Ampex and Universal Audio preamps. Your sound can be recorded clean or subject to a variety of tube/vintage stages, adding as much warmth as required. Our tracking booth is also available for vocal/instrumental tracking. Even our studio furnishing was built using parts from an old upright piano!

I am lucky enough to be performing piano and accordion with a US touring production of Chicago, the musical, here in Seoul Korea. The venue is the prestigious National Theatre of Korea. I will be here for one more month.  The band is excellent, all UK-based musicians from the West End of London.  The cast, some of whom have been playing their roles for over a decade, have experience on Broadway and previous touring productions on Chicago.  The MD is Robert Billig, a stalwart in the New York Broadway scene.

Download Here

Analytic, Descriptive and Prescriptive Components of Evolving Jazz – A New Model Based on the Works of Brad Mehldau

My Doctor of Musical Arts Thesis, abstract below:-

Jazz has steadily evolved from its inception in the late 19th century to the present. As is the case for other genres, musicological analytic research on jazz evolution has lagged behind its practice; consequently, there is a paucity of in-depth descriptive and analytic research on the music of recent innovators. Among the most recent examples of this evolution, the works of Brad Mehldau as a solo/ensemble pianist and as a composer arguably embody some of the most compelling innovations in the field. Non-academically oriented jazz writers and fans have consistently assigned these works vanguard status, but Mehldau’s output has not yet been sufficiently examined to prescribe performance methods. This exegesis contains (1) descriptive analysis of improvisation contained within a broad cross-section of Mehldau’s music; (2) definition of a new analytical lexicon derived from a holistic study of consonance, dissonance, and research into perceived motivation in music; and (3) prescriptive musical tools relating to consonance and dissonance that have informed the researcher’s performance.

Pleased to play a small part in the making of this album.  Check out ‘Straw Into Gold’ for the keyboard part, played on my restored Wurlitzer 200.

Tiny Ruins began as an alias for singer-songwriter Hollie Fullbrook, who had recorded as a solo artist prior to 2009. Fullbrook recorded a collaborative EP with A Singer of Songs in 2010 under the name Tiny Ruins, then recorded a full-length, Some Were Meant for Sea, in 2011. Following the release of Some Were Meant for Sea Tiny Ruins opened for Fleet Foxes and toured internationally with Calexico and Beach House^. After adding Cass Basil and Alexander Freer to the lineup, Tiny Ruins recorded a second album, Brightly Painted One, which was released in 2014. Guitarist Tom Healy and violinist Siobhanne Thompson performed on the album and appeared with the group on subsequent tours. Brightly Painted One was awarded Best Alternative Album at the New Zealand Music Awards in November 2014.

ADVANCED NOTICE!!

So this is it! After four years of hard work, my final recital is fast approaching. It will take place on the 19th April, at 7pm at the Music Theatre, 6 Symonds St, University of Auckland.

Like my last recital (with tunes written in New York), this one again showcases my own compositions, this time inspired by a recent working retreat at Whatipu Lodge, on the wild west coast of Auckland, NZ. I spent a week there and crafted the pieces that you will hear at this event.

“So many jazz pieces I come across seem predictable and the same old territory, that I am surprised when someone truly fresh and original comes along. I find myself going over Mark’s pieces in detail, savoring the interesting twists and turns he comes up with” – Gary Burton

More details to follow, but for now it would be wonderful to have your support for this event, so if you can, please put a note in your diary. Confirmed players are Jason Orme, Jo Shum, Chris Mason-Battley and Mike Booth. I hope to see you there! Mark

Here is some of my correspondence with Brad Mehldau this year.  It essentially is Brad’s take on some of my observations found in his music.  Brad always has time to answer my questions; I am very grateful for his support of my studies.

For the complete word document please download Mehldau rhythm, narrative, superimposition and influences, or read below.  Thanks Mark

On Rhythm and Meter

Hi Mark! Hope you’re doing well man. Anyhow, I am catching up on mails, as it usually goes, several months after the fact.  Have not read your whole paper, “Metric Consonance/Dissonance,” but was reading a bit here related to the examples you had questions about below.

Hi Brad,

Thanks for your comments man, really appreciate it.  If possible I would like your take on meter too.  I noticed that you use some really interesting devices.  In my thesis I have labeled them diminishing dispersal, disjunct rhythm, metric asynchronicity, metric shift, expressive variation and temporal density.  That doesn’t really matter much; I have included an excerpt of my thesis that deals with meter if you want to read it.  There are a couple of points that I have drawn below, using less formal terminology; this may be a little quicker.  I have noticed that you sometimes build phrases that gradually speed up (for the lack of a better word).  This is a diminishing dispersal part.  Example:

As you can see, your phrases become more metrically dense with time; could you talk a little about that Brad?  I don’t hear many jazz players playing like this.

Yeah, I see what you mean in both of the examples and it was never something I was aware of until seeing your analysis with the examples! I recognize it more as a “thing” in my playing in ballads, as in the “Nearness of You” example you have there. I guess the urge would be mostly expressive, if I had to guess: Starting from the perspective of adhering to the ballad tempo, and then kind of getting carried away in something more “rhapsodic” – like unleashing it, letting the horse out of the gate.

Another part I would love your take on is when you deliberately play with a kind of stutter, kind of disjunct metric feel.

It was really fun to see how you managed to notate that snippet in the solo of Anything Goes! This is a kind of playing that I think a lot guys are getting to now – I’m not sure if I’ve had a hand in the influence or if I’m just on the wave with everyone else the last 15 years or so. Probably a bit of both. I hear, for example, Chris Potter, playing like this rhythmically in a way that is completely his own. He and I came up together at the same time and I think it’s a bit of a thing from our generation, maybe? Anyhow, here’s how I would describe the rhythmic impulse: I’m feeling the physical pleasure of constantly superimposing two things over the meter: 8th note triplets (sorry you call all these things quavers, semi-quavers etc), and, more subtly, perhaps, dotted 8th notes. Now to get wonky, as I’m sure you’ve observed: If you put a series of quarter notes against quarter note triplets, you’ll get a constantly repeating ratio of 2:3. If you put a dotted 8th note against a quarter note, you will have a ratio of 4:3 – that is, four dotted 8th notes for every 3 quarter notes. This ratio can also be “inverted”, though: we can turn it “upside down” in our head, without changing anything, and view it as 4 8th notes to 3 quarter note triplets. All of these relationships deal with feeling the tug of something with a multiple of two against something with a multiple of 3.

When it moves into blowing as in the example you gave: It’s a kind of metric modulation I suppose, related to what you are describing as “metric shift”. We did this in a very literal sense on a tune of mine, “Nice Pass”, and also earlier on an arrangement of “Anthropology” on my record with Jorge and his brother Mario. There, we subdivided the 4/4 bars into 3 beats, then split those dotted half notes in half, getting a dotted quarter note, and finally split the dotted quarter note into dotted 8ths. The idea, though, was for us to always adhere strictly to the form of the original tempo – time would be “going by” at the same pace throughout the whole tune – but to give an illusion of stretching or diminishing time by creating phrases in my improvisation that correspond more with the various accents that Jorge and Mario/Larry would set up on every three beats of whichever subdivision. The tempo might appear to be stretching out or retracting in an unorthodox way: not simply in half, or doubled, that is. But in fact the actual tempo – and more importantly, all of the harmonic information we are addressing, and the 32 bar form – would not change. What you have is a relationship: between the original tempo and the implied other tempo. So I agree with you, disagreeing with Love’s definition of metric shift that you site, when you write: In the case of Mehldau’s music, I disagree with Love’s definition, as there is clear evidence of the schematic meter played either on the piano or heard in some form by the rhythm section. The idea, indeed, is that the listener can hear and feel both meters – the actual and the suggested. It’s perhaps “deconstructive”, to use a bandied word, in the sense of allowing the listener to question his/her assumptions about meter and tempo.

In those two arrangements on the rhythm changes, we examined it literally, inviting the listener to hear systematically this relationship, by a kind of stretto technique of making the subdivisions of those 4:3 ratios smaller. Jumping to your example on Anything Goes, to put it briefly: this is the kind of blowing I’m doing there, only now, it is simply in the context of the meter with no literal arrangement under it where Jorge and Larry must systematically play other subdivisions. Nevertheless: Jorge, following so many great jazz drummers before him, is constantly subdividing his beat and giving me triplets, and Larry is as well, in between his downbeats. So a lot of what I am doing is playing lines that suggest the ratio meter in their logic, superimposed over the existing meter. So when they are notated as you have done, they look rather funny. Here is a very literal example, something I’ll just make on my Sibelius, of how this might look in this tune:

So that’s on the first bars of the A section. Here are phrases  – note the slurs – that have a logic of “4”. Yet they do not correspond to 8th notes or quarter notes. They have been “warped” into the 8th note triplets. Note that the 3-2 subdivision of the bar means that the actual delineation of the chord changes will fall somewhere between what those phrases suggest.

Here would be the same kind of thing but with 8th note triplets:

You see what I’m getting at. So I’m responding to these subdivisions I’m hearing that are such a big part of jazz, and then making phrases that are suggesting that warped meter. Now if you go back to some of those phrases you have analyzed, you may be able to see it in that light. Make sense? For all I know, you have touched on this elsewhere in what you’ve written already in clearer terms. It looks like what you’re addressing a bit with your sub-chapter on “metric shift” and the example from “Knives Out”. (You could make more out of that if you wanted, going into how those groups that you’ve bracketed more specifically suggest a meter of 5/8 – but I digress ha ha!) 

The last point I would make is that, as you see, in any given tempo, these 8th triplets and dotted 8th notes are very close together in terms of how fast they move by. The 8th note triplets are a bit faster – but just a hair! This makes for an interesting job, as I know from trying to transcribe things I’m learning from non-notated performances: Is it more properly an 8th note triplet, or a dotted 8th note, or some mixture of the two, or sometimes an 8th note group of 5? The answer, often, in actual praxis, is that it is not clearly defined for the performer, and it may shift between all of these, as the player warps in real time – the idea may hover back and forth between any of those combinations. I would be curious if you have observed this phenomenon, because I’ve thought about it a bit over the years, and it comes up a lot in transcription.

And finally metric comments would relate to when you just seem to discard the sense of meter altogether, usually in climactic sections of your solo.

Indeed, on that example from “When It Rains”, which you very heroically notated, I’m just going for it. The mental process is probably something like, “Begin here, sweeeeeep acrosssssss…., wind up here and stop.” Chopin went for it a lot like this in his music and managed to notate it – if you look at some of the crazy tuplets he comes up with in his nocturnes – groups of 11s and 17s that go against a bass in a 6/8 or 3/4 meter. I’m sure his influence is there.

If you could jot down your thoughts on these specifics I would appreciate it so much man.

In addition, expressive variation is something you employ a lot e.g.  ‘back’, ‘forward’, straight over swing (and vice versa) and use of superimposing 12/8 and 4/4 feels in ballads and between hands.  I am guessing Erroll Garner may be an influence here but I would love your take.  I have read your interview about how you describe trying to phrase your melodies like a singer; this takes me some of the way to understanding which is cool.  My take on this is that any shift in expressive variation acts as a kind of emotional amplifier, adding salience to the sonority (like during a cadential rall, that delays resolution).

Does any of this make sense Brad?  It’s great to be talking like this; your last email was very helpful.  I hope that you get some more down time to quickly jot down your thoughts.

You asked in another mail about Erroll Garner and I did listen to one record of his quite a bit, love his playing. So that could indeed be in there as influence! Have to run now but hope that’s of interest to you and I did enjoy reading some of your paper! Hope all is well with you Mark, Brad

On Narrative, Superimposition and Influences

Hi Mark,

Just over here in London catching up on e-mails. Well, we talked a bit more about what you’re discussing there below when we saw each other at the club last week. But just to briefly follow up…In terms of the influences for trying to improvise narratively, Monk would be big there, in the way he approaches soloing on his own compositions – he really just plays the tune continuously throughout his solo, with all of this brilliant, often humorous variation. Also certain solos, like Sonny Rollins’ on Blue Seven. Miles Davis’ solo on “Autumn Leaves”, the version from the Cannonball date, “Something Else”. And lots of classical stuff.

For the yoking of minor and major modes, I do recognize what you’re talking about. I’ve thought about it a bit and it’s definitely something I like to exploit because of the emotional tension and catharsis it can create in a musical performance. Influences…well, the blues, in a very fundamental way. But then mixing that feeling of the blues with all the classical stuff I’ve absorbed. Schubert is big for mixing of minor and major modes. He is doing more toggling – switching back and forth – while what you are describing is actually when I’m overlaying them together, at the same time. But Schubert is really big for me. And then Strauss, Mahler…Check out, if you haven’t Strauss’s Metamorphosen  – that is chock full of those notes that should be wrong but are so beautiful in the context he places them in. Good voice leading goes a long way. That piece is very big for me. Also Adagietto movement of Mahler 5, last movement of Mahler 9…I’m trying to think of specific examples of these kinds of wrong/right things; that’s all I come up with now. B

One of my compositions and recordings is a track selected by Alyn Shipton to form his album The Jazz Cafe on Air New Zealand flights during July and August 2014.  So if you are flying Air NZ check it out!  The track is called Chequered Days and was recorded for my MMus at Auckland University in 2010.

The Music is Bond

I am lucky enough to be playing as part of the house band for Eric Marienthal as part of the NZSM’s Jazz Concert of the Year 2014. It would be great to see you there if you can make the concert.

Tickets can be purchased from Eventfinder.  All details below: –

When: Sun 24 Aug 2014, 8:00pm–11:00pm

Where: Massey University Albany Campus, State Highway 17, Auckland

The New Zealand School of Music returns again with the best jazz concert of 2014. Special guest from the USA Eric Marienthal will be joined by tutors and New Zealand Jazz legends Rodger Fox, Frank Gibson, Alberto Santarelli and Mark Baynes.

Phil Broadhurst, NZSM Albany Head of Jazz Studies and Three times winner of the “Jazz Album Of The Year” award, performs music from his latest Tui nominated album ‘Flaubert’s Dance’ with Auckland jazz heavyweights Roger Manins, Oliver Holland and NZSM graduate , Cameron Sangster.

This will be an unmissable night. Exclusive, intimate seating. Get in quick as tickets sell out fast.

$30 G.A
$20 Students\seniors

Doors open at 7.30

Cash bar with drinks and snacks available

Eric Marienthal started his professional career in 1980 with famed New Orleans trumpeter Al Hurt. After returning to Los Angeles Eric became a member of the Chick Corea Elektric Band. He recorded 6 CD’s with Chick’s band and 2 of those CD’s were Grammy award winners. Eric went on to perform with artists such as Elton John, Barbara Streisand, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach, Aaron Neville, Johnny Mathis, Dave Grusin, Lee Ritenour, David Benoit, The Rippingtons, The Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band, Patti Austin, Lou Rawls, David Lee Roth, The Yellowjackets, B.B. King, Ramsey Louis, Patti Labelle, Olivia Newton-John, and many others.

Phil is one of New Zealand’s leading jazz artists. Pianist, composer and educator, he became the first jazz musician to be awarded the MNZM for services to jazz in 2001. He is currently Head of Jazz Studies at the New Zealand School of Music, Massey University, Albany, Auckland. In 2013 Phil’s quartet released Flaubert’s Dance on the Rattle label. Like its predecessor Delayed Reaction, it was finalist in the Tui Awards for Best Jazz Album. His numerous credits include work in the U.S., U.K. and other foreign parts, and collaborations with many jazz greats visiting N.Z. He has played in concert with several saxophone greats including Johnny Griffin, Ronnie Scott, and Scott Hamilton. Phil also presents “The Art of Jazz” a weekly jazz programme broadcast nationwide on Concert FM. (92.6 in Auckland) on Saturdays at 1 pm.

SCHOOL OF MUSIC PRESENTS
SPECIAL EVENTS:
DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS RECITAL : MARK BAYNES

Notes from New York City – compositions written in, and inspired by the city that never sleeps.

Mark Baynes – piano
with guests:
Jo Shum – bass | Jason Orme – drums | Hadyn Godfrey – trombone | Chris Mason-Battley – tenor saxophone | Henrique Morales – guitar and vox

“I absolutely related to every aspect of the acoustic pieces, as if I’d written them myself. I’d call them – creative and deceptively simple. Thus, perfect. It shows influence of Brad Mehldau and others, but you are in there prominently” – Dr. Mark Kramer (Eddie Gomez, Michael Brecker, Stanley Clarke)

PERFORMANCE: Admission is free. Bookings not required.
VENUE: Music Theatre, School of Music, 6 Symonds Street
www.creative.auckland.ac.nz | concerts@auckland.ac.nz

Fermata was founded in 2011 by Senior Lecturers Allan Badley and Davinia Caddy. As a series of public presentations open to all, Fermata exists to promote and extend discussion about music, its role and significance across history, its contemporary cultural currency, and its academic status within the University, the arts and humanities. Presentations take a number of forms – for example, interviews with special guests, round-table discussions, lecture-style talks and question-and-answer sessions – and seek to intertwine the various aspects of musical experience, from listening, performing and composing to thinking critically about questions of musical meaning.

Sorry, narcissism alert! Nolens Volens – one of my compositions to be played in my next doctoral recital coming up soon if you are keen to witness more assessed improvisation…

The recital will be held on Wednesday 20th August at 8pm at the Music Theatre on Symonds St.  More information to follow, this is just a heads up!

Featuring Clo Chaperon…

I am very happy to announce that King Kapisi’s ‘Crush’ won best video in the 2014 Vodafone Pasific Music Awards; I was lucky to be recording on that shoot.  King Kapisi’s long awaited album will be released this year; this is something I have been waiting for for a while, really looking forward to it.  Also, being released soon is a track called Sunshine that I co-wrote with Bill.  To hear Crush, click here or on the pictures below.

I am lucky enough to be performing in several Music In Parks events this summer, including my own group Quantum Blue on 19th January featuring trio plus guitar and horns.  I am also performing with several other groups; I have listed detailed all of the events in this post and I hope that you can make some of them this summer!  Any questions don’t hesitate to drop me a line, thanks for your continued support, Mark.

1. Mark Baynes presents Quantum Blue, Sunday 19th January, Auckland Domain Band Rotunda, 3-5pm

2. The Mira Lacey Ensemble, Sunday 26th January, Auckland Domain Band Rotunda, 3-5pm

3. 2Five9 and Friends, Sunday 26th January, Auckland Domain Band Rotunda, 2-3pm

4. Bad Like Jazz, Sunday 16th February, Nathan Homestead, 3-5pm

Have a great summer! Mark

I am pleased to be playing live music as part of the resident band at Orleans, a live a bar/restaurant serving food until late every night of the week.  I play with Alex Griffith (bass) and Greg Tell (drums), backing groovy, soulful, and funky singers such as Clo Chaperon, Georgia Wood, Petra Rijnbeek and JT.  I play every Friday and Saturday from 8pm-12am.  Do come and join us one night for some serious funk, soul, jazz, blues and gumbo it up!

I am pleased to have a new residency at ‘Orleans’ with Greg Tell (Drums), Alex Griffith (Bass) and singers such as JT, Petra Rijnbeek, Georgia Wood and Clo Chaperon.  We play every Friday and Saturday 8pm till late, the restaurant/bar has been doing very well since it opened at the beginning of September.  Orleans serves traditional cuisine until 11pm, it is always really busy and has a great vibe!  So maybe come on down one night!

Orleans
48 Customs Street, Auckland

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I am happy to be performing with my group this coming Tuesday and I would love your support if you can spare the time!  I will be performing with a sextet featuring Mike Booth, Stephen Morton-Jones, Dixon Nacey and my piano trio. Repertoire will consist of original material and standard tunes inspired by my study of Brad Mehldau.

Venue: – Auckland Jazz and Blues Club, Point Chev. RSA
Time: – 7.30pm

Hope to see you there this Tuesday!

Thanks Mark

These are my favourite takes, great playing from everyone, I really hope that you enjoy!

Mark

Unsung heroes of Maori music profiles Maori musicians of past and present who have been largely unrecognised by mainstream media. Tonight: Teremoana Rapley.

Unsung Heroes of Maori Music – Teremoana Rapley

This program can only be viewed in New Zealand, sorry to overseas subscribers.  Tere is a great vocal talent here in NZ and the program contains insight into her personal and professional life.  I was interviewed for the episode and appear (very briefly) later on in the episode.

If you look closely you can see yours truly as part of the band, it was great to be a part of this video shoot, my first one actually, a really great experience.

After a lengthy wait here is the June 2013 release of King Kapisi‘s new instalment of that South Pacific goodness for your enjoyment. From the forthcoming album “Hip Hop Lives Here”, the latest single ‘Crush’ features Rakaa Iriscience from the Dilated Peoples, extra vocals from Kapisi’s wife Teremoana Rapley, a heavy beat produced by Scratch 22 and the final mixdown from Auckland producer DJ Orphan.

King Kapisi is one of New Zealand’s most profound emcee producers with the ability to vibe audiences into his world of music. He brings to the stage an eclectic mix of rock, reggae, roots, drum n’ bass, hip-hop, jazz, dub step, dancehall, funk and r’nb. He is currently working on his fourth album Hip-Hop Lives Here featuring an array of artists including Rakaa Iriscience (Dilated People), Monsta Ganjah, Che Fu, Bunny Rugs (Third World), Tha Feelstyle, Uptown Swuite, Luciano, Thaitanium, The Mint Chicks and more.

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I am very excited about this particular recital,  this is my biggest band yet with the talents of Stephen Morton-Jones (saxes), Kim Paterson (horns), Dixon Nacey (guitar), Jo Shum (bass) and Alex Freer (drums).  All the pieces are my own compositions, inspired by and linked to the music of Brad Mehldau.  The compositions have a melodic bent, firm emphasis being placed on thematic strength over complexity for complexities sake.  Perhaps a musical pitfall of academic environments such as a formal recital, is the danger of placing too much emphasis on the intellectual and technical, and  not enough on the artistic and musical.  I hope to help set the balance straight during this recital, and I look forward to seeing you at the Kenneth Myers Centre, Sunday 12th May at 3pm.

Mark

DMA2 Recording [audio:DMA2.mp3|titles=DMA2|artists=Recorded live]

1. Unrequited
2. When It Rains
3. Ode
4. Resignation
5. Kurt Vibe
6. Elegy For William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg
7. At The Tollbooth
8. Don’t Be Sad
9. Highway Rider

Overview of DMA

Acclaim

Mehldau has gained much acclaim in the jazz world via the fusion of styles into his performance; validation of his stylistic influences is not a difficult task.  Even if there is doubt after active listening to Mehldau’s oeuvre, Brad’s Classical stylistic bent (for example) is well documented amongst critics, scholars, and Mehldau himself.

‘I draw on a lot of classical music, pop and rock music, music from Brazil, and other stuff. I listen to it for pleasure and enjoyment, and then a lot of it filters out in my playing. With classical music, there’s a written canon there – you can study those scores. There’s a good three centuries of stuff to check out – it’s endless.  Ultimately I think of myself as an improvising jazz musician at the end of the day, and one of my talents I guess is assimilating all of that written stuff and making it part of what I do.’ – Brad Mehldau (Vella, 2011)

Towards Emancipation of the Dissonant

‘Dissonance makes music interesting, providing tension, resolution, and energy.  The creative use of dissonance might be a good way to describe the entire evolution of Western music.’ – (Levine, 1995, p38)

In addition to Mehldau’s acknowledged stylistic assimilation, a seminal component of Brad’s playing is the tendency for improvisation pertaining to a ‘diatonic lyricism’ (Liebman, 2005, p172).  Mehldau’s consonant melodies are regularly coloured with ‘metric dissonance’ (Krebs, 1987, p99), ‘motivic dissonance’ (Brodbeck, 2001, p211), ‘harmonic dissonance’ (Kamien, 1988, p41) and tonal dissonances using ‘intervallic denial’ and ‘linear tonality’ (Liebman, p172).  Mehldau’s unique treatment of consonance and dissonance in his performances forms the central tenet of my exegesis.

‘It’s hard to talk about this without coming off as sounding pompous but I have my own voice.  Without getting too technical, I have a certain way of approaching melody and harmony that some people might recognise as my own’ – Brad Mehldau (Panken, 2008)

Towards Imitation, Assimilation, and Innovation

A Doctor of Musical Arts Degree (DMA) is primarily focused on performance, via practice-led research.  The information gleaned from my phenomenological account of Mehldau’s concept, will allow development of a set of improvisational skills extracted from the foundation of Mehldau’s music.

‘By analyzing good melodies and melodic solos we can develop a set of techniques and approaches that, when musically applied, will lead to melodic improvising which rises above licks, tricks, riffs, clichés and change-running, connecting with us and?our audiences emotionally as well as intellectually.’ – (Middleton, 2005, p11)

Recital 2 – Compositions of Brad Mehldau

This recital contains nine compositions written by Brad Mehldau.  These compositions contain elements of melody, harmony, consonance and dissonances that resonate with me, and the study of which (along with recital 1), will form the central tenet of my degree program.  The aims of this recital are as follows: –

1. To demonstrate a musical understanding of Mehldau’s original works.
2. To exemplify, via performance, the consonance and dissonance found in Mehldau’s compositions.
3. To demonstrate the early stages of melodic improvisation and dissonances as described above.

Consonance and Dissonance

‘Tension and Release: This is the basic life principle of opposing pairs as in yin and yang, night and day, life and death, etc.  Artistically, this principle means that in a meaningful statement there should be a balance of excitement and quiescence, action and relaxation. It can be conceived as the act of a question being posed and subsequently answered. If the artist exaggerates either the tension or the release aspects, the expressive power and ultimate communication of the statement will be weakened. Obviously, this tension and release principle is relative to every situation, but in general is quite pervasive.  In Western music, the principle of tension and release has been realized harmonically in the dominant-tonic axis. In between these two extremes lies the subdominant function. This means that a musical gesture (harmonic, melodic or rhythmic) is active and leading towards some goal (dominant); is between a feeling of activity and repose (subdominant); or is at a place of rest (tonic). Chromaticism is no different than diatonicism in this respect. Within each context, everything is relative. Once the consonance-dissonance level of a particular musical area is established, these three basic functions should still be discernible in relation to each other along with the many possible shadings in between.’ – (Liebman, p13)

‘Most stories are constructed with a variation of the same form: in the beginning there is relative calm — something comes along which disrupts the calm — in the end something happens to restore the order.  Playing outside usually follows the established pattern discussed above: IN (order established by playing within the key area) — OUT (order disrupted by playing outside of the key area) — IN (a return to the key area). The IN establishes order like a tonic chord; the OUT behaves like a dominant, so a line that moves IN – OUT – IN is much like a progression that moves I – V7 – I.’ – (Ligon, 2001, p394)

Jazz theory texts seem to put it quite simply, that dissonance leads to consonance as part of a natural musical tendency.  These dissonances are usually catogorised into headings such as sideslipping, planing, tonicisation, superimposition of harmony, superimposition of exotic scales, chromatics, quartals etc.  Mehldau regularly employs what is found in these texts.  However, after studying 300 improvisational excerpts and at least 20 transcribed solos, other examples of dissonance occur so regularly that they can be considered part of Mehldau’s individual improvisational style.  Some of these idiosyncrasies are described below: –

 

• Mehldau fuses new tensions not described in jazz texts into his melodic lines, tensions often on the downbeat such as a maj7th over dom7th, b9 and maj7th over dom7th, maj3rd over min7th.  These dissonances are often moving, sometimes in pairs and act as non-diatonic accented passing notes.

• Mehldau uses unusual linear tonality such as Ebmaj7 over F#7 and Db major over C7alt, subtle changes to the convention, but a character nonetheless.

• There are clear examples where Mehldau uses specific metric dissonance moving to consonance; I have named this phenomenon a ‘stutter’, moving from a sense of uneasiness to metric resolution.

• There are clear and repeated examples where Mehldau temporarily straightens the swing feel of a melody of improvisation, creating metric dissonance (IN-OUT-IN), 12/8 to 4/4 etc.

• Other dissonances not exemplified are harmonic and motivic.

NB: These examples (and also these program notes in general) should not be considered academically vigorous per se, but instead serve to give the panel a taste of my final exegesis.

The Problem of Melody

‘Melody is variously defined according to the point of view from which it is considered. The musical theorist necessarily adopts an empirical definition of melody which makes it conform with occidental standards of consonance, where-as the student of exotic music finds himself impelled to adopt a much broader definition to cover the heterophonous phenomena of primitive music.’ – (Thurstone, 1920, p326)

‘We cannot even say, with any degree of surety, what constitutes a good melody.  Still, most people think they know a beautiful melody when they hear one. Therefore, they must be applying certain criteria, even though unconscious ones. Though we may not be able to define what a good melody is in advance, we certainly can make some generalisations about melodies that we already know to be good, and that may help to make clearer characteristics of good melodic writing.’ – (Copland, 2009, p41)

Copland also suggests that melody is associated strongly with emotion.  In Melodic Improvising (Middleton, 2005), Middleton reminds us that melodic improvising is an intuitive, non-intellectual or technical process based on intervallic content, rhythmic content and phrasing.  Middleton acknowledges the tendencies towards the intellectual and technical in jazz music, but reminds us

‘Melodicism in improvisation reflects an awareness and understanding of melodic materials as well as openness to the moment, and avoidance of cliché, trust in one’s instincts, and a willingness to let your ear take you where it will.  Our level of study and preparation ideally serves only to inform the intuitive guide that we all possess, which we often censor in favour of the comfort of playing what we know’ (Middleton, p14).

A seminal component of Brad Mehldau’s playing is the tendency for improvisation pertaining to a ‘diatonic lyricism’, with a strong melodic component.  The juxtaposition of melodic playing and tasteful use of dissonance will shape my performance today; it has become the primary focus of this degree program.

Recital Pieces

1. Unrequited

A harmonically cyclical composition, played by the trio, it contains a strong harmonic bias.  Devices such as delayed cadences extend the harmonic rhythm and help prolong tension causes by constantly shifting key centers.

2. When It Rains

Harmonically the simplest head, however this is a groove tune that relies heavily on the use of hemiolas between the triplet-based left hand and a straight 8^th drum groove.  In addition to the trio, Nick Marsh is providing harmonic support on guitar.

3. Ode

This beautifully melodic composition is based on a single motif, transposed, repeated and developed over a 62 bar form.  The harmony is altered and the form extended by 2 bars during solos.

4. Resignation

A solo piano performance in 7/4, possibly my most advanced solo attempt yet.  Like Unrequited, the melody is largely horizontal, with a strong harmonic bias that peaks at bar 17. Mehldau uses second inversion chords as pivots to move between different key centers, and the bass line is often chromatic.

5. Kurt Vibe

Melodically, Kurt Vibe is simply based on a repeated 2-bar cell over a 16-bar head.  It incorporates a funk style backbeat with a chromatically descending bass line that slowly descends for 4 bars.  The harmonic rhythm of the piano is in two bar sections, where the first bar utilises strong dissonance, such as a perfect 4^th over a dominant chord or a b9th over a minor chord.  These dissonances are always resolved in the subsequent bar.  Structurally, Kurt Vibe follows an AABC form where A and C share the same melody but with differing harmonic movement, essentially still in the tonic key of Eb.

6. Elegy For William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg

A solo ballad in 12/8, which uses both functional and non-functional harmonic movement.  The time feel is straightened out during bars 7-8 and 13-14, creating metric dissonance.  Also during these same bars, Mehldau creates dissonance in the melodic line by using non-diatonic passing notes such as a C# over Cmajor7 and A# over B7alt, either acting as a delayed (or anticipated) resolution.

7. At The Tollbooth/Don’t Be Sad/Highway Rider

These three pieces share the same musical gambit, a 4-bar harmonic motif descending in tones.  At The Tollbooth is performed as a solo work, it contains some interesting melodic movement especially during bars 13-14, employing a strong melodic contour containing chromatic dissonance such as a C# over a D7.  Don’t be sad is a piece in 3 with a swung flavour; the melody is mainly played by guitar that begins as a piano/guitar duo.  Don’t be sad demonstrates how Mehldau adds dissonance to simplicity, probably the most noteworthy example is at bar 41 where the melody Db Eb E Eb is supported by a Bb major chord.  Highway Rider is the final piece in the trilogy, played in a Drum and Bass style, the melody is transposed between several keys, and the feel is face paced and energetic.

Thanks

Thanks to my band Alex Freer, Jo Shum and Nick Marsh and to my supervisors David Lines and Kevin Field.

Thanks to my wife Arian and daughter Amelie, both now inspiration for all that I do.

References

Brodbeck, D. (2001).  Brahms Studies, Volume 3.  University of Nebraska Press, USA.

Copland, A. (2009).  What To Listen For In Music.  Penguin Group, Toronta, Canada.  New American Library.

Kamien, R. (1988).  Music An Appreciation.  McGraw-Hill  Inc, Singapore  McGraw Hill Book Co.

Krebs, H. (1987).  Some Extensions Of The Concepts Of Metrical Consonance And Dissonance.  Journal of Music Theory, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Spring, 1987), pp. 99-120.  Duke University Press.

Levine, M. (1989). The Jazz Piano Book / by Mark Levine. Petaluma, CA  :: Sher Music Co.

Liebman, D. (2005). A Chromatic Approach To Jazz Harmony And Melody.  Rottenburg, Neckar, Germany :: Advance Music.

Ligon, B. (2001). Jazz Theory Resources Volume 1 & 2.  Milwaukee, WI. :: H. Leonard Corp.

Middleton, A. (2005). Melodic Improvising. Tubingen, Germany :: Advance Music.

Panken, T. (2008). In Conversation with Brad Mehldau Retrieved 26th March, 2009, from http://www.jazz.com/features-and-interviews/2008/6/5/in-conversation-with-brad-mehldau

Rivoira, M. Larsdon, L. Vogt, P. (2010).  Jazz In The Present Tense (DVD).  Indiepix, NY.

Thurstone, L. (1920).  The Problem of Melody.  The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Jul., 1920), pp. 426-429.  Oxford University Press.

Vella, J. (2011).  Interview With Brad Mehldau on the Art of Solo Piano.  Retrieved 11^th July 2011, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-vella/brad-mehldau-the-art-of-s_b_823026.html

Welcome to ‘Brad Mehldau, the transcriptions page, part 2′.  Below is a collection of 20 files, containing leadsheets and transcriptions of seminal Mehldau performances.  All pieces have been composed by Brad, some are very recent such as Dreamsketch, Ode and Kurt Vibe.  Others are from albums recorded in the 90’s.  All transcriptions have been thoroughly checked but please let me know if you find any errors, as, like my other transcription page, they are all currently first draft.

PLEASE NOTE: – to print these documents, download the latest version of Acrobat Reader (free), then remove security.  Please subscribe to my site, then email me for the password, I am happy for you to print these, if you ask nicely! 🙂

Dreamsketch Solo (full stave)

Elegy For William Burroughs And Allen Ginsberg Solo

Highway Rider Solo

Kurt Vibe Solo

Ode Solo (full stave)

Resignation Solo (full stave)

Secret Beach Solo

Unrequited Solo (full stave)

When It Rains Solo

To view my other Mehldau transcriptions, please visit Part 1, here.

To download my doctoral thesis containing a ten solo analysis of the work of Brad Mehldau, please visit here

Analytic, Descriptive and Prescriptive Components of Evolving Jazz – A New Model Based on the Works of Brad Mehldau

Just a few of the websites that contain transcriptions, links and other info related to Brad Mehldau’s music, that is all!

http://villabourani.wordpress.com/category/brad-mehldau/ – Adrian is really on to anything new and exciting Mehldau-wise!

http://jazz-transcriptions.blogspot.co.nz/2011/01/brad-mehldau.html – A large collection of Transcriptions

http://www.jazznote.co.uk/bradmehldautranscriptions.htm – A commercial transcription site with Mehldau transcriptions

http://www.linge.de/music/records/mehldau/index.html – A very complete discography

http://www.scribd.com/doc/25944545/Brad-Mehldau-Rare-Transcriptions – Various Japanese Transcriptions published from an unknown source

http://www.sokillingman.com/transcriptions/brad-mehldau-wonderwall/ – Transcription of ‘Wonderwall’ with some analysis, very good!

http://www.jazzcenter.org/index.htm?http://www.jazzcenter.org/cw-jrc/transcription/londonbl.htm – ‘London Blues’ with analysis

http://www.poparad.com/learn.php – ‘When it Rains’ and more!

http://quentintschofen.com/2011/10/transcription-brad-mehldau-solar/ – ‘Solar’

http://www.jazztranscriptions.co.uk/?p=391 – ‘It Might As Well Be Spring’

http://jazztranscriptions.wordpress.com/2011/07/19/brad-mehldaus-solo-on-not-you-again-transcribed-by-damian-sim/ – ‘Not you again’

OK, so the 3 month Gary Burton course has now finished, it was an amazing experience and I learnt much valuable information from studying with him.  Perhaps the most useful was being able to speak to Gary every week for an hour online via a kind of Berklee Skype, we had the opportunity to ask questions about the course, his life and improvisational concepts.  Another valuable experience was the submission process, each week we had to record ourselves improvising over various pieces, focusing on specific elements, and it proved a great way to evaluate were I really was at, as a jazz musician.  I mean, having to record your own playing to send to one of the most successful improvisers of the day, at first, felt a little daunting, but the benefits of listening to your own playing (something all jazz musicians should do often) so regularly proved to be very useful indeed.  So much in fact, that I am hoping to study with some other great musicians online in the future.  At the bottom of this blog is a downloadable document with a synopsis of the course content summarised, lots of really interesting points covering everything from basic scales and the mechanics, to  philosophical questions about what it means to be an improviser.  Before that however, are a list of Gary’s ideas that particularly resonated with me personally, ideas that I am going to make a conscious effort to incorporate into my own playing, thanks for reading, Mark.

• A great solo is a story that unfolds and you can listen to a recording of it over and over and continually get the same excitement and intensity from it. That high level of communication is what we’re hoping to achieve, as we become better improvisers. It’s not enough to play the right notes, get through the chord changes without making mistakes, and to sound like a familiar jazz improviser; we must aspire to being great storytellers when we improvise.
• We become fluent when the vocabulary (scales and chords) and grammar (harmonic progressions) are assimilated into conversational content or story (melodic themes and structure) and we no longer have to consciously think about them while we play.
• What is important to us as improvisers is the sound of the scale and the type of harmonic coloration suggested by the mode, is it brighter or darker? is it major or minor or dominant 7?  Consequently, it is more logical to think of the modes in this order: from brightest to the darkest, and note which modes are major or minor, and the one mode that is dominant 7th in nature.
• The important thing when learning new chord scales for a tune is to not allow yourself to cheat. Yes, you may be able to get past a certain harmony you don’t know very well without having a chord scale ready, but you’re going to want to know the scales for all the chords of a song and not have to resort to guessing or waiting to hear what someone else plays on a harmony so you can try to pick up usable notes by ear. Learning the vocabulary now will allow you to better express yourself later.  Being sure to use several keys, practice the 10 scales we have covered in random patterns, using a variety of intervals, with the full range of your instrument, leaping around the range frequently, while varying the rhythms.
• It is important for the improviser to clearly imply the harmonies when improvising. It is not enough to just play correct notes on each chord. You have to also help the listener follow the changes as the chords move from one to another. Whatever kind of motion the harmonies suggest, it is the improviser’s job to show this to the listener.   One thing you should notice when you hear a good solo is that a strong soloist doesn’t even need an accompanist to suggest the chords in his or her improvisation.  A good solo melody will feature enough of the important notes in the harmonies for the listener to hear the progression of the chords. To put it simply, the improviser needs to help the listener follow the chords’ movement.
• There is more than one way to approach soloing when a guide tone line is present, using the conventional approach, a soloist would think of each chord individually, outlining each harmony, or, the player could use the guide-tone lines built in to the progression as a basis for the improvisation. Think of it like a clothes line on which you can hang your melodic improvisation.
• When chromatic motion appears in a song, soloists will almost always want to make sure it is featured in the improvised melody.
• Listeners like to follow a solo that unfolds like a story; it pleases their ears and engages their minds.  They want a time feel they can identify. Whether it is swing, straight eight, or ballad, or other—it doesn’t really matter, they want chords and harmonies that sound pleasing and rich, and, most of all, listeners want a storyline—some way to follow the development of the improviser’s solo. It’s our job as players to make sure our story is clear and likely to be followed by our listeners (if we lose them, then they won’t be with us when we have our great moment of creativity somewhere in the third chorus).
• Ideally, you want to keep the melodic development going until you feel you have fully developed it and not be forced to abandon it prematurely because you can’t keep up with the chord changes.
• Those of us who play piano, guitar, vibes, or drums, have to intentionally learn to phrase melodies in a sentence-like manner, always being aware of the danger of playing too continually; not leaving opportunity for the listeners to comprehend what we are playing.
• While some players have an assortment of specific chord scales for use in blues situations, I take a different approach.   The strongest blues characteristics are the co-existence of both the b3 and natural 3, the natural 4 and #4, also sometimes the 13 and b13. So, instead of thinking of a new blues scale, I picture a dominant 7 scale I know, such as the Mixolydian, and add extra notes, the b3 and #4, for instance, giving me an enlarged scale.
• In preparation for performing a song, we first need to get a sense of the general characteristics of the composition.  What is the melodic theme or themes like?  What is the time feel?  Is the tonality minor, major, bluesy?  What’s the general mood?
• Next, we take a detailed look at the composition itself. My approach to this is to break up the tune into sections, such as four-bar sections, or eight-bar sections, though sometimes the sections are divided with uneven numbers of bars such as a three-bar or five-bar section.   Once you have identified a section, figure out what is going on compositionally.
• After you’ve determined the general characteristics of the song, the chord scales you’ll be using, and what constitutes a section of the song, ask yourself, “What can an improviser feature in the solo that demonstrates the compositional elements of this section of the tune?”
• A song that is weak compositionally, that doesn’t really have much to say, is surprisingly difficult to play effectively. Just as important, if the player doesn’t really understand the compositional elements in a song, the end result is most likely going to be lacking in interest.
• Writing a jazz song is one of the greater challenges for a composer. First of all, a jazz composition is usually pretty short, maybe 30 to 60 seconds in length, and it has to stand up to multiple repeats as we improvise on the form, chorus after chorus.  In addition, a jazz tune has to be both familiar and yet unique at the same time—two contrasting elements. If a song is too familiar and everything seems predictable, then it will sound boring and cliché. On the other hand, if the song has too many unusual and unpredictable elements it will seem awkward and too foreign for comfortable improvisation.
• It is difficult to crescendo steadily over, say, the course of three choruses of a song going gradually from soft to loud, from sparse to busy, in a smooth way. What tends to happen instead, is that the soloist goes from soft to loud by the end of the first chorus, and is then stuck playing at top volume and intensity for the next two choruses.   The solution is that we want to give the impression that the solo is building in volume and complexity, but we don’t want to get trapped into making it follow one long arc. It is better to think in waves. After building in intensity somewhat, pause and drop down to a lower intensity and start building again.   While in the act of soloing, there is a natural fear that if you leave a high level of energy and drop back to a lower one, the bottom will fall out of the solo, and the audience will notice the sudden drop in intensity. However, that is not usually the case.
• You want your opening phrases to announce to the audience, “Okay, now it’s my turn, check this out, you’re going to find this really, really interesting!” Try to make them forget the soloist that just preceded you.  All professional level players end their solos clearly and effectively, and the succession of soloists moves smoothly from player to player.
• With no game plan about how long to make a solo, the improvisation tends to be poorly shaped, and there will be sections that lack interest. I learned it is better to always start a solo with a plan for how many choruses I am going to play. You are the only person who knows that you are, say, intending to play three choruses. So if things are going really well as you get near the end of the third chorus, you can always add another and go on a bit longer. But, by having the number of choruses in mind, you will be more likely to have a well-executed solo, paced nicely, and you will be more likely to get something going in your improvisation in the early part of your solo rather than spending time experimenting, looking for a direction.   Try to start your solo with a strong, exclamatory melodic phrase that introduces you to the listeners and serves as a starting point for the development of your solo. Don’t waste valuable time or the listeners’ attention by starting out with something tentative or boring.
• When I play melodies, I am usually imagining how a singer would execute it, or I picture a trumpet or a saxophone playing the line, and that gives me a sense of what the dynamic shape of the melody line should be.
• Chromaticism is the improviser’s best friend.
• Time – I started playing a lot with a metronome and play along tracks. I practiced playing along with records using a pair of brushes I borrowed from a drummer friend. And I started recording my soloing as often as I could to become more aware of my unsteady time.
• Pick a standard you are familiar with, and play continuous eighth notes, no rests, as you work your way through the changes. This helps us learn to twist and turn our lines to feature the strong notes on the strong beats, and so on. If you become skilled at this exercise, you will find playing over changes becomes more and more fluent.
• A bird flies in a straight line from tree branch to telephone wire, for instance. But a butterfly changes directions constantly and in unpredictable directions, in a graceful kind of ballet in flight. That’s what we want our improvised solos to be like. All that unexpected change of direction and leaping around the range of our instruments provides a lot of energy and surprise to keep the listeners interested.
• Comping –  The first job is rhythm. When comping you are part of the rhythm section, and that requires that we all strive to provide a nice, comfortable rhythm feel for the band. If the soloist knows the song, he or she doesn’t really need you to spell out the harmonies. But if you are going to be part of a rhythm section, you must contribute to the time feel along with the other rhythm section players, first and foremost.
• Comping in straight eighth time requires a more constant and steady flow of attacks rather than looking for accents to emphasize. Straight-eighth comping is more like providing a kind of smooth blanket of comping over which the soloists play. It is quite different from comping in swing time.
• We need to keep our comping interesting and that is done mostly through featuring contrasts. Voicings can be spread out or closely clustered; voicings can be plain and consonant, or complex and dissonant. Some notes or chords will be of short duration and others of long duration. You can use full voicings of four to six notes, or small note groupings of two or three, or even single notes or octaves. Volume can vary from soft to loud. The idea is to keep changing things to keep it interesting. You don’t want to comp nearly the exact same voicings and figures chorus after chorus or the soloist will find it uninspiring.
• When there is more than one comper in the rhythm section, keep this advice in mind: No matter how many accompanists are chording at the same time, the overall effect should add up to the equivalent of one comper. So each chord player will need to play less and listen carefully to the other compers in order to provide a balanced amount of accompaniment.  Use guide-tone lines when they are present in the music. They help support the flow of the harmony and are a strong compositional element in the song.  Highlight strong harmony resolutions when you come to one in a song. Most of the time, only play one voicing on any given harmony, unless it holds for a longer period of time.
• The temptation is always to play too much and be too busy when comping. Better to comp less than to play too much.  Don’t feel you have to play something on every harmony in a song. When you practice alone, you naturally feel the need to include every harmony, but in a band setting other players are also providing content, so you don’t have to include every harmony.
• Don’t comp more busily than the soloist. Sometimes a soloist will play a very sparse and simple kind of melodic style. If you are playing twice as many hits per bar as the soloist it will seem out of place. Keep your comping less busy than the solo you are accompanying.
• Remember to keep your attention on the soloist more than on your own playing, so you can follow along and properly support the improvisation.
• When I comp, I sort of pretend that I have another set of arms and I’m playing that other instrument as well as my own. I follow every phrase and melody line, and play right along with the soloist. The best soloists are really easy to follow because their solos develop very logically. But in any case, that is your job as a comper.
• You must become a fanatic listener when comping, even at the expense of giving your own playing full attention.
• If our unconscious is going to be responsible for so much of the playing, becoming what I often refer to as my “inner player,” then we need to have a very thorough understanding of how it works and how we can assist in the process with our conscious mind.
• Fear of mistakes works against us in the long run, though. Ultimately we want to be spontaneous and free, and creative—the opposite of controlling everything we play.  On one hand, we have to be very committed and disciplined, practicing thousands of hours to develop our instrumental craft. But at the same time, we need to be loose and creative when we ultimately perform. It’s always a challenge to keep these two opposing things in balance.
• The improviser plays along comfortably on a familiar piece, and somewhere in the solo an unexpected melodic line pops out, something the player didn’t anticipate playing, didn’t think about before hand, and had never played before—a new melodic idea. This is the inner player in full charge, while the conscious mind took a break from acting as gatekeeper.
• Since the inner player is doing the lion’s share of the playing, we need to communicate with it. We want to use our conscious mind to offer guidance, to direct it toward what we want our playing to accomplish. The challenge is that our inner player does not use words. It communicates via feelings and imagery. We need to communicate to our unconscious about how we want the music to feel, and how we want it to sound. We need to keep sending instructions to the unconscious about what we want to have happen.
• Listening back to your playing as recorded is a great way for the unconscious to sort of look at itself in the mirror, and learn from this opportunity to re-experience what was played.
• I find it helpful to imagine that I am playing in front of an audience when I practice. Improvisation is like conversation. It’s hard to practice speaking while you are alone, with no one to speak to. So even if there is no audience, like in a recording studio, I find it necessary to imagine that there is an audience listening to what I am playing. It gives me some sense of feedback and response that helps me pace my soloing.
• Try sitting quietly and visualising yourself playing a favourite song.  Imagine that you are playing beautifully and how satisfying it feels to play so well. Show your inner player this is what you want to achieve; give your inner player guidance through picturing your desires for the playing experience.

Download the full Gary Burton course synopsis here.

Gary Burton Course

Thanks, Mark

PLEASE NOTE, REVISED EDITIONS AND TRANSCRIPTIONS CAN NOW BE FOUND HERE!  

Here is a collection of 9 lead-sheets, some from his latest album, Ode, all Mehldau originals.  I am preparing these for my next recital and though that some of you would enjoy playing them too!  Drop me a line if you find this useful, and I will keep posting more.

PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE 1st DRAFT, 2nd DRAFT AND TRANSCRIPTIONS TO FOLLOW!

Thanks, Mark

Don’t Be Sad

Unrequited

Secret Beach

Resignation

At the Tollbooth

Kurt Vibe

Elegy For William Burroughs And Allen Ginsberg

Ode

Dream Sketch

Here is a PDF of the article I wrote for Downbeat this month, obviously I am very happy to have been published in this magazine.  I have included the full text as it was edited somewhat to fit on a couple of pages.

Thanks Mark

Mehldau Transcription Analysis

When listening to Sky Turning Grey (For Elliot Smith) from Highway Rider (Nonesuch, 2010), one could be forgiven for underestimating the complexity of this morosely themed track. It’s a quintessential example of how Brad Mehldau elegantly fuses seamless musical connectivity with absolute compositional sophistication.  Like any true artist, his music is much greater than the sum of its individual parts, and Mehldau’s group sound so effortless.  Matt Chamberlain’s relaxed grooves, combined with Larry Grenadier’s pulse-like bass line create a backdrop for the theme, a lament to songwriter Elliot Smith.  Joshua Redman plays the head, a haunting, horizontal, motivic melody with occasional blues overtones.  Some of the supporting harmony is played on pump organ overdubbed by Mehldau, during studio sessions recorded early 2009.  Mehldau’s exquisite pianistic skills and improvisational mastery make study and explanation a real challenge. As is often the case with Mehldau’s groove based solos, instruments other than the piano play a harmonic role, negating the prominence of Mehldau’s otherwise very active left hand.  Therefore, my analysis is from a transcription of the treble stave only.

The form of this composition is 64 bar AABC, where B and C share the same melody but are supported by different changes.  The key fluctuates regularly between Bb minor and Db major, with some cyclical based deviation.  What is most apparent is the almost constantly descending bass line that is spelt out by Mehldau’s changes; largely a mixture of diatonic chords derived from the key, some tritone substitution and elongated functional II-V-I cadences.  An example of this harmony can be found at measures 14-17, where a II-V-I is played in Bb minor, however an Ebm/Bb extends the C half diminished sound for a measure, before the V chord at measure 16.  Mehldau has employed this compositional device in other pieces such as Unrequited (Art of the Trio Vol. 3, 1998).

In terms of the piano solo, everything that you would come to expect in Mehldau’s studio recordings can be found here.  This album is relatively new so consequently Mehldau’s improvisation evokes a sense of relaxed maturity and stylistic confidence that makes it so appealing to dissect.  Chorus one includes strong references to the melody on a regular basis, such as measures 0, 6-7, 11, 16-18, 26-28, 32, 40-41, and last but not least 55-60.  There is much antiphonal content too.  The opening phrase, based on the fist two notes of the melody, is a 4 beat cell that is stated then answered during bar one and two.  The next phrase starts at measure four, for two measures, and is answered during 6-7 before a blues figure at 8.  Motivic repetition is heard in several places, for example 55-60; also chromatic references can be heard throughout the improvisation, either acting transitionally, or to approach chord tones.

Mehldau regularly utilises harmonic imposition, which often occurs in the latter part of a solo.  In Sky Turning Grey, he introduces this device within the first quarter of chorus one, by playing a line derived from C# Locrian #2 mode over a Cm7b5, effectively side-slipping up a semitone.  Mehldau plays ‘out’ during several prominent places, for example 49, and, when using 8th notes to do this, he straightens out the feel and uses mezzo staccato, supporting harmonic tension with a rhythmic device.

An increased sense of intensity and drive ensues from chorus two, which is achieved with rhythmical features such as 4-note chromatic or melodic triplets, for example 68.  Mehldau employs tension by way of juxtaposing uncommon note choices, for example at measure 74, Mehldau plays an A and B, the #9 and perfect 4th of Gb major respectively.  This precedes a D over a Db major chord in the next measure, spelling a b9 – all risky choices – but placed as they are, within a firm melodic context, they work well.  At measure 77, the solo culminates with a long 16th note passage from 77 – 80, then again 87-89.  Features such as side-slipping, chromaticism, blues, a fast Lydian arpeggio derived from the tritone (87) and Locrian mode over F7 (88) are heard before the solo is concluded as the head subtly re-enters contrapuntally, played by an inner voice at measure 89-90.

Mark Baynes is a jazz pianist in Auckland, New Zealand.  He is studying the music of Brad Mehldau for a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Auckland University.  He teaches at both the New Zealand School of Music and Auckland University.  A limited bibliography and discography can be found at www.jazzpiano.co.nz

 

This is just a sketch of the solo, if anyone wants to download it then convert it to a Finale file then be my guest!  Useful for anyone wanting to play the solo as a reference, thats what I used it for!  Thanks M

From Within (Calle 54) Solo Sketch

The University Of Auckland School of Music

First recital in a DMA degree entitled ‘Brad Mehldau’s stylistic innovations and their implications for jazz piano performance’

Standards and Contemporary Works as played by Brad Mehldau

Sunday 13th May 2012, 3.30pm @ KMC Studio One, Auckland

Introduction

Brad Mehldau is one of the most innovative and musical jazz pianists alive today.   It is my suggestion that he has expanded not just the piano repertoire but also how that repertoire is performed, helping jazz reach a kind of stylistic ‘renaissance’ by challenging the role of the piano in jazz.  One way he has done this is by introducing ideas borrowed from classical disciplines such as antiphony, counterpoint, and fugue.  As a child prodigy, Mehldau quickly grasped the technical requirements needed to play classical piano.  In fact, his touch on the piano is much more like that of a classical player and not at all one-dimensional (a common criticism of many jazz pianists).  His improvisation can be compared to that of a composition, in the way that Mehldau has a clear idea about the overall structure that his solo will unfold and in which order, in short he has a musical game plan, often utilising several layers of intensity.  Mehldau uses motif in two ways.  First, he often bases initial improvisation on a single cell of melody taken from the first few bars; this is stated and developed over time.  Second, Mehldau uses motif as a kind of musical glue connecting more intense improvisational phrases together. This aids the continuity and melodic connectedness of the solo.

This recital contains a collection of standards and tunes borrowed from certain popular music composers such as Radiohead and Nick Drake.  The preparation of these tunes has greatly increased my understanding of the challenges involved in attempting to emulate such a great artist.  I have made full transcriptions of nearly all of the solos and lead in-heads taken from versions that have inspired my recital, to gain valuable knowledge with regards to how they are constructed.  These transcriptions are available for you to download from: –

https://www.jazzpiano.co.nz/2012/02/uploaded-brad-mehldau-lead-sheets-and-transcriptions/

In addition to this, I have compiled a first draft of a chapter to be used in my final exegesis.  It contains extensive analysis of stylistic elements found in Mehldau’s improvisation.

I have a tough job on my hands, but hopefully this recital will demonstrate my comprehension of this exceptional performer.  Whilst my application of Mehldau’s concepts is in its infancy at this stage of my doctoral program I am gaining a greater depth of understanding into the complexities of his musical style.  The pieces I will be playing, and their significance to my research, are outlined, in alphabetical order below.

Alone Together

Based on the version heard on ‘Art Of The Trio Volume 5’ this performance will start with solo piano playing several choruses in time before the band joins in.  The aim of this is to exemplify the beginning of an antiphonal approach to improvisation, pedal points, mixed meter playing, certain independence between hands, motivic exploration and other techniques that Mehldau has in his employ.  For variety, Kim Paterson (Valve Trombone) will take the head.

Anything Goes

This is the title track for an album released in 2004 and is an example of how Mehldau often combines standard tunes with odd meters.  This version is performed in 5/4 utilises a reharmonised and extended turnaround in several places in the arrangement.  It is nearly all in the key of F major but modulates between F and Eb during the coda.  It is based on a common AABA 32 bar form, where the last A is reharmonised (another classic trait of Mehldau’s arrangements) giving the harmonic framework greater depth.  It is impossible not to recognise Mehldau’s contribution to jazz by making common the uncommon, and in doing so creating a metric paradigm shift.  I will be performing this arrangement as per the recording.

Blame It On My Youth

This is a solo piano performance with a quasi-stride style that Mehldau often uses when playing solo ballads.  Mehldau’s ability to phrase his melodies shall be one of the focuses of this performance, perhaps describable as a precise-looseness and intensity that is so compelling to listen to.  The play-rest-play approach he uses creating a sense of un-expectancy, succeeds by surrounding what he does play with an appropriate amount of space.  Mehldau’s use of range is also a large trademark of his solo/rubato playing, not to mention the multi-layered textures he creates and sustains s beautifully.  Often Mehldau ends a tune with improvisations over an extended vamp.  I shall be emulating this ballad concept in full during this piece.

Exit Music For a Film

Inspiration is drawn from the version recorded live on ‘Art Of The Trio Volume 4’ where two interesting things can be found.  First, the clearest example of motific statement lasts for the four choruses of the solo (please refer to conceptual analysis section of appendix).  This is arguably the longest motific development of this kind and lasts from the beginning of the solo at 2m30s to the end of chorus number four at 4m07s.  Second, Exit Music For A Film is the quintessential example of Mehldau’s ability to build AND THEN SUSTAIN the intensity of an improvisation.  These will be my goals when performing this piece during the recital.

How Long Has This Been Going On?

Taken from ‘Art Of The Trio Volume 5’, this ballad will further exemplify Mehldau’s exceptional use of ballad phrasing and play-rest-play concepts, this time played within the trio setting.  On the original recording Mehldau ends the track by performing a rubato solo outro (see appendix) that far exceeds (length wise) improvisation heard during the main piece.  During my recital I will be focusing on a tonic based vamp based on the chords of G – Gdim7 – Cm/G – G.

I’ll Be Seeing You

Based on the performance recorded on ‘Art Of The Trio Volume Four’, this performance is also considered to be important as it further exemplifies Mehldau’s multilevel build concept  I would suggest that Mehldau uses a 3-stage approach when contouring his solo.  For example, the first two choruses are stage 1, where Mehldau shows considerable restraint, using melodic cells and repeated intervals.  The melody is clearly present especially during the last A section of each chorus.  Stage 2 of the solo sees more linear activity, mainly diatonic in nature with occasional bop references, motific reference and register climbs. At stage 3 we hear Mehldau disregard the functional harmony of the form and instead, play in a more outside manner using the occasional diatonic fragment as a musical anchor.  I will be emulating this musical concept, demonstrating these ideals to the best of my ability.

Knives Out

Knives out, just like Exit Music For A Film, is a track composed by Radiohead and is performed using a fast drum and bass style.  Mehldau plays the opening using both heads of this recording with much counterpoint and antiphony that I will be hinting at but not copying directly.  The challenge of playing a piece in this way is maintaining a sense of musicality and linear shape even at a fast tempo, and achieving a successful sustained build contour throughout the solo.

Riverman

The version heard on ‘Art Of The Trio Volume 5’ is the quintessential example of how a pianist (and trio) can build intensity gradually over many choruses.  Both Grenadier and Rossi support Mehldau flawlessly and this track is one of the seminal recordings that first turned my head towards Mehldau’s playing.  I will be approaching this performance in the same way, building intensity slowly in as much of a linear fashion as possible, building tension by using rhythmic, harmonic and melodic devices, moving from sparse to dense over the course of the solo.

Tres Palabras

In this version from Anything Goes (Warner Bros, 2004), Mehldau performs this Bossa with a ballad like approach.  His solo is relaxed and doesn’t contain a build heard on other tracks apart from a slight increase in volume; he instead remains dedicated to the melodic content of his improvisation.  This is the second track of the recital to feature Kim Paterson on valve trombone.  I will be performing a transcription of Mehldau’s piano solo, which will form the initial part of my improvisation.

This is all of the interview material that I could find, the PDF is 25 pages long and contains 9 interviews, which are in no particular order.  Organisations include All About Jazz, Huffington Post, London Jazz, PBS, Barnes and Noble, and the Ithaca Journal.  The content of the PDF is also included in this post.

Thanks, Mark

The Interviews of Brad Mehldau – Download PDF

All About Jazz

A Conversation with Brad Mehldau, Fred Jung, All About Jazz, Retrieved 27^th April 2012

Do you recall your first jazz record?

I think the first real jazz record I listened to was an Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass duo album, one of those Pablo things. A friend of my father’s bought it for me when I was eleven years old. Oscar was really the first guy I really listened to. That was the one.

What drew you to play the piano?

Well, I have been playing classical piano from the time I was about six years old, but sort of improvising a lot. Not really jazz, of course, because I had not been exposed to that, but I think when I heard Oscar, after hearing recordings of Horowitz and things like that of classical virtuosos, I could kind of relate to that, in the sense that his technique was so astounding. He was playing completely different kind of music. That kind of roped me in with jazz, to sort of know that that was possible to do that on the piano.

Do you have a favorite classical piece or a classical composer?

I am always listening to a lot of Brahms piano solo music. I would say that some of the Brahms is probably the stuff that’s closest to my heart.

Who were your influences?

I heard a bunch of different players, around that time, who were all pretty diverse. It was just, sort of, what people gave me. About a year later, a friend of mine gave me Keith Jarrett’s “Bremen and Lausanne” that solo, three record thing, for my birthday. Again, it was kind of like, discovering that that was possible on the piano, what he was doing. I think I could relate to it, coming from the classical side of things. When I was more like thirteen or fourteen, I really just started buying records, sort of a buying frenzy, listening to all sorts of different piano players and a lot of horn players too. I have probably been influenced by horn players and different instruments, just as much as piano.

Who were some of these horn players?

Definitely Miles, early on, and always for a sense of melody or phrasing, and Coltrane, for sure. Bird, when I really got the be-bop bug. Of course, I loved Bud Powell and Monk, the piano players in that time period, but it was Bird’s solos that I was transcribing, trying to go to the source. I still get off on his music, almost like an addiction.

You were a member of Joshua Redman’s quartet and crucial to its success. Did you feel pressure from the hype and expectation that surrounded Redman and the quartet? And did that aid in your development and outlook?

I think it was pretty cool, because the whole thing happened, really organically, and in a sense it was very natural. He just, sort of, put together that band and we didn’t know whether it would be special or not. We knew that it was going to be good, but then it developed into a pretty special thing. I can still listen to that album and really enjoy it. I think it, kind of, holds up for time, hopefully, at least for me. And basically, with Josh, I probably learned a lot about leading a band, and as a bandleader, how to become satisfied creatively, and also how to keep it interesting for the other guys. He is always giving everybody else a chance. The way he writes his tunes and structures them form wise, everybody gets a chance to express their own thing. So it never felt like I was taking up space or being just a sideman.

You have drawn quite a few comparisons to Lennie Tristano and Bill Evans. Are those comparisons fair?

The Lennie Tristano, I have gotten that a lot, and it’s always interesting because I really have not explored his music hardly at all. Although, what I have heard, I love it. And the Bill Evans, I kind of checked him out, but he doesn’t really stand out, anymore then McCoy Tyner, or Herbie, or Wynton Kelly, or a whole host of others. Of course, it’s a flattering comparison just because I love him. I love his music. I think it’s more that maybe there’s just sort of a overlap of a sensibility towards music in terms of an introspective quality that happens in the ballads a lot. Of course, there are surface comparisons, like being a trio and things like that, and playing standard songs. I think it’s cool. It’s flattering. At first it used to bug me a lot because I was constantly being compared to someone else, hopefully, you want to think that you have your own voice, but it’s flattering.

How important is it to develop your own voice early?

I think it’s crucial. I don’t know if it is something that you have to willfully do early on. But, I think for me, it’s been all about getting to that point and that’s how I judge my growth creatively. I think with most jazz musicians in their developmental stages, you kind of, go through this period where you become entrenched with the history of the music and it’s fun as hell. In college and in high school, that’s what I did with friends, just listening and becoming obsessed with the chronology of the music, and who proceeded who, and what came out of what. I think that very important, but at a certain point, for me it was not a defining point, it was not like a catalyst moment, but you sort of internalize those influences and you’re not thinking about them when your playing. That’s what you want to get to, to when you’re sitting down to play with anyone, you have all that inside of you, but it’s not something you’re consciously aware of when you’re improvising.

Let talk about your new album The Art of the Trio, Volume Two: Live at The Village Vanguard. How did that project evolve?

I was not really sure what I wanted to do because there is always so many different options for a recording. The way it went down was playing at The Vanguard once before that with my own trio, I felt a special affinity for that place and a real inspiration that came from playing that room, because of the audiences that are there and the kind of intensity that they have when they’re listening. The room itself, for the kind of music we play, and most people feel that way, acoustically, it is so wonderful, because you can hear everything perfectly. So there’s all sorts of subtleties that get lost a lot when you play in other venues, like a festival or whatever. Of course, playing live is a totally different thing then trying to create something in the studio. I asked Matt Pierson, the producer, if I could record the whole week and put it out and he said yes. Then, I just knew I wanted to do it, just because I had the opportunity to. Because, for me, if I had the option, in a perfect world, I would make every album live and just put five or six songs on there. Those are my favorite albums, Miles Davis at the Plugged Nickel or Blackhawk or Coltrane at Birdland, where you hear them getting into that place they get when they’re allowed to stretch out and there’s no constraints. The music gets transcendental for me.

How long have you been playing with your trio?

Actively, probably about four years now.

In this day and age, with record executives opting for so called “all-star” bands, is it difficult to keep a band together?

There is a lot of that. That’s a good point. That’s something that never attracted me at all, to play with two people who are great musicians or whoever, but that you have never played with. For me it’s all about rapport that you get with people, and also a certain level of trust that comes with playing with people over and over again, and giving each other leeway. Just a lot of things that happen, even on a personal side off the bandstand that definitely contributes to what you do when you’re playing. So for me, more and more, I have really become cognoscente that this trio is really it for me, with Larry Grenadier, and Jorge Rossy specifically. Sometimes an interviewer will ask, ‘What would be your dream band? Billy Higgins, or Ron Carter, or Joe Henderson?’ And I say, ‘Well, really, this is it.’ Because of the space that I can get into when I’m playing with them. It’s the most fulfilling for me. I’m really aware of that and it’s important for me to admit sticking to that. I’m just pretty confident in the process itself and it will continue to grow, because it always has. Every time we play together it just constantly evolving.

What is more important to you at this stage of your career, response from the audience or acclaim from the critics?

It would have to be response from the audience. I think more important then either of those things is when you go to bed at night, with you and the guy upstairs, or whatever it is, there’s a satisfaction that I did something that you were going for. It’s a very illusive thing. Sometimes it’s there and sometimes it’s not. Definitely, feeling like I am connecting with the audience is really vital. Feeling like I am connecting with them because I am expressing who I am in an honest way and not pandering to them or getting into a trick bag at all. Doing things that I know will work.

What is it that attracts you to the trio format? And is the quartet or larger ensemble something you would like to explore in the future?

The trio is still really compelling and stimulating. We made a decision to stick with it for a while, at least, and don’t really have any definite plans to do anything else, at least with me as a leader. The nice thing about that is that I have been getting to work with Josh Redman recently. We’re just finishing up his next recording here in New York, you know, as a sideman, and sort of returning to that after I stopped playing with him for a few years. To me that’s equally satisfying in a different way. To be part of somebody else’s musical vision, if it’s a good vision, which it is with Josh. So it’s nice to be able to do that as well.

Who else is in that band?

It’s Brian Blade and Larry Grenadier is playing bass.

At the beginning of your career you lived in New York and now you are living in Los Angeles. Is there a difference in the two scenes, as most East Coast musicians would lead you to believe?

I think a lot of people from New York have a conception of Los Angeles specifically as sort of being dead jazz-wise, which for me, after living there for two years, is not really the case for me. In New York, you have a structured geographically for sure. In New York, you have a definite jazz scene, Greenwich Village and the West Village, and all the arts are like that in New York, it’s more of an old-fashioned approach. You have your classical scene up in Lincoln Center, theaters in Times Square, the publishing houses are up on the upper Westside, and that’s kind of how it is. You can get sort of an in-bred thing within each community, sort of cliquey. That’s been a turn off for me sometimes when I lived in New York. In Los Angeles, it’s completely different, as far as musicians, you have people who are much more versatile because they’re doing soundtracks projects. A lot of them are equally adept at scoring for films and writing for strings and comfortable in the more pop genre, but not cheesey pop, you know, creative pop music which I have been exposed to a lot of. I’ve gotten to do some great stuff more on the pop side of things. Since I’ve been out in LA doing some recording projects have been really fun and interesting and that’s helped me grow a lot. I think people have to find out for themselves. People always ask, ‘Should I go to New York?’ I think that it’s a real subjective thing. For me it definitely was, there was no question, that’s what I waned to do when I got out of high school, because I wanted to go where all my heroes were, still alive and playing the music. But now in LA it’s sort of much more interesting just to learn about different things and to be involved with different kinds of genres.

What is the state of jazz today? What direction do you feel it should go in the future?

I think it’s in a pretty healthy state today. I think you have a thing that wasn’t in a jazz before, which is a lot of media attention thrown on it, almost like how the media gets attracted to pop music. They grab on to someone, not as much for their music, but for their story or their image or whatever, and sort of run with that for a while. The problem with that kind of pop mentality is that there is a built in expiration date. A lot of people in jazz seem to sort of come and go. They get this big record contract and then sort of disappear after a few years. And that’s kind of disconcerting. That has nothing to do with the actual level of musicianship. For me, it’s just as great as it has ever been. There are so many great players who are getting to record their music and there’s so many who just aren’t in that situation now, right here in New York, but who are really incredible musicians. In terms of actual music, I don’t think it is suffering at all. It is hard to say where it will go in the future. I think one thing that might happen is that you have this sort of renaissance that took place in jazz and a lot of the young musicians of my generation, myself included, sort of almost had an obsession with the history, going back and examining what’s happened in the last century. That’s all well and good, but I think one thing that might happen is people will start moving ahead and just being in the moment, playing music that doesn’t have this sometimes sort of bad consciousness about it, just over aware of the history. If we can sort of get through that and be in the nineties here.

You have been out on the road so much this year, have you been able to practice? How important is practicing, at this stage of your career?

It’s really important. It’s one of the things that I have to take my lumps that I don’t get to practice when I’m on the road and I’ve been on the road so much, particularly in the last year or so. I’ve done a lot of work with my trio for the first time. I just don’t get to practice that much on the road. But when I am home, it’s very important and I try to make time for it.

Do you have any favorite types of songs or any favorite standards?

BM: I love the real simple ones. Simple songs that have just a really strong melody. I’m really attracted to ballads a lot. Discovering new ballads, discovering old ballads.

If you were not playing jazz, what career path would you have taken?

I’m sure I’d be involved with music somehow. It would have to be, the thing that attracted me about jazz, and always did, before I heard jazz, the thing that was really fun for me that I can remember, when I was eight or nine years old, I would just sit down and improvise at the piano. And jazz, more then any other western music that I’m aware of, really makes improvisation sort of the thing and that’s what gets me off. It’s hard to say what I would be doing if it wasn’t in the jazz format, but I think it would have to involve improvisation somehow.

Any musicians out there that you feel the public and record companies should be aware of?

There’s a lot. Right here in New York, well, someone that will probably start getting a lot more attention, Mark Turner, he’s an incredible tenor saxophonist. He’s finally being discovered. He has his first album out on Warner Brothers. And a lot of musicians that he’s played with, this guitar player named Kurt Rosenwinkel, who’s absolutely phenomenal. It’s a mystery to me why he doesn’t have a record contract. His music’s incredible and original. Some of the musicians that I play with, like Jeff Ballard, great drummer, and a whole host of great tenor players, a lot of the guys who play at Small’s, here in New York. A bass player named Avishai Cohen who is from Israel and who has a very unique approach to his music. Just a whole host of musicians. One of my favorite musicians from my generation is Peter Bernstein, a great guitar player. He’s not too well known.

What have you been listening to lately?

I’m not listening to too much jazz at the moment. Just whatever I sort of brought as I was leaving my apartment, a sort of grab bag. I really love this new album by this band, Radiohead called OK Computer. That’s one that’s been on heavy rotation. Another album that just came out that I’m on, actually, if I can give it a plug is a singer/songwriter named Scott Weiland (12 Bar Blues).

The old Stone Temple Pilots singer?

Yeah. I’m on his first solo album. It’s really fun music. I’ve gotten to work with him in LA a little.

How much of a transition is it from playing jazz to playing rock?

The audience is definitely different, and it’s really a trip. I’ve done a couple gigs with him in LA. One in particular was this Christmas K-ROQ, a big station there, Christmas Extravaganza or something (Acoustic Christmas). It was at Universal Amphitheater with thousands of people, and going out there, dressing up, the whole thing, and the audience sort of screaming and going nuts. It’s a totally different kind of thing. It’s a lot of pomp and circumstance and drama. It’s not just about the music, it’s very much about the image and package and personality of the band and the singer. I think it’s something I used to turn my nose on when I got really into jazz. Truthfully, I shouldn’t, because the music I really grew up listening to was rock and roll, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, all that kind of stuff, Steely Dan. Before jazz and during jazz I listened to a lot of that music. I don’t know if it would be just as satisfying to tour with a band like that, because you don’t get to improvise. But if it’s a good band, which this one was. Some other stuff, I just did a good record date with Willie Nelson that was really fun. He had a great band. There is a different kind of satisfaction you get; it’s a very visceral, physical thing that happens. It’s a really sort of gut, primal level. It’s really satisfying. It’s very different.

Most jazz purists frown on rock. They seem to be adverse to acid jazz or fusion. Do you find that kind of mentality is healthy for jazz or does it convey an elitist message?

You said it. It’s elitist. The thing about jazz that I see, looking at it through history is that people consider it high art, in the sense that they only like Miles Davis ‘Kind of Blue’ or John Coltrane. There’s a whole legacy of recordings. There’s a whole canon that’s going to stick with us forever. That’s unquestionable, so why do we have to have such bad faith in it? Because historically what jazz has done is borrow from all sorts of genres and have an almost sacrilegious approach to what it takes. That’s not unique in jazz. Classical music has done that, borrowing the minuet dance forms and making it the third movement in some of the greatest symphonies in the world. Taking folk songs and turning them into these beautiful lieder. The same with jazz, Dizzy Gillespie borrowing from the Cuban music, then borrowing from classical music, Art Tatum, going over Debussy. Jazz is always not been afraid to take from anything and then transfiguring it and really raise it up to another level. I think that’s what can keep on happening now. That’s what attracts me. You can take a pop song from any period and if it’s a good song and it’s got a good strong melody, you can express that melody and you get to improvise and sort of throw it away if you want and turn it inside out. There’s no need to keep it inbred and away from everything else. It only alienates the audience. It’s very elitist. It turns people off.

Do you have any future projects in mind?

I think I will continue to work with the trio. That’s will definitely be the primary thing and recording with them again. More originals, I have got a lot of originals that I have been sitting on. The last album (The Art of the Trio, V. 2) was all standards. Working with Josh as well. Hopefully, at some point, I would like to do a solo record or something. I have shied from and have really just waited until I felt like I had something really strong to say, and I’m starting to get to that point. So maybe, in the next few years, doing a solo recording of original music.

A Fireside Chat with Brad Mehldau, All About Jazz, Published: April 9, 2004

All About Jazz: Anything Goes is your tenth recording for Warner Bros. Established pop acts don’t have that kind of longevity.

Thank you. I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by a great group of people for a while. Larry Grenadier and Jorge Rossy are very important to me. I think the longevity comes about because we try to approach it as a band. If it’s not a band – if it’s just me out there in front with two people accompanying me – then those people are sort of expendable creatively; someone else could replace them. If it’s a band though, which I think I have with Larry and Jorge, then their musical viewpoints are vital, and they have a personal stake in the music we make, a vital interest that keeps them around for the long haul. Although I’m the leader and it’s my name out front, I try to shape the music around them as well, simply because that’s always what’s made it work; that’s what’s made it exciting and kept it spontaneous.

You empathize with ballads. On Anything Goes , “Nearness of You.” How do you approach a ballad?

Often I’ll have a version that I love. In the case of “Nearness of You,” I’ve always been nuts over a recording of Bird playing it with the Woody Herman Band on a record I have called Bird With the Herd. More often, I know a version with a singer and listen to how he or she phrases the melody. I get a lot from vocalists that I love – Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Frank Sinatra – the way they phrase the melody. Often the mere attempt to make the piano phrase like a human voice can point you in an expressive direction: the impossibility of achieving vocal effects on the piano – a long sustain, vibrato, and the like – is a given, but if you have that as an ideal, you can communicate a certain longing in your phrasing.

Anything Goes features your trio, which has achieved a lasting collective endurance. Does it ever become old hat?

It’s become easier in some ways playing together. There’s often less explanation necessary, verbally, when I bring something new in for us to play. It’s also become more challenging in a way for all of us because we don’t want to tread over old ground. Certain musical approaches have a life and an expiration date – there comes a point when they’re not compelling anymore. Then you have to find something new, but you can’t force something new to appear. So then you have to listen for the possibility of something and let it take shape, and stay out of the way of the process.

The ego could get in the way of such process. Is it a challenge to reign pride in and allow the music to develop?

Yeah, I’ve got an ego like everyone else unfortunately. The ego operates on fear, in this case fear that the creativity is drying up. That fear doesn’t help anything, so having the awareness that it’s no use worrying about how things go creatively is about the only temporary salve. And I’m not sure whether being at peace with yourself helps the creative process. Creativity has its own non-rules. Trying to map it, how it works, is always reductive. I mean, it’s also reductive to say that you’ve got to be in flux in your life, maybe messed up emotionally or whatever, to be creative. Why would that follow?

What kinds of liberties does the trio afford you?

Just speaking selfishly, Larry and Jorge give me this elastic, churning foundation that I can jump off of. But ideally, they’re jumping off as well, from me, from each other. Although it sounds redundant and maybe touchy-feely, there’s an intense satisfaction in playing jazz, when you know that you’re giving someone else the breadth they want and need creatively in any given moment. It’s an altruistic act, but it’s satisfying to your own self worth to know that you have the ability to set someone else free. There’s a certain truth factor that’s necessary for the whole thing to work with everyone together: if you play selfishly and usurp someone else’s buzz, you’re just screwing yourself over in the by short term of whatever tune you’re playing together right then, and in the long term, in terms of your credibility with those players in the future. You don’t get points too much for the future – people are critical by nature, and tend to remember if they’re slighted in a creative situation. That’s as it should be I think; it keeps everyone in check. Freedom is there but it’s conditional on a deep mutual respect for the people you’re playing with.

You’ve spawned instrumentalists doing Radiohead covers. Has Radiohead sent you a fruit basket?

“Cover” is an unfortunate word – I guess it works pragmatically to describe an interpretation of a tune that hasn’t been around long enough to be deemed a “standard.” But “cover” also means just playing the tune – like you’re a wedding band and the bride says, “Can you guys play ‘We’ve Only Just Begun?'” and you cover it for them. You have to do something more with the tune if you want to transcend just doing a “cover” in that narrow definition of the word, and with us it’s through the interpretation of the melody and harmony, our rhythmic approach, and most importantly, the collective improvisation that ensues.

How formidable is it to try to give a standard or an indie rock song its own identity?

The song has an identity already. The nature of its identity is what determines whether it’s a good vehicle to interpret and improvise on. What sort of form does it have? Simple is usually better. What sort of harmonic movement? Is the harmony quirky – too quirky or idiosyncratic to the original version maybe? What is the melody like on a piano for me? It may be beautiful, but almost unplayable on piano. That happens with a lot of rock tunes.

Romanticism implies nostalgia for damaged goods.

It has to do with my understanding of life and the redemptive power of something like music, which is probably a mix of Freud, Harold Bloom, and a little Gnosticism thrown in. You have these early experiences in life that are intensely pleasurable, followed by this disconnection from that pleasure. What leaves a mark on you, what seeps into your memory forever, is the pain that comes from the disconnection from that pleasure, I think, more than the actual pleasure itself. Pleasure depends on its temporal, fleeting quality for its existence; it can only be defined in opposition to the inevitability of its lack, which is felt as pain. So you try to make sense of that pain because you’re always confronting it. You develop a love for the pain out of necessity. Romantic works are informed by that troubled love, but you can probably see why I’ve moved away from using “romantic” to describe that phenomenon because this description could work for anything from Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, or even something like the blues. In any case, those kinds of works don’t give us a representation of the prelapsarian, untroubled pleasure before the first disconnection. They show us the moment when the “glass shattered.” There’s a nostalgia implied there, because they’re perpetually trying to capture the first time the glass shattered in our early memories, and that early experience takes on an emblematic, legendary quality, seen through rose colored glasses. There is a folly in that, because we are willfully engaging in a misperception of something painful. So there’s a quality of irony if all that gets played out in an artwork, where one can be aware of that self-deception and simultaneously engage in self-deceit anyways.

What helps you sleep well at night?

I have my own bullshit meter, which is always on and operates independently of outside successes. If I have a good gig, I sleep well at night. If I have a less good gig, I sleep less well. I’m a little better at rolling with the peaks and valleys than I was a few years ago, but I definitely don’t have some Olympian calm about my status as a musician. I want to continue to grow, and I am driven by a fear that I will stop growing; it’s that simple. Freud was right – it’s the fear of death that keeps us running around the hamster wheel. I’m okay with that actually in a creative sense. It doesn’t strike me as morbid; it’s just the way it works, for me at least.

Fear of standing on success. That yearning to push your own envelope can get cumbersome.

The yearning does get cumbersome; that’s an astute question, because you’re pointing out a by-product of the process of growth. You’re pushing yourself so as to ward of a creeping banality – the banality of the expected, the safe, the tried and tested, the pedestrian. And then the process of pushing, indeed, can suddenly become banal. What do you do? Keep pushing; push through that. Or, change your musical surroundings radically. I’ve done that a few times over the years.

Having left the bright lights, big city, do you miss Hollywood?

I have nostalgia for Hollywood, my old neighborhood around Franklin Avenue, and miss the scene there, miss the regular Friday nights at Largo to see Jon Brion, miss some friends. But I get back there a few times a year, fortunately. Los Angeles is, quite simply, one of the weirdest places on earth and will always be so for me. I wouldn’t change it one bit. I love the freaks, the wannabes, the creative misfits, the car-culture, the rock ‘n’ roll, the slight feeling of danger at all times.

Has family life changed you?

As an artist it’s hard to say how being married and having a child has changed me – too early to tell. As a man, I’ve definitely matured from the experience, and I’m grateful for that.

When we last spoke, I remarked on how elitist the jazz guard had become and you referred to jazz’s need to inbred and keep away from everything else. Since, you’ve torn down some of those preconceived borders. There is a satisfaction that comes with knowing you are bringing a new audience.

Yes, that’s satisfying.

What is it about you or your music that makes sense to Gen X?

It’s hard to say. I think any vital music should be able to reach people of all ages. It’s very gratifying, though, to see people my age and younger at our shows.

Have writers finally quit comparing you and your music to Bill Evans or Lennie Tristano?

No, but it’s all-good. Harold Bloom, a great critic and commentator, has written, “Critics love continuities.” They love to connect the dots, he meant. I take that to mean that they construct their own narratives by connecting the dots through history, which can be interesting and illuminating in the right hands. But if someone lacks scholarship and imagination, they will inevitably construct narratives that are independent of reality, which can be entertaining I suppose, but are usually reductive and simplistic. It’s part of the sound byte culture we live in: say something really fast and simple that grabs attention.

Jazz.com

In Conversation with Brad Mehldau, Ted Panken, Jazz.com, Published: 5^th June, 2008

You met Jorge Rossy, the drummer in your working trio between 1995 to 2003, in the early ‘90s, perhaps when he arrived in New York from Boston.

Yes. Jorge already had a lot of musical relationships with people that I met after him for instance, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Mark Turner, Larry Grenadier as well, Joshua Redman, Chris Cheek, Bill McHenry. A lot of people who you hear about now as fully developed, with their own voices, at that time were also growing up together. As a lot of people still do, they went to Boston first, and then came to New York. I met them all when they came here.

You, on the other hand, decided to jump into the shark pit right away.

I came straight here.

I recall someone saying that they asked you what it was like at the New School, and you responded that it was a good reason to be in New York!

Yes. [laughs]

Reflecting back, how would you evaluate that early experience, newly arrived at 18? You’re from Connecticut, so presumably you knew something about New York at the time.

A little bit. I knew that I wanted to come here because it was everything that the suburbs wasn’t. I was a white, upper-middle-class kid who lived in a pretty homogenized environment. Yet, I was with a couple of other people, like Joel Frahm, the tenor saxophonist, who went to the same high school as me. A group of us were trying to expose ourselves to jazz. So New York for us was something that was sort of the Other, yet it wasn’t too far away’a 2-hour-and-15-minute car or bus ride. What really cemented me wanting to go to New York was when I came here with my folks during my senior year of high school, and we went one night to Bradley’s, and heard the Hank Jones-Red Mitchell duo. That blew me away, seeing someone play jazz piano like that, about six feet from you.  The next night I heard Cedar Walton’s…well, the collective Timeless All-Stars formation, which was with Bobby Hutcherson, Billy Higgins, Ron Carter, and Harold Land, small ensemble jazz. The immediacy of hearing Billy Higgins’ ride cymbal and seeing Cedar Walton comping, after hearing it for three years on all those great Blue Note records I had. That was it. I knew I had to come here, just from an actual visceral need to get more of THAT as a listener.

When you arrived at the New School, how did things progress? How fully formed were your ideas at the time?

I was pretty formed. Not to sound pompous, but I was more developed as a musician than maybe half of the students there,. But a few students there were a little ahead of me, and also two or three years older, which was perfect, because in addition to the teachers who were there, they acted as mentors and also friends. One was Peter Bernstein, the guitarist, another was Jesse Davis, the alto saxophonist. Larry Goldings was there, playing piano mostly he was just starting to play an organ setup. Those guys were immediately very strong influences on me. I have a little gripe in the way we tell the narrative of jazz history, or the history of influence. People often are influenced by their peers, because they’re so close to them, and that was certainly the case for me. Peter and Larry had a huge influence on everything I did playing in bands at that time. That’s pretty much what I was doing. I wasn’t trying to develop my own band. I was just being a sideman and soaking everything up.

If I’m not mistaken, your first record was in 1990, with Peter Bernstein and Jimmy Cobb. Jimmy Cobb had a little group at the Village Gate maybe at the time?

Yes, Jimmy Cobb had a group that was loosely called Cobb’s Mob with Peter and [bassist] John Webber. He still has it in different incarnations. It’s a quartet, most of the time with Pete playing guitar. Jimmy Cobb taught at the New School, and his class was basically play with Jimmy Cobb for 2’ hours once a week. For me, that was worth the price of the whole thing.

I think Larry Goldings said that during the first year, when the curriculum was pretty seat-of-the-pants.

Very loose!  Arnie Lawrence would interrupt the harmony class, and say, ‘Okay, Art Blakey is here for the next three hours,’ and that would become what the class did.

But getting back to this notion of influences from your contemporaries, how did their interests augment the things that you already knew? I’d assume that by this time, you were already pretty well informed about all the modernist piano food groups, as it were.

A fair amount. I came here at 18 completely in a Wynton Kelly thing. Then it was early McCoy, then Red Garland thing, and then late ‘50s Bill Evans. I was jumping around stylistically and still absorbing stuff I hadn’t heard maybe until four years in New York, and then I slowed down. It’s that whole notion of input and output, where you get just so much, and then slow down to digest.

But in New York, I suppose you’d have to find ways to apply these ideas in real time.

Right.

I’m interested in the way that process happened, to allow you to start forming the ideas that people now associate with your tonal personality.

Definitely. When I came to New York I had sort of a vocabulary, but not much practical knowledge of how to apply that in a group setting, which to me is indispensable if you’re a jazz musician. Part of my definition is playing with other people, and, if you’re a piano player, comping. Comping in jazz is very difficult to teach in a lesson, because it’s a social thing, an intuitive thing, something that you gain from experience of the seat of the pants. It also happens through osmosis, I watched players like Larry Goldings, Kevin Hays (who I was checking out a lot), and of course, people like Cedar Walton and Kenny Barron. Nothing can replace the experience of watching a piano player comp behind a soloist. If you watch closely and to see what works and what doesn’t, that will rub off very quickly. I’d say doing that helped me become a more social musician, versus friends of mine who came to the city at the same time I did but stayed in their practice room the whole time. You don’t develop in that same social way, which to me is indispensable as a jazz musician.

Did you have direct mentoring from any of the older pianists?

I had some very good lessons at the New School with Kenny Werner and Fred Hersch, and Junior Mance was my first teacher there. He was a little different than Fred and Kenny. Fred concentrated on getting a good sound out of the piano and playing solo piano a lot, which was great, because I hadn’t gotten there yet. Perfect timing. Kenny showed me ways to construct lines and develop my solo vocabulary specific harmonic stuff. With Junior, it was more that thing I described of soaking it up by being around him. We would play on one piano, or, if we had a room with two pianos, we’d play on two. I said, ‘I want to learn how to comp better. I listened to you on these Dizzy Gillespie records, and your comping is perfect. How do you do that?’ He said, ‘Well, let’s do it.’ So we sat down, and he would comp for me, and then I would comp for him and try to mimic him. Yeah, soak up what he was doing. Junior is a beautiful person. A lot of those guys to me still are models as people, for their generosity as human beings, and Junior is certainly one in that sense.

Did you graduate from the New School?

I did. It took me five years. I took a little break, because I already started touring a little with Christopher Holliday, an alto sax player. That was my first gig. But I did actually get some sort of degree from there.

But as you continued at the New School, the Boston crew starts to hit New York, and a lot of them are focused on some different rhythmic ideas than were applied in mainstream jazz of the time.

For sure.

I’m bringing this up because once you formed the trio, one thing you did that a lot of people paid attention to was play very comfortably in odd meters, 7/4 and so forth, and it’s now become a mainstream thing, whereas in 1991 this was a pretty exotic thing to do. How did you begin the process of developing the sound that we have come to associate with you?

I’m not sure. A lot of it certainly had to do with Jorge Rossy. To give credit where credit is due, those ideas were in the air with people like Jeff Watts, who was playing in different meters on the drums. But Jorge at that time was very studious, checking out a lot of different rhythms, not just odd-meter stuff. He was grabbing the gig with Paquito D’Rivera and playing a lot with Danilo Perez, absorbing South American and Afro-Cuban rhythms. I never studied those specifically, but by virtue of the fact that Jorge was playing those rhythms a lot and finding his own thing to do with them in the sessions we had, it found its way into my sound.  We’d take a well-known standard like ‘Stella by Starlight,’ and try to play it in 7 and in 5 as a kind of exercise. Some of them actually led to arrangements, like ‘I Didn’t Know What Time It Was,’ in 5, which is one of the first things we recorded in an odd meter. Then we moved on to 7, and got more comfortable with it. It was fun and exciting, and it seemed to happen naturally. But Jorge was ahead of me in terms of the comfort level. There was a lot of him playing in 7, holding it down while I’d get lost and then come around again.

How long did it take?

It took maybe six months or a year where I felt as comfortable in those meters as I was in 4. Then also, I started to crystallize this idea about phrasing. If you listen to Charlie Parker or to someone really authentic playing bebop, like Barry Harris, you notice that they are completely free with their rhythmic phrasing. It’s swinging and it’s free on this profound level, because it’s very open. But when you hear people who take a little piece of bebop and condense it into something (they can also have a very strong style), it gets less interesting. One thing I’ve always loved about jazz phrasing is the way, when someone is inflecting a phrase rhythmically, it’s really advanced and deep and beautiful, and also makes you want to dance. One thing I heard that perhaps we were trying to do was get that same freedom of floating over the barline in a 7/4 or 5/4 meter as you could find in 4/4, versus maybe… Not to dis fusion or whatever, but some of the things that people did with odd meters in the ‘70s had a more metronomic rhythmic feeling, more literal—’Hey, look, we’re playing 7, and this is what it is.’

Another influence that filtered into the sound of your early trio was classical music, which seems as much a part of your tonal personality as the jazz influences. Were you playing classical music before jazz?

Yes. I started playing classical music as a kid, but I wasn’t getting the profundity of a lot of what I was playing. I didn’t like Bach, and I liked flashy Chopin stuff. I did already have an affinity for Brahms, though; he became sort of a mainstay. Then jazz took over.  Fast forward. I was around 22, maybe four years in New York, and for whatever reason, I started rediscovering classical music with deep pleasure. What I did, what Im still doing now, as I did with jazz for a long time, I absorbed-absorbed-absorbed. I went on a buying frenzy to absorb a lot of music. A lot of chamber music.

Records or scores?

Records and scores. A lot of records. A lot of listening. A lot of going to concerts here in New York. I guess it rubbed off a little. For one thing, it got me focusing more on my left hand. Around that time, I had been playing in a certain style of jazz, where your left hand accompanies the right hand playing melodies when youre soloing. Thats great, but I had lost some of the facility in my left hand to the point where I was thinking, Wow, I probably had more dexterity in my left hand when I was 12 than I do now. So it was sort of an ego or vanity thing that bugged me a little, and it got me into playing some of this classical literature where the left hand is more proactive.

Were you composing music in the early 90s? After your first record, most of your dates feature original music. Around when did that start to become important to you? Was it an inner necessity? Did it have anything to do with having a record contract and having to find material to put on the records?

I’ve never actually thought of when I began writing tunes until you asked the question. I guess there were a few sporadic tunes from the time I arrived in New York until 1993, or 1994 even. I guess I was comparatively late as a writer in that I was an improviser and a player and a sideman before I was trying to write jazz tunes. Two of my early originals appeared on my first trio record with Jorge Rossy and his brother, Mario Rossy. On my next record, when I got signed to Warner Brothers, Introducing Brad Mehldau, there were a few more.

A lot of your titles at the time reflect a certain amount of Germanophilia.

At the time, for sure.

You wrote liner notes that referenced 19th century German philosophy, but applied the ideas to the moment in interesting ways. Can you speak to how this aesthetic inflected your notions of music and your own sense of mission?

What I was trying to do was bridge the gap between everything I loved musically, and there was this disparity for me between Brahms in 1865 and Wynton Kelly in 1958all these things I loved. Looking back, at that age, I was very concerned with creating an identity that would somehow, if it was at all possible, mesh together this more European, particularly Germanic Romantic 19th Century sensibility (in some ways) with jazz, which is a more American, 20th century thing (in some ways).  One connection that still remains between them is the song the art songs of Schubert or Schumann, these miniature, perfect 3- or 4-minute creations. To me, there is a real corollary between them and a great jazz performance that can tell a story Lester Young or Billie Holiday telling a story in a beautiful song. Also pop. Really nice Beatles tunes. All those song-oriented things are miniature, and inhabit a small portion of your life. You don’t have to commit an hour-and-a-half to get through it. But really good songs leave you with a feeling of possibility and endlessness.

Not too long after your first record for Warner Brothers in 1995, which featured both your working trio and a trio with Christian McBride and Brian Blade, you began to break through to an international audience. You had a nice reputation in New York, but then overnight to receive this acclaim, where people pasted different attitudes onto what you were doing, whether it was relevant to your thoughts or not.  Trying to develop your music and stay focused while your career is burgeoning in this way could have been a complicated proposition.  Was it? Or were you somewhat blinkered?

It was complicated. I think I was sort of in the moment, so I don’t know if I viewed it as such, but retrospectively, if you’re addressing the attention factor from other people, I developed a sense of self-importance that maybe didn’t have a really good self-check mechanism in it. If I could go back and do it all over again, some of the liner notes would be maybe a little shorter! Not completely gone.

You did write long liner notes.

Long liner notes. And I still do.

Using the language of German philosophy.

I still do, so I shouldn’t even say it. But I suffered a bit from a lack of self-irony (for lack of a better word). I think I’ve pretty much grown out of it now an old geezer at 36.

People became accustomed to the sound of the first trio with Larry Grenadier and Jorge Rossy, and when you formed the new one, as an editor put it to me at the time, his friends in Europe were saying that they were afraid that now you wouldn’t play as well, that the things that made you interesting would be subsumed by a more groove-oriented approach, or something like that. Speak a bit to the way the trio evolved into the one you currently use.

What you’re alluding to is certainly true. A lot of people approached me directly and said, What are you doing, changing this thing you have that’s so special? That was interesting. One way I can mark the progression is that at first Larry and Jorge and I had a lot more to say to each other about the music. As I mentioned, Jorge and I would have these sessions, and work specific things like playing in odd meters. All three of us would talk about whether or not something was working on a given night, what it was about, what we could do to make it better. Over the years, as it became easier to play together intuitively, we reached a point where we had less and less to say. It was either working or it wasn’t. I don’t want to say that we were resting on our laurels, but there was a slight sense that almost it was too easy. That even was Jorge’s phrase. I think he was feeling that as a drummer, personally just as a drummer, independent of playing with us and wanted a new challenge playing a different instrument.

Then I heard Jeff Ballard in the trio Fly [editor’s note: with Mark Turner and Larry Grenadier], and felt a sense of possibility in the way Larry was playing with him. Larry plays differently with different drummers he plays one way with, say Bill Stewart, and a different way with Jorge and me. In Fly, he plays in a way Id describe as more organic and intuitive, and it surprised me. I almost felt sort of a jealousy. I thought, Wow, I never heard Larry play like this, and I’m playing with him all the time. It made me almost want to grab Jeff!

What was it about what he was doing? Was it a more groove-oriented approach?

I would say yes. A certain groove, and also, though it may sound strange, my trio has become more precise since Jeff joined. The way Jeff and Larry state the rhythm is very open-ended, but precise in the sense that I can play more precise rhythmic phrases, which adds a bit more detail to the whole canvas. You can see the details more clearly, lets say. Jorge was always very giving; he usually followed my lead in terms of how Id build the shape of a tune. One thing that Jeff does that’s different, which is sort of a classic drummer move (if you think of Tony Williams or Elvin or someone like that), is putting something unexpected in the music at a certain point. Say were on the road, we’ve been playing one of my originals or arrangements for a month, and we do a big concert somewhere in front of two thousand people and he starts playing a completely different groove. At first, I had to get used to that if I don’t change what I’m doing, it wont make sense. So I have to find something new. Then were actually improvising again, developing a new form or canvas for the tune.

Talk about the balance between intuition and preparation, how it plays out on the bandstand.

I don’t write really difficult road maps, as they call it. Maybe some of my stuff is a little hard, but most of it is not too difficult where you’re going to have your face in the music. I like that, because then you start forgetting about the music, and it becomes more intuitive, which hopefully is the ideal. That’s how it feels with the three of us. A lot of times with a band, you start playing a tune, an arrangement or your own original. You find certain things that work formally within the entire shape of the tune, places along the way, roughly, where you build to a climax, or a certain thing that one of you gives to the other person, like a diving board that you spring from to go somewhere else formally. In that sense, the process becomes less improvised, because you get this structure that works, and it helps you generate excitement and interest.

A few years ago, maybe around 1999-2000, you began to look for new canvases by incorporating contemporary pop music into your repertoire, and on Day Is Done it comprises the preponderance of the recital.

Right.

That development coincided with your move to Los Angeles and associating with the producer Jon Brian, who it seems showed you creative ways to deal with pop aesthetics.

What I loved about him when I first heard him at this Los Angeles club, Largo, was that I felt like I was going to see a really creative jazz musician in a sense even more brazen than a lot of jazz musicians. Really completely improvising his material, the material itself, taking songs that maybe he had never played from requests from the audience, and then developing a completely unorthodox, strange arrangement in the heat of the moment, right there, for those kinds of songs, which were more contemporary Pop songs.  Also Cole Porter and whatever, all over the map. Completely not constrained by anything stylistically. That was definitely an inspiration for me at that point.

As someone who’s played a good chunk of the Songbook and as a one-time jazz snob, can you discern any generalities about the newer pop music of that time vis-a-vis older forms? You’ve said that you see the limitations of a form as a way of finding freedom, rather than the other way around.

Right. For me personally, not a judgment on other stuff.  I need to have some sort of frame. I need to have a narrative flow. That’s what makes it cool for me, if I’m taking a solo or whatever. With more contemporary pop tunes, pop tunes past the sort of golden era that some people call the American Songbook, all of a sudden there are no rules any more. That’s the main thing. With people like Bob Dylan or Joni Mitchell, you can often hear similar structures, with verse, chorus, that kind of stuff. But in a lot of pop music and rock-and-roll, its not that the forms are complicated, they aren’t at all, but there is not a fixed orthodoxy. In the songs of Cole Porter songs and Rodgers and Hammerstein and or Jerome Kern, there’s a verse and then the song itself, which is often in an AABA form, something within the bridge, and then that something again with the coda. These forms often keep you thinking in a certain way about what you’re going to do when you’re blowing on the music. When you get out of that, it becomes sort of a wide-open book, with often the possibility for a lack of form to take place. I try to take some of these more contemporary songs and somehow impose my own form on them in the improvisation. That’s the challenge. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

Given that you’ve been a leader and highly visible for more than a decade, it seems to me you’ve tried hard to sustain relationships with the people you came up with and to keep yourself in the fray, as it were being a sideman on Criss-Cross dates and so on. Is it important for you to do that?

Someone like Keith Jarrett comes to mind as someone who is really in his own realm, who hasn’t been a sideman. But I value the experience of connecting with other musicians who are outside of my band, and not being a leader. Not to sound self-righteous or whatever, but it does teach a certain humility when you go into a record date and you have to submit your own ego, to a certain extent, to someone else’s music, and go with the musical decisions they want to make. The challenge is to negotiate a balance between your own identity, which the person who called wants to hear, and the identity of their music, what they’ve written. To try to do justice to that is always fun and exciting, and I like that challenge.

Huffington Post

Interview With Brad Mehldau on the Art of Solo Piano, Joseph Vella, 15^th February 2011

The core of your playing successfully balances jazz and classical influences.  Can you describe how you negotiate between the two styles in your playing?

I draw on a lot of classical music, pop and rock music, music from Brazil, and other stuff. I listen to it for pleasure and enjoyment, and then a lot of it filters out in my playing. With classical music, there’s a written canon there – you can study those scores. There’s a good three centuries of stuff to check out – it’s endless. Ultimately I think of myself as an improvising jazz musician at the end of the day, and one of my talents I guess is assimilating all of that written stuff and making it part of what I do.

Tell us about the challenge and thrill of playing solo?

The challenge and the thrill are one and the same – there is no net; there is absolute freedom. When jazz musicians improvise in a group setting, they are often following some sort of schema – often it’s variations on the initial theme of whatever they are playing. When you are playing solo, you don’t have to correspond to what someone else is doing. So you might take that approach, but you might decide to chuck it out at a certain point and go off on a tangent that doesn’t formally adhere to what you’ve just been doing. That can be exciting and rewarding. The challenge there though is to make something with integrity – something that has a story to tell.  One fun surprise of this concert was “My Favorite Things.” It was not something I had played before – the Coltrane version is sacred to me. But I was going out for an encore and thought of it at the last moment, and it turned out to be for me anyways, one of the more compelling performances in the set – it had that story to it; it just kind of unfolded. Sometimes you find that and sometimes you don’t; sometimes you find it with no preparation or context at all and those moments are always great for me. I suppose there is a broader context – there’s the context of the Coltrane version that I heard when I was 13 for the first time and really changed my life; there’s the context of the original from the movie, The Sound of Music, that I grew up watching as a kid. There’s probably some sort of harkening back to childhood going on in my performance.

How do you approach selecting material to perform in a solo context?

I have several ideas before I go out on the stage, and I usually stick to around half of them. Some things that I thought I would play I don’t when I get on stage because of what takes place when I get out there. For instance, if I play something that goes much longer than I originally intended, I will skip something else. I try for variety and often think of a multi-movement symphonic work or sonata as a model  – you’ve usually got one movement that’s more intellectual, one that’s more simple direct, one that’s fast, one that’s slow, one that’s in 3/4 time maybe, etc. – in other words, a variety of mood and texture. In all that, as I’m going along, there is some sort of abstract narrative that presents itself in a concert – I don’t know how else to put it. Sometimes it will come in the form of themes that reappear in the different tunes I’m playing, or harmonic devices, or rhythmic motifs. That presents itself in the act of playing; it’s not something that is planned out.

Throughout your career you have put your own spin on pop songs written by artists such as Elliott Smith, The Beatles, Nick Drake, Radiohead, James Taylor and many others.   How do select what pop song to cover?

I only play songs I love – whether it’s those ones you mention or Cole Porter or whoever. It’s not because they’re pop tunes, though – they’re just what I think are good strong songs.

One of the highlights featured on Live in Marciac is the performance of your original composition “Resignation.”  On the DVD companion, there is a special feature offering the viewer the ability to see the notes you are playing in live time.  Tell us about the concept behind the music scroll?

Philippe Andre is the musician who made this transcription, and it was really fun to view that. I had the idea of maybe presenting it in a scrolling format, as something that musicians, amateur or professional, might find interesting. Craig Anderson designed the music scroll and I’m very excited about it. This is the first scrolling score he made of my music, and since then, he has made one for the scores of two more recent efforts of mine: “Don’t Be Sad” from my record Highway Rider, and “Dreams,” a song that I wrote for piano and voice, that appears on Love Songs, a collaborative project with the fantastic singer, Anne Sofie von Otter.  There are things that I don’t like about all of the technological leaps that have been made in the last few decades, and one general one is that there is a kind of saturation of information which often has the effect of distracting us – we check out a little bit of this and a little bit of that but it’s hard to stay with one thing. But there are also great things that have come out of the newer technology, and there was this opportunity to see and hear my music in a different way. When you get some creative guys like Craig, you can put that technology to use, it can be in the service of what you’re expressing.

Live in Marciac is your third solo recording. Tell us how it compares to your two previous solo recordings, Elegiac Cycle and Live in Tokyo, both personally and musically.

Each solo record has been kind of a turning point for me – an end of one thing, and a beginning of something else. Live In Marciac is the beginning of a freer approach, I would say, and maybe more ease and fluidity in a musical texture with several simultaneous voices. It is the most related to where I am now as a solo player.

London Jazz (French In Liberation)

Interview With Brad Mehldau, Bruno Pfeiffer, londonjazz.blogspot.co.nz, 29^th April 2010

How do you combine the different influences -jazz, classical, pop???

I don’t make a distinction between genres – I just write and play what I’m feeling. Music in itself doesn’t have genres – it’s just 12 different tones, and how you arrange them in a given point in time.

Your solos are perfectly constructed. Are you inspired by subjects other than jazz (philosophy, mathematics, logic?)??

Narratives, in general – a novel, a play, a movie, a symphony. They all have structure when they tell us a story – even crazy modern works like Joyce’s Ulysses are very involved in a form. There is a beginning somewhere and an end somewhere, and the story passes through time. We reflect on our own transient quality to some extent when we experience that story – whether it is through music or some other artistic medium.

What do you answer to those who say you are just a jazz musician???

No one has ever said that to me. What a strange question!

How do you define beauty in music???

Beauty is the quality that makes the listener lose his or her self-possession.?The listener relinquishes his own will power for a moment, as he faces something that is greater and better than himself. Beauty – in music or anything – is always better than us, it is different and separate from us.

In “Highway Rider”, (Nonesuch, 2010) which I like a lot, sometimes you are swinging, sometimes deeply classical: did you intend to provide a sample of your various worlds???

The record has a variety of texture, like you mention, and then it also has this continuity, that comes from the thematic unity – I use one idea to generate all the music. So there is a dichotomy between the textural variety and the thematic unity, I suppose.

Improvisations often end up in simple nice sentences. Is that premeditated on your part, in your mind when you start a solo???

There should be a story there, and stories often work well with sentences – and paragraphs, and chapters also. But again – if you look at Joyce – it is possible to forget about periods and commas and sentences and still tell a good story.

The more concentrated you are, the more astounding your concerts tend to be: how do you prepare???

Coffee.

What difference between playing in Salle Pleyel, for instance, and at a festival???

Every night, there is a different audience, every night, there is a new opportunity for something to happen that has not happened before.

What is the nature of your relationship with the public???

Absolute gratitude – my gratitude that they want to listen to me. This?gratitude does not lessen as a get older – on the contrary, it grows. So I?feel a responsibility to the listening public – I really don’t want to waste?their time.

How important is the influence of rock groups in your , RADIOHEAD for example????

Life would be more grey without rock’n’roll!

I found much tenderness in “Highway Rider” : is that how you are at the moment??

I can stay tender for about 5 minutes – then that’s enough! : )

Did you compose with Joshua’s playing in mind???

I definitely did compose with Joshua’s playing, and his sound, in mind. Joshua is like my musical brother – I feel so close to him.

What instructions do you provide to your rhythm section???

I try to not give them too much instruction – we talk about specific things for a new piece of music when I bring it in, and after that, after we’ve rehearsed it, hopefully, we don’t need to talk too much.

PBS

Jeffrey Brown, pbs.org, Published 9^th April 2010

I was thinking as I listened to this of some short story collections I’ve read where the writer writes linked stories, you know, but it adds up to a whole picture. Is that a fair way of thinking of what you’ve done? What did you set out to do here?

That’s a nice kind of analogy. That would work for me. I guess I was thinking of some sort story but pretty vague. I’ve never yet had the experience of having a very specific storyline in my head, but this is about as specific as I’ve gotten. And it’s kind of not even much of a plot there, but the idea of travel and sort of cyclical journey of starting out from home, leaving home, some of the feelings of homesickness that come from being away from home, and then also the feeling of being alone traveling, meeting other people and eventually coming home again and the way that feels to come home. And beyond that, you know, the protagonist might be myself, it might be someone else — and again pretty open ended. You don’t necessarily have to have that narrative in your head, but that’s one that I did start to think about as I wrote the music. I’d say about half way in I thought, this feels like journey.

So you have a narrative, you have a theme, you have variations as in all jazz, I guess, and in this case part of the variation has to do with the different instruments and instrumentation, especially the use of a chamber orchestra.

That’s right. So had this one theme that kind of sticks through the whole thing and that’s the unifying factor, I guess, that hopefully you’d hear after a few listens or maybe right away there is this idea that’s winding through the whole thing. And then within that, like you say, a lot of variety of texture in terms of the orchestration. From all the way down to just saxophone and piano duo, even some piano solo. Another kind of cool texture that I’m pretty excited about on this record is piano and saxophone and percussion with no bass. That’s kind of a unique thing that you hear on “Capriccio” and “The Falcon Will Fly Again.” And then in more traditional, which I think of as a jazz ensemble with Joshua [Redman] and Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier and myself, and then all the way up to, like you mentioned, with the full orchestra and everyone playing. So yeah, there is a pretty big variety of texture there.

Tell me a little more about working with a chamber orchestra. What do you try to achieve or what does it allow you do and how difficult is it? How do avoid making it sound, you know you put an orchestra there it can sound a little bit like just background, they are not really used the way a classical composer would use an orchestra.

Right, right for sure. It’s true. There’s a lot of pop records, even really cool pop records, that I like that nevertheless the orchestra was added on later. And right away that’s a big thing that I was able to avoid just in practical terms by recording everyone at the same time and not overdubbing the orchestra. That’s a big reason why I chose John Brion to produce it, because he’s done a lot of that himself in some of his film work. He knows how to have a huge amount of tracks going on at the same time, tons of microphones, tons of people in a couple different rooms, recording at the same time. What I like about this record is that you can listen to it and you can get the feeling of a bunch of people in a big room playing and the space and the molecules flying around in the air, but you can also with a pretty nice degree of specificity and say that’s a bassoon there, or that’s a French horn there, and there’s Brad playing something in his left hand there and there’s Josh, you can hear everything real, real clear on the record.

Including things like handclapping.

Yeah, yeah. That’s right.

So it was recorded live.

So we recorded everything live. There’s a couple things I overdubbed myself, like I played some orchestra bells because, you know, we didn’t have enough money to get a percussionist to do that. So one or two things like that. I overdubbed a little pump organ on one track, but the big thing was that we got to play with the orchestra live, and I wrote the music with that idea of the orchestra more merging with the jazz players and everybody being intertwined, rather than what you mentioned, you know, the sort of orchestra as a sweetener to enhance what’s already there. I really wanted it to be an integral part of the musical fabric, I guess you could say.

You’ve talked a lot and written a lot in the past about your eclectic tastes. You did study classical music as a kid right?

Right.

Have you written for orchestra before? Do you go back and listen to composers that you like to think about how to use an orchestra?

Exactly. You know, I’d say the main things I’ve listened for years and years since I’ve been listening to music are classical music, jazz and pop music, and sort of all those things at once are what keep my attention and what I listen to purely just for pleasure. And so with a lot of classical scores I’ve been listening to for years I go out and buy the score, and then when I’m on the road I like to read a score like other people read a book. I just sit there and read it and it’s a great way to pass the time and it’s also even kind of form of escapism. When you’re reading a Braham’s symphony, you’re sort of in this perfect world of order and righteousness of that music. And it’s a great way to pass the time and also a great way to get inside those composers’ heads and find out how they put all that together. So all of my knowledge as an orchestrator and in that vein, what I’ve tried to do here comes from that, just kind of doing it on my own.

You’re on the road now, you can’t take the orchestra with you but you are planning to do this with an orchestra several times?

Yeah, we have a concert organized in New York City and I think hopefully one here in Los Angeles and a few in Europe that we’re working on, too, so hopefully a handful of concerts where we can do actually something I’ve never really done, which is more less play the record and then just play the music in that order with the orchestra and with the guys on the record.

The theme you started with, I just want to come back to because that theme of travel, of being on the road, you do live a lot of your life on the road right?

Yeah, that’s for sure.

And does that get old? Or how do you manage that?

Well, you know, I’m so used to it that actually if I’m off the road, I get a little stir-crazy after a couple months, but if I’m on the road I get a little sick of it after a couple months. I’ve got a wife and three kids who are all very dear to me now. That’s the toughest part of being on the road and I didn’t have that before, it didn’t matter as much, but now I go away and I really start to miss them after a while.

Barnes and Noble

Jazz Piano’s Future, Now, Ted Panken, barnesandnoble.com, Retrieved 27^th April 2012

You’re very precise with words, and from having read a number of your liner notes, you appear not to use them lightly. Why have you named five of your CDs “The Art of the Trio”? Can you deconstruct the phrase a little?

[laughs] Yes. Matt Pierson, who signed me to Warner Brothers, came up with that name years ago. I was just starting to get that trio sort of as a regular entity, and we had some idea that there might be a future, hopefully with those particular guys, and that I’d like to record a series of records with them. So he wanted to think of one title that would work for a series, and he came up with that one. I think it works pretty well. It’s pretty literal. We’re trying to make Art and we’re a trio. I always feel awkward. I never know what to say, because I didn’t think of it.

Miles Davis said Frank Sinatra and Orson Welles taught him about rhetoric and phrasing syntax. I’m wondering if there’s a similar experience for you.

I think there’s something sort of magical about being an instrumentalist, which is that you’re never achieving what a vocalist could, but in the act of trying to be like the human voice, consciously or not, the very failure is really what makes lyricism happen. With someone like Miles, it’s not that he sounds like Frank Sinatra or Billie Holiday. He sounds like a trumpet that’s so lyrical that you can almost hear a voice trying to speak within there, but of course it’s not a voice. It’s just missing, because of course it’s a trumpet and it’s not going to denote actual words. That’s where I think lyricism is. It’s like a striving for a voice like quality. I think you can do that on a piano, too. Oftentimes piano players are thinking like horn players, but you can also be informed by vocalists. So for me, certainly someone like Billie Holiday or Dinah Washington, or the way Louis Armstrong sang, are vocalists whom I think of. But then, in turn, it goes both ways. You also have vocalists who are sounding like instruments. So it kind of goes both ways, I guess.

You’ve been a trio as such for about seven or eight years and recorded as such for six. To what extent is your tonal personality guided or shaped by the people with whom you’re playing? For instance, if Jorge Rossy is playing drums or if Billy Higgins — whom you encountered several times towards the end of his life — is the drummer, how does that impact you as a player?

Someone like Billy — or I just played recently with Dianne Reeves and had the same experience, or for instance, I got to play with [saxophonist] Junior Cook right before he died — when you get a musician who has such a strong identity, it becomes more that you’re sort of disappearing into their identity. “Identity” may not be the right word. With Billy and with Diane and with Junior Cook, it was just the actual strength of their rhythmic feeling that informed every phrase that they played. It really was being more pulled into that. It was either be pulled into it and don’t fight it, or it just maybe wouldn’t work. It’s natural that you get pulled into that because it feels so good aesthetically. It just feels right physically. I guess playing with Larry and Jorge, it’s not so much being pulled. It’s a push-and-pull thing that we’re all doing together. I guess I’m leading it, in a sense, just as far as I’m dictating what we’re going to play, but beyond that, it’s pretty even between the three of us — the feel of it, the rhythmic feel. I think that’s so important. When you’re trying to talk about jazz combos, with groups, so much of it is always hinging on the feelings that people get together, which I guess is magical at a certain point, or hard to dictate at least.

What five or six CDs are most prominent in your current rotation? I know you’re a bit of an omnivore.

Yes! [laughs] Actually, my drummer, Jorge Rossy, is studying piano (and he’s getting pretty good actually; it’s starting to get scary), and he discovered {|Nat “King” Cole|}, whom I had never really checked out. He gave me a great triple-CD set that’s a collection of the Nat “King” Cole Trio — an overview. Two CDs are the trio with him singing and the other just instrumental. There are all these great songs that I know. But when I hear him sing “Sweet Lorraine” or “Gee, Baby, Ain’t I Good to You,” and some of the others, it makes me again start thinking about playing those songs.

Any classical?

A lot of classical stuff. I’ve been working on this Hindemith piece called “Ludas Tonalis,” which is a crazy group of preludes and fugues and cycles around the circle of fifths. There’s a great piano player called Edward Aldwell playing it. There’s also three Fauré Nocturnes on that same CD, which are beautiful. So I’ve been checking out a lot of Fauré. Also Janácek. A great composer. I’ve just discovered his piano music. It’s a Deutsche Grammophon recording, and it translates in English as “On the Overgrown Path.” It’s a group of about 14 or 15 small piano pieces. I don’t know if they’re thematically tied or just by a feeling. Beautiful piano music. It’s sort of between some of the Romanticism of maybe Schumann, and some of the kind of textures that he gets on piano, but already with a foot into some really different harmonic things, because I think it was written in the early 20th century.

Anything in the pop field that has your ear these days?

The new Radiohead record, Amnesiac. There’s three or four songs on there that are really beautiful.

Waiting For Superman

The Brad Mehldau Interview, Ithaca Journal, Gannett, waitingforsupermanblog.com, 8^th December 2011

You and Joshua Redman recorded together early in your careers. How is it to come back together now and perform?

It’s been remarkably easy and fun, and I think that Josh and I undertook this sensing ahead, in time that it would be that way. The analogy of friendship works here. There are some friends that you don’t have regular contact with for a number of years, and then when you meet again you are able to pick up right where you left off, but also not just dwell in the past. Josh and I have a real deep connection that’s rooted in stuff we did together more than 15 years ago, but when we play together now, it’s very much about our present day musical passions.

Any plans to record?

We’ve talked about it a bit and I think there’s a good chance. I think that we’re thinking, “Let’s let this ripen more from playing live,” tough for me at least it’s been exciting from the first gig.

You were both in New York City in the early to mid-1990s during one of the City’s jazz resurgences. What was this like?

It was a cool time in a lot of ways. There were several different groups of musicians, all developing some cool hybrid styles. There was the m-base thing with Steve Coleman and all those great musicians. There were the older greats like Joe Henderson and Shirley Horn who were getting long overdue recognition. There were players a bit older than us with strong styles that we were absorbing, that were playing all the time in town—Joe Lovano, Kenny Werner, guys like that. There was Wynton [Marsalis] and all those musicians bringing jazz uptown to a different crowd. And then Josh and I fit in there with a big group of people who had all arrived in New York around the same time. There was a lot of music then; it was a good time. It’s still a good time; the cast of characters has changed and the venues have thinned out a bit, but there are other new ones that weren’t there then.

You have become known, in part, for playing rock tunes by bands such as Radiohead. What attracts you to this?

The same thing that attracts me to any song, which is so subjective and particular to each song. I’m not big on the term “cover” though—cover is what I used to do at weddings. I’m trying to interpret other people’s material and bring my own thing to it through the interplay with the other musicians and the improvisation.

You record for Nonesuch Records. It has become such a vital label, recording a really broad range of music. How has it worked being on Nonesuch, especially given the tremendous changes in the music industry that have occurred?

I feel very blessed to be there, no doubt. It’s a real honor as well—there’re some really creative people who have released music on Nonesuch from its inception right up until now.

You’ve recorded with a number of projects over the years, often crossing into other genres, such as classical. At the same time, you’ve maintained steady groups you’ve worked with. Of course, you’ve had your Trio. Can you talk about the differences in maintaining the steady groups versus the side projects?

I guess you always retain your own identity in no matter what context you’re in, but to me the fun and interesting part is to what degree you assert it, and how. With Josh, for instance, in this context, I’m not a leader, but I’m not a sideman—it’s a unique thing. Sometimes I really enjoy being an accompanist or sideman as well—it’s a cool challenge to meld into someone else’s identity and still keep your own.

Kirsten Mackenzie, Mackenzie, K. (2005). Moderations in Music 2005. New Zealand School of Music, Retrieved 18th March 2009

You mention in an interview that you were unconsciously playing something from a Brahms Capricci on “Young Werther” – I have been playing through some of the Capricci’s trying to discover which one you were referring to: Was it the C# minor Opus 76 No.5?

Possibly indirectly, because I love that one! What a wild piece of music, with all the two against three, and the kind of bluesy chromaticism. I play through most of Opus 76 quite often. I tried to master a few of them for some informal recitals a few years back, and recorded them for my own listening for the heck of it. But I find I’m always coming back to those pieces, along with several of the ones from Opus 116-119. I never get tired of that music. I have the Henle edition of Brahms’ Klavierstucke permanently on the side of the piano; I don’t even bother to put it away anymore.  The one that ‘Young Werther’ borrowed from unconsciously was the first Capriccio in F-Sharp Minor from Opus 76 – the four note motif that is the main theme in the right hand: c-sharp, d, f-sharp, f-natural. It’s almost the same interval-wise as the four note-motif of ‘Young Werther’ – a, b-flat, d-flat, c.

I have tried to transcribe and play ‘Unrequited’ – were you influenced at all by JS Bach or Brahms in that composition?

No doubt. I wasn’t consciously trying to allude to .their music, but I was playing a lot of it at the time, so it just came through from osmosis.  That was kind of a turning point for me writing-wise. Along with a few other tunes, like one called ‘Sehnsucht’ that’s from around the same period, ‘Unrequited’ was a new way (or you could say, a discovery of a much older way, actually) for me to deal with harmony in a jazz song that has improvisation in it. The way the harmony moves is more determined by the voices within the chords, moving often in simple step-wise motion. So, while the tonal center shifts a few times on ‘Unrequited’, it’s a bit more of a ‘classical’ shift – determined by voice-leading, and less the kind of leap from chord to chord that you might expect in a jazz tune.  That’s been a process for me over the years, specifically finding a way to assimilate that into a jazz rhythmic and melodic environment.

Are there any preludes and fugues you particularly like?

Off the top of my head, from the Well-Tempered Clavier, the four-part fugue in A-minor from Book One I think, the mysterious F-Minor 4-part fugue from Book One with the chromatic theme, the pastoral prelude in c-major that opens Book 11, the rock’n’roll-ish G-Minor fugue in Book 11. For fugues in general, I’ve just discovered Barber’s piano Sonata, with the incredible fugue final movement. The fugue that ends Brahms’ Handel variations is amazing.

How do you approach your left hand counterpoints during improvisations?

In the process of improvisation, it’s pretty intuitive. I still feel that I have a long way to go with that. Sometimes I feel like it becomes sort of ‘fake-fugue-ish’- a melody starts in the left hand and then trails off, not developing.

Which Beethoven sonatas do you particularly like?

The D-Minor middle period ‘Tempest’, of course the last one in C-Minor the little two movement gem F-Major, forget the number, it has the second movement that’s this perpetual movement thing the third of his first three Haydn-esque Sonatas, in C-Major, with the beautiful slow movement in E-Major.

Are there any pieces from the ‘classical’ repertoire that you would recommend, (in addition to those you’ve already mentioned?)

I’m listening to Brahms’ cello sonatas now. I love chamber music with piano – the Brahms piano quartets, trios and quintet. Faure’s g-minor piano quartet is one of my favorite pieces of music, also the c-minor. Faure’s a big one for me I think his harmonic world has seeped into my writing and playing more than a little. His piano nocturnes are incredible. I’ve been discovering Busoni’s music recently. He wrote 6 Sonantinas that are far out – sort of neo-classical but not really. There’s a great recording by a great pianist who unfortunately died young named Paul lacobs, that also has Messiaen, Bartok, and early Stravinsky piano music, which is interesting. Hindemith’s ‘Ludus Tonalis’ is a deep piano work I’ve been poking at for a year or so.

Your ability to play odd time signatures is legendary – is there any particular practice you’d recommend, other than playing a lot, to help ‘feel’ the 7/4 pulse for example, while soloing?

Usually, there’s a subdivision implied – 4 and 3 with that bar. It’s the same kind of thing as when 5/4 usually gets subdivided into 3 and 2. Why 4 and 3, or 3 and 2, are much more natural than 3 and 4, or 2 and 3, is an interesting question. There’s a dance like quality to the subdivision when it’s in 4 and 3. Once that’s internalized, it feels natural, like 4/4 time, or a waltz. A lot of my comfort level has just built over the years from lots of playing with lorge and Larry, my drummer and bass player, and becoming comfortable together through trial and error.  One interesting thing to do practicing in 7 is to set the metronome to half notes, so it will alternate between the downbeat and upbeat every other bar.

How do you approach your left hand ‘ambi’ (ambiguous) chords – are they ‘clusters’ or pre thought out abstractions?

They’re kind of ‘clusters’ – I like that word and use it myself. I often favor close intervals. A lot of the time, those cluster-ish voicings are a more typical left-handed jazz voicing that you might hear someone like Bill Evans, Red Garland or Wynton Kelly play, but then with a few added notes in there. Often what I’ll do is add the root of the chord, but not in an obvious place – not the bottom or top of the chord. I’ll put it in the middle of the voicing, and sometimes it makes everything I’m playing a little fuller, connecting the left hand with the right hand melody like a hinge. I haven’t worked on left hand voicings specifically, it’s more something that’s just developed on its own.

Which solos did you transcribe as a student?

I did a fair amount of transcribing in high school and a little bit my first years in New York. I transcribed several Charlie Parker solos – those from ‘She Rote’ and ‘Moose the Mooche’ are two I remember. I transcribed Coltrane’s solo, on ‘Giant Steps’. A couple Bud Powell solos. I took pieces of McCoy Tyner’s solos from the first records with Coltrane on Atlantic, particularly ‘Coltrane Plays the Blues’.

Do you still transcribe?

No.

There’s a lot of energy in your music – from where do you draw your inspiration?

I usually just think from music itself, but it’s probably not that simple and self-enclosed. I think it’s the kind of thing where it’s the sum total of all my life experiences at the point in time that I’m playing; that is, the sum total, verses some particular experience that happened recently. Things take a while to gestate – I never have that thing where I’m having a bad day so I play more ‘bluesy’. I don’t think it works that way, not for me at least.

Did you consciously work on developing your own unique voice or was it an organic process?

I think it’s a bit of both. You love the things you love, so you kind of want to play those things, out of a simple selfish need. That’s organic. At a certain point, your loves turn more specific, and necessarily exclude lots of other things. Then there’s kind of a honing down process, and that’s probably a bit more conscious.

Chick Corea talks about ‘the myth’ of improvisation. What percentage of your solos are preconceived (approximately), what percentage is improvised? 

Well, I’m not sure what he meant exactly. Maybe that improvisation is a myth, in the way that ‘God’ is a myth: something divine, because it suggests being able to create something out of thin air. I never pre-conceive my solos ahead of time. But of course there’s a whole library of melodies, etc … in my head that’s stored away, and on a less inspired night, I’m more aware of that library; it’s like, ’Oh yeah, there’s that again.’

When you’re playing with Larry and Jorge, are you the ‘leader,’ or is it a democratic process?

I’m the leader and it’s democratic. Usually someone is a leader. It doesn’t have to be that way, but with us it us. Still it’s democratic in the sense that they have a certain amount of freedom. I’ve often wondered whether the ‘democratic’ analogy is good for jazz improvisation. Democracy suggests a set of principles that give people in a society a kind of personal liberty.  But a society exists out of a kind of necessity – it’s an essentially pragmatic construction to keep people from ripping their heads off. Music is less pragmatic – it doesn’t serve an immediate function in the same way. The thing with music is that sometimes emotions, or aesthetics, dictate roles in certain situations, whereby someone relinquishes their freedom completely – quite happily. It’s more kind of a religious thing sometimes you make a sacrifice, happily, not out of duty for your fellow citizen.

Would it be possible to have a photocopy of any exercises, sketches for tunes, rhythmic ideas you have written?

I can look for something, but I don’t know how legible it would be …

I understand there is a French documentary about you – is there anywhere I can access a copy of this from?

I don’t know. I’ve heard they still show it in Europe sometimes, on the French station ‘Arte.’

Have you been at all influenced by Stanley Cowell (or was he influenced by you!) or Schumann?

No, I don’t really know Stanley Cowell’s music.  Schumann yes – his song cycles like Dictherliebe and his piano music – Davidsbundlertanze (I’m spelling that” .wrong). The whole idea of composing cyclically – that plays a big role in music and influenced me on something like ‘Elegiac Cycle’.

Was ‘Sign’s of Life’ with Peter Bernstein recorded before ‘Introducing’ and do you ever play with him now?

Yes, ‘Signs of Life’ was recorded in 1994. Pete’s one of my favorite musicians period, and I’ve continued to play and record with him on his projects. I just finished a three night gig with him last night here in New York, his quartet with me, Larry Grenadier on bass and Bill Stewart on drums. That band is on a record that came out on the Criss-Cross label about 2 months ago, Pete’s third one with me on it, called ‘Heart’s Content’.

Was the ‘Elegiac Cycles’ recording influenced by any particular composer?

Romantic composers who use cyclical forms, like Schumann and late Beethoven, song cycles of Schubert, harmony of Brahms, lots of Romantics!

Young Werther – Did you read Goethe’s book, ‘The Sufferings of Young Werther,’ and were inspired to write this tune? In other words, did the book influence the way the tune came together?

It’s kind of circuitous and weird. I read it indeed and loved it and was inspired by it. Then I found out Brahms loved the book as well and I love Brahms. ‘Young Werther’ takes a four-note motif from the first Brahms Capriccio Op. 76 in F#-Minor, almost exactly the same intervalically. So it’s kind of a tribute to Brahms and Werther all at once.

From 2011 onwards, the “Centre International des Musiques Nomades” take the form of a permanent body, which will plan activities dedicated to creation all year round, and organise a new festival called  “Les Détours de Babel”, in place of the 38e Rugissants and the Grenoble Jazz Festival.

The emphasis is on “cross-bred” and “cross-cultural” creative initiatives, reflecting the transformations taking place in today’s society, culture and identities, and helping to build tomorrow’s “composite” imaginative worlds.

I have finally finished my collection of transcriptions since a post I made last month.  Sorry it has taken so long but the job was bigger than I imagined.  Below are transcriptions (2 handed where indicated) of Knives Out, River Man, Sky Turning Grey, How Long Has This Been Going On, Anything Goes, Someone To Watch Over Me, Tres Palabras, I’ll Be Seeing You, and Exit Music For a Film.  The reason I have made 2 handed transcriptions of certain lead sheets is because Mehldau is so creative with his left hand, therefore making it necessary to document how he supports melody.

PLEASE NOTE: – to print these documents, download the latest version of Acrobat Reader (free), then remove security.  Please subscribe to my site, then email me for the password, I am happy for you to print these, if you ask nicely! 🙂

To view my other Mehldau transcriptions, please visit Part 2, here.

To download my doctoral thesis containing a ten solo analysis of the work of Brad Mehldau, please visit here

Analytic, Descriptive and Prescriptive Components of Evolving Jazz – A New Model Based on the Works of Brad Mehldau

Thanks, Mark

Knives Out Leadsheet (grand stave)

Knives Out Solo

River Man Leadsheet (grand stave)

River Man Solo (grand stave)

Sky Turning Grey Leadsheet

Sky Turning Grey Solo

How Long Has This Been Going On Leadsheet

How Long Has This Been Going On Outro Solo (grand stave)

Anything Goes Leadsheet (grand stave)

Anything Goes Solo

Tres Palabras Leadsheet (grand stave)

Tres Palabras Solo

I’ll Be Seeing You Leadsheet

I’ll Be Seeing You Solo

Exit Music For a Film Leadsheet (grand stave)

Exit Music For a Film Solo

Someone To Watch Over Me Leadsheet

Someone To Watch Over Me Outro (grand stave)

 

 

After hearing Brad Mehldau and Joshua Redman play last month, John Fenton interviewed me about the whole experience.  The link and a copy of the interview can be found below.

http://jon4jaz.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/brad-mehldau-tour-mark-baynes-interview/

http://www.elsewhere.co.nz/music/4149/standard-funk-ensemble-happenstance-jazzpianoconz/

Vocalist Georgia Woods here — who may have been the prime mover behind this project — has been an actress and stage performer for a number of years (Gilbert and Sullivan in Australia, member of the Auckland Theatre Company) and performed the highly successful Highlights — Blondes and Their Songs.

She is something of a trooper too and sings in restaurants, bars and in cabaret.

But for this project she puts on her soul-funk clothes for an interesting collection of songs which neatly (and mostly) sidestep the expected and offer instead Sting’s Englishman in New York, Bill Withers’ Use Me, Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together given a smart Latin shuffle, Aretha‘s Since You’ve Been Gone, Rainy Night in Georgia and Prince’s Purple Rain.

Yes, You Are the Sunshine of My Life is here too and, curiously in this company, My Funny Valentine.

What impresses as much as her sassy or sensitive delivery is the roll call of young New Zealand jazz talent on display, and which is given plenty of room to move: Chris Mason-Battley is the musical arranger for the large rhythm section, Chris Neilson arranged the horns on a few tracks, guitarist Dixon Nacey guests on the Prince song, percussion player Miguel Fuentes is here for three songs . . .

The vocals were produced by Steve Garden (best known for his work for the Rattle andRattle Jazz imprints) and the album is wrapped in a period-funk cover designed by Mardo El-Noor which is very attractive.

Keyboard player Mark Baynes plays excellent solos or is discreet in support (his organ part on Save Your Love For Me manages to be both) and delivers a fine arrangement for You Are The Sunshine, the horns shine, the rhythm section brings the funk (the bubbling Use Me) and out front Woods can get inside a ballad lyric (Save Your Love, the steamy Evenin’ with a subtle echo adding a suggestion of an illicit encounter in a back alley, Funny Valentine which comes with sinuous saxophone).

Not everything works quite so well — the Aretha comes off more of a show tune than a soul belter, that echo outstays its welcome for the Prince by placing it too close to the original — but taken all of a piece this is some pretty sprightly and/or sensitive collection, and actually errs more towards the sensual than the soul strut the group’s name might suggest.

UPDATED! – Links to these documents can be found HERE!

Thanks Mark

As part of my doctoral studies I have almost finished transcribing several FULL solos as played by Brad Mehldau.  I am happy to email these to anyone who is interested if you drop me an email, maybe we could do a swap?

Knives Out – Day Is Done, 2005
River Man – Art Of The Trio 5, 2001
Sky Turning Grey – Highway Rider, 2010
How Long Has This Been Going On? – Art Of The Trio 5, 2001
Anything Goes – Anything Goes, 2004
Someone To Watch Over Me – Live In Tokyo, 2006
Tres Palabras – Anything Goes, 2004
I’ll Be Seeing You, Art Of The Trio 4, 1999
Exit Music For a Film (full solo) – Art Of The Trio 4, 1999

PRESS RELEASE

King Kapisi Release Party

Thursday 24th November 2011

Cosh Bar, 153 Ponsonby Road, Auckland

Doors Open 8pm (arrive at 7pm to register for the PS3 Tekken Hybrid Battles)

Band 10pm

Entry Free

You are cordially invited to join King Kapisi and his seven piece band The Overstayers celebrate the release of two music videos and brand new magazine Overdue created by his clothing label, Overstayer. Supporting this momentous event, RedBull will be entertaining people with the Hummer Soundsystem on the street pre-performance and Playstation 3 will be running Tekken Hybrid Battles with the winner taking home a PS3 Console. While in the Cook Islands earlier this year, Kapisi shot two music videos. Ecoconscious Hip-Hop reggae track Salvation was released in February. The second clip shot on the beautiful island of Rarotonga was Clap Your Hands featuring the infectious warmth of the locals and visitors to the island as well as Miss South Pacific 2010-11, Joyana Meyer.

The second video clip to be released on the night is the anthemic Won’t Stop, Can’t Stop’ featuring Teremoana Rapley with the beat produced by the Beat collective known as B.A.S (Better Ask Somebody) consisting of the talents of David Atai (Nesian Mystik beatmaker), Tenei Kesha (beatmaker for Scribe’s last album) and Mase Mihinnick (MTC beatmaker). Rapley’s vocals have featured on a number on Kapisi’s tracks over the rappers career, however this is the first time she has appeared on a music video with Kapisi in over 12 years. Also being launched on the night is Overdue Magazine. Initially the idea was to create a look book for Overstayer Clothing. However, the end product of hundreds of hours of labour is a magazine featuring creative heads from around the world that either Kapisi, Rapley or one of the writers who are also their friends are familiar with or related to. Not your usual magazine, content reigns over advertisers. This will be the fourth time King Kapisi and The Overstayers have played together in New Zealand since making the trek to the UK earlier this year to play at one of the country’s largest outdoor events, The Glastonbury Festival. The Overstayers is made up of standalone artists. Covering drums and vocals is Dee Letoa (Cydel), guitar and vocals Te Whainoa Te Wiata (Cornerstone Roots), on the keys is Mark Baynes (Ironic Trio) and Phil Crown (Ardijah), Pos Mavaega (ex Christchurch based Pacific Underground Arts Company) and Teremoana Rapley on turntables and vocals. All of this goodness is happening at The Cosh Bar on Thursday night from 8pm onwards with the band hitting the stage at 10pm. Do come on down and celebrate with us, we would love to see you there!

Paradox of Opposites – Mark Baynes

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – George Bernard Shaw

Studying paradoxes is important to the development of a creative mind. A true paradox presents a perceptual enigma, what seems to be real cannot be, and yet it is. To study paradoxes allows us to reach beyond what appears to be obvious. Reaching beyond the obvious is the essence of creativity. – Enchanted Mind

This piece entitled ‘Paradox of Opposites’ is a concept that juxtaposes the rational, subservient, organic and intuitive musical minds, with opposing forces of defiance, chaos and audacity. This contrarian interplay and sustenance of conflicting ideas is paramount to the significance of this work, and hopefully its performance will exemplify a true dichotomy found in the human spirit.

Mark Baynes

Performance 6pm at KMC, Shortland Street, 18th November 2011 as part of the inaugural iiii festival hosted by Vitamin S.

Performance Guide

Sustained Contrarian Ideas
Repetition and Development
Rationale and Intuition
Loud and Soft
High and Low
Dense and Sparse
Musical Polar Opposites
All and None of the Above

Vitamin S presents
‘EXTRA DIGITS’
…as part of the iiii festival…

prepare for music for prepared and unprepared pianos!

Hermione Johnson
Glenda Keam
Mark Baynes
Jeff Henderson
Jim Gardner
Chris O’Connor
&
special guest Cor Fuhler from Amsterdam

Featuring collaborations from some of NZ’s finest alongside special overseas guest artists including Cor Fuhler and others from the iiii festival.

An early evening (6pm) performance featuring multiple pianists and guests playing simultaneously on multiple pianos.

The programme consists of a number of pieces devised, composed and improvised including a new work by Andrew McMillan specially written for this group which involves the use and abuse of a decrepit, old, dysfunctional upright piano.

Coming this week to Auckland! The inaugural iiii Festival in association with Vitamin S.

http://www.iiiimusic.blogspot.com/

See the link below for details of all local and visiting artists, dates, venues and times…

Artists are coming from as far as Europe, Australia, and all over NZ.  Venues include the wine cellar, audio foundation hub, creative jazz club, and the Kenneth Myers Centre.

This news article was broadcast on the 3rd November after two full days of shooting King Kapisi’s new music video ‘Crush’.  Cameos included Che Fu, Rakaa (Dilated Peoples USA) and special guest ‘all black’ Jerome Kaino! It was an amazing experience, check out my hip hop moves :-).

MORAG ATCHISON | MARK BAYNES

Postgraduate Seminars

VENUE: Room 611, Level 6, Fisher International Building, 18 Waterloo Quadrant, Auckland

Tuesday 18 October, 11.30am
Morag Atchison

Vibrato – Friend or Foe to the Singer?

Mark Baynes

Brad Mehldau’s Stylistic Innovations and Their Implications for Jazz Piano Performance

This talk will consist of an introduction to Brad Mehldau and his music, exemplify some idiosyncrasies found within his improvisational approach and demonstrate the beginnings of a research methodology with an emphasis on artistic self-development.

POSTGRADUATE SEMINARS: Admission is free. Bookings not required.

New Zealand roots and reggae and hip hop artists Tahuna Breaks, Cornerstone Roots and King Kapisi will perform live on the Main Stage at Auckland’s Queens Wharf ahead of the the big match of the day.

Music on the Main Stage features some great Kiwi music leading into the big matches of the day on Auckland’s Queens Wharf.  Make Auckland’s Queens Wharf the centre of your plans for Rugby World Cup 2011. It’s New Zealand’s largest official Fanzone, right on the city’s waterfront, and will screen all 48 matches live on big screens. The Cloud at Queens Wharf will showcase the best of New Zealand business and industry ingenuity with a series of engaging events. RWC 2011 Fanzone – Shed 10 is the heart and soul of the Fanzone, with the focus on Rugby but plenty of entertainment, food, drink and festival activity.

I am happy to announce that this album won a gold award this year!  I was musical director, co-producer and keyboard player when we recorded it June 2010.  Wendy and Janet and the Kids Music Company are a true force to be reckoned with when it comes to musical education for children.  Thanks guys!

Mark

The Practical Pre-School Awards exist to identify and reward excellence in the fields of educational equipment, childcare and books and toys, suitable for early years and key stage 1 children, for use in professional childcare and educational settings.

These settings include private and state nurseries, pre-schools, playgroups, childminders, after-school clubs, reception classes and infant schools.

According to psychologist Dr Amanda Gummer, of FUNdamentals: ‘A child’s early years are a rapid period of change; the child is developing quickly and needs access to different things at different times. ‘Children themselves, therefore, are crucial to the stringent testing process. As well as a scrupulous panel of practitioners, their input was key in testing every one of the products. And the testing has been tough, as it should be. Each product entered was tested in at least two separate settings by children and their carers.

Each setting has marked and provided a detailed evaluation of the performance of the product, against set criteria. This included key elements, such as appeal to children at both the start and end of the trial, durability, adaptability, educational value, play value, value for money, and many others. An impressive score of 90 per cent or more was needed for products to attain the much-coveted Gold Award, 80 to 89 per cent was required for silver, and 70 to 79 per cent for bronze.

I am happy to announce that Mango Tango (2009) album won a silver award last year! I was musical director, co-producer and keyboard player when we recorded it November 2009. Wendy and Janet and the Kids Music Company are a true force to be reckoned with when it comes to musical education for children. Thanks guys!

Mark

The Practical Pre-School Awards exist to identify and reward excellence in the fields of educational equipment, childcare and books and toys, suitable for early years and key stage 1 children, for use in professional childcare and educational settings.

These settings include private and state nurseries, pre-schools, playgroups, childminders, after-school clubs, reception classes and infant schools.

According to psychologist Dr Amanda Gummer, of FUNdamentals: ‘A child’s early years are a rapid period of change; the child is developing quickly and needs access to different things at different times. ‘Children themselves, therefore, are crucial to the stringent testing process. As well as a scrupulous panel of practitioners, their input was key in testing every one of the products. And the testing has been tough, as it should be. Each product entered was tested in at least two separate settings by children and their carers.

Each setting has marked and provided a detailed evaluation of the performance of the product, against set criteria. This included key elements, such as appeal to children at both the start and end of the trial, durability, adaptability, educational value, play value, value for money, and many others. An impressive score of 90 per cent or more was needed for products to attain the much-coveted Gold Award, 80 to 89 per cent was required for silver, and 70 to 79 per cent for bronze.

Musical quotation is the practice of directly quoting another work in a new composition. The quotation may be from the same composer’s work (self-referential), or from a different composer’s work (appropriation). – (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_quotation).

Jazz musicians often utilise musical quotation.  Here is a list of the musical quotations heard in my ‘Mehldau 16’ album collection.  All measures have been take to ensure that this list is as accurate as possible however please let me know if you think I have missed one or two!

1.  Angst quoted at the end of My Romance, Introducing Brad Mehldau, 1995
2.  Cry Me a River quoted (2m38s) on a Prelude to a Kiss, Introducing Brad Mehldau, 1995
3.  Blame it on my Youth quoted (3m20s) on I Fall in Love to Easily, Art of the Trio Volume 1, 1997
4.  Misterioso quoted (9m03s) on Monk’s Dream, Art of the Trio Volume 2, 1998
5.  Peanut Vendor (5m13s) and Misterioso (9m) quoted on The Way you Look Tonight, Art of the Trio Volume 2, 1998
6.  My Romance (3m) quoted on Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, Art of the Trio Voume 3, 1998
7.  My Favourite Things (12m51s) quoted on All the Things You Are, Art of the Trio Volume 4, 1999
8.  All the Things You Are (3m46s) and the famous now generic ‘bebop lick‘ (4m50s) quoted on Solar, Art of the Trio 4, 1999
9.  Sleigh Ride – Leroy Anderson (5m13s) quoted on The Folks Who Live on the Hill, Art of the Trio 5, 2001
10.  Cry Me a River  (7m24s) quoted on Secret Love, Art of the Trio Volume 5, 2001
11.  It’s Alright with Me (3m42s) quoted on Memory’s Tricks, Elegiac Cycle, 1999
12.  Resignation (5m16s and 7m06s) quoted on Ruckblick, Elegiac Cycle, 1999
13.  Sublation (2m57s) and Summertime (3m31s) quoted on Madrid, Places, 2000
14.  It Ain’t Necessarily So (1m34s) quoted on You’re Vibing Me, Largo, 2004
15.  Blue and Green (1m56s) quoted on Alvarado, Largo, 2004
16.  I Love You Porgy (3m34s) quoted on I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face, Anything Goes, 2004
17.  Blame it on my Youth (5m29s) quoted on Someone to Watch Over Me, Live in Tokyo, 2004
18.  Sunny Side of the Street (1m48s) and Peanuts theme tune by Charles Mingus (3m03s) quoted on Monk’s Dream, Live in Tokyo, 2004
19.  Martha My Dear (11m20s) quoted on Paranoid Android, Like in Tokyo, 2004
20.  Peanuts theme tune by Charles Mingus (4m07s) quoted on No Moon at all, Day is Done, 2005
21.   Fascinating Rhythm (3m50s) quoted on Fear and Trembling, House on Hill, 2006
22.  Fascinating Rhythm (1m43s and 2m32s) quoted on Ruby’s Rub, Live, 2008
23.  Misterioso (3m38s) quoted on B-Flat Waltz, Live, 2006
24.  Cry Me a River (4m11s) quoted on The Very Thought of You, Live, 2006
25.  Misterioso (57s) and generic ‘bebop lick‘ (5m25s, 7m10s and 7m47s) quoted on Buddha Realm, Live, 2006
26.  Generic ‘bebop lick‘ (3m36s) quoted on Fit Cat, Live, 2006
27.  Sir Duke horn line (5m02s) and Misterioso (9m02s) quoted on C.T.A, Live,2006
28.  Lennie Tristano phrases (exact source still to be found) (3m53s and 5m03s) quoted on More Than You Know, Live, 2006
29.  Generic ‘bebop lick‘ (2m41s, 3m31s and 4m35s) quoted on Trailer Park Ghost, Live in Marciac, 2011
30.  Sugar (2m24s) quoted on Dat Dere, Live in Marciac, 2011

This list comprises of a collection of albums released by Brad Mehldau that I am using as source material to help solidify my doctoral concept.  It consists of 16 albums (168 tracks) and has been limited using the following criteria:-

1.  Physical Releases only

2.  USA releases only (no Japanese versions)

3.  No collaborative projects

4.  No compilations / soundtracks

5.  No original soundtrack recordings

6.  No promotional CD’s

4.  No ‘sideman’ projects

5.  No ‘through-composed’ projects (e.g. Mehldau’s ‘Operatic’ work)

6.  Official releases only (no bootlegs (e.g. Live at the Stockholm concert-house)

7.  Audio-only releases (no DVD’s)

1.  Introducing Brad Mehldau, 1995, Warner Bros
2.  Art of the Trio Volume 1, 1997, Warner Bros.
3.  Art of the Trio Volume 2 (Live at the Village Vanguard), 1998, Warner Bros.
4.  Art of the Trio Volume 3 (Songs), 1998, Warner Bros.
5.  Art of the Trio Volume 4 (Back at the Vanguard), 1999, Warner Bros.
6.  Elegiac Cycle, 1999, Warner Bros.
7.  Places, 2000, Warner Bros.
8.  Art of the Trio Volume 5 (Progression), 2001, Warner Bros.
9.  Largo, 2002, Warner Bros.
10. Anything Goes, 2004, Warner Bros.
11.  Live in Tokyo, 2004, Nonesuch Records
12.  Day is Done, 2005, Nonesuch Records
13.  House on Hill, 2006, Nonesuch Records
14.  Live, 2008, Nonesuch Records
15.  Highway Rider, 2010, Nonesuch Records
16.  Live in Marciac, 2011, Nonesuch Records

Yesterday I received a call from Roundhead Studios.  It wasn’t a call for session work or anything utilising my skills as a musician, but instead a request to hire my harpsichord for studio work again.  This isn’t the first time my ‘Moermans 1584’ single manual harpsichord has been needed for a session.  Last year Anika Moa used the instrument on her 2010 album ‘Love in Motion’.  The year before it was used by Roundhead Studios in recording a young artist called Seth Haapu.  Haapu has just released his self entitled debut album this month.  This time, the artist benefitting from this Baroque-styled instrument is Neil Finn, the owner of Roundhead Studios.  Finn is using the keyboard for his own recording project, it will be in the studio this week while I am on tour with Tim Beveridge.  Later in the year the harpsichord is scheduled to be recorded by kiwi rock band Elemeno P, this time however I will be playing it as well.

Specifications are listed below:-

1990 Hubbard after Moermans 1584, Single Manual Harpsichord – A great sounding instrument, designed to be portable and used as a ‘gigging’ keyboard.

Playing with King Kapisi’s live unit currently comprising of :-

King Kapisi
Teremoana Rapley
Pos (Pacific Underground)
Dee (Cydel)
Te Whainoa (Cornerstone Roots)
& Myself….

Really looking forward to this gig, I have always wanted to play at Glastonbury festival since I was young! Good chance to see the family too…

I know its a long shot but we are playing 24th and 26th June, will I see you there?

Line up is below, thanks Mark

In a tribute to the golden years of Las Vegas entertainment, Tim Beveridge is bringing a taste of glamour to the heartland this winter in a feel-good nationwide tour of his production ‘Vegas’.

Supported by the stunning Diamond Showgirls and the swinging sound of the live-on-stage Neophonic Orchestra, Mr Beveridge will be leading this stunning and talented cast of dancers and musicians over 20 dates debuting in Canterbury on 26 July.

“We’re hoping ‘Vegas’ will provide a welcome touch of excitement and a little escape for people right round NZ after a tough couple of years. We’re going to take our audiences back to the ‘Swinging Vegas’ era of its heyday when Sinatra and his Ratpack ruled the town through to the stunning cabarets as inspired by the Folies Bergère,” says Beveridge.

The season will kick off in Christchurch with five performances in the specially constructed Celebration theatre. The theatre is a uniquely designed European Marquee which producer, Ben McDonald has imported specifically for Christchurch. He is confident the show will be bursting with “crackingly good, full houses.”

Choreographer Emma McLachlan, states that the Diamond Showgirls’ stunning costumes and choreography will make for a memorable show in true Las Vegas style.

The Diamond Showgirls have collaborated with Beveridge before and McLachlan believes, “the show will be a big extravaganza, with all the typical showgirl beauty, dramatic costumes created exclusively by in-house designers and loads of sparkle. We’re looking forward to such a fantastic opportunity to showcase the art we love.”

With swinging songs, a talented band and beautiful showgirls, the tour wraps up in Tauranga early September, so there is no excuse to miss this dazzling performance.

 

 

For Jan who requested this leadsheet, its basically the version that I play from with the suspended sound and the chromatic syncopated turnaround.  Enjoy anyone who wants it!

Thanks Mark

Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright – Lead Sheet

I wrote these studies when I was an undergraduate at the New Zealand School of Music over the course of 3 years.  Basically they are idiomatic prepared pieces designed to demonstrate the knowledge and application of the jazz vocabulary acquired at different stages of the degree.   My aim at the time was musicality and playability over technicality.  Some of these exercises include analysis but most just contain the written improvisation and accompanying chords.  Please feel free to download, play and get what you can from each exercise, the level will vary from piece to piece as some are written very early on in my degree.

All The Things You Are 8th Note Study

Autumn Leaves 8th Note Study

Bebop Scale Phrase

Caravan 8th Note Study

Cherokee 8th Note Study

Diminished Scales Phrases

Donna Lee 8th Note Study

Donna Lee Reharmonisation

F Blues 8th Note Study

Giant Steps Bergonzi Study

Just Friends 8th Note Study

Rhythm Changes 8th Note Study

Rhythm Changes 8th Note 2 Study

Solar 8th Note Study

Stella 8th Note Study

Stella 8th Note 2 Study

 

A transcription of the solo from Keith Jarrett’s intro to What Is This Called Love, found on the album called Whisper Not.

What Is This Thing Called Love – Keith Jarrett Transcription

 

A transcription of Kenny Kirkland’s performance of The Blues Walk.  It can be found on an album by Arturo Sandoval called I Remember Clifford.

The Blues Walk – Kenny Kirkland Transcription

A Transcription of Clifford Brown’s solo on Take The A Train.

Take The A Train – Clifford Brown Transcription

This is a transcription of the solo found in It Might As Well Be Spring heard on Mehldau’s debut album Introducing Brad Mehldau.  It is performed in the unusual meter of 7/4 and was recorded in 1995.

It Might As Well Be Spring – Brad Mehldau Transcription

A transcription of the funk piece Play Me from The Blue Note Years album.  Recorded 1993.

Michel Petrucciani Transcription – Play Me Transcription

This is the final essay for a NZ Music Paper I took at the New Zealand School of Music.  It contains thoughts on music by Helen Fisher, Ian McDonald, Eve De Castro Robinson, Jenny McLeod, and Dave Dobbyn.

New Zealand Music Paper Exam

An extract of the paper can be found below:-

Helen Fisher – Wings of the Wind I am a British born resident. Studying this piece has prompted me to look at Maori chant and culture. It has been suggested that the Maori arts community, probably due to similar stylistic elements in the music, has embraced Helen Fishers work. This piece clearly pays homage to the Maori sound of the Nose Flute. Where Traditional Maori chant may limit itself to small intervals such as a perfect 4th Helen Extends this to greater intervals but still maintains the sense of the Oro by building the whole piece around a C#. The Shift from Note Bending to the use of harmonics represents a greeting to the Spirit world and that sound gives me a feeling of Spirituality/Earthiness. Helen talks about the piece representing a daily flight for flocks of starlings off Kapiti Island to find food and I feel that the music absolutely does justice to that concept. The birds flutter, souring, gliding and curious nature are all represented by the sound of the flute as well as their journey to and from the mainland with their change of direction being at bar 74. This music feels like it is improvised although the score clearly states that it is not, however, that improvised sense of the work represents nature in itself and to the bird, their journey (and life) are a piece of improvisation on a daily basis. Helen clearly worked with the performer (or one of a similar calibre) to be able to capture the nuances of the subject matter. With reference to the spiritual element, this piece refers to the cycle of life and death and carries a different message to its listener, one of birth to death, curiosity to weariness, a reflection of the human spirit and its capacity to survive everything that it is dealt.

Kea Country – Ian McDonald The Kea is a Parrott with attitude!! This piece was written with a deliberate attempt to capture the spirit of the Kea with particular reference to its strangely human characteristics. This piece suggests different ideas in its 5 short movements. The key element that I think Ian McDonald presents to us is not just the personality of the bird, but also our interaction with the bird and in turn its reaction to us. The first movement to me is the sound of both the bird (high pitched sound) and the trampers walking through its territory/homeland (low pitch noises) Near the end it almost sounds like human conversation heard by the kea from above. This is expanded upon in the 2nd movement where the sense of a tramp hut is captured, is this curious intelligent bird attracted to us because of how we behave in this environment? This is clearly a meeting place between man and bird. The rising and swooping tin whistle also represents the birds’ flight and presence in the camp, possibly looking for food. The third movement continues in a similar manner, but this time using a circus theme and waltz to present us with the Kea’s “cheeky monkey” attitude. Now we get serious in the 4th movement with the bird removed from human contact. It flies over the mountains on updrafts (represented by the electro-acoustic sounds) and its cry can be heard over the horizon. The final movement ends with poem and then actual birdcall to provide a feeling of closeness to the Kea, like the bird is talking to you, personified in a way, by the lyrics of the poem. Its funny how it is almost impossible to observe something without affecting the results by your presence! Is this what we have with the Kea?, are we becoming more like it or it like us, or maybe it’s a bit of both! I think that Ian McDonald asks the same question in Kea Country; maybe it should be called Kea and Tramper Country? Don’t Dream Its Over –

Neil Finn I Love this track! This is a very appealing piece of music for me on quite a few levels. Firstly I would like to talk about the backing. This is a modern piece and as a jazz and pop musician I would have to say that it just grooves! The guitar introduction is unhurried and provides a good rhythmic pulse and sets the key nicely. The bass enters a few bars later with a pentatonic riff then just supports the harmony with tonic notes, fill in walks on beat 4, and the occasional ragtime derived syncopation. There is an airy steel guitar sound that floats in and out of existence to create tension in the verse and the bongos are added give a sense of rhythmic interest and to change the feel from 8th note to 16th note rhythms. The organ break is very “whiter shade of pale” like with common use of faster Leslie speaker activation for effect and to support the guitar based counter phrase immediately after. The other interesting feature is on the 3rd chorus where the harmony changes in the “Hey now, Hey now” section, again another good song writing technique. With regards to the lyrics and melody, we have already discussed a “question” like phrase from the melodic line ending in mid air in the lyric “there is freedom within”. You attention is grabbed by the feisty rhythmic pulse of the lyrics “Hey now, hey now”, as if the song is trying to brush away doubt which is immediately followed by the reassuring lyrics of “Don’t dream its over”. There is religious reference made in the lyric “Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup”, this to me suggests the lost feeling in the 1st verse., as with “you’ll never see the end of the world when you are travelling with me” with suggests the end of a relationship, am I holding you back somehow, stopping you from finding your goal? The subject turning over to the TV page instead of reading the news suggests to me that they are avoiding confrontation somehow and instead using television as an escape. The lyrics are very poignant and create very vivid imagery in my mind, a truly great piece of music.

A Chaos of Delight – Eve De Castro Robinson “So that partly sums up my approach to composing. There are emotional/philosophical leanings, and timbral pushings, and flickers of recognition of sound events or extra musical devices, but very rarely a story line. That’s why I haven’t done any opera. I don’t do songs, or settings.” – Interview with Eve De Castro Robinson conducted by composer Thomas Goss. This work is an acoustic rendition in celebration of the dawn chorus. It was written specifically for Andrew Uren (Bass Clarinettist) who requested a piece from Eve. According to Eve she chose that topic as the bird theme comes very naturally to her, and she started thinking about derived sonorities, the extremes of registers, certain calls, certain motifs, and the fact that the bass clarinet can surprisingly and ironically play high very well. She likes to push extremes of registers in instruments and also likes clicking sounds, which is a speciality of Andrews (tongue clicks and slaps). So Eve collaborated with Andrew, using recordings of bird noises to create sections of the work such as the “Hoom” of the Kakapo (the very low note). She also talks about Bethels beach being the source of inspiration for her Tui sound, where the tui makes a kind of perfect 5th or octave call and response figure. I think that the emotional content is evident too, with the beginning of each day comes a feeling of excitement and flurry represented in passages of the work. The piece also has a natural balance to it with a definite feeling of beginning middle and end. Little Lamb – Jenny McLeod This song based on Blake’s poem “The Lamb”. The piano accompaniment has been very cleverly composed and is significant in telling the full story of The Lamb. Only Stanza 1 has been set to music by Jenny McLeod, which holds the question “who made thee”; asked by the singer. Musically speaking the answer is at first hinted by the opening piano entry twice and then in the singers opening line. This is of course a reference to the presence of the spirit litany found in many Christian masses, which is repeated 3 times. The Melodic line over the word “who” is used to emphasise the question more and later on from bar 25 the accompaniment becomes more hymnal , suggesting the answer to be found in the church, and indeed god. I appreciate the fact that the vocal line is fairly conjunct in style without many large interval leaps where in the piano lines are more disjunct in style, representing the leaping and frolicking of the young animal. When the question is asked there is a sense of unbalance between vocals and piano, a contrast of styles if you like, later on when the answer is given there is a great sense of calm as the answer is made clear. The climax of the melody line appears to be at the word “rejoice”, the music seems to peak at this point suggesting the finishing of the question. However there is also a peak to be found at bar 17, which supports the word “bright”. I enjoyed the piano style from bars 9-20 which really does suggest a happy little lamb enjoying the stream and meadow, blissfully lacking in self recognition. Lucky Lamb!

Private Universe – Neil Finn We all live in a private universe don’t we? Aren’t we all driven entirely by our attitudes based on our OWN point of view? The atmosphere of this piece is a haunting one, and the subject is clearly not in a happy place, with talk of “labour” and “endure”. The piece begins with sounds of the street, and ends with tribal drumming and drones. It reminds me of the kind of feeling you get when you arrive in a town/city/country on your own and its all unfamiliar. Jim Morrison lyrics read “people are strange, when you’re a stranger” and this use of Polynesian drumming and general hubbub give you the feeling that you are a strange here. This could all be an analogy for how the subject is feeling mind you and not a literal description mind you. The melody is restricted to provide the listener with an introverted feeling as if the subject is talking to oneself. It’s a dark scene. The mood changes completely over the lyrics “and it’s a pleasure etc”. The key of the song changes from minor to major depicting a happier turn of events. This section is not only happier but also gives us a religious clue as it uses the same rhythmic pulse as and “3 times spoken” emphasis of Christian masses. The melodic line emphasises the last word of each phrase i.e. “Known” and “Gained”. Is this Neil Finn interjecting here? Have things changed now after this section? I feel the determination of Neil in the last verse as if he has gained the ability to see light at the end of the tunnel at least. The imagery of the lyrics is still as strong but the delivery of the words has moved from victim to victor partially due to the melody being sung 1 octave higher. We can all get bogged down by things sometimes, and this song is merely a reflection of that, that’s all, whether Neil is saying that we should turn to God is debatable but we should all at least realise that our own state of mind can be our best friend and worst enemy!

Slice of Heaven – Dave Dobbyn This is a great piece of song writing and sequencing combined. The bluesy riff sung by the vocal intro serves as a drive for the whole song, when the flutes are not playing it, it is still represented in the sequenced bass line in the verse. There is that lovely lilted feeling you get on the bridge section (“howdy angel etc…”) where the rhythm almost feels syncopated and the backbeat is almost lost due to the rhythmic feel of the strings. The verse then appears to go into a quasi pop-reggae feel with the bass playing arpeggios and the strings stabbing almost constantly on the “off beat”. The chorus then enters with choir like layering of vocals and the local sweet sound of the glockenspiel playing a beautiful counter melody. And this all happens in a 3-minute song? The arrangement is very rich indeed and very creative for the time it was written, using predominately a midi setup with only hardware synthesis instead of virtual instruments that we have now. In the notes it is suggested that the song is a prayer to the Virgin Mary. I think that the choir sound of the chorus backs up this idea with a very gospel like vocal layering, and your attention is certainly grabbed by the “Howdy Angel” section being so rhythmically different. Also the rising sound that swoops upwards from the ocarina flutes could represent the ascension to heaven. This is after relating the lyrics “Your bottom lip’s near draggin’ on the ground” to the crucifixion of Christ. At the very least it gives you a feeling of carrying the prayer upwards to reach its recipient! One more thing regarding to the production of this work, each electronic sound in the piece has its own space in the mix. This clever use of panning gives you that sense of the tune being alive and has a great deal to do with the effectiveness of each individual part and the song as a whole.

Whaling – Dave Dobbin This piece is a total contrast in style from slice of Heaven in many ways. This is a folk song basically enhanced by the use of a popular folk instrument, the fiddle; that comes in and out of play in between verses. This tune was recorded by musicians and not sequenced on a computer, and the backing is much more conventional with the simple use of a few diatonic chords supporting the melody, and with use of simple drum beats and bass lines. It reminds me of the folk style of Bob Dylan in the way that the feature is not on the music. It is the poetry and lyrics that take centre stage this time as Dave Dobbyn draws analogies about human behaviour through biblical reference and sexual innuendo. The first half of the song describes Jonah and his feelings as he fled from god. He is defiant, fuelled by his own strength and bravado, which is only skin deep in reality. Have you ever been angry at the sea when you have tried to swim through it? Even the smallest wave has a great deal of energy contained within it, enough to brush you aside with absolute ease. This is what Dave Dobbyn is referring to in the lyrics “and when tour ship can’t handle the heavier seas”, in that the problem was too great to be able to brush it aside with his own denial. The solution for Jonah was not to turn to god (“no down on bended knees”) as he was running away FROM god! In the 2nd half of the tune, the subject is looking for forgiveness and is in a fearful state as he needs “saving from himself”. He talks about the selfishness of human nature and the need to fulfil his own sexual desires, “the first to get trigger happy”. Is this track about fidelity? If it isn’t then it implies some other element in a relationship. He doesn’t mean to harm anyone, just like Jonah, maybe he feels that some demand lies too heavy on his back. Monogamy is sometimes a tough call for anyone and maybe this represents the struggle that society places on us which sometimes conflicts with our natural instincts. And maybe he realises in the end verse that he should be with his “sweet baby”, as he makes references to the fact that he is not happy with anyone else, when he sings the line “not where I wanted to be”. I can relate this song as I have often found myself in situations that Id rather not be in, but haven’t we all?

Transcription from Herbie’s New York Minute, played on one of my favourite Herbie Hancock Albums called New Standard.

New York Minute – Herbie Hancock Transcription

1995’s The New Standard found him and an all-star band including John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette and Michael Brecker interpreting pop songs by Nirvana, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Prince, Peter Gabriel and others. A 1997 duet album with Wayne Shorter titled 1 + 1 was successful, the song “Aung San Suu Kyi” winning the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition, and Hancock also achieved great success in 1998 with his albumGershwin’s World which featured inventive readings of George & Ira Gershwin standards by Hancock and a plethora of guest stars including Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell and Shorter. Hancock toured the world in the support ofGershwin’s World with a sextet that featured Cyro Baptista, Terri Lynne Carrington, Ira Coleman, Eli Degibri and Eddie Henderson.

This is a complete transcription of the piano solo found in the 2nd part of MTV Makes Me Wanna Smoke Crack.  It was written by Beck but played by a great pianist, check it out online and listen to his/her swing!

MTV Makes Me Wanna Smoke Crack – Beck Transcription

A transcription of Little Peace In C For You, enjoy!  There is also some bracketed analysis for those theory freaks out there!  From the Complete Solo Concert in Germany.

Little Peace In C For You

OK so you have to think a little laterally here, this is a picture essay inspired by the piece of music called Tides by KIWI artist John Rimmer.

John Rimmer – Tides

An annotated bibliography of all things Jaco, written 5 years ago as part of some university research.  An except of the text can be found below:-

Jaco Pastorius – Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography – John Francis Pastorius III – aka “Jaco”

Books

Milkowski, Bill. Jaco : The Extraordinary Life of Jaco Pastorius, Backbeat Books, San Francisco, 1996 “My name is John Francis Pastorius III, and I’m the greatest electric bass player in the world.” This is the opening statement of this 300+ page book. It is the only biography available on Jaco and it portrays a personal account of the good, the bad and the ugly parts of his life. For me it was fascinating to get my first glimpse into the mind of such a great innovator of jazz. Milkowski writes in a true and thoroughly entertaining way covering everything from the early days in Florida to Jaco’s sad and premature demise. It contains a chapter entitled 63 views of a secret (reference to track entitled “3 Views of a Secret”) where musicians, colleagues and friends reflect on the life and times of “the world’s greatest bass player”. It did spurn some controversy however in regards to its authenticity and is not endorsed by the Pastorius family.

Compact Discs

Audio Biography Bobbing, Bob. Portrait of Jaco: The Early Years 1968 – 1978, Holiday Park Records, Florida, 2002 This 2 CD disc set and accompanying booklet is an amazing collection of personal accounts and audio clips recorded by friend Bob Bobbing. Preserved for 20 years and then released as a tribute to the man, this audio biography is endorsed by Jaco’s family (unlike Milkowski’s book – Jaco) and includes footage of Jaco’s father, first wife Tracey Lee, as well as personal accounts by Matheny, Zawinul, Hancock and many more. It contains Jaco’s earliest recording where he was playing drums as well as material recorded when he was playing with Tommy Strand and Wayne Cochran and the CC Riders. I think it is amazing that Bobbing had the foresight to make these recordings, especially considering the portability (or lack thereof) of the recording equipment of the time.

DVD’S

Pastorius, Jaco. Modern Electric Bass, Warner Brothers Pub, 2002 This is a study in which Jaco demonstrates hand technique, fretless bass playing, scales and arpeggios, harmonics, finger exercises and study concepts. According to biographical and periodic evidence of the time, Jaco wasn’t on top form when he recorded this DVD (VHS Originally) and was alleged to have been confined to his hotel room prior to this recording so he would behave himself! However I think it is an excellent example of his approach to bass and jazz in general. He clearly states that there are no shortcuts in becoming a great player, instead thorough work on technique, melodic consideration (even for a bass player) and harmony are required. Jaco also performs some classic solos and there are exciting group performances with John Scofield and Kenwood Dennard, one in particular in which Jaco throws his bass to Dennard in the final bar of one track, yet another demonstration of Jaco’s ability to entertain!

Articles

Glenn, Dann. Storm Chasers, Bootleggers and The World’s Greatest Anthology, Bass Guitar Magazine (UK), Jan/Feb 2004 In this article Glenn focuses on how the media love to pounce on trouble and certainly did with Jaco, but the interesting point this article has to make is a reminder that a lot of the bootleg albums that have been released since Jaco’s demise don’t do him justice or come anywhere close to reflecting his talent as a performer. For some reason tapes of Jaco’s later playing that would normally only circulate amongst traders and collectors, have found their way as essential releases in music stores. Miller, Marcus. Perspectives on Jaco and About Jaco, http://www.marcusmiller.com/faq.html?category=5andfaqid=96andcolor =9, 2002 Miller writes about his relationship with Jaco, stating what he learnt musically during his time with Jaco. It is the only article that I have found with reference to Miller’s concept of Jaco’s approach to soloing. Marcus writes, “Jaco couldn’t improvise those perfect solos – he used to compose and then perform them”. I think if this is true it would have been not from a lack of skill from Jaco’s part, but merely his desire to strive for musical perfection. He then goes on to describe how Jaco tried to play bass from a vocal perspective, trying to emulate his favourite singer, Frank Sinatra. Murray, Charles Shaar. Jaco Pastorius, The Independent (UK), 1998 An excellent article exploring social behaviour amongst the artistically gifted such as Charlie Parker, Jim Morrisson, Peter Sellers and Jaco. It briefly touches on mental health issues as Murray argues that if Pastorius hadn’t become the virtuoso bass player that he did, maybe his manic depressive tendencies would have been noticed earlier. He states that as an artist his weird manifestations might have been attributed to “artistic temperament” or “genius-type waywardness” .

Interviews

Williamson, Clive. Weather Report UK Tour, Hammersmith Odeon, BBC Interview, 1978 An entertaining BBC radio interview by where Jaco talks about how he first met Zawinul and declared himself “the best bass player in the world”, and how he recorded with Joni Mitchell and joined Weather Report without knowing the music first! Jaco’s solo album had not been heard in the UK (or even by Williamson) at the time Weather Report were touring there in 1978 so there is a great paragraph where Jaco is promoting that too! The interview also discusses some of the arrangements of the “Mr Gone” album, where he recorded on Drums as well as sang! Coryell, Julie. Jazz-Rock Fusion – The People, The Music, Interview with Julie Coryell, Dell, 1978 An interview where Jaco talks fondly about his love for his Florida roots. He discusses how his (self taught) musical education wasn’t limited to style, “there are no musical prejudices, I heard Steel Drum Bands, Cuban Bands, James Brown, Sinatra, the Beatles, and whatever I liked, I liked!”. He also states that he only actually practised the bass for about a year, and the rest of the time he just kept his ears open. He states that most of his musical experience was gained from playing. Rosen, Steve. Portrait of Jaco Interview, 1978 I like this interview mainly because of one question where Jaco talks about how he learnt to read music, he was offered a reading gig and had to learn as it was the only way to make money, “Then you learn how to read overnight, that’s how I learnt” – he said; I take my hat off to him for that! He also discusses his influences including Charlie Parker, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles. Websites Pastorius, Ingrid. Ingrid’s Jaco Cybernest, http://www.jacop.net Ingrid Pastorius maintains this site now after Felix, Julius, John and Mary Pastorius collaborated to form the official site listed below. In my opinion this is the richest source of Jaco memorabilia on the web, containing literally hundreds of photos, letters, Jaco “Art”, transcription, scribbling, interviews and much more. Although this site is badly designed its content makes up for it ten fold. There is both personal and musical content relating to Jaco’s immediate family in this site, you really could lose a whole day here! Pastorius Mary, John, Julius, and Felix, and Young, Eric. Jaco Pastorius, the official website, http://www.jacopastorius.com This slickly presented website is undergoing another design change since its last service in 2002, this promises to include more features and content. This site features a page called shout outs, which includes accounts from musicians such as Shorter, McBride, and Erskine to name but a few. I look forward to the new content with interest!

Selected Discography

Bley, Paul. Jaco, Paul Bley’s Improvising Artist Label, 1974 This was controversially entitled “Jaco” by Bley and is the first Album to feature the bass player. Bley was accused of trying to cash in on his sudden fame using his name as a title and using a silhouette of his profile as an album cover. Jaco’s attorney contacted Bley soon after the release and requested a design change, as Pastorius was not consulted. This album also features Pat Metheny although apparently the guitar sounds muddy in the mix, I have not heard this album yet (in the post) but it is important to recognise that it was an album that featured Jaco much more than him just playing as a sideman as he gave the project a large amount of creative input. Metheny, Pat. Bright Size Life, ECM, 1976 Pat Metheny and Jaco’s debut albums arrived the same year, 1976. This album, featuring the trio of Metheny, Jaco and drummer Bob Moses, was not only Metheny’s debut, it is also one of Jaco’s earliest recordings.

This is a transcription of the first 2 choruses of Tommy Flanagan’s solo on Giant Steps, the title track from his ‘Giant Steps’ album.

Giant Steps

A transcription of Bud’s classic solo, heard on an album called ‘The Amazing Bud Powell’.

Bouncing with Bud

Released in 1977 by Dizzy & Lalo Schifrin. Lalo arranged, conducted, and plays electric keys on this LP.
From the “Free Ride” LP here is the funk fusion dancefloor stormer “Unicorn”.

The Pinehurst School Jazz Band will be performing this track this coming term, a great but simple funk piece.

Unicorn – Dizzy and Lalo Schifrin

Cat Tunks – Vocals
Mark Baynes – Keyboards
Arli Leiberman – Guitar
Ben Turua – Bass
Jason Orme – Drums

BlackSandDiva soar from slinky Jazz grooves to rocked up roots, soul, and rnb fusion to create a unique sound organic to the Wild West Coast. The funky rock grooves still able to stay true to its Jazz roots, bridging the gap between Jazz and mainstream audiences, and becoming known for its energetic live improvisation and catchy tunes.
BlackSandDiva appear 24th April, 3.30pm.

Cat Tunks – Vocals
Mark Baynes – Keyboards
Arli Leiberman – Guitar
Ben Turua – Bass
Jason Orme – Drums

BlackSandDiva soar from slinky Jazz grooves to rocked up roots, soul, and rnb fusion to create a unique sound organic to the Wild West Coast. The funky rock grooves still able to stay true to its Jazz roots, bridging the gap between Jazz and mainstream audiences, and becoming known for its energetic live improvisation and catchy tunes.
BlackSandDiva appear at The Bay on Friday, 22nd April from 7-10pm, and at the Good Friday Groove at Rangihoua Olive Estate from 2.30-3.50pm.

Anyone interested in finding out what I am studying next? If you are then download my DMA proposal which has recently been accepted by Auckland University.  I am lucky enough to be studying under Dr David Lines and Kevin Field, this will be my final degree program and is expected to take between 3-4 years.  I plan to start at the beginning of May this year after tidying up my other teaching commitments.

DMA Proposal (download 300k)

Thanks, Mark

 

This is a link to the written component of my MMus (jazz performance) that I completed at the end of 2010. It basically details the creative process of the album ‘In Song’ recorded by the Ironic Trio last year.

MMus Written Component (10mb)

This is really for those of you interested in how these songs were composed, download if you are interested! An excerpt of some text is also included in this post below.

Thanks Mark

 

Introduction

The main objective of this MMus is to compose, arrange, perform, and record 40-60 minutes worth of improvised jazz music, then edit, order and compile the performances into album format to present to the university. In addition to the album, the degree requires the completion of two other components, these elements and their academic weighting are listed below: –

Composition / arrangement / and performance of jazz album 40%

Recital containing performance of album tracks 40%

Academic writing 20%

This document serves as the academic writing component of the degree and therefore represents 20% of the final MMus grade.

The purpose of this essay is to: –

1. Document the creative process

2. Analyse elements of composition, arrangement, performance and musical interpretation

3. Draw conclusions from the musical output

The album in discussion is entitled ‘In Song’ and is presented under the pseudonym of the ‘Ironic Trio’. This is the second independent release by the trio; their first release in 2009 is an EP entitled ‘In Colour’, a live recording of standard jazz compositions. The Ironic Trio currently consist of Mark Baynes (Piano and leader), Aaron Coddel (Upright bass) and Jason Orme (Drumset).

This document is divided into three separate parts, one documenting the creative process, the next presenting the analysis and the final part outlining conclusions. Due to the tight time constraints involved in composing, arranging and recording ‘In Song’ during the period of one academic year, I was careful to ensure that attention to detail was given to the planning process. I established the date that all work had to be submitted by, then worked backwards aiding creation of a study plan. I estimated I would need a month to complete the written element (due 15th December) so I requested that the live performance of the album to be early November. I also reserved a calendar month for editing, mixing, mastering and replication of the album. This meant of course that the best time for the recording session would probably be early September 2010, allowing me some leeway if there were complications. Also, I knew that I was going to be unavailable to work on this project during all of April / May as I was getting married in Europe. So the time left to compose, arrange and rehearse would be the four months of March, June, July and August. The chronology of the creative process is documented below and details, in several sections, the entire project from start to finish.

1. Sketches

Given the relatively short time to complete the degree I decided to employ a rapid and intuitive compositional approach. Basically I set myself the task of writing 40 musical ‘sketches’ during the month of March, this involved composing around 10 pieces a week to workshop with my supervisor, Kevin Field. These sketches took no longer than an hour each to compose and at the tutorial meetings we briefly analysed each one for harmonic, melodic and stylistic content. This analysis helped to formulate ideas for further composition; in other words I wanted to ensure there was as much stylistic diversity as possible so I used my compositional oeuvre as a measure and springboard when trying to conceptualise the remaining work. For example it was noted that none of my early compositions included standard jazz harmonic progressions such as II-V-I chord sequences. I used that knowledge and approached some later compositions with the inclusion of such chord sequences in mind, when it felt appropriate.