JANUARY 2012 Epolyphony
Teaching This Old Dog New Tricks By Steve Chase
With so much music to listen
to, audiophiles often forget that there is another way to enjoy music—playing it. As a youth, I played the cello and trombone, advancing in high school to the orchestra and jazz band. I also had fun playing music with various bands where we could do our best to play the progres- sive music that we lived to hear each day. Then came pursuits like hiking, rock and ice climb- ing, and skiing, which took that playing time away, leaving me now looking back at a 30-year gap in playing any instrument. Something had to give, and with a Father’s Day gift of a mando- lin, I am playing again. In the last eight weeks, I’ve progressed past the rank of rank beginner to novice. I am making progress with my wise teacher and the amazing online resources that are available for instrumentalists of all stripes. For mandolin players, there are some great community sites on the Internet, places like the great Mandolin Café (www.
mandolincafe.com), which pro- vides song tablatures, instru- ment reviews, interest forums, classified ads, and even online lessons. It is an amazing site that provides me with pretty much one-stop shopping. My wife, a music teacher for
more than 30 years, was keen on me playing Christmas carols with her, either on piano or cel- lo, and I found another treasure trove of tablature at Tradition- al Music, a site based in the UK (
www.traditionalmusic.co.uk). When I can’t find what I’m
looking for, Google almost al- ways gets me what I want. I found the chords for the Vince Guaraldi classic Christmas Time is Here on a jazz mandolin site (
www.jazzmando.com), but they’re several evolutionary steps above my ability. Maybe some day I’ll tackle them. In the meantime; I’m going to keep practicing. In observance of the New
Year, I thought I’d point out a great feature at the website Hidden Track. They presented a state-by-state listing of New Year’s Eve concerts. While the authors lament the fact that most of the bands listed are jam-oriented, and that the in- die band scene “continues to miss out,” it is a list that would inspire you to find a cheap air- line seat. See it at
http://bit.ly/ s20V0F . Hidden Tracks is a great mu-
sic blog. On occasional Mon- days, they present their Stormy Mondays series, which offers free downloads of their special- ly curated music. One week it’s jazz, another week Americana, or there might be a free Phish show. All of it is good and free. Stop by next Monday at www.
glidemagazine.com/hidden- track/category/stormy-mon- days/
What I’m Listening To The producers call James
Farm a musical collective. The band has been around since 2009 and is made up of Joshua Redman, saxophone; Aaron Parks, piano; Matt Penman, bass; and Eric Harland, drums. What comes through is truly modern jazz with an organic feel and roots that pull to- gether a variety of styles and world music influences. While one track pulses with Middle Eastern rhythms, and the next gospel sensibilities, each track represents and translates these young artists’ combined expe- riences and creativity in a way that’s rarely achieved. It’s great to have some fresh music that grows on you, and James Farm delivers—my only regret is not yet finding some live record- ings. Available at the typical download sites. I recently got my hands on
Chick Corea’s Corea Concerto, recorded with the London Phil- harmonic. Made up of two com- positions—his familiar piece Spain, this time written for or- chestra and sextet, and his Pia-
no Concerto No. 1—this album is an amazing journey combining Chick’s seminal jazz with solid, albeit accessible twentieth cen- tury classical. It’s brilliant stuff that can’t be missed. I’ve been clicking into some
free music at
nugs.net free mp3 stash (
http://stash.nugs. net/
stash.asp). This collection of free shows is a highly rec- ommended representation of shows from the amazing col- lection at
Nugs.net, a.k.a. live-
downloads.com. Bands like The Addison Groove Project, Bruce Hornsby, Garage-A-Trois, and Tea Leaf Green are there, along with the regulars like the Grate- ful Dead, Phish, and Trey Anas- tasio Band. Some great tunes for a cold January day; down- load a few shows and turn up the volume.
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