I hereby resurrect Displaced Saxophonist the blog. It’s been in cold storage for several years. Gotta love the infinitely democratic internet, a place where every nut has a chance to grow into an oak tree. Why did I go silent? Why did I come back? Some backstory… This blog began in 2009. Life was different […]Read Post ›
As a bassist, Mingus is the logical extension of another Ellington alumnus, Jimmy Blanton. Mingus had a huge sound and the ability to coax a vast array of colors out of the big fiddle. He bass lines generated a fierce sense of swing that pushed the ensemble right to the edge of coming unglued. Check out Boogie Stop Shuffle or Haitian Fight Song for proof. In these compositions, the bass is not a supporting player, but the boss.
JazzWerx, the educational outreach arm of the Tucson Jazz Society is capturing that magic by creating a hip little army of practitioners to ensure the future of our music. See, if you’re not moving forward, then you’re standing still or worse.
Saxophone and flute titan David “Fathead” Newman embodies the idea that jazz motivates on every level. When he breathes his soul into his burnished horn, we feel it….like lightning up the spine.
Before: After one chord from the pianist, “Betty Carter.” Brice laughs heartily. “I’ve heard this. What a lady. I’ve had a lot of friends who’ve gone through this band. I love her sense of improvisation. I hate that she’s so out of tune. I like that she does things to the extreme. Her ballads were slower that death. Her fast tunes were faster than fast. She drove her rhythm sections nuts and pushed them to the absolute edge of insanity sometimes.”
Generally when my wanders I turn to music and then proceed to wax poetically. Hank Mobley just came on Pandora, “This I Dig of You.” That’s the tune most folks associate with him, and it’s a good one. Everybody learns it and its well worth the effort. It’s a good one to take through all […]Read Post ›
Displaced Saxophonist 