Saturday night

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around...

(Did Tina ever really get it.?)

I confess.  This is my all time favorite rock band.

So here's some more...

And the classic...

Theory. Modes, Part One

I've been working on this a bit, so it's time to test my understanding by writing it down.

The key question: what are modes?  (And for later, what does it mean to observe that the seventh chords come from the modes?)

The octave is the starting point.

A musical octave is a neat convergence of physics and psychology. Two notes that are an octave apart are perceived as equivalent; the notes are at a 2 to 1 ratio (eg, tuning A is pereived as a perceptual high A; tuning A is 440 Hz and high A is 880 Hz).

Western music divides the octave into 12 equal intervals, called semitones. (Mathematically, the term is cent.). Note carefully, the intervals are ratio's. The ratio's thus are the same, no matter what octave they apply to.

Here's where things get a bit strange.

Subsets of intervals, called collections or incorrectly sometimes called scales, form the basis of Western music. Conventionally-- which is to say, in common practice for over 1000 years – however, only two collections are used, and they each consist of 7 intervals.  We know them as major and minor.

And as final twist, the intervals between notes in a collection are not equally or uniformly spaced. Rather, 2 intervals are closer together than the other 5.

Here is C major, the most familiar of all collection, expressed in semi-tones.

note:        C   D   E   F   G   A   B   C  

semi-tones     2   2   1   2   2   2   1

symbol         T   T   S   T   T   T   S
(T = whole tone, S = semi-tone)

 The technical description as a mode is Ionian.

And here it is for C minor, which is technically described as the Aeolian mode.

note:        C   D   E   F   G   A   B   C  

semi-tones     2   1   2   2   2   1   2

symbol         T   S   T   T   T   S   T

Here's the whole set.

Ionian      T,T,S T,T,T,S  Major

Dorian      T,S,T,T,T,S,T

Phrygian    S,T,T,T,S,T,T

Lydian      T,T,T,S,T,T,S

Mixolydian  T,T,S,T,T,S,T

Aeolian     T,S,T,T,S,T,T  Minor

Locrian     S,T,T,S,T,T,T

The piano keyboard is anchored to these, but more on that later too.  As well as how it relates to keys (as in key of C, or A-flat minor, or whatever.)

Oh, one more thing:  A mnemonic for remember the names of the modes is 'I Don't Punch Like Mohammed ALi'.

Jazz History. Roy Eldridge

(This is as much about YouTube as it is about jazz.)

I'm reading Alyn Shiptons 'A New History of Jazz' in parallel with Ira Glitner's oral history "Swing to Bop'.

This afternoon, it's been about the trumpeter Roy Eldridge, and I come across the following description from Shipton:

This blend of influences is readily apparent on a disc Eldridge and Chu Berry made to commemorate their practice of turning up to play in after-hour clubs.  'Sittin' in', cut for Commodore in November, 1938, opens with the two discussing where they will "go out and play some sing", and quickly launches into a fiery thirty-two measure solo from Eldgrdige.  In the first sixteen, he leans back on the beat, leaving a short space before launching dramatically into his upper register, but in bars sixteen through twenty four, he play a repeated figure that is derived directly from Hawkins' saxophone style. 


And look what I found on YouTube:

Rosemary Clooney

I came across two Rosemary Clooney disks while ripping CD's in preparation for selling off the plastic versions. Neither disk had any photo's of her, but I knew that YouTube would.

It did, though not as many videos as I expected.  Here's one still photo, and two live performances, somewhat spanning her career.   

I'm not a big fan of jazz vocals, but there's something about Rosemary Clooney's dusty voice that I find especially expressive and appealing.  (I see that there are some Sarah Vaughan and some Ella Fitzgerald cd's waiting to be ripped.  Hmm...)

Messiaen and Birds

Last night, Kate and I attended a lecture on the music of Olivier Messiaen.  I was drawn to it because Messiaen inspired many of the jazz musicians I've been studying, and I was interested in his theoretical notions.  (How are modes and limited transpositions related, for instance?  I may actually understand that now, and may write about it later.)

The lecture was sponsored by the Alliance Francaise, though it was delivered in English. It concluded with performance of a short piece for flute and piano entitled Le merle noir (The Blackbird). There were 30 people in the audience.  We sat 3 feet from the flautist during the performance, and talked at length to the pianist afterwards about fingering techniques needed to play Messiaen.


Messiaen found much of his inspiration from bird songs.  Here he gives some examples of how bird songs are rendered on the piano.

The pianist in the video is Yvonne Loriod, Messiaen's long-time collaborator, and finally, his second wife.  His first wife suffered a brain injury during an operation toward the end of WWII, and was institutionalized for the rest of her life.  She died in 1959, and Messiaen married Yvonne Loriod two years later.

Here's the entire piece:

The three essential food groups

The 3 essential food groups are: soft cheese, blue cheese, and pressed cheese.  The FDA has a somewhat different scheme, but it includes some non-essentials, like green vegetables.

This is a picture of what was recently in our fridge.

Starting with the soft cheeses:
   - the larger piece is the Constant Bliss I wrote about earlier.  Note, by the way, the clear ripening pattern, which for a soft cheese, starts on the outside and moves inward.
   - the yellower, bruised piece is a domestic brie.  It's texture is hinted at by the photo: it was a bit rubbery.  I don't recall it's name.
   - the last piece is Moses Sleeper.  It was made by the same people who produced Constant Bliss.  It was an excellent soft cheese, with just the right barn-yard fragrance.

(A curious side note.  Evidently Constant Bliss was a revolutionary war scout, and his companion was named Moses Sleeper.  Both were killed in Greensboro in 1781.)

The blues:
   - the unappetizing, small glistening piece is a Roquefort, which is just about at the end of its life.  But still delicious.
   - the larger blue is a domestic, but I don't recall it's name either.  It wasn't as sharp as the Roquefort, but was very nice nevertheless.  There seem to be many domestic blues.  I wonder if they are easiest to produce perhaps because the strong flavor obscures flaws, like an over-hopped beer.  A good sign to watch for in a blue is natural veining.  Does it occur in columns, reflecting the injection rather than growth of the bacterium, or randomly, like the voids in a good French bread?

The pressed:
 - the flat rectangle is a swiss gruyere.  Notice the 'gouge' on the surface.  It was very hard, almost crumbly.  But it was excellent.  Nutty, complex. The name is Alpage.
  - the smaller piece on top is an attempt to find an Ardi Gazna substitute, which is to say, it was a Pyrenean sheep's milk cheese.  It was as good as could be expected.  It was an Ossau-Iraty.
  - the last, squarish piece may have been good, but I can't remember its name.  I recall it was nice, but not distinguished.

Listening to Now. Art Tatum

Another Saturday morning selection (but with a bit more).

Some background from Ira Gilter (whose book 'Swing to Bop' is considered essential, and soon to be in my library).

Finally, Oscar Peterson was one of my favorite jazz pianist while I was in college.  He led me to Art Tatum. I don't think it's too much to say that Art Tatum is to Oscar Peterson as Jimi Hendrix is to Stevie RayVaughan.

Here's a sample of Oscar Peterson.

But strap yourself in before listening.  The speed is incredible. I'm not sure who is more amazing: Peterson or Henning.  Actually, I think Henning because of the limitations of the instrument.

Credits are included in the beginning of the clips.  Ray Brown was Oscar Peterson's long term bass player.  Peterson also toured and recorded extensively with Joe Pass.

Kate and I saw Niels (Henning Orsted) Peterson perform with Joe Pass.  Henning's speed was in full display.  I thought that he was actually faster than Joe Pass.

Theory. Dominant 7th Chords

I walked into class late on Wednesday, and the topic was dominant 7th chords, so figured I needed to backfill a bit.  In particular, what is a dominant 7th chord.

It turns out that the place to start is the major 7th chord.  The major 7th chord is formed by playing the root (1st) and the 3rd, 5th and 7th notes of a major scale (major as in the Ionian mode).

For example,
Cmaj7 = C, E, G, B
Dmaj7 = D, F-sharp, A, C-sharp  (2 sharps in D major)
etc.

To create a dominant 7th chord, the 7th note is just lowered a half step.  Thus,

C7 = C, E, G, B-flat
D7 = D, F-sharp, A, C
E7 = F, A, C, E-flat
etc.

Now that wasn't too hard was it.

But why is it important? Or the same question, in another form; why did Adam then go on to list these, and claim that it'a all your really need to know as a jazz musician.  (Update: I just read a claim that the major, minor7 and dominant chord forms are the only basic forms that exist in Jazz.  Evidently Joe Pass was an ardent supporter of this point of view.)

C7, C7-alt, C7 (sharp9, flat5), C7 (flat 9, sharp 5), and C7(sharp 11, aka, the overtone scales)

When I walked in, Adam was drilling students.

"what's the sharp 9 and flat 5 of C"
"in key of G, what's the flat 9 and sharp 5 of G"

The answers, I think, are..
sharp 9 of C = E-flat
flat 5 of C = G-flat

This is derived from the following
C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C   D
1   2   3  4   5   6   7   8   9

Similarly, the
flat 9 of G = A-flat
sharp 5 of G = E-flat (aka, D-flat)

Key of G contains one sharp:
G  A  B  C  D   E  F-sharp  G   A
1   2   3   4   5   6       7         8   9

Because the context was dominant chords, I assume the final answer is:
C7 (sharp9, flat5) consists of
C, E, G, B-flat, E-flat, G-flat

This looks right, but it doesn't answer either question.

I'll start by confirming the answers at least with Adam next week.

Michel Portal and the Accordion

A bit of follow-up on Michel Portal...

In addition to his performances and recordings of modern classic music, world music, and European free jazz, Portal also has recorded extensively with Richard Galliano, the world's most acclaimed accordion player.

Here's a taste:

Portal comes to Minneapolis periodically to record.  Sara Remke has promised that next time he needs a driver, she'd give me a call.

Who is Michel Portal?

Multi-instrumentalist (clarinets, saxophones, bandoneon, etc.) and composer Michel Portal can be considered as the father figure of the French modern jazz scene.

Classically trained, Portal gained notoriety through his association with various modern and contemporary music composers. His performance as the featured soloist on Pierre Boulez's Domaines remains a highlight of his career.

However, this exceptional musician also had a serious interest in folk music and jazz. In the late '60s, he initiated the free jazz movement in France with Francois Tusques, Bernard Vitet, and Sunny Murray. He went on to form New Phonic Art with Vinko Globokar, Carlos Roque Alsina, andJ ean-Pierre Drouet to encourage collective improvisation, sonic explorations, and instant composing.

In 1970, Portal developed a fruitful collaboration with John Surman. The following year, he created the long-lived Michel Portal Unit, a structure designed to have European and American musicians meet in a freely improvised setting.

In 1975, writing movie soundtracks became a regular activity, which is well-documented on Musiques de Cinemas.  He is a 3 time winner the Cesar Award for Best Music written for a film, including 'the Return of Martin Guerre'.  imdb lists him as the composer on 116 tv shows and movies.

In the '80s and '90s, Portal went through countless new musical encounters, never following a plan and always seizing the moment. During that period, his most notable collaborators included Pierre Favre, Dave Liebman, Martial Solal, Mino Cinelu, and Jack DeJohnette.

At the turn of the century, Portal finally started to make a serious connection with the U.S., and Minneapolis in particular. He enlisted the help of some of Prince's musicians to develop a rock-tinged project which represented yet another departure.

Here's a review of a recent performance:

http://jazz.blogs.liberation.fr/pfeiffer/portal_michel/

(Thanks to All Music for most of this, including the somewhat breathless tone.)

Listening to Now. Michel Portal and Minneapolis.

What could be more appropriate as a transition?  We leave for our annual pilgrimage to southern France in about 7 weeks.

The French jazz icon, from his album Minneapolis, the rhythm section from Prince's New Generation.

Plus Tony Hymas.

I saw Portal at Sur Seine; that must have been in 2003?  Happy Apple was the 'warm up' and then they all played together.  My recollection was there was some bewilderment to start with, and then they really, really cooked.

Portal opened his set playing baritone clarinet!  He smirks at us a bit, knowing that it took the audience off-guard.  Here's a bit of of the flavor of the opening.

(Does this imply that something by Francois Corneloup is next?  Soon I think.)

Listening to Now. MIles Davis, Orbits & Footsteps

"Orbits" is from the album Miles Smiles.  I often referred to this album as my ''epiphany".  Most jazz fans seem to have one -  the album or experience that converted them to jazz. This is mine, in 1967, as a freshman at Notre Dame.

Still gives me goose bumps.

Listen to the balance. This is very horizontal, even the piano -- pure right hand.  Drums adding a bit of color during Miles' solo...drums and bass playing different time signatures perhaps? Almost no harmonics, except for the theme statement, and even that seems to be a fixed interval.

The line-up is often referred to as the 'classic' quintet:

Miles
Wayne Shorter -- Sax
Herbie Hancock - Piano
Ron Carter - Bass
Tony Williams - Drums

The most familiar piece on the album for me is 'Footprints'. It's been recorded several times.  Here's an alternative version, ie, not from Miles Smiles.

The line-up this time is:
Wayne Shorter -- Sax
Herbie Hancock - Piano
Joe Chambers -- Drums
Reggie Workman - Bass

Rob saw Wayne Shorter live at MTU. Lucky Rob!

Eating now. Constant bliss

I stopped by Surdyk's yesterday to check out their cheese selection.  It's reputed to be the best in the state, though I wasn't impressed on my previous visit.

I was wrong.

Best selection I've seen in the US.  Great variety in every category, and lots of imports from Europe.

Only caveat.  The cheese was still wrapped in plastic. But they were very loosely wrapped, not heat sealed, so the intent may have been good.

Anyway, one of the soft cheeses I purchased was called 'Constant Bliss'.  It's a cow's milk cheese, and resembles a triple cream, but it's not. Texturally, it resembled Humbolt Fog: a nice while bloom, soft and runny around the edges, but drier and with a grainy appearance in the center.  Taste: mild, but rich and buttery. The producers describe the process of making it, but one detail caught me eye:


"Seasonal variations in the milk result in variations on the surface and flavor of the cheese".  


I've heard this before, and am beginning to believe it.  But why doesn't that show up in the milk we buy at the grocery?

Here's picture.  Notice the loose wrapping, which is a like a glossy wax paper.

And remarkably inexpensive: $9.00 for the above.

It was produced by a small creamery called Jasper Hill.

Here's the link.

http://www.jasperhillfarm.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&Itemid=148

Listening to Now. Joe Pass

Virtuoso harmonies and performance...but very mellow and just right for an early Saturday morning.

Cheese. Brilat-Savarin

I bought some Brillat-Savarin cheese yesterday at the Seward coop.  Brillat-Savarin is a relatively new cheese, created in the 1930's by a cheesemaker in Paris name Henri Androuet.  He named it after a 19th century gastronome name Antheleme Brillat-Savarin, who is reputed to have once written:

'...a meal without cheese is like a beautiful woman with only one eye'.

My sources claims that this earned him the lasting affection of cheesemakers world-wide.  They must be an odd group, but I forgive them.

Brillat-Savarin is about 75% butterfat content (this qualifies it as triple cream, though is a somewhat misleading number -- perhaps more on that in a separate post).  Warm, thick cream is added to the curd, but it is essentially not ripened.  It reaches maturity in just 2 to 3 weeks

So it should be eaten young.   I checked first and was assured it had only arrived and been put in the display a day previously.

Sigh...not the same as Philip's at the Marche Carmes in Toulouse. That kick of pure luscious butterfat just didn't seem to be there.

But an interesting factoid.  Pierre Robert is actually Brillat-Savarin, just aged longer.  The extra aging evidently results in a deeper and saltier flavors.  I suppose I could apologize for the the one I bought by describing it this way.