Grooves in the Grove - Jazz Series

Sitting on a large lawn among the citrus trees - with the Santa Rosa mountains behind you.

photo taken from the La Quinta Resort and Club website

This is the setting for a new jazz series, Grooves in the Grove - presented by La Quinta Resort & Club in Palm Springs. Cool!

They’ve lined up top performers from around the country, with influences from all over. Several of the musicians fall into the smooth jazz category, but if that’s not your thing, don’t let it keep you away. A lot of raw talent in everyone on the bill, and believe me – they’ll be going beyond the quiet, easy to listen to drive that some smooth jazz stations prefer (thankfully, the “smooth jazz” stations around where I live go beyond this middle of the road, non-threatening form). The folks in this lineup are musicians. They’ll be bringing jazz. And Improvisation. And Feeling. There’s plenty of funk and fusion on the bill as well. Groups like Hiroshima (jamming since 1974), Greg Adams & East Bay Soul, and Jeff Lorber Fusion with Eric Marienthal. I regret missing the first show, which featured Michael Paulo and Rick Braun (but unless I’m mistaken, Paulo at least will be back with the East Bay Soul guys). With the exception of November 12^th, the series continues Fridays through November 26^th, and it’s quite reasonably priced – something I can’t usually talk about on the air. I’ll be going to at least a few of these shows, and thanks to all involved for helping me to get interviews lined up.

Go to the La Quinta website for the specific lineup. Again – it’s a good one, with guitarists Marc Antoine and Paul Brown this coming Friday, and Hiroshima next Friday. While you’re at the site, there are tabs for you to get a sampling of the music of the artists. Don’t stop there, though. You’re already online, so it’s not gonna take much more to go to the websites for each musician or group. Some have interesting bios, and hearing more of their music and knowing a bit more about them might get you to what promises to be a great new jazz series.

This blog may not do much for readers in Kentucky, Houston, or say - Buenos Aires, but if you're in the Southern California area - it'd be worth stopping by. As the La Quinta folks have said - "It’ll be a great way to end the week – and start the weekend."

If anyone makes it to any of these performances, let me know.


Also - what's your favorite music festival experience?

Stanley Clarke

I’m fortunate to be interviewing Stanley Clarke in the next week or so, and then I’ll be seeing him and speaking to him in person when he plays at Catalina’s in Los Angeles on October 15^th and 16^th. I’m sure there’ll be a post interview blog, but in the meantime…

 

In prep, I’ve been listening to whatever Stanley Clarke I own, and occasionally hitting YouTube for more. My first exposure to Clarke was through the album Live 1976-1977, which kicks off hard with the title track from his 1976 release, School Days, and then flows through 9 tracks – all but one live – before closing with Vulcan Princess, originally on his self-titled release from 1974. Live 1976 - 1977 – and others to be discussed later - should be on anyone’s shelf as a good representation of some spectacular jazz-rock fusion.

If that’s what you’re into.

If it is, you need his latest. Released in June, 2010, I’m upset that I didn’t get it until September (although his media contact did send me one as soon as I contacted her). Simply called The Stanley Clarke Band, this release has been compared to his first three albums, and rightfully so. It is a wonderful fusion, but not just jazz and rock. It’s more like a movie soundtrack – accompanying many events, but tied together in a cohesive form. The album is comprised of tunes written by members of the band – not just Clarke. And it feels like a true collective – not leaning toward one instrument or another. It opens with Soldier, written by pianist Ruslan Sirota, which puts his concerns over global conflict into a musical context. Before long (track four) you’re into pure, raw funk, with I Wanna Play For You Too. As with the opener, the rest of the album doesn’t seem to be a collection of individual songs, but - rather, 63 minutes of a sonic soundscape (to borrow from Echoes, and John Diliberto), flowing through several movements, taking you to and through many places – accompanied by a myriad of feelings.

One last note (to coin a phrase) on this album: So many jazz musicians insert humor or some sort of homage into their works. Sometimes this is simply in the title of a piece. On this album we have a song that is incredibly multi-layered not only in structure, but in title as well. Sorting out the title of the 8^th track, Larry Has Travelled 11 Miles and Waited a Lifetime for the Return of Vishnu’s Report, we get an homage to Larry Coryell’s 11^th House, Miles Davis, Tony William’s Lifetime, and the groups Return to Forever, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Weather Report. Whew!

Clarke says it’s going to be his last electric album he’s gonna do for a while. But with The Stanley Clarke Band, he’s adding to the legacy he’s already left.