Jan 08 2012
Colin Stetson, Bon Iver, Miles from India
Colin Stetson
He uses a couple of dozen microphones placed around the room and on his body and on his instrument and he walks around among them while playing. I don’t know what else he does, but whatever it is, it’s unbelievable that he can do it live– there is no overdubbing or layering.
Colin Stetson…
The two pieces in this podcast of Giant Steps are fairly tame compared to some on his CD New History Warfare Vol 2. I am talking about the startlingly original saxophonist Colin Stetson, who has collaborated with Bon Iver, Broken Social Scene, and Arcade Fire. And he has a solo career playing music that is quite radical (despite some roots in Evan Parker.)
…with Bon Iver
On this edition of Giant Steps (new jazz and its relatives) I played two Stetson pieces alternating with two tracks from Bon Iver’s latest CD. Stetson plays on that Bon Iver CD so I thought it might be an interesting mix. I think it works. The show airs Mondays at 3 pm and Wednesdays at 5:30 am.
Miles from India
The show starts out with the sound of a lonely solo Indian violin. Kala Ramnath. She’s one of a bunch of Indian musicians collected a few years ago by producer Bob Belden to collaborate with a group of Miles Davis alumni to create Miles from India– Miles’ music through an Indian filter. It’s a fascinating concept and it works. One of the best things about it is that Belden does not ignore Miles’ funk period. The piece that Kala Ramnath introduces is Ife from Big Fun.
Kala Ramnath
A rich cast of Miles alumni
The only surviving member of the band that made Kind of Blue– drummer Jimmy Cobb– is on the record along with an unlikely cross-generational mix of others: Michael Henderson, Dave Liebman, John McLaughlin, and many more. It’s a double CD full of riches. Trumpeter Wallace Roney has been criticized throughout his career for sounding (too much, say some people) like Miles Davis. On this album his job is to sound like Miles, and he pulls it off in fine style.
Vijay Iyer
Also on the show another take on India with the pianist Vijay Iyer and his piano/guitar/tabla trio from the CD Tirtha, which one critic has described as “not Indian jazz, and not not Indian jazz.”