Mingus at the Showplace

Today's Writer's Almanac includes the poem "Mingus at the Showplace" by William Matthews about writing a bad poem at age 17 and having the nerve to show it to Charles Mingus. I loved these lines:

He didn't look as if he thought

bad poems were dangerous, the way some poets do.
If they were baseball executives they'd plot

to destroy sandlots everywhere so that the game
could be saved from children.

TNLD says check it out. And check out some Mingus, recorded in Stockholm with Eric Dolphy, Clifford Jordan, Jaki Byard and Dannie Richmond.

See you in June

That's probably the next time you'll see a post hereabouts. In the meantime, we're packing like mad in anticipation of pulling up stakes and heading for Seattle. Thanks for everything Chicago, but it's time to make westing.

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Photo above via laflaneuse who merits watching.

Review: Nils Lindberg and Margareta Bengtson - As We Are

As We Are (2008, Prophone) starts with a 19th Century meditation on death ("Remember," a setting a poem by Christina Rosetti) then moves on through the blues, folk tunes from Finland and Sweden, bossa nova, Hoagy Carmichael and Ellingtonian vocalese before arriving at Shakespeare. Talk about your strange meadowlarks.

There's something otherworldly about the whole enterprise, as if Nils Lindberg (composer, arranger and pianist) were a Martian who spent a his childhood listening to radio waves from the next planet over, picking up jazz and classical and all those popular tunes broadcast before 1960 and then deciding to have a go at it himself. While those signals might have left this world in discreet streams, what Lindberg sends back to earth is all mixed together, as if the boundaries between genres don't matter. As it turns out, Lindberg is from Sweden, where, thankfully, they don't. The result is as crisp and classic as a restored black & white movie and as new as next Tuesday.

Chief among Lindberg's co-conspirators on this project is singer Margareta Bengtson, who appears on 11 of the 13 tracks. Bengtson's Nordic cool may be a million miles from Ella Fitzgerald in style but they both share a gift for putting the across the lyric with great feeling, while avoiding the "watch me, watch me" embellishment that many singers use to prove that they're singing jazz, as if you didn't know. But Bengtson is also no slouch when it's time to bust out the scat chops.

What Lindberg and Bengston achieve on As We Are is a remarkable melding of jazz song and art song that I suspect would have pleased a chamber jazz proponent like Billy Strayhorn no end. Only the tune "Santa Barbara" comes off a little cheesy, but it's a pleasant cheese and entirely in keeping with the city that inspired it (see/hear for your own self).

• Note on purchasing - Much as I commend this CD to your listening ears, it isn't sold on Amazon, CD Baby or any of the usual suspects. The Prophone link above will eventually get you to a purchase link, but it's a long and winding road that leads nowhere. Several sketchy bit torent avenues turn up on searches but those always make me feel dirty. I'll try to update this post if I find a solution.

Further linkage
Nils Lindberg (official site | wikipedia) is as celebrated in Sweden for his work in jazz settings as he is for his classical compositions, film and TV scores, as well as settings of Swedish folk music.

Margareta Bengtson's myspace page - includes the opening track "Remember" as well as a sprightly version of Annie Ross's "Twisted."

Berkeley Streetcar 1906

A trip east on Hearst, from Oxford to Euclid. A trip I took many times myself when I lived up in the Berkeley Hills. The scuffle at about the 2:00 mark is particularly choice.

Happy Birthday, Duke!

C Jam Blues featuring Ray Nance (on violin), 'Tricky Sam' Nanton, Rex Stewart, Ben Webster, Barney Bigard, and Sonny Greer. And, of course, Duke ends up with the shawtys.

More on Ellington.

Viddie: Mission Impossible Cumbia

Happy Friday, one and all.

With 80 degree temperatures and sunshine in the Chicago forecast, it will be hard to stay at the desk long today. I hope to get outside and gain a fresh perspective on... something. Does it really matter what?

In that spirit, I pass along the homemade viddie above from Denton's gift to the world, with a reminder that the mission need not be impossible at all.

Bonus points to anyone who can confirm or deny the band's now-legendary show at Kansas City's Grand Emporium in the 1980s, during which they led the audience across Main Street and into the Pink Garter strip club. Were you there? Was your cousin? Spill it.

Extra supreme bonus points to the person who creates a wiki page for the aforementioned venue.

And now, please excuse me while I kiss the sky.

TNLD Podcast 01: Andrew Connor of Ghosty

Drum roll, please…

Introducing the premier of The New Low Down podcast.

Podcast 01 features a chat with Andrew Connor of the band Ghosty. Specifically we chat about the track "Dumbo Wins Again" from Ghosty's most recent album Answers (on Oxblood Records). While "Dumbo" may not be "a song about heartbreak and failed relationships," as reported by NPR Music, it is a delicious and shiny pop jewel. It's also -- another drum roll, please --

TNLD's Song of the Year! (Actually last year, but still. Better late than never.)

Listen now:



Download the podcast

Andrew/Ghosty linkage

Ghosty on myspace

Ghosty's website - which includes all kinds of fun stuff, including a marimba version of Dumbo and more photos like this one by Jennifer Brothers.

Ghosty (l-r): Josh Adams, Mike Nolte, Jake Blanton, Andrew Connor, David Wetzel

Notes on TNLD Podcast
I plan to get these podcasts onto a regular schedule, which will take a little doing. The logistics of equipment and editing and feeds and so on, have proven to be a big time suck, particularly when I've got paying work to do. So while that's all getting sorted out, I thank you for your patience.

And since this is the first TNLD podcast, I would love to hear any feedback you have, either in the comments or emailed to lowdown@newlowdown.com.

Finally a big hollered thank you to Jake Blanton for letting me use "Almost Hit That Lady" for theme music. You are awesome.