I left off the last blog with the notion of going to see the percussionist Rachael Bouch’s band Locura. I saw them last night and was absolutely blown away. They are influenced by Lila Downs and the trip hop flamenco jam band Ojos de Brujo. Just wonderful high energy music with a great rhythm section, and great tunes and vocals in Spanish. They’ve been together 5 years, and have their own tour bus. Which brings me to the subject of this blog: mentoring is a two-way street. The American Masters series on Joan Baez has a wonderful conversation with Dar Williams. Joan mentions that mentoring has to work both ways; you should learn from the person you are mentoring. This last week I worked with Rachael and the young alto player David Bullers. I don’t know if they learned anything from me (the art of non-rehearsal) but I certainly learned from them. I learn from the young violinist Emily Palen. And now that many, if not most, of the musicians I’ll be playing with are younger, I’ll have a lot of learning to do!
“Ah but I was so much older then, I’m younger then that now”
- Dylan, My Back Pages
Gregory James
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Number 20 October 24, 2009
A lifetime in music
Those of us who play, or listen to live music a lot, live for the magic moments. When Anoushka Shankar at the age of fifteen came out on stage with her father, how could I have guessed she would already be his equal as a performer. The critic Leonard Feather was asked what his most memorable night of music was. He said that after a Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie gig on 52nd Street, they hopped in cabs and jammed at some joint in Brooklyn until daylight.
Years ago I walked out of a smooth jazz show at The Great American Music Hall, desperate to hear something real. There was a club called Milestones (before the 89 quake) south of Market. It was John Handy’s gig, and sitting in with him, just out of prison, was Hank Morgan. I have never, before or since, heard bebop so alive. They were playing the music of their youth.
In Paris in July 1994 (the French were celebrating D Day – it was amazing to be treated with reverence just for being an American) I decided to catch the last night of Antonio Hart, who was playing a small, but air-conditioned club just next to my hotel. There were a few Japanese businessmen. And Betty carter sipping cognac at the bar. Around midnight Antonio asked Ravi Coltrane, who was just getting started in the music business, to sit in. Then they asked Betty up, and she in turn asked her young pianist, Jackie Terrason to the stand. They played for hours, for the shear love of the music.
Greg James
Those of us who play, or listen to live music a lot, live for the magic moments. When Anoushka Shankar at the age of fifteen came out on stage with her father, how could I have guessed she would already be his equal as a performer. The critic Leonard Feather was asked what his most memorable night of music was. He said that after a Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie gig on 52nd Street, they hopped in cabs and jammed at some joint in Brooklyn until daylight.
Years ago I walked out of a smooth jazz show at The Great American Music Hall, desperate to hear something real. There was a club called Milestones (before the 89 quake) south of Market. It was John Handy’s gig, and sitting in with him, just out of prison, was Hank Morgan. I have never, before or since, heard bebop so alive. They were playing the music of their youth.
In Paris in July 1994 (the French were celebrating D Day – it was amazing to be treated with reverence just for being an American) I decided to catch the last night of Antonio Hart, who was playing a small, but air-conditioned club just next to my hotel. There were a few Japanese businessmen. And Betty carter sipping cognac at the bar. Around midnight Antonio asked Ravi Coltrane, who was just getting started in the music business, to sit in. Then they asked Betty up, and she in turn asked her young pianist, Jackie Terrason to the stand. They played for hours, for the shear love of the music.
Greg James
Number 19 October 24, 2009
Discovering the New
The greatest joy to me in music is discovering the new, and discovering new artists. Friends took me to see Rob Rhodes the drummer this week, and playing with him was the brilliant young guitarist Terrence Brewer, who I had been meaning to check out for some time. After their sets a reggae funk band set up in the other room, named NIAYH. It stands for “Now is all you have”. They were fabulous, and I bought cds for myself and my friends. Completely different music than the jazz trio, but wonderful. In my last blog I mentioned the violinist Emily Palen. She plays in the band Dolorata, in a duo called The Royals, in a country blues band The Goldenhearts. She also improvises as a solo violinist. As she comes from a classical, and then blues and rock background, it sounds very fresh to me. I believe she may bring something very special to the music world, and I admire and learn from her fearlessness.
Last night I played a gig with my dear friend Alex Popovics on bass, whom I’ve played with for 30 years. The alto player, David Bullers, I discovered jamming in a club near my house, and the percussionist, Rachael B, I heard recently with my friends Caminos Flamencos. Only Alex and I had played together before. No rehearsal (why rehearse when you can gig, I like to say). I knew it would sound good, as the players are all excellent and listen, but I didn’t know how good it would be. By the second set it felt to me as if we had been a band for years. Tonight I’m going to hear Rachael B’s band Locura.
Gregory James
The greatest joy to me in music is discovering the new, and discovering new artists. Friends took me to see Rob Rhodes the drummer this week, and playing with him was the brilliant young guitarist Terrence Brewer, who I had been meaning to check out for some time. After their sets a reggae funk band set up in the other room, named NIAYH. It stands for “Now is all you have”. They were fabulous, and I bought cds for myself and my friends. Completely different music than the jazz trio, but wonderful. In my last blog I mentioned the violinist Emily Palen. She plays in the band Dolorata, in a duo called The Royals, in a country blues band The Goldenhearts. She also improvises as a solo violinist. As she comes from a classical, and then blues and rock background, it sounds very fresh to me. I believe she may bring something very special to the music world, and I admire and learn from her fearlessness.
Last night I played a gig with my dear friend Alex Popovics on bass, whom I’ve played with for 30 years. The alto player, David Bullers, I discovered jamming in a club near my house, and the percussionist, Rachael B, I heard recently with my friends Caminos Flamencos. Only Alex and I had played together before. No rehearsal (why rehearse when you can gig, I like to say). I knew it would sound good, as the players are all excellent and listen, but I didn’t know how good it would be. By the second set it felt to me as if we had been a band for years. Tonight I’m going to hear Rachael B’s band Locura.
Gregory James
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Number 18 October 20, 2009
“I’d prefer not to think so.” Richard S. Fuld, Former CEO of bankrupt Lehman Brothers, in congressional testimony, when asked if he thought Secretary of the Treasury Paulson, a former CEO of Goldman Sachs, had intentionally allowed Lehman to fail because of the rivalry between the two firms.
OK, Cookie, this blog is for you. I should mention that for some years Goldman was my investment banker. I’ve mentioned the Shock Doctrine earlier as a must read. The reason that booms, and busts, and bubbles and scams and cowardice and bravery are enacted cyclically in markets lies in the fact that human nature hasn’t changed. The two great motivators in markets are fear and greed, with fear being an even stronger force. Which is why markets crash faster than they go up. The Crash of ’29, by John Kenneth Galbraith is also indispensible reading. (Goldman played a major role in the crash). The head of the NYSE displayed great bravery the week of the crash, openly buying for his own account on the floor, only to be convicted of embezzlement some years later to support his lavish lifestyle.
Fast forward 75 years, and Stan O’Neil walks from Merrill with a $160 million severance after having ruined the entire company with the aid of little more than a dozen derivative traders. (I can’t remember what Thain walked with, probably only $50 million). Ken Lewis will forfeit this year’s pay, and leave B of A with $60 million (and I imagine he feels victimized). And yes, a year after being saved by TARP dollars, Goldman is in the black and the bonus pool is looking good. It wasn’t until this year that I fully understood why the Federal Reserve was created in 1913. To protect the banks, not the depositors. History will record this as one of the largest wealth transfers of all time. And it’s from the tax payer, and little guy, to people who were already fabulously wealthy. (Andrew Carnegie actually thought the wealthy should have all the money, as they spent it more wisely). Joseph Cassano, head of financial products for AIG in London, was formerly with Drexel Lambert, and walked with millions just before Drexel was shut down. 20 years later, after having made hundreds of millions at AIG selling what would become worthless CDO and CDS’s to greedy regional European bankers, he’s actually paid a few million dollars a month in his final days at AIG to try to help unravel the mess he made. If you’d like one villain for the world-wide credit crisis, he’ll do nicely. He should have gone to jail for the Drexel crimes. (More on those, perhaps later). On a brighter note, The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson, is brilliant, entertaining, and somehow even uplifting, in its portrayal of the rise of civilization.
I’m going to re-read Das Kapital this year; the preamble on the value of commodities is almost mystic, and a favorite of hedge fund managers (those presumably still out of jail).
Gregory James
OK, Cookie, this blog is for you. I should mention that for some years Goldman was my investment banker. I’ve mentioned the Shock Doctrine earlier as a must read. The reason that booms, and busts, and bubbles and scams and cowardice and bravery are enacted cyclically in markets lies in the fact that human nature hasn’t changed. The two great motivators in markets are fear and greed, with fear being an even stronger force. Which is why markets crash faster than they go up. The Crash of ’29, by John Kenneth Galbraith is also indispensible reading. (Goldman played a major role in the crash). The head of the NYSE displayed great bravery the week of the crash, openly buying for his own account on the floor, only to be convicted of embezzlement some years later to support his lavish lifestyle.
Fast forward 75 years, and Stan O’Neil walks from Merrill with a $160 million severance after having ruined the entire company with the aid of little more than a dozen derivative traders. (I can’t remember what Thain walked with, probably only $50 million). Ken Lewis will forfeit this year’s pay, and leave B of A with $60 million (and I imagine he feels victimized). And yes, a year after being saved by TARP dollars, Goldman is in the black and the bonus pool is looking good. It wasn’t until this year that I fully understood why the Federal Reserve was created in 1913. To protect the banks, not the depositors. History will record this as one of the largest wealth transfers of all time. And it’s from the tax payer, and little guy, to people who were already fabulously wealthy. (Andrew Carnegie actually thought the wealthy should have all the money, as they spent it more wisely). Joseph Cassano, head of financial products for AIG in London, was formerly with Drexel Lambert, and walked with millions just before Drexel was shut down. 20 years later, after having made hundreds of millions at AIG selling what would become worthless CDO and CDS’s to greedy regional European bankers, he’s actually paid a few million dollars a month in his final days at AIG to try to help unravel the mess he made. If you’d like one villain for the world-wide credit crisis, he’ll do nicely. He should have gone to jail for the Drexel crimes. (More on those, perhaps later). On a brighter note, The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson, is brilliant, entertaining, and somehow even uplifting, in its portrayal of the rise of civilization.
I’m going to re-read Das Kapital this year; the preamble on the value of commodities is almost mystic, and a favorite of hedge fund managers (those presumably still out of jail).
Gregory James
Monday, October 19, 2009
Number 17 October 19, 2009
“A lot of musicians worry about protecting what I call their musical foundation. They want to be on their Ps and Qs on stage, put their best foot forward, play their best runs, their best and try to impress people. But I’m at a point where I’m just going to say “To hell with the rules” That’s all I’m doing with the music now. I’m 76, I’ve got nothing to lose now. I’m going for the unknown”. Wayne Shorter
It’s no coincidence that Wayne Shorter played with Miles. Miles, who once fired a sax player he heard through a hotel room door practicing hard bop lines he intended to play that night. Miles, who could change what a band was playing by what he was NOT playing; just by listening. “I pay you to practice on stage” as Miles said to Coltrane.
I saw Dylan at The Greek Theater last week, and Wayne Shorter at Zellerbach Saturday night. There are some artists I see whenever I can. I’ve been going to Ravi Shankar concerts since I was 15. McCoy Tyner, Dylan, Eric Clapton, Shorter, Mariza. I saw Miles many, many times. Benny’s first show with Miles, he was shaking on stage. Miles had him take the first solo. It was a little rough, but the groove was fine after that. Bobby Scott (A Taste of Honey, One Is the Loneliest Number) once told me he’d rather listen to 5 minutes of Clapton than an hour of most other music. “Because at my age, I don’t have time for anything but the truth”. I saw Miles’ second to last show. A completely new band, very dark and moody. He was getting ready to do something new, that would doubtless frustrate his recent fans. My newest musical discovery, Emily Palin, busks on the street in front of Niman Marcus. She plays in a lot of different bands and contexts. I realize what I find so inspiring about her playing is that she is fearless. I think Mr. Shorter would appreciate her.
Gregory James
It’s no coincidence that Wayne Shorter played with Miles. Miles, who once fired a sax player he heard through a hotel room door practicing hard bop lines he intended to play that night. Miles, who could change what a band was playing by what he was NOT playing; just by listening. “I pay you to practice on stage” as Miles said to Coltrane.
I saw Dylan at The Greek Theater last week, and Wayne Shorter at Zellerbach Saturday night. There are some artists I see whenever I can. I’ve been going to Ravi Shankar concerts since I was 15. McCoy Tyner, Dylan, Eric Clapton, Shorter, Mariza. I saw Miles many, many times. Benny’s first show with Miles, he was shaking on stage. Miles had him take the first solo. It was a little rough, but the groove was fine after that. Bobby Scott (A Taste of Honey, One Is the Loneliest Number) once told me he’d rather listen to 5 minutes of Clapton than an hour of most other music. “Because at my age, I don’t have time for anything but the truth”. I saw Miles’ second to last show. A completely new band, very dark and moody. He was getting ready to do something new, that would doubtless frustrate his recent fans. My newest musical discovery, Emily Palin, busks on the street in front of Niman Marcus. She plays in a lot of different bands and contexts. I realize what I find so inspiring about her playing is that she is fearless. I think Mr. Shorter would appreciate her.
Gregory James
Number 16 October 19, 2009
“We never change the arrangements. Now we might change the tempo…” Bob Dylan
“You know why I never play ballads anymore? Cause I love to play ballads” Miles Davis to Keith Jarrett, after a disastrous attempt at Stella By Starlight with one of his late 60’s groups.
What separates good artists, even ones we love, from great artists (even those we don’t) is an almost insatiable desire for change. In an interview a couple of years ago, Dylan gave that hint as to perhaps how he is able to disguise some of his best known tunes until he’s halfway into them. And I thought, I should try that! But do I have the nerve to play one of my tunes at half tempo, or double time, so that my audience won’t recognize them?
Keith Jarrett hated electric piano, but he played it for Miles, because that’s what Miles wanted, and Keith loved to play for Miles. The fact that Miles would consciously give up playing something he loved, to make sure he changed, seemed an act of great bravery to Jarrett. When asked why he didn’t play All Blues, and other gems from the 50’s, Miles replied, “That’s why there are records”.
I’ve frustrated some friends in that I often don’t play pieces from the last record. In truth, as there is usually about a year lag between the recording and it’s release, even on my own label, I’ve often moved on to other things.
Gregory James
“You know why I never play ballads anymore? Cause I love to play ballads” Miles Davis to Keith Jarrett, after a disastrous attempt at Stella By Starlight with one of his late 60’s groups.
What separates good artists, even ones we love, from great artists (even those we don’t) is an almost insatiable desire for change. In an interview a couple of years ago, Dylan gave that hint as to perhaps how he is able to disguise some of his best known tunes until he’s halfway into them. And I thought, I should try that! But do I have the nerve to play one of my tunes at half tempo, or double time, so that my audience won’t recognize them?
Keith Jarrett hated electric piano, but he played it for Miles, because that’s what Miles wanted, and Keith loved to play for Miles. The fact that Miles would consciously give up playing something he loved, to make sure he changed, seemed an act of great bravery to Jarrett. When asked why he didn’t play All Blues, and other gems from the 50’s, Miles replied, “That’s why there are records”.
I’ve frustrated some friends in that I often don’t play pieces from the last record. In truth, as there is usually about a year lag between the recording and it’s release, even on my own label, I’ve often moved on to other things.
Gregory James
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Number 15 October 15, 2009
“May you live in interesting times”
Old Chinese Curse
President Obama does not seem like a man easily surprised (except perhaps by his daughters). But the Nobel Peace Prize certainly must have surprised him, as he admitted. What a perfect passive/aggressive way for the Nobel Peace Committee to both praise America’s return to diplomacy, and remind us that much remains to be done. President Obama’s challenges are staggering, and simultaneous. (Roosevelt was in his second term at Pearl Harbor, and had seen the war coming for years. He came to his first term over two years after the crash of ’29, and had watched the Hoover administration’s errors). Obama faces two wars (albeit one we have decided to end) an official unemployment rate of 17% (which doesn’t include all the people I know who haven’t worked since the dot com bubble burst), a banking and credit crisis on a par with the 1907 panic, a worldwide if somewhat less enthusiastic jihad, and the possibility of instability in the nuclear armed Pakistan. Throw in Iran, North Korea, and a desperate and economically brutalized Russia. China and our economic, political, and military challengers there, must seem like a pleasant diversion. I realize I just forgot about Palestine, Israel, and Africa, particularly Sub-Sahara. His refusal to simply ignore problems (which Bush did with virtually everything ) is laudable. Even some of his biggest supporters (of which I am one) feel he should prioritize. I don’t believe he really can. They are all critical to our welfare, and survival. Oh, climate change…
Roosevelt made many mistakes, but we wisely kept re-electing him. As Bush (both of them) made me long for one term limits, I hope we will give this man the eight years he’ll need.
Gregory James
Old Chinese Curse
President Obama does not seem like a man easily surprised (except perhaps by his daughters). But the Nobel Peace Prize certainly must have surprised him, as he admitted. What a perfect passive/aggressive way for the Nobel Peace Committee to both praise America’s return to diplomacy, and remind us that much remains to be done. President Obama’s challenges are staggering, and simultaneous. (Roosevelt was in his second term at Pearl Harbor, and had seen the war coming for years. He came to his first term over two years after the crash of ’29, and had watched the Hoover administration’s errors). Obama faces two wars (albeit one we have decided to end) an official unemployment rate of 17% (which doesn’t include all the people I know who haven’t worked since the dot com bubble burst), a banking and credit crisis on a par with the 1907 panic, a worldwide if somewhat less enthusiastic jihad, and the possibility of instability in the nuclear armed Pakistan. Throw in Iran, North Korea, and a desperate and economically brutalized Russia. China and our economic, political, and military challengers there, must seem like a pleasant diversion. I realize I just forgot about Palestine, Israel, and Africa, particularly Sub-Sahara. His refusal to simply ignore problems (which Bush did with virtually everything ) is laudable. Even some of his biggest supporters (of which I am one) feel he should prioritize. I don’t believe he really can. They are all critical to our welfare, and survival. Oh, climate change…
Roosevelt made many mistakes, but we wisely kept re-electing him. As Bush (both of them) made me long for one term limits, I hope we will give this man the eight years he’ll need.
Gregory James
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Number 14 October 4, 2009
Growing up in San Francisco, I was exposed to different cultures at a very early age. In addition to Anglo, Hispanic, and Black friends, I also had Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Philippine friends, and was very aware of their different cultures. The Persians I’ve known in the US are all uniformly intelligent, sophisticated, well educated, and polite – most of them having fled the revolution. Ahmadinejad is not the kind of guy I’m familiar with. I’m reading “The Ayatollah Begs to Differ” by Hooman Majd. He was born in Tehran, but raised and educated in the US. He has acted as a volunteer translator for Ahmadinejad, and has great insights into Persian culture and current politics. He goes to great lengths to explain ta’arouf: a Persian concept of manners that requires self-deprecation, and can become very competitive. That combined with the concept of haq, or unalienable rights, goes a ways toward explaining Ahmadinejad’s disconcerting lurches from being obsequies to arrogant.
(I used to encounter a form of ta’arouf from gypsy flamencos when I would ask them for lessons: “Oh Gregory, I couldn’t teach you anything. You are a MARVELOUS guitarist. By the way, show me The Shadow of your Smile…”
It is encouraging that in Obama we now have a president who believes in the concept of dialogue and negotiation. I read in the New York Times today that we are even approaching the Burmese regime.
I did finally find a flamenco teacher, the incredible Jason McGuire, who performs with Caminos Flamencos. Along with my friend Chuscales he is one of the best accompanists for dance and cante in the world, and is a great teacher. As Jason says, they never show you all the little rest strokes and ghost notes, that keep the playing in time. Respect the compas, as they say.
Gregory James
(I used to encounter a form of ta’arouf from gypsy flamencos when I would ask them for lessons: “Oh Gregory, I couldn’t teach you anything. You are a MARVELOUS guitarist. By the way, show me The Shadow of your Smile…”
It is encouraging that in Obama we now have a president who believes in the concept of dialogue and negotiation. I read in the New York Times today that we are even approaching the Burmese regime.
I did finally find a flamenco teacher, the incredible Jason McGuire, who performs with Caminos Flamencos. Along with my friend Chuscales he is one of the best accompanists for dance and cante in the world, and is a great teacher. As Jason says, they never show you all the little rest strokes and ghost notes, that keep the playing in time. Respect the compas, as they say.
Gregory James
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