How bizarre…

Ooohwow! (with a long aspirated “ooh” preceding the wow!) There she went and put everything into most articulate words I could have possible thought of myself. Giselle Minoli, writer, designer and creative individual at large herself, comments on a recent NY Times article that speaks of royalities from streamiing music and how unlikely it thus becomes, musicians should be able to support themselves through their art. This along with a recent thread on a similar subject – in this case downloads of ringtones – discussed on Darren Rahn’s Facebook profile (see his own website here) has one really wonder about the reasons why certain artforms or genres have become so devaluated/exploited over recent decades. The observable reality almost lends itsself to concluding that the more training certain genres like e.g. Jazz or Classical music require, the less commercial value they seem have in the public eye. How is it possible that corporations fight over securing existing – and dated at that! – business models on the web, while at the same time ripping off the very contributors they derive their content from? (the latter goes for any digital content IMO, be it the written word, music, video, photography – they have all seen a sharp decline in yielding proper monetary revenue). What does this tell us about the consumer and the ways music, photography, arts in general are being perceived and consumed? My personal feeling is that with the availability of powerful technology in all these areas and said technology being made in ways that yield quick and fairly decent results, people might arrive at the assumption that any creative expression comes about as easily as merely pushing a play button, pressing a shutter, holding down a video record button or copying and pasting text. I think, it has to do with a general perception of “I can do this, too”, where those maybe subtle, but significant differences between e.g. a photography and a piece of art in photography are no longer seen, let alone appreciated. As goes for music: If I can come up with something sounding fairly decent using a piece of software instead of years of attending music school or college, years of honing the skill and practicing, some might conclude that making music is just that: Using nifty software, inviting a singer in, boom – you got a hit record! The list goes on for visual arts and other artforms, where available software makes the creative process appear like a doodle anyone with the most miniscule measure of creative talent can accomplish.

While I myself and in my capacity as a composer/musician/singer won’t cease to be amazed at the sheer power available technology puts in our hands, I can’t possibly be happy with the direction things seem headed in. About four and a half years ago I was convinced I’d be able to make a long standing dream come true, where writing and performing my own original music might at least make me a modest second income, ideally something to expand on and take to another level. Four and a half years later it looks less and less likely, I’ll get to make that break for myself. And I’m not the only one, of course, given the current situation.

I think, it was about time, we all began to question our general assumptions as to what value we typically attribute to the arts and culture in general. Have they become a commodity like the typical Starbucks Latte we pick up on the way to work in the morning? Do we take them for granted like clean water, electricity, heat in the house? Or housing and holding a job in the first place? Or is is the strain the general economic situation puts us under?

I don’t think, we’ll find an answer to all this right away. But it could be a start to look at our consumption behaviours in terms of enjoying music, film, visual arts etc.

Giselle Minoli – Google+ – How bizarre that at the end of a musician’s long day – of….

MALLORCA SMOOTH JAZZ FESTIVAL 2013

Make sure you take advantage of the Smooth Jazz X-Mas Special: Place your reservation now and get a special “5-Years of Smooth Jazz Festival in Europe” anniversary T-Shirt for free! For more news, check out the link below. Smooth X-Mas!

MALLORCA SMOOTH JAZZ FESTIVAL 2013.

Max Merseny feat. Torsten Goods: A Musical K.O. – Right in the Face!

My goodness, in my country boy’s innocent naiveté so thick you can cut it with a knife, I never saw this coming! How could I have even known for a split second that a bunch of young and young at heart Jazz crossover renegades would rob me – and with ease! – of my barely presevered inch of artistic self confidence only three songs into the concert, roll it into an imaginary doobie and suck it up their lungs backstage (only figuratively speaking, of course)? How was I supposed to see any of this coming in my post-post-post-puberty-like nervous anticipation? But let’s back up for a sec and create some context: What exactly had just happened?

Alright, we’re in the year 2012, stardate 09-06-12-09-00-pm-+2-GMT, at coordinates http://goo.gl/maps/mjMgG, which stand for internationally known and acclaimed Jazzclub Unterfahrt, Munich. On one of the cooler nights of the approaching fall season, a rather heterogenous demographic with mixed cultural preferences has gathered in the deep basement of Kulturzentrums Einstein, following a Facebook event invitation issued by Max Merseny and his posse of musical collaborators. Strictly speaking, each of these collaborators are musical heavyweights in their own right, who look back on a considerable number of renowned projects they have worked on or are currently a part of. For one, we have Christoph Holzhauser on drums, who currently works the drumsticks with Moop Mama, calls the beat with Matthias Bublaths Groove Connection, drums with Jazz in the City and is a highly sought after session and studio drummer. Claus Fischer, who travelled to Munich’s “Jazz Summer Week” from his current city Cologne, provided the deep notes on the bass and has largely come to national fame for his work with TV studio band of Stefan Raab’s “TV Total” show. He has also worked with Anastacia, Kylie Minogue, Chaka Khan, Lionel Richie and many more international artists and is also an internationally working music producer and studio musician. Guitar wiz Ferdinand Kirner, who has also worked with nationally and internationally known acts.  whom we have in particular seen working with Max Herre (German HipHop-/Soul-/R&B producer and artist), Roberto Di Gioia, Samy Deluxe etc., completed the rhythm section and lived up to his reputation as a most versatile as well as musically experienced sideman, but who was also given the opportunity to showcase his skills as a sophisticated soloist with this formation. Matthias Bublath, who next to numerous of his own projects is also in high demand as studio musician and arranger, worked the Hammond B3 organ, piano and keyboards. While having lived in New York for seven years, he managed to establish himself in the Jazz scene there and thus caught the attention of Funk legend Mike Clark and Tower of Power-sax player Lenny Picket. Other than head of the band Max Merseny, who won the audience over from the first few bars both with charming emceeing and energetic solos, DJ, rapper, freestylin’ MC Roger Rekless worked the decks and found his way into listeners’ hearts right away with his impromptu rhyhmes – all of this set against the backdrop of an apparently sold out venue. And although Max Merseny seemed to mumble something about “warming up”, they hit it right off with the audience from the moment they got on stage – and in ya face!

As if it hadn’t been enough to process this richly filled musical package of energy, passion and groove, these guys put yet another log in the fire upon the second set: Guitar player and singer extraordinaire Torsten Goods, who had travelled from Berlin and whose list of references is equally well-stacked with internationally acclaimed artists, sort of channeled the musical essence of a young George Benson, a Biréli Lagrène, Norman Brown and more top-of-the-line guitar artists and fused them into a blend of his own. Although each of the well-merited musical “alpha males” on stage claimed their presence, Torsten managed to win stage and audience over for himself from the first notes he played. Musical ingenuity and pure energy bubbled from his solos by which he warmed himself up, playing along to a song from Max’s debut album “Thank Y’all”, and having arrived at maximum operation temperature no later than with “Weekend in L.A.“. This blast of talent and musicianship had me almost lose my composure! Was it possible you could top this? Sure thing! And they did by delivering a cover version of Toto’s classic “99″, chock full of groove and delicate rhythmics, which gave Torsten an opportunity to show off not only his skills as an instrumentalist, but his vocal wizardry, too, where his musicianship manifests again in a fashion that marries self confidence to a surprising measure of experience and technical finesse considering his young age. And needless to add that the glances from the female part of the audience in the direction of the stage confirmed his stage presence as reaching out to even the most remote seats in an apparently sold out “Unterfahrt”.

All of this goes to show that present guests witnessed an exceptional musical event and not only so by e.g. one of Max’s first mentors Axel Kühn, who payed homage to his musical protegée with a touching announcement and stressing his words through virtuoso musical onstage contributions to “The 4th”, another song of Max’s album. Their mutual respect climaxed in a musical “four by four battle of the saxes” later into the song. Even Jazz celebrities like e.g. Pete York of “superdrumming” as well as music journalist Oliver Hochkeppel, who writes for Süddeutsche Zeitung and JazzZeitung, wouldn’t have missed to check out Max Merseny’s band of musical aces.

If you got a chance, don’t miss out on the closing night of Summer Jazz Week at Unterfahrt, Munich. You’ll surely be rewarded with a concert, which is in a class of its own. To place a reservation go directly to Unterfahrt’s web site or show up on a wing and prayer. For more information on the artists, follow the links above or via this list below:

• Max Merseny und CD-Bestellung hier
• Matthias Bublath
• Christoph Holzhauser
• Claus Fischer
• Ferdinand Kirner
• Roger Rekless
• Torsten Goods
• Axel Kühn

Images of photographer Lena Semmelroggen with her unique way of portraying live music events will follow. Lena’s references include an exhibition of her work at Jazzclub Unterfahrt as well as feature reports in Sueddeutsche Zeitung and SZ Magazin.

And now for the fabulous images from Lena Semmelroggen’s lense:

©wesbound, September 2012, all rights reserved

Max Merseny feat. Torsten Goods: Musikalische Breitseite – voll auf die Zwölf!

Meine Herrschaften, damit hatte ich in meiner meterdicken Unschuld-vom-Lande-Naivität nicht gerechnet! Dass mir eine handvoll junger und junggebliebener Jazz-crossover-Renegades den mühsam genährten Rest an künstlerischem Selbstvertrauen nach spätestens drei Nummern im Konzert in die imaginäre Tüte rollen und – metaphorisch gesprochen – backstage durch die Lungenflügel ziehen, hatte ich in meiner post-post-post-pubertären Vorfreude doch nicht ahnen können! Aber eins nach dem anderen: Was war hier passiert? OK, wir schreiben das Jahr 2012, Sternzeit 06-09-12-21-00-+2-GMT, Koordinaten http://goo.gl/maps/mjMgG im international bekannten und geschätzten Jazzclub Unterfahrt in München. An einem der schon etwas kühler gewordenen Abende des heraufziehenden Herbstes hat sich ein demographisch und nach kulturellen Präferenzen reichlich heterogenes Publikum im Kellergeschoß des Kulturzentrums Einstein eingefunden, um auf die u.a. per Facebook publizierte Einladung Max Mersenys und seiner “posse” talentierter Mitstreiter zu reagieren. Genau genommen sind die Mitstreiter selbst allesamt echte musikalische Schwergewichte, die auf eine stattliche Zahl namhafter Projekte zurückblicken und/oder daran beteiligt sind. Da hätten wir zum einen Christoph Holzhauser an den Drums, der derzeit u.a. bei Moop Mama die Drumsticks schwingt, in Matthias Bublaths Groove Connection den Beat angibt, bei Jazz in the City drummt und auch sonst als Session- und Studiodrummer bestens gefragt ist. Die tiefen Töne lieferte während der “Summer Jazz Week” der aus Köln angereiste Bassist Claus Fischer, den man u.a. aus der TV-Total-Band bei Stefan Raab kennt, der aber auch schon mit Anastacia, Kylie Minogue, Chaka Khan, Lionel Richie und vielen anderen internationalen Künstlern zusammengearbeitet hat, sowie als Musikproduzent und Studiomusiker international tätig ist. Die Rhythmusgruppe komplettierte der ebenfalls bereits mit national und international bekannten Acts arbeitende Gitarrist Ferdinand Kirner, den man zusammen mit Max Herre, Roberto Di Gioia, Samy Deluxe als überaus vielseitigen und erfahrenen sideman erleben durfte, der aber in dieser Formation auch zeigen konnte, welche solistischen Qualitäten in ihm stecken. An der Hammond B3, Piano und Keyboards sass der den Münchner Jazz-Connaisseuren bestens bekannte und vertraute Matthias Bublath, der neben seinen eigenen Projekten ebenfalls als Studiomusiker und Arrangeur gefragt ist und sich während seines siebenjährigen Aufenthalts in New York auch dort einen Namen zu machen wusste, so dass Funklegende Mike Clark und der Tower of Power Saxofonist Lenny Picket auf ihn aufmerksam wurden. Neben Bandleader Max Merseny, der mit seinen charmanten Ansagen und energiegeladenen Soli das Publikum gewissermassen vom ersten Takt an für sich gewinnen konnte, hatte DJ, Rapper, MC und Freestyler Roger Rekless an den Decks und mit seinen Impromptu-Rhymes sofort einen Stein im Brett beim Publikum in der voll besetzten Unterfahrt. Und obwohl Max Merseny irgendetwas von “warm spielen” erzählte, ging das vom ersten Moment an ab – und zwar voll auf die Zwölf! Als wäre diese fette musikalische Packung an Energie, Leidenschaft und Groove nicht schon heftig genug zu verdauen gewesen, legten die Jungs ab dem zweiten Set nochmal kräftig nach: Dem aus Berlin angereisten und ebenfalls mit internationalen Meriten reich ausgestatteten Supertalent Torsten Goods an der Gitarre und Gesang, der gewissermassen die Essenz eines George Benson, Biréli Lagrènes, Norman Browns und anderer hochkarätiger Gitarrenkünstler der Musikgeschichte in sich vereint, gelang es auf Anhieb und trotz der anwesenden und bereits hochverdienten musikalischen “Alphatiere”, Bühne und Publikum vom ersten Ton an für sich einzunehmen. Mit vor Einfallsreichtum und Spielfreude strotzenden Soli spielte er sich zu dem Song “Thank Y’all” von Max Mersenys Debütalbum warm, um dann spätestens bei “Weekend in L.A.” zu absoluter Top-Form aufgelaufen zu sein, die dem Autor dieses Beitrags beinahe die Gesichtszüge entgleiten liessen… Kann man das noch toppen? Man kann, und zwar mit einer vor Groove und Feinrhythmik geladenen Coverversion des Toto-Klassikers “99″, bei der Torsten zeigen konnte, dass er nicht nur ein Instrumentalist von Weltklasseformat ist, sondern ein ebenso begnadeter Sänger, dessen Musikalität sich auch hier in einer Weise manifestiert, die Selbstvertrauen gepaart mit einem für seine Jugend überraschenden Maß an Erfahrung und technischer Finesse offenbart. Und natürlich verrieten auch die Blicke der Damen, dass Torstens Bühnenpräsenz sich bis auf den letzten Platz der offenbar ausverkauften Unterfahrt mitteilte. Dass die Anwesenden hier Zeugen einer Ausnahmeveranstaltung wurden, zeigte sich nicht zuletzt in der Ehrerbietung eines von Max’ ersten Mentoren, Axel Kühn, der seiner Freude über den Erfolg seines musikalischen Schützlings in einer persönlichen Ansage aufrichtigen Ausdruck und seinen Worten mit virtuosen Beiträgen zu einem weiteren Song von Max Album The 4th dann in Form eines “four by four battle of saxes” nochmal musikalischen Nachdruck verlieh. Und auch Jazz-Prominenz wie z.B. der von Superdrumming bekannte Schlagzeuger Pete York sowie Kulturjournalist Oliver Hochkeppel, der für seine Beiträge u.a. in der Süddeutschen Zeitung und JazzZeitung  bekannt ist, liessen es sich nicht nehmen, Max Mersenys Superband einmal eingehender “abzuchecken”. Wer noch Gelegenheit hat, darf sich den heutigen Ausklang der Summer Jazz Week in der Unterfahrt keinesfalls entgehen lassen und wird zweifellos mit einem Konzert der absoluten Extraklasse belohnt werden. Reservierungen am besten direkt mit der Unterfahrt hier klarmachenoder auf gut Glück reinschauen. Weitere Informationen zu den einzelnen Musikern hinter den Links im Text sowie hier noch einmal gesammelt:

• Max Merseny und CD-Bestellung hier
• Matthias Bublath
• Christoph Holzhauser
• Claus Fischer
• Ferdinand Kirner
• Roger Rekless
• Torsten Goods
• Axel Kühn

Es folgen noch Bilder von Lena Semmelroggen, die sich mit ihrer unverwechselbaren Art der Livemusik-Fotografie schon eine Fotoausstellung in der Unterfahrt sowie Berichte in der Süddeutschen Zeitung und dem SZ-Magazin sichern konnte.

Und  hier nun die fantastischen Bilder aus Lena Semmelroggens Objektiv:

©wesbound, September 2012, alle Rechte vorbehalten

Sax Prodigy Max Merseny at “Unterfahrt” Munich

This is my little teaser blog on Max Merseny, whom I’m going to see perform live at renowned Jazz club “Unterfahrt” in Munich, Germany, this Thursday night in a series of concerts entitled “Summerweek”. I’m hoping for Lena Semmelroggen to be available, too in order to capture the vibe with her extraordinary eye for those unique little moments on stage and backstage that bring humanity, humour and lightheartedness to a genre that is often portrayed in rather stern ways. As a special treat, another Jazz shooting star will join Max on Wednesday through Saturday: Torsten Goods, a guitar prodigy of equal musical caliber.

Though still young of age, Max already looks back on a career that packs names, schools and projects, which would have lasted others almost an entire life time by now. Growing up in a musical family with his father being a singer and guitar player in many popular orchestras in his day, Max had the opportunity to take piano lessons and attend music schools from very early on. But it wasn’t until 1999 when Max would discover the saxophone for himself while being a student at Pestalozzi Grammar School of Music. While attending lectures there, he studied with renowned masters like e.g. Ingo Erlhoff, Axel Kühn, Peter Kral and Leszek Zadlo. After having graduated from Middle School in 2004, Max was accepted into Munich Academy of Drama and Music – at only 16 years of age. He studied with musicals greats such as Thomas Zoller, Tony Lakatos and Paulo Cardoso in the following years. After having graduated and obtained his musical Diploma in 2008, he became a student of Georg Huebner’s master class while at the same time taking frequent educational trips to New York, where he was being tutored by Jazz veterans ranging from no lesser a man than Bob Franceschini to Gregoire Maret, Steve Slagle and Barry Harris. However, New York wasn’t of high appeal to Max for its rich Jazz tradition only, but also for being the cradle of a newly emerging, revolutionary music culture called HipHop. Next to Soul and R&B, HipHop is Max’s second passion, which he developed and studied from the bottom up. So it might not come as too big a surprise that Max had an opportunity to work and share the stage with a number of nationally as well as internationally acclaimed HipHop acts like e.g. Umi, Roger Rekless, 4zu1, Raggasnoda Click, Main Concept, Boshi San and others. As an ambassador of Soul, Max toured mostly nationally with the “Delicious Groove Gourmets” or the “Capones”. But the list of renowned Jazz stars Max has worked with doesn’t fall behind too far: Patrick Scales, Michael Riessler, Till Brönner, Robby Ameen, Pierre Charial, Leslie Mandoki Soulmates and Manuel Orza to name only a few.

Appearing on enja Records, Max Merseny released his debut album “Thank Y’all” in September 2011, which sports guest appearances by his musician friends Tony Lakatos, Patrick Scales, Roger Rekless and many more. Favourably inclined listeners had been looking forward to a unique blend of Jazz, Soul and HipHop. But while his debut album has been here for barely a year, Max has already set out to new frontiers. He currently resides in New York to work on new material. Jam sessions with such exceptional artists like Ron Grant, Alex Han, Ron Long, Ezra Brown and many more have already yielded inspired and inspiring musical encounters that will have his audiences on their toes as to what Max Merseny’s future releases hold.

For more info and music, find Max at his own website and on Facebook.

Translated from the German by wesbound, September 2012

wes’bound tracks available on Google Music

For those of you living in the US, there’s now an alternative to iTunes, Amazon and the likes: As of now, you get to download my tracks on Google Music (or Google Play as it’s called now). Thanks for your support in advance!

via wes'bound.

Sacrilege!!!

This has been bugging me for quite some time, and apparently, I’m not the only one: Francis Graham Dixon, former side man of John Stevens, asks in his brilliantly written blog post, why such exquisite bands like Fourplay, who manage to deliver a top notch concert after having been on tour for more than a year, seem to be passed over by the general Jazz press. In particular, he complains – and rightly so, if I might add: “Those lucky enough to witness their performance at The Grand, Clapham at the end of a European tour were treated to a spellbinding night of music combining emotional power and intensity with peerless virtuoso brilliance; hardly a surprise when you consider that this group of musicians comprise some of the very best instrumentalists and songwriters of any era, and all at the top of their game. Yet I have seen no other review of this brilliant gig in the jazz press. Why is this kind of music generally so ill-served by the specialists?”

I don’t know the answer to that, but I had to find from personal experience then (25 years ago) and more recently that there seems to be an understanding among some traditional, straight-ahead or Modern Jazzers that makes anything along the lines of melodic Jazz – for lack of a better word – somehow unworthy of them, sort of “below” them. When I say “them”, I refer to a roster of pro musicians, whose phone never stands still with calls for gigs, recordings and/or co-writing sessions. All that strictly in the realm of what I refer to as Modern Jazz, as in: Hard to play/master, almost impossible to read, even harder to follow in a live setting, often oblivious to considerations of sound, stage appearance and other aspects of the entire stage act.

Of course, this is the type of “grey zone” that you will never get a straight answer to, with a mild chance of getting a little closer to the truth when pushing the topic late at a post-gig party, with everyone reasonably intoxicated and less in control of the ongoing self-monitoring most of us will employ to a greater or lesser degree. Could it be there is no “good” reason? Could it boil down to nothing but “marking one’s territory”? Or would I have to – God forbid! – use the “E” word? As in envy? Because less eclectic/academic, but by no measure less virtuoso performances like the one we saw in London or Munich or probably everywhere else on Fourplay’s tour was met with openly articulated appreciation as in enthusiastic applause instead of the very reserved clapping at your typical Jazz club setting, because audiences would hush during softer passages instead of neglecting the artists on stage by continuing their (loud) chatter? Because some might have even taken it as far as – Oh Lawdee! – dance to the songs? In other words: Have fun! instead of pretending this was late class at music college?

I don’t know the answer to my hypothetical questions and maybe my questions are nothing else but polemics. Maybe I resorted to a bit of un-PC writing in a desperate attempt to see bridges instead of ditches, the common denominator instead of the dividing quotient, the unifying LOVE we share … for music. Or was I way off base altogether? You tell me…

Too much Fourplay? There’s no such thing! :)

“After 20 years of Fourplay, maybe they felt we should move on…”, says Chuck Loeb in a jocular manner later that night, employing the pun on words in the band’s name when introducing one of the songs he contributed to Fourplay’s 12th album “Let’s Touch the Sky“. While the cover art suggests that very endeavor with the band member’s hands reaching up, nearly two hours of stellar live music performances left no doubt among avid music lovers who had flocked to Bayerischer Hof Night Club on this November, 8th 2011 night that Smooth Jazz’s famous supergroup are doing exactly that: They’re not only touching the sky, but weaving a musical skyscape with arrangements and solos that exude virtuosity, verve and vitality in equal parts.

Katharina Ehmki, CEO of Ehmki Music Management, promoter and press relations at the venue, landed the renowned music act as a major highlight of her New York at Bayerischer Hof series, and proved her experienced hand at knowing Jazz fans’ expectations: Fourplay packed the place to the last available seat and had every non-seated area crowded as well! Which might explain why fans had started to line up well before admittance at 8 pm, as Fourplay had sold out many venues prior to coming to Munich.

I’ve been looking forward to this for quite some time and I was curious to see, what Chuck Loeb would sound like in this rarity of a group of musical heavyweights, where each of them is undoubtedly a leader in their own right, yet they appear to have kept ego out of the way and managed to amalgamate four strong musical personalities into a band – and with a formula that’s been going strong for the past two decades with only two changes to the line-up: Prior to Loeb, Larry Carlton held the guitar seat from 1998 through 2010, while Lee Ritenour was a founding member and stayed from 1991 through 1997.

// Soundcheck and Gear.

Earlier, Lena and I had the pleasure to meet Sonny Abelardo, the band’s manager and tour manager, who allowed us to witness Fourplay’s soundcheck. I was impressed by the calm and almost casual atmosphere during soundcheck, which speaks of the skill level and professionalism of the sound engineers traveling with the band. Setting optimal sound required only minimal feedback from the artists on stage and if so, they would quietly give hand signals to the sound crew operating from the second floor of the club opposite of the stage, this being the perfect spot for maximum sonic control.

Bassist and vocalist Nathan East intoned the opening song’s theme of Eastern Sky Chant repeatedly and with aerial ease, thus giving the sound engineers an opportunity to adjust the mic and perfectly blend it with his signature bass sound, coming from a Yamaha BBNE2 Signature Model amplified by a compact, yet powerful Aguilar stack. Chuck Loeb’s gear consisted of two Fender Twin Reverb amps, a Line 6 M13 stomp box modeler, an Ernie Ball volume pedal, a Boss Expression pedal and an Ibanez Tube Screamer pedal for creamy, “singing” distorted lead sounds, next to his honey colored Sadowsky solid body guitar, which he endorses among other models of the same N.Y. manufacturer. A year ago, we had seen him operate an Apple Mac Book Pro on stage at Smooth Jazz Festival Augsburg 2010, using Apple’s software Mainstage to control and switch sounds via an Apogee Gio floorboard. However, experiences with unfavorable weather conditions during some outdoor events in California (“It never rains in (Southern) California“? – sure does!) had him rethink the fragility of a computer laptop and choose in favor of more robust, but still flexible gear.

Fourplay’s drummer Harvey Mason played a black Yamaha drum kit sporting six tom-toms and Sabian cymbals to my surprise, when I would have expected him to use Tama drums, which he has been endorsing for some years. And Fourplay’s pianist, keyboardist and music director Bob James enjoyed a Boesendorfer grand piano with a Yamaha Motif controller keyboard sitting on top of it – and an Apple iPad on top of that, which displayed digital lead sheets and a little surprise at the end of the concert.

// Chuck Loeb on working with Fourplay.

We had met Chuck Loeb and Nathan East earlier during a casual get together with musician friends from Munich and while making our way downstairs, Chuck shared a few bits about the past year of touring and what it felt like being a member of Fourplay.

Q: What is touring with Fourplay like?
CL: We enjoy ourselves and the fans thoroughly and have a lot of fun on the road. Whenever our schedule gives us the opportunity, we head out to exploring the cities we play in and shoot images and videos for our Facebook profiles and other social media sites. The other day I noticed an image Nathan had taken of me while being on a morning walk through beautiful Budapest in Hungary. Often though, the schedule is tight and we have to rush from the airport to the hotel, get ready for soundcheck, play the show and then go to a different place on the very next day. So, there’s never a dull moment! (wb: Fourplay’s manager Sonny Abelardo later remarked how quickly and effortlessly Chuck Loeb had settled in with the band, being the great team player he is.)

Q: When you received the call to join Fourplay, what was your reaction?
CL, (as per Jim Dail’s article in The Californian): “I was definitely eager to join the band, having been a fan of the band from the beginning,” said Loeb. “It’s a really good moment for me as the focus on my own career was changing, and this left the door open to pursue two different areas, to keep me challenged.” And he continues: “It’s a really exciting step for me, sort of the latest stage in my career.”

Q: You have contributed two original compositions to “Let’s Touch the Sky”. How were the songs selected?
CL: The band is very democratic when it comes to the repertoire. We vote on which songs make it on to the album, what the sequence of songs should be etc. When I got the call, jokingly they said “Part of the initiation process, Chuck, is that you have to write the number one song - for the band! [It] Put the pressure on a little bit … but I – uhmm – I think I may have hit it with 3rd Degree. (wb: A pun denoting the fact that Chuck Loeb is the third guitarist of the band).

Q: I noticed that you are using different gear today. What made you replace the Mac Book Pro and Gio in favor of a Line 6 M13?
CL: I love the Mac Book Pro and the Gio, but believe it or not: We played a few outdoor concerts in California, when it started to rain! Usually, there is a tarp covering all the stage area. However, there were a few places, where this was not the case. I have the Mac Book Pro not too far from me on stage to check settings or display the setlist. So it got rained on! I didn’t want to have it ruined by the humidity and thought that some more robust gear might be better suited. The M13 pedal board by Line 6 gives me a robust casing and still a lot of flexibility in terms of sound. In addition to that, I recently found an old Ibanez Tube Screamer, which gives me a great distorted sound – I love it!

// The Concert.

The soundcheck had continued for a little bit, with Nathan East singing “Overjoyed” by Stevie Wonder and playing chord changes on bass, the other musicians joined in, while the sound crew made adjustments on the mixing console as they played. Eventually, Sonny announced “9 pm in the lobby, 9.15 showtime” and the band split for a little more relaxation before the concert. Meanwhile doors had opened and people progressed to find their seats and barstools.

At 9.15 sharp the band appeared back on stage and was met with enthusiastic bordering on frenetic applause! Nathan East started the set by singing the beautiful, breezy Eastern Sky Chant theme, backed a low-key, yet highly precise groove coming from Harvey Mason’s drum set, with lots of cymbal work, thus highlighting the East-meets-West atmosphere of the song. East soloed first, demonstrating his impressive fingerstyle picking bass chops and feel for chords and harmonies, which his six-string bass enables him to lay in addition to Bob James’ piano and keyboards work. Chuck Loeb did a solo next and received quite a bit of spontaneous applause coming from the audience, which was comprised of music lovers and admiring musicians, too. And their idols were at the top of their virtuosity with the first note they play!

Bob James preceded Blues Force with a long, almost classically informed piano-only intro, a little reminiscent of Keith Jarrett’s way of doing completely improvised concerts. It seamlessly blended into the signature shuffle-feel, which allowed Harvey Mason to show off his clockwork-precision timing and set the musical pocket for Nathan East to comfortably rest in throughout the song. In other words: They make a tight rhythm group as you want it to be!

Harvey Mason got to shine again with a solo during Robobop, where he would hold one drum stuck horizontally with his teeth and mouth in order to place very subtle snare and tom-tom knocks with one hand, thus creating a rich envelope of volume changes ranging from pianissimo – and supported by Bob James’ delicate string pad sounds – to a full throttle thumping, yet contained groove.

 

 

Nathan East would resort to a chord-orientied intro to Argentina and Bob James later followed with a solo that can almost be called “physical” in so far as it saw him lean into the grand piano as if he was about to hug it. 101 Eastbound was another tip of the hat to previous Fourplay albums, the last one of this set, which is not on “Let’s Touch The Sky”. A Night in Rio featured Nathan East’s soothing and unintrusive vocals again, most tastefully and virtuously accompanied by his bass lines and chords. On the album’s title track Let’s Touch the Sky, Bob James and Chuck took short solo parts in an alternating fashion, always keeping it fresh and building and releasing tension as they’d pass the musical ball back and forth between them. Chuck Loeb surprised during his solo in Pineapple Getaway by playing a short recurring citation of Benson’s “Breezin’”. Bob James poignantly honored one of his own favorite Jazz pianists, Hank Jones, when introducing the song Gentle Giant, which he tributes to him in response to having found similarities in both their careers during a personal encounter in Japan. Another shining moment of so
many that night was Chuck Loeb’s long lyrical solo intro to Above & Beyond, his other composition on the album. It’s at such moments where you realize the incredible musicianship of this ace guitarist, as every note and open string or chord was crystal clear from perfect fingering of the left hand. It was also particularly impressive for guitarists to see, how quickly he switched from finger picking with his right hand and using the guitar pick in other places. (I did my best to figure this out and explain it to interested guitar players in this short video). Nathan East graced our ear buds with stellar vocals again in his song I’ll Still Be Lovin’ You, jokingly introduced by Harvey Mason, adding “…maybe” to the title and yielding a round of chuckles, laughter and applause in the audience. In general, the atmosphere on stage was marked by a light-heartedness and fun shared by the artists, that again underlines the absence of ego and might well be one of the reasons that make for the ongoing success and steadiness.

I had asked myself all night, when they would perform 3rd Degree and what can I say: They saved the best for last! Chuck Loeb’s highly sophisticated, technically quite challenging, yet funky uptempo groove with catchy hook lines had the band totally on fire! Don’t get me wrong: They were always fresh, entertaining and on top of their craft all night. But 3rd Degree was like one season-winning home run! They performed the song with a number of variations to the recorded album version, such as e.g. an introductory wah-wah-guitar rhythm, slightly reminiscent of the famous The Streets of San Francisco lick of the film score, a very funky clavinet sound employed by James and a session-like vamp in the beginning. Before they entered into the blazing fast lines towards the end of the song, Chuck Loeb would quickly mimic the sign of the cross at 7.52 min. into the video as if to summon God’s help on the finish! When the last note had rung silent, the crowd was ecstatic and it came as no surprise that they cheered the band back on stage for no less then three encores, which again were songs from previous years: Bali Run, More Than A Dream and Bob James’ Westchester Lady, a song that is said to have established the Smooth Jazz genre as such. Before they left the stage that night, Bob James unmounted the iPad from his Grand Piano and had a “Danke Schön!” scrolling across the display, showing it around to standing ovations and thunderous applause that wouldn’t ebb for minutes!

To me, there is hardly a doubt that Fourplay define the state of the art in the Contemporary Jazz genre. These most accomplished composer-musicians, each of whom have careers rich in musical diversity and reading like a who-is-who list in Jazz, R&B, Pop and even Rock, have solidified their highest standard of excellence by virtue of writing, recording, producing and touring profusely. And they haven’t lost one beat in 20 years!

My heartfelt thanks go to Lena Semmelroggen of ©Smashing Snapshots, who again managed to take a set of beautiful signature shots, she’s become known for.

Thanks also to Marco for letting me link to the videos he shot at Bayerischer Hof, Munich and elsewhere on Fourplay’s tour.

 

 

 

view all pictures inline here by clicking on one of them:

Chuck Loeb Interview

I had the incredible opportunity of interviewing Chuck Loeb at Smooth Jazz Festival Augsburg 2010. Please find it here, this is part 1 of three.

Part 2.

Part 3.

Wesbound on JazzNet 247 with Wes George Gillespie

I am stoked!!!! Recently, Wes Gillespie of Smooth Jazz Radio Station JazzNet 247 selected my tracks I Count on U and Naiad Theme for his fine programming. This in itsself would be an incredible treat alone, but it gets even better: I recently checked his playlist and was almost falling from my chair from detecting myself among all the BIG names of the genre! Upon tuning in to his radio show, I hear a radio jingle with announcements of the songs to air during the second hour of his show and – shock again! – he placed an announcement of my track between Brian Culbertson and – Herbie Hancock!! I mean – come on!!! This is getting better than whatever dreams I may have had in my late teens and early twens! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

Some of my Facebook family and friends might be tempted to think, I was presenting myself extra-humble in order to “solicit” more attention or support, but no! Take my word on this: I am really, really almost in disbelief over all the incredible things that have started to happen for me!! And excited and thrilled at the same time, of course!

Again, my heartfelt gratitude to all of you, who have and are supporting me in ways I could not have imagined! This is major, major, major and means EVERYTHING to me! And know that I keep working on my chops and material. After all – what could be better than knowing there is an appreciating audience waiting for more to come?

Thank you all! At this point, I’d like to mention Brian O’Neal, who got the ball rolling for me about one and a half years ago, by inviting me to collaborate on his track and then video Dreams in Color and by getting the word out. Please consider supporting his charity organization DO Foundation that came from this musical collaboration. Also, a big shoutout to April Sims and Christopher Fields on WAGTi Radio, for inviting me to be among the first interview guests when the station launched under that name in March 2009. After that, I soon found myself invited on a couple more stations getting interested in airing my music and finding out about my work. Cres O’Neal, Gary Fuston, Mary Ann of U S Smooth Jazz Network, Marissa Caliguire to name a few more – thank you dearly! Please find the complete list of stations and radio presenters here.

This is incredibly exciting, people! Thank you!
Peace,

wesbound, October 2010