October 25, 2009

Some updates

I've awoken from my too long summer hibernation and included three more musicians into the Z-section of this encyclopedia. In case you're following this blog via RSS-feeds you might miss these new posts, as I date them back to appear in alphabetical order with the older posts.
These are the ones that are new: Drummer Mikhail Zhukov, keyboarder Bojan Zulfikarpasić and bassist/multi-instrumentalist Itibere Zwarg. Further updates are coming soon.

October 23, 2009

The Location of Culture

Dave Douglas has pointed to a report by New York's Center for Arts Education which is fighting for a good thing: It wants to improve arts education in New York's public schools. However, this report starts in a quite clumsy way:

In New York City, the cultural capital of the world, public school students do not enjoy equal access to an arts education. In fact, in schools with the lowest graduation rates—where the arts could have the greatest impact—students have the least opportunity to participate in arts learning.
What is the notion of culture and arts behind these opening words? In my opinion, there are quite a few disagreeable ideas behind these statements. The biggest flaw is the assumption that there could be something like a "cultural capital of the world", be it New York or any other place on earth, let's say, Ouagadougou, Alice Springs or Ürümqi. I beg for pardon for the following over-simplification, but I want to base my argument of on Homi Bhabha's groundbreaking work The Location of Culture. Culture is a process of negotiation between different centers. This negotiation can break up a hierarchic structure (e.g. center - periphery, colonizer - colonized, majority - minority or whatever dichotomy you might think of) and can give the weaker sides certain ways to react, interact, gain freedom to self-expression up to a certain extent. Therefore Bhabha sees the location of culture as a "third space", where socio-economic and political matters may have certain repercussions, but are not determinative of what is exactly negotiated in this third space called "culture". Now it is quite reasonable to think of the melting pot New York, where people from all the world bring their cultures to, as a meeting point for a lot of cultural and inter-cultural negotiations. But does that make it the world capital of culture? I think no. The negotiations necessary to form and create cultures have a floating nature. Culture can not only emulate different points of view, but also switch between them. Look for example at a great novel as William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! Different voices look at the story from different geographical points and that causes the reader's idea about the center of power to shift several times: While the action takes place in the USA's deep south, this area seems to be the center of what the novel describes. The fact that the protagonist, Sutpen, has spent some years in Haiti, supports this point of view: Haiti is the colonial periphery that supports and informs the plantation world of the southern USA. Yet we know that the main narrator of the story is telling it to a young man from Canada, while they're both a college dorm in New England. From this point the South seems to be quite peripheral now: The old pre-Civil War South is something doomed to disappear when being viewn from the Northeast.
My example might look a bit far-fetched, however, what I want to show here is the shifting nature of center- and periphery-structures when we enter the world of art and culture. Therefore the idea of a firm and steady center or even capital of culture seems quite ridiculous to me.

There is a second, though minor point that is a bit disturbing in the quote above. They say that arts "could have the greatest impact" among students with difficulties of graduating. That implies that the arts are a kind of medicine for educational, social or other problems. I don't deny that art could have these functions and I myself find this argument quite helpful when it comes to convincing politicians to invest in the arts. Nevertheless, if we put such a statement into such a prominent position, it becomes a bit smelly. From the point of view of the arts themselves, we must defend their autonomy, with Adorno, if you like. While in the mode of production, art can serve as a catalyst for an individual's or a group's experiences with society and as a catalyst for the perceiver's stance towards his/her own social situation. However, art is not (or rather: not necessarily) worthless if it doesn't fulfill these catalyzing effects, mediating between society and individual. Again: Art IS useful, but it is in the first place a usefulness of connecting an individual human being with its humanness. If you want to heal people with certain defects, try psychology, education or medicine. If you want to repair certain social defects, try education, social work or politics first. Don't expect art to be the most effective medicine to cure these problems. Art is rather a pre-condition, a necessity for experiencing one's humanness.

I just had a related discussion with my wife. She is a great writer, but she doesn't get her works published in any official medium, she doesn't get her creations paying off economically. But that's not the point. It's not even the point, if she has an audience right now or not. She felt that her art is minor as long as she doesn't get paid for it. But such an idea means subdueing art under economy. Certainly we can't measure art with its financial value - though art certainly does have a financial value as well, but that's not within the system of art, but within the system of economy. Before I get even more rambling, I better stop here. My dear wife and all the other artists out there: Keep going and only check, if your art could help, heal or pay off after you created it. If you only create art with the purpose of helping, healing or paying off, it would be detrimental to your art.

October 22, 2009

George Lewis' notion of the mutuality of creativity


In an interview at All About Jazz Mr. George Lewis came to speak of his understanding of creativity. He assumes a neuronal base of creativity in every person's brain, not only in those who are actually expressing themselves creatively. In his words:

But this is where I begin to depart from the anti-essentialists. I feel that there is an essence of creativity that is a human birthright that doesn't go away, and that we are all basically born with. It's not just the province of a few super-people. I feel that when people are listening to music, they can do it because of the sense of empathy that allows them to respond to the creativity of other people by feeling their own creativity. In other words, those neurons start firing and those experiences, those bodily feelings, start to resonate with the creativity that's coming from outside, because they've got it within them.
So a listener is as creative as a musician, but in a passive way? I like this thought. However, we should not oversimplify: Listening and making music are still quite different modes of creativity with a different potential for perception as Lewis exemplifies in an earlier part of this interview, where he spoke about his own experiences:
My period of greatest learning about this music [i.e. the avantgarde jazz of the 60's and 70's] was being a participant rather than being a listener first and then thinking, wow, I'd like to do this. Taking part in it helped me to understand it. I still remember the power of it, that energy, kind of hitting me at a certain point. And it may be that the experiences of the people who are listening to it and the people who are doing it are similar, but diverge at certain points.

October 21, 2009

Incus Label

There's a new short article about Incus at All About Jazz. Brief, yet interesting, at least to me, as I was aware of the label by name and some of their recordings, but didn't know anything about the background of it. Visit Incus website as well.

August 15, 2009

Discoveries

I've recently discovered a lot of interesting music that I wouldn't have ever heard of before if there was no internet and no web 2.0. I'd like to introduce some of the finest resources here:
There's a wonderful blog of Seattle trumpeter Jason Parker called One Working Musician. His main theme is by what means an artist can survive best in these days. I find this topic quite interesting already, even for people like me, who are "only" consuming music. However, what makes this blog really treasurable is his weekly posting series called "Making it Happen Friday" (as you can guess: there's a new article every Friday - well, sometimes Sunday ;-)), where Parker is introducing other independent musicians, mostly those from the US west coast. Parker has a very wide interest and scope, so the musicians he's introducing are not just from the jazz scene but ranging from alternative rock to modern composition. Just recently he's been interviewing Beth Fleenor, an artist whose work I am sure I'm going to explore further in the future, just like I want to with Michael Owcharuk. But last, not least I should mention, that Jason Parker himself is playing very creative, inventive and modern jazz music with his quartet - listen to his new album "No More, No Less" and you'll see.

Another great resource for discovering most interesting sounds is the New Music Box with a collaborative blog of young artists, composers, conductors and musicians. After their review of James Mulcro Drew's "Animating Degree Zero" I must get this album. This urge is even stronger in the recent case of a review of the new album of The Dirty Projectors: "Bitte Orca".

Last for today, I want to point out to Beck's Record Club. I don't remember how I found this site, it was recommended somewhere. The famous indie musician Beck has gathered friends to re-record updated versions of "The Velvet Underground & Nico", song by song. Very much recommended.

Besides finding new and interesting music on the internet in my leisure time, I've been thinking lately of writing some theory. I thought about starting out with a discussion of the current web 2.0 and blogging business in the terminology of Karl Marx. I think, I could really get something out of it, not as a definite statement, but as a starting point for a thread of thoughts. However, I haven't started yet and I'm not sure if I ever will. The problem is: Writing such a theory would require concentrated WORK, something that I'm somethow shying away from in my leisure time...

August 14, 2009

Toyohito Yoshikawa

Toyohito Yoshikawa (dr): [Boredoms: Onanie Bomb Meets the Sex Pistols tracks #2-10]

Yoshikawa was not a founding member of the Japanese noise-rock outfit Boredoms, but he joined in short after the take-off in the late 80's. He also occasionally appears as a vocalist of this and other groups. Other projects he's actively involved with are Happy Cowboys, Z-Rock Hawaii and Universe.

June 1, 2009

Mizanekristos Yohannes

Mizanekristos Yohannes (bg voc): [Gigi: Gigi]

The man with this beautiful name is an African backing vocalist on the Afro-pop album Bill Laswell produced featuring his Ethopian wife Gigi. No further info available (?).

April 23, 2009

Arnold "Arny" Young

Arnold "Arny" Young (dr): Club Foot Orchestra: "Clair"

We've just spoken about Dave Young, a trumpeter who was playing with Sun Ra. Now we're moving on from Sun Ra to Un Ra - a monicker which was chosen by "Un-Ra Arnold Young". He's a drummer, now based in Kansas City and running an Arny Young Quartet there.
During the 80's he's been a member of San Francisco's Club Foot Orchestra, which was the house band of the Club Foot, a place where art, punk and jazz could meet and intermingle. He also appeared with Kansas City based improv-group The Malachy Papers.
The piece "Clair" appeared on "Beets - a Collection of Jazz Songs".

April 3, 2009

Dave Young

David "Dave" Young (tp): [Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Sound of Joy]

Dave Young was a core member of Sun Ra's early Arkestra in 1955 and 1956.
"When Gilmore joined, the Arkestra was no more than a trio, but it quickly grew: Pat Patrick returned from a sojourn in Florida, Dave Young came in on trumpet, Julian Priester on trombone, Richard Evans on bass, Jim Herndon on tympani and timbales. And they got regular work at Cadillac Bob's Budland, in the basement of the Pershing Hotel. The only Chicago-period photo of the Arkestra that's been published shows the band as it stood in the Fall of 1955." (Robert L. Campbell)
Dave Young is said to have quit playing music and became a car salesman (source).

March 18, 2009

David Young

David Young (el-b): [Element of Crime: Mittelpunkt der Welt]

"Born on the 2nd of May, 1949, in London. He received a BA in philosophy after writing a thesis on Kant. While studying he was already playig with numerous bands, and worked as live-mixer with artists as diverse as Country Joe McDonald, The Incredible String Band, David Bowie and Duke Ellington.
The 1970s lead him via Munich and Los Angeles to New York, where he studies sound engineering and works as a recording engineer there, recording for example Bonnie Tyler, Jim Steinman, Bronski Beat, Elliot Randall and the remains of Steely Dan. He becomes a collaborator of former Velvet Underground member John Cale, plays in John Cale's band from 1980 to 1985, and co-produces four of his albums.
In 1987 he moves back to London, where he produces with John Cale the album "Try to be Mensch" by Berlin band Element of Crime. Since then, David Young collaborates with the band as producer, and since 1993 as live-guitarist. He also works as producer for other artists, such as Alexander Veljanow (Deine Lakaien) or Hector Zazou's project "La Nouvelle Polyphonie Corse". In 2002, he replaces Christian Hartje as permanent bass guitar player for Element of Crime." (Based on the short biography at Discogs, but modified according to the German version on the Element of Crime website)


March 1, 2009

Interlude: Support the Artists

When travelling through music blogs, one of the most often heard statement is: "Support the artists". Everyone of you knows how she/he can do this, yet I have a few little recommendations here:

A) Support Plushmusic!


"Plushmusic is a new company founded by the cellist Adrian Brendel and saxophonist Hayden Chisholm, in partnership with the technology entrepreneur Stephen Jelley. It is run almost exclusively by professional musicians. Its executive producer is former Radio 3 producer Lyndon Jones. The site is produced by Matt Jolly and edited by Simon Ings."
Plushmusic has recently organized a plushmusic festival - I found a few little snippets of it on Hayden Chisholm's blog website www.softspeakers.com, for example "Peninsula". They feature classical, jazz and world music, separately as well as interwoven, on the festival and on the Plushmusic website. You can watch a lot of wonderful live videos on www.plushmusic.tv and then... support the artists by buying video or audio downloads in high quality (i.e. flac). However, all this would probably only work, if you haven't disabled your browser's flash functions ;-)
As a starting point I highly recommend the short documentary on Simon Nabatov.


B) Support D.D. Jackson!

Sometime in mid-2007 the pianist D.D. Jackson left some message on Bumkun Cha's Pathway to Unknown Worlds. I took the hint and listened to all of Jackson's 22 podcasts. He's been a very talkative man (I can't tell if he still is, because he's not posted any new podcasts for a long time) and heavily advertised his own work, but also provided interesting thoughts and insights not only on jazz, but also on the current status of the music business.
From his website you'll quite a few of free content, just like in the case of plushmusic. You can watch him play with his hands looking like putty and producing wonderful sounds, you can download some live samples.
So and how to support Mr. Jackson? He's got his albums offered for downloading at Artistshare. An album costs between 10 and 14 US dollars, depending on the bitrate you choose. The clou is: If you pay for these downloads, you'll get a lot of extra materials, not available anywhere else, for example artist interviews, videos of the recordings session, and - the most interesting feature - sheet music of some of the pieces.
Jackson's playing is very eclectic: He's well aware of the whole history of jazz piano playing and incorporates it all into his own music. I personally prefer his rather wild, free, freak-out moments - his ballad playing is often a little bit toooo sweet. Besides the newer albums offered at his artistshare side you should also try his first album Peace-Song with David Murray and Jackson showing off their wonderful interplay: They're a perfect match.


C) Support David Binney!

If you don't have the chance to see David Binney play live, there's a way to compensate: He's often recording his gigs and offering them for download from his website at moderate prices. Right now his new CD is out, which you also get directly from there.

February 17, 2009

Timothy Young

Timothy Young (g,el-g): [Bob­by Pre­vite & Bump: Coun­ter­clock­wise track #9] [Ey­vind Kang: 7 Na­des tracks #1,2,4,5] [Way­ne Hor­vitz & Zony Mash: Upper Egypt] Way­ne Hor­vitz: „Close to You“ Zo­ny Mash: “Te­ku­fah”

"Timothy Young began playing guitar at age 5 under tutelage of Sister Margaruite of the Sacred Heart Convent in Menlo Park, CA. He currently lives in Los Angeles. He plays in The Youngs, THRUSTER!, Sweeter then the Day, Young and Moore and Re;Agent." (From his Myspace site) His playing is often making use of amplification feedback, slides and other sound deformations. At times this could sound quite dreamy and spacey (cf. "Close to You", "Theme from 1st Nade", links above), at times it can get rather noisy. With this he places himself somewhere between easy listening, (noise-)rock, jazz and country.


Richard Youngstein

Richard Youngstein (cb): [Carla Bley & Paul Haines: Escalator over the Hill] [Paul Bley & An­net­te Pea­cock: The Paul Bley Syn­the­si­zer Show tracks #2,6,7]

Richard Youngstein was the bass-player in the "Original Hotel Amateur Band" on Carla Bley's recording of her jazz opera Escalator over the Hill and collaborated with the Bley/Peacock Synthesizer Show. Despite that he seems not have recorded too much with internationally acclaimed groups: He's only credited on a few albums at Discogs or AMG. In the early 70's however, he's also been leading his own group (Richard Youngstein Ensemble), with notable musicians as Perry Robinson or James Fulkerson. Later he changed his name and became a psychotherapist, which he reveals in an Amazon review of Paul Bley's biography:

"From the years 1968-1976, I was working, playing acoustic bass, under the name of Richard Youngstein. In Paul's very hip, very open book, he refers to playing a cool gig in Boston at the (long defunct) Jazz Workshop for one week with his long time drummer, Barry Altschul (whom I went to high school with in the Bronx) and "some bass player." Obviously Paul didn't remember my name, even though I recorded half an album with him on Polydor, called "The Paul Bley Synthesizer Show," produced by Orin Keepnews, and another album with his ex-wife, Annette Peacock, for French Polydor, that I heard had two titles, "Blood," and "Revenge." If anyone has a copy of either LP PLEASE let me know - I never got one & never heard it! Anyway, I also recorded under that name with Carla Bley & JCOA on "Escalator Over The Hill." I was very active in those years, playing w/Ros Rudd, Bill Dixon, Robin Kenyetta, Karl Berger, etc. I moved to LA late in 1976 and switched careers kind of, and names. I got my doctorate and license in psychology (like my late mentor, the great bassist David Izenzon) and have been in the healing field ever since. I had a trio/quartet "Erotic Zone," for some years and played periodically. Anyway, I am the same person, whether the old Richard Youngstein or the more recent Dr. Noah Young. Just thought I'd give a name to "some bass player" on the Jazz Workshop gig with mssrs. Bley and Altschul. And....Paul's book is awesome. Truly one of the giants of jazz and a priviledge to have made music with. (Write me at: Noazarc22@aol.com)"


P.S.: Isn't it interesting to find some traces of such drop-outs of the musical world? And to see what different way their life took after they left the professional music business?

February 13, 2009

Yu Yang

Yu Yang (voc): [V.A.: Haikus Urbains tracks #10,34]

I couldn't find any information on Yu Yang, not even sure if the family name is Yu or Yang... This Yu Yang has recorded two short pieces with an ensemble organized by Fred Frith for the Swiss Haikus Urbains compilation.

February 12, 2009

Bill Yurkiewicz

Bill Yurkiewicz (voc,electr): [Lull: Moments] [Exit-13: Spare the Wrench, Surrender the Earth EP]

Bill Yurkiewicz is a grindcore vocalist who has also been co-founding the Relapse label, focussing on far-out metal and hardcore artists. After a while, he also incorporated the imprint Release Entertainment, publishing "post-industrial experimental music, electronic ambient and noise". As he is interested in these two worlds - extreme metal and noise as well as ambient and electronic music - it is not astonishing, that Yurkiewicz also did the electronic editing for Mick Harris' Lull album Moments.
Yurkiewicz's own band was Exit-13, a nowadays probably quite forgotten group which occasionally fumbled around with incorporating various elements from punk to jazz into their grind(ing) pieces - though Exit-13 didn't sound as much like a roller-coaster ride as Naked City did (actually, "Societally Provoked Genocidal Contemplation", a track from their Spare the Wrench, Surrender the Earth EP, was the very first song I ever heard, which was trying to mix a jazzy passage into a grindcore piece - I discovered that a while before Alboth! and long before Naked City. When reviewing it now, it seems a bit lame, but way back in the early 90s it was a revelation to me).


February 8, 2009

Thierry Zaboitzeff

Thierry Zaboitzeff (vc): [Univers Zero: Ceux du dehors track #6]

Thierry Zaboitzeff, a French multi-instrumentalist - mainly associated with the the electric bass - has been a member of the progressive rock group Art Zoyd from 1971 to 1997. He and his cello also appeared on the composition "La tête de corbeau" on Univers Zero's 1981 album Ceux du dehors.


February 6, 2009

Rolf Zacher

Rolf Zacher (voc): [Amon Düül II: Wolf City tracks # 3,6]

Basically known (in Germany) as an actor, Rolf Zacher has kept a life-long relationship with music, from occasionally singing with Amon Düül II in the early 70's to collaborating with some German rap artists in recent years. He's also often been leading his own bands.

Kostas Zafiris

Kostas Zafiris (voc): [Savina Yannatou: Musique des chambres]

"Kostas Zafiris was born in 1967 on the Island of Chios. He studied Politics at Panteion University of Athens and at the University of Bologna and Social Anthropology and History at the Aegean University in Lesbos. In 1998 he published a collection of poems titled The violence of the week. He lives and works on the Island of Chios." (Metaichmio)

Savina Yannatou has hired some of Greece's contemporary poets for some recitations on her "Musique des chambres" album - a wonderful collaboration evoking a magical world of word and sound.

Zahera

Zahera (voc, bendir, tairija): [Sapho: Digital Sheika]

"Zahera and her girls from Hallilifa, one of the most popular and famous Sheikha combos of Marrakech, were singing and jamming along with Sapho on six tracks, as if she (Sapho) had been a member of the bunch for ages. But what exactly is a Sheikha ? In Morocco or Algeria, it`s a kind of "woman of ill-repute" or outcast who sings at weddings and feasts, with heavy make up, gold teeth, who drinks a lot and smokes dope. They shake their hair to the beat, move their sensual bellies to please women and men; sing about love and other realistic themes from the daily life. At feasts, they are well accepted and admired for their freedom and independence acquired in an Islamic country; in their private lives however they seem to suffer a certain disgrace from societie`s attitude to them, which forces them to live often together and hidden, rejected by their families and relatives. " (liner notes)

February 4, 2009

Interlude Remix

I still couldn't get back to my encyclopedia entry posting (mainly because I enjoy practicing to play music by myself recently - after several years of silence in my trombone's cone), but in the meantime Lucky did a remix of my interlude which you can get here. Enjoy!

February 2, 2009

Interlude

And now, something completely different: A little tune, recorded today...

January 30, 2009

Javier Zalba

Javier Zalba (bs,fl): [Afro-Cuban All Stars: A toda Cuba lo gusta]

"Javier Zalba Suarez (1955): Graduated from the Cuban National School of Arts (ENA) as a clarinetist in 1976 and in 1984 as a flautist from the Professional Studies School 'Ignacio Cervantes', Javier enjoys of an active performing career that reaches different styles of music, going from Classical, Jazz, and Latin Jazz to Cuban popular music. He began his professional career as a clarinet teacher at the ENA, 1978. In the same year, takes part of the “Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna” and in 1980 shares his musical activities with the group of the well-recognized pianist Felipe Dulzaides. In 1984, he becomes a member of the ensemble of the pianist and composer Jose Maria Vitier and later on is invited to take part in the “Irakere”, directed by “Chucho” Valdes. Enjoying of a successful career as a flute, clarinet and saxophone player, he joints Bobby Carcasses’s ensemble 'Afrojazz' in 1991 as well as the orchestra of the Tropicana Cabaret and the group 'Oru' directed by the guitarist Sergio Vitier. In 1997, he is a member of the group 'Cubanismo' directed by trumpet player Jesus Alemany and creates with pianist Roberto Fonseca his own Latin jazz ensemble called 'Temperamento'. Already in 2000, he joints the Buena Vista Social Club orchestra with the singer Ibrahim Ferrer, performing in the most prestigious venues around the world. He takes much inspiration from solo and chamber music as well. He has been invited several times as a member and soloist by the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra and many others chamber ensembles. He has participated in diverse international tours including the most important Jazz Festivals around the world. He also enjoys teaching and giving master classes in Jazz and Cuban popular music. He is professor of saxophone at the Amadeo Roldan Conservatoire. As a result, he has been invited to carry out several Cuban Music workshops in Barranquilla, Colombia (2000); Copenhagen Rhythmic Conservatoire, Denmark (2003); Liceo de Barcelona (El Aula), Spain 2004; Guildhall School of Music and Drama, England (2004 & 2006) and Montreaux as part of the Jazz Festival, Switzerland (2005). His books, 'Technique for the Saxophone' is being published by 'Abdala', in Havana Cuba and 'Sax Soneando' The saxophone in the Cuban popular music and 'Flute Soneando' The flute in the Cuban popular music (is coming soon) as well by 'Advance Music' from Germany."


January's over now - and it seems, this month and the letter Z were a good combination for saxophonists: John Zorn, Miguel Zenón, Annelis Zamula, Wigbert Zelfel and Javier Zalba. How long would we have to wait for the next sax players? Not even I can tell, when Lester Young, York and Jason Yarde will appear here. We'll wait and see.

Norman Zamcheck

Norman Zamcheck (p): [Ge­dul­dig und Thi­mann: A Schtetl is Ame­ri­ke tracks #1-3,6,8,10]

"Norman Zamcheck was the pipe-smoking piano-banging composer/leader of the band “Stormin’ Norman & Suzy, acclaimed from the mid-seventies through the early 90’s for their unpredictable and explosive barrelhouse-rock shows. The group started in Boston, toured for years across the northeast, and moved to New York, where they soon gained national attention and major record deal. When the band split up Norm switched gears and toured for nearly a decade with Andy Statman, celebrated master of bluegrass and Klezmer (traditional Jewish) music. To support a growing family he also became a teacher and administrator in a series of tough inner-city schools.
Norm’s piano style is based on the sound of his masters: James P. Johnson, Meade Lux Lewis, Otis Spann, Mose Allison. His songwriting reflects his blues and boogie-woogie background (with some harmonic detours) along with rock and folk roots. He has written hundreds of songs over the course of his lifetime. Every one tells a story." (quoted from his website)

Daniel Zamir

Daniel Zamir (ss,as): Satlah: "Nevalah"

see also: Kevin Zubek

"Alto saxophonist Danny Zamir plays modern jazz that draws as much from klezmer as it does from Ornette Coleman. Born circa 1980 in Tel Aviv, Israel, Zamir was drawn to the sound of the saxophone at a young age and began studying the instrument at the age of 12. Hearing Charlie Parker for the first time had a great effect upon him, and from that point on, he focused on music studies. Zamir attended a Tel Aviv high school that specialized in the arts and offered an intensive music program. In addition to the music of Charlie Parker, some of Zamir's early influences include Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Pat Metheny. Zamir formed a trio called Not for Sale and eventually started listening to other musicians, as well. Of those he heard, Zamir was most impressed with saxophonist and experimenter John Zorn. In late 1998, he relocated to N.Y.C., where he met percussionist Kevin Zubek and bassist Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, with whom he formed SATLAH, as well as well-known N.Y.C. musicians including Zorn. Zamir has also worked occasionally with members of the downtown scene, including Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Marc Ribot, and Calvin Weston. SATLAH's recorded debut includes a guest appearance by Zorn and was released in March 2000 on the Tzadik label. Zamir followed it with I Believe, also on the Tzadik imprint, in 2008." (AMG)

January 29, 2009

Annelise Zamula

Annelise Zamula (as,ts,bs,fl): [Da­vid Slus­ser: Delight at the End of the Tun­nel track #4] [The Bil­ly Tip­ton Me­mo­rial Sa­xo­pho­ne Quar­tet: Sun­shine Bundt­ca­ke]

Annalise Zamula is a Californian jazz and modern classical saxophonist, who's performed with the creme de la creme of the US-west coast scene, e.g. The Billy Tipton Saxophone Quartet, David Slusser, Noertker's Moxie and the Berkeley Saxophone Quartet.


January 27, 2009

Roberto Zanisi

Roberto Zanisi (bouz,voc,harm,g): [Musci Venosta: A Noise - a Sound tracks #1,3,5,7,13]

Sometimes credited as Roberto Zanesi, but spelled Zanisi according to his Myspace site, he is a guitar and bouzouki player wandering between the worlds of mediterranean folklores (not just of his native Italy, but also incorporating Turkish and Greek styles) and the world of avantgarde and experimental rock. He's recorded with the [Roberto] Musci [Giovanni] Venosta Ensemble on their 1992 ReR album "A Noise a Sound".


Massino Zanotti

Massino Zanotti (tb,tu): [The Slide Family: Live at Jazz Festival Saalfelden 2008]

Massino Zanotti is a session-trombonist and tuba-player whose name I never heard before until I recently discovered the wonderful radio recording of the Slide Family's Saalfelden concert, which Yaqwedc shared on Querbeet recently. Many thanks for that! It's an ensemble not only, maybe not even in the first place, impressing with musical finesse, but mainly with raw physical energy.

January 26, 2009

Manfred Zapatka

Manfred Zapatka (voc): [Robert Musil: Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften Remix tracks #1,12-20]

Zapatka is a German actor, who's speaking the role of Musil in the ambitious 20-hour audio play project "Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften Remix" (The Man without Qualities), which is available as a podcast from public Bavarian Radio's website (use link above), together with a lot of essayistic extra material, which exceeds the usual "The making of..." stuff by far. Highly recommended for those of you who enjoy German language and Austrian literature. (And later we will see, how this production is linked with the rest of the music/ians that I present here...)

January 24, 2009

Dweezil Zappa

Dweezil Zappa (el-g,voc): [Frank Zappa: You Can't Do that on Stage anymore Vol. 1 CD1 track #1]

see also Frank Zappa.

Frank Zappa's kids have quite different attitudes towards their father. There is depression caused by the supposed "genius" of the father, there is anger about painful childhood experiences. Dweezil seems to have none of these problems: He's overtly and cheerfully celebrating his father's music - but who knows what's going on inside him.


Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa (el-g,voc):

[Frank Zap­pa: Apos­tro­phe / Over­ni­te Sen­sa­tion]
[Frank Zap­pa: The Best Band You Ne­ver Heard in Your Li­fe]
[Frank Zap­pa: Bon­go Fu­ry]
[Frank Zap­pa: Broad­way the Hard Way]
[Mo­thers of In­ven­tion: Burnt Wee­ny Sand­wich]
[Frank Zap­pa: Chun­ga’s Re­ven­ge]
[Mo­thers of Inven­tion: Fill­mo­re East – Ju­ne 1971]
[Frank Zap­pa: Joe’s Ga­ra­ge]
[Frank Zap­pa: Lum­py Gra­vy]

see also Tibor Zelig (track #2)
see also Jimmy Zito (track #2)

[Frank Zap­pa: Ma­ke a Jazz Noi­se He­re]
[Frank Zap­pa: Play­ground Psy­cho­tics]
[Frank Zap­pa: Sheik Yer­bou­ti]
[Frank Zap­pa: 200 Mo­tels]
[The Mo­thers of Inven­tion: Wea­sels Rip­ped My Flesh]
[The Mo­thers of In­ven­tion: We're On­ly in it for the Mo­ney]
[Frank Zap­pa: The Yel­low Shark]
[Frank Zap­pa: You Can’t Do That on Sta­ge Anymore Vol. 1]

see also Dweezil Zappa (CD1, track #1)
see also Allan Zavod (CD2, tracks #7-9)

[Frank Zap­pa: You Can’t Do That on Sta­ge Anymore Vol. 3]

see also Allan Zavod (CD1, CD2 tracks #8,11)

[Frank Zappa: You Can’t Do That on Sta­ge Anymore Vol. 4]

see also Allan Zavod (CD1 tracks #2-7, 10,13 CD2 tracks #3,6,11,13-16)

[Frank Zappa: You Can’t Do That on Sta­ge Any­mo­re Vol. 5]
[Frank Zap­pa: Zoot Al­lu­res]

I have already had a few chances to make some dismissive remarks on the person of Frank Zappa and his music. In a totally un-encyclopaedic fashion I am going to continue to add some personal words here - Zappa doesn't need to be introduced anyway.
In my early teenage years I was very politicized, i.e. I had naive ideas about how an ideal society should look like and felt attracted by everything that was - or seemed - protesting against the actual society that was surrounding me. Naturally, when it comes to protest, a teenage kid might easily turn towards punk rock; however, after a year or two the nihilistic nature of punk made me feel uncomfortable, because I though that's not the way to constructively build a better society. I kept looking further. I tried a bit of jazz and avantgarde music for the first time, and I tried a bit of Frank Zappa. Certainly, this cynic's utterings are as un-constructive for a better society as were the punkers' shoutings. However, I didn't understand that fast enough. I'm sometimes a very slow thinker and perceiver. And what was attractive to me was the musical crossing of boundaries, as it seemed to me: there were the rocking guitars that I still needed to satisfy my punk rock background, but there was also improvised soloing - as in jazz - and the proclaimed avantgarde composition. Well, you all know what to think of that, and if not, I can only once again recommed the Wire article to you. But, no matter what I think of Zappa's unbearable humour nowadays and no matter how relatively lame his music actually is: I guess without Zappa and his music I wouldn't be prepared for what was waiting for me. I doubt that I would appreciate or even like Henry Cow, if I hadn't listened to "Brown Shoes Don't Make it" for a hundred times before. I guess, my reactions to free jazz would have been different, if I wasn't prepared by Ian Underwood's reeds solos on the "Uncle Meat" album. Would I be able to love the music of Can, if I didn't know the lengthy, percussive pieces towards the end of the Mothers' of Invention "Freak out"?
Musical tastes are always developping and growing, so there have to be certain intermediate levels, where one can rest, look back, look forward, enjoy the presence for a while. To me Zappa's music was such an intermediate level, seemingly necessary to my very personal development of musical taste - and therefore he's got to have his place in this little blog encyclopaedia.


Stefan Zaradic

Stefan Marian Zaradic (keyb): Ingrid Jensen & Wheelz: "Allah"

Zaradic is a Croatian-Austrian, Vienna-born, now Munich-based keyboarder, sound designer, sound technician and jazz musician. He's been trained as a classical pianist, played in local jazz groups in early years, and appears as a studio session contributor on pop, rock and jazz albums. He's working on music for commercials (founding an initiative for higher quality music in commercials) and did soundtracks for feature and documentary movies. His current project in the field of jazz is called Jazzmachine, his most noted and critically acclaimed production was the album Around the World with Canadian trumpet and flugelhorn player Ingrid Jensen, an album meant as an answer to the Balkan wars of the 1990's.

Petr Zavadil

Petr Zavadil (g,el-g): [Pavel Fajt & Pluto: Pavel Fajt & Pluto]

This musician from Brno, Moravia, played in the art rock group Pluto (1995-2000) and is now with Ty Syčáci ("These Rowdies"), where he's also operating on balalaika, percussion and vocals. He also played in several theatre productions and was a member of a local Doors revival band. He's also a member of the avantgarde rock group Ještě jsme se nedohodli ("We have not come to an agreement yet").
The Pluto album mentioned above has received a Czech independent critic's price called Žlutá ponorka (Yellow Submarine). Pluto is righteously considered to be a successor of famous Czech art rockers Dunaj ("Danube").

January 18, 2009

Allan Zavod

Allan Zavod (keyb,p): [Jean-Luc Ponty: Imaginary Voyage] [Frank Zap­pa: You Can’t Do That on Stage Anymore Vol. 1 CD2 #7-9] [Frank Zap­pa: You Can’t Do That on Stage Anymore Vol. 3 CD1 CD2 #8,11] [Frank Zappa: You Can’t Do That on Stage Any­mo­re Vol. 4 CD1 #2-7, 10,13 CD2 #3,6,11,13-16]

see also Frank Zappa

Allan Zavod (sometimes - falsely - spelled as Alan Zavod) is a keyboardist from Australia, who was invited into the USA by Duke Ellington and played with Woody Herman Orchestra, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and appears on many recordings and in many gigs of Jean-Luc Ponty, Maynard Ferguson and Frank Zappa:
"THE LIBIDINOUS YEAR 1 with Frank Zappa in the 1980s is a faint memory, but Zavod delights in re-telling events. His lanky frame is still rock-star thin and while a baseball cap now tames the once-wild afro, he remains young at heart. What stood out about his time on the road was the girls, whom Zappa referred to as 'vegetation', and, of course, the sophistication of the music. 'One of the bonuses of performing on stage was not just that you'd get well paid but [you'd get) plenty of chicks," he grins without shame. "Even though we were playing all of this brilliant music, we were scanning the audience.'" (from Allan Zavod's website)
Now he's a husband and father and composing fusions of jazz and classical music à la "Concerto for trumpet, jazz trio and orchestra" as well as writing film or theatre scores.



January 17, 2009

Ivan Zawinul

Ivan Zawinul (dr-progr): Joe Zawinul: "In an Island Way"

See also: Joe Zawinul

Ivan Zawinul, one of the three sons of Joe Zawinul, worked together with his father as a sound-engineer and co-producer in the last 15 years of the late Zawinul's life. He also did some drum-programming for some of Joe's songs, as for example in the above mentioned "In an Island Way".

January 16, 2009

Joe Zawinul

Joe Zawinul (keyb,p): [Cannonball Adderley: Best of - The Capitol Years] [Miles Davis: Big Fun CD1 #4 CD2 #2] [Miles Davis: The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions CD1 #1-4, CD2 #1-4, CD3 #1-6] [Miles Davis / Bill Laswell: Panthalassa track #1] [Weather Report: Tale Spinnin'] Weather Report: "Eurydice" (live in Ossiach, 1971) Joe Zawinul: "In an Island Way" (+voc) Joe Zawinul: "Zansa II"

See also: Ivan Zawinul

I'm not Zawinulist, not even a Weather Reporter, but an entry on the recently deceised, likeable Mr. Zawinul cannot be missed here.
Here's my translation of German Spiegel magazine's obituary:

Virtuoso in Black and White

By Hans Hielscher


For such music one has be "free inside, has to be Joe Zawinul": That's the way how Miles Davis once praised the pianist from Vienna who died today. [...]

Already as a 17-year-old he dreamt of going to the USA as a musician. In movies like "Bathing Beauty" he sah these "villas, these wonderful swimming pools", while in post-war Vienna "there was never enough to eat". And he relished "a real super breakfast" for the first time in a club of the US Army. There Josef Erich Zawinul played accordeon in a hillbilly band.

JOE ZAWINUL: Icon of Jazz



The working class boy with Sinti ancestors, who was born on the 7th of July in 1932 could have taken a different path in life. Zawinul was invited to a pianist's competition in Geneva in 1949, a competition that Friedrich Gulda had won the year before. But at a certain moment Zawinul lost interested in practicing "eight hours of Beethoven" every day. Improvised music was appealing more to him; therefore this highly talented youth was hitting the blossoming jazz scene of Vienna. He explained his rapid development in this scene with his personal motto: "You get into a band as the weakest part and you leave it as the strongest."
This young musician's American dream came true when he found an announcement of a scholarship at the Boston Berklee School of Music in Downbeat magazine. Zawinul sent one of his records there and was accepted. Originally meant to be a limited period study residence, he stayed in the US for nearly all his life. After just a few weeks in Boston he was hired by the trumpet star Maynard Ferguson. The Austrian got a Green Card.
An engagement in the trio of the singer Dinah Washington followed. The Afro-American diva described her piano-player as a musician "with the touch of George Shearing and the soul of Ray Charles".

Afro-American Viennese humor

Zawinul felt attracted by the blacks, because they were the best players of the music that he loved the most. Furthermore he was amused by the humor of the African-Americans, which reminded him of the Viennese humor. In addition to his many friendships with blacks there was a very personal attachment: He married an African American. With the Cannonball Adderley Sextet he was travelling through the USA as the only white member of the group and he experieced nights when the whole band had to spend the night in the car because the hotel was allegedly booked out. Besides piano Zawinul also played the Fender Rhodes keybpard in the Adderley Sextet and scored a worldwide hit with his composition "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy".

"To be able to write such music", Miles Davis noted, "one has to be free inside, has to be Joe Zawinul with two brown children, a black wife, two pianos; has to be out of Vienna, a cancer and without any cliché". Davis hired Zawinul für the production of his albums "In a Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew" as composer and keyboarder.

Zawinul refused the offer to join the band of Davis. Probably these two strong personalities wouldn't get along with each other on a long-term scale, although they had a deep regard for each other. "Miles is the father", Zawinul said, "and we are his sons. But even if you're small and standing on your father's shoulders, you can see farther than he can. That's the way it is like with us, too."

Music, as unsettled as the weather

Zawinul co-determined the development of jazz when he founded the jazz-rock group Weather Report together with the saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Just like the weather, the music of this group was supposed to change all the time. To achieve this, Zawinul was relying on the new possibilities of electronics. His slogan was "play electric, sound acoustic". He compared the synthesizer with an accordeon: Both instruments "possess a number of different registers, which can be used to change the tonal color." Weather Report was fascinating more than just the jazz community but also rock fans and was celebrated worldwide. Zawinul composed further hits like "Birdland."

In his years after Weather Report the musician Zawinul, with residences in Los Angeles and Vienna travelle through the world with his "Zawinul Syndicate". Besides the possibilities of electronics he was more an more interested in percussion styles from all over the world. In the different line-ups of his band there were often excellent percussionists from Africa. His musicians could all have been his sons, if not his grandchildren.

The jazz and rock musician Joe Zawinul has also written symphonic works, among them a memorial called "Mauthausen - Vom großen Sterben hören" (Mauthausen - To hear of the great dying) in 1998, commemorating the 60th anniversary of building the nazi concentration camp Mauthausen.

Until he got ill, Joe Zawinul was a happy man. In 2002 he said in an interview with Spiegel: "Sometimes I think, I am dreaming, when I look out on Santa Monica Bay from my house in Los Angeles." Today he died at the age of 75 in Vienna.



P.S.: For a nice view on the Czech roots of Joe Zawinul and his influence in this wonderful country, see the article of Lou Kash.


Hector Zazou

Hector Zazou (keyb,el-b,electr,p,synth): [ZNR: Barricade 3] [Hector Zazou: Chansons des mers froides] [La Perversità: La Perversità] [Hector Zazou & Sandy Dillon: Las Vegas Is Cursed] [ZNR: Traité de mécanique populaire] Hector Zazou: "Beauty"

Hector Zazou died about half a year ago, in mid-2008. This man received the obituaries that he deserved, for his life's work in music was unique, creative, influential, and... hmm... "architectural". One of these obituaries was a rather personal one from Galician/celtic flute and bagpipe player Carlos Nuñez:

The man who lived in the heart of music


“At any rate, I don’t think that we can go any further in this way of electronically treating organic music.” “This CD will be my last testament,” “In India, I discovered a mystery that is linked to our musical origins and we need to pierce that mystery.”
Those are a few things that Hector said to us a few weeks ago, Xurxo and me, as he held our hands on his Parisian hospital bed, from which he could see the Eiffel Tower. And then he said “Goodbye, my friends.”
Hector Zazou was our friend from the day we met him, some twelve years ago. The Master of electronic music, in his most romantic, multi-cultural and human phase, recently passed away from a cancer that devoured him in just a few months. He had just turned 60. He had the enthusiasm, spirit and generosity of a beginner and was undoubtedly one of the most mysterious musicians of our time, both in the way he operated and in the way he created. He hid from photographers, fled from the stage, took the metro from his apartment in Paris’s city center to find refuge in his creative cave in the African neighborhood of Montreuil. He hid his real name and sometimes used other pseudonyms (he once admitted that one of them was André Compostel).
We collaborated frequently over the years. Every time he was involved in an interesting project, he would call me from some far-off corner of the world to tell me about it, or invite me to participate. As far as my own work goes some of my favorite recordings, like “Danza da Lua en Santiago” or “Danza de Entrelazado de Allariz” would never have been possible without his mysterious electronic treatment and his advice on musical shapes and macrostructures. I also have to thank him for the happy idea to record a Bach prelude played on a Galician gaita. Hector was particularly generous with Xurxo, sharing his secrets with him like a son... We will never forget the Christmas that we spent together, holed up in the house in San Adrian to prepare “Os Amores Libres”... Music was Everything for us and you proved that it was the same for you.
The last time I left him, I told him “Hector, you are not a tangible and quantifiable being like other humans; you are some strange energy that lives in the heart of music, you are like a spirit that hides and only allows its presence to be divined…. beyond the world of appearances.” I think he liked hearing that and he told Jean-Michel Reusser, his manager and friend, “Remember that Jean-Mi, for my epitaph.” I could have told Hector another thing, when we said goodbye, something I had once told my manager, Fernando Conde, the day after our last recording at his place last winter. I was saying how I thought that the recording session, with my Galician bagpipe and music from India and Uzbekistan, was the most incredible I had ever experienced. Hector was a genius, and allowed me to rediscover the instrument I had been playing for nearly 30 years. He guided me toward territories that I am pretty sure have never been explored, thanks to his desire to free this instrument from its “Celtic music” context and put it back on the path to its lost origins, in Eurasia. That last recording with Hector was like an initiatory journey for me.
He’s gone now. And as we said goodbye that day, he told us that he was leaving feeling accomplished and happy.

Carlos Nuñez (English translation Tanis Kmetyk, along with original French version found at Taktic Music)





January 14, 2009

Inge Zeininger

Inge Zeininger (voc): [Brian Eno: Ambient #1 - Music for Airports tracks #2,3]

Another such difficult case: I've been reading quite a few reviews and googling around for a while, but I couldn't figure out more than this: Inge Zeininger's voice is to be found on the tapes which Brian Eno used for 1/2 and 2/1 on his seminal classic Ambient #1. Well, however, being part of this unique album is a good enough reason to get an entry into our little encyclopedia.

January 11, 2009

Ben Zion Zeitlin & Mordechai Zeitlin

Ben Zion Zeitlin & Mordechai Zeitlin (voc): Andy Statman Klezmer Orchestra: "Borukh ato" Andy Statman Klezmer Orchestra: "Gerer rikkud"

Couldn't find any pictures, couldn't find any info, don't know who these two vocalists are. The only thing that is for sure: They're singing on two tracks of the album "A Haymish Groove", compiled/produced by Geduldig un Thimann in 1992.

Edit: Lucky has provided a wooooonderful photo of these two singers. Many thanks! Here it is:

January 6, 2009

Wigbert Zelfel

Wigbert Zelfel (sax): [Palais Schaumburg: Palais Schaumburg]

Wigbert Zelfel is probably most prominent for having been a member of the classical Palais Schaumburg lineup, as it appeared on their self-titled debut album. This wonderfully odd album is a true classic of the experimental edge of Neue Deutsche Welle. EmtyFree.org wrote:

"If you’ve heard of Palais Schaumburg, you’re either a music freak like me, or you’re a fan of the Orb. Palais Schaumburg are the curious parenthetical reference next to the name of Thomas Fehlmann in the liner notes to your Orb CDs.

Palais Schaumburg were a German no-wave/new-wave pop band in the early 80s. They put out one brilliant no-wave album with Holger Hiller on vocals. But, they followed it up with two awful new wave albums without Hiller. Well, ignore those later two albums. The first self-titled album is wall-to-wall brilliance.

Palais Schaumburg were impossible pop music: bizarrely quirky with odd synth sounds, panicked drumming, out-of-key-auf-deutsch singing by Hiller, with a steady bassline that kept it all together. Their large hit from the first album was “Wir Bauen Ein Neu Stadt,” which made its way to America on numerous compilations. In short, Palais Schaumburg have that ultra-strange “German-ness” that reminds you of Mike Myers in a turtleneck."

Wigbert Zelfel introduces himself:
"Ich arbeite seit vielen Jahren mit Bläsergruppen, unterrichte und veranstalte Workshops. Spiele Saxophon und Oboe in der Band FISH FOR FISH und bei zahlreichen Gruppen (u.a. Fehlfarben, Can, Palais Schaumburg, Buschband, Ougenweide und div. Jazzformationen), live und im Studio, wirkte bei Film- und Fernsehmusik mit, ebenso bei einigen Veranstaltungen des Thalia-Theaters. 2003 komponierte ich die Musik für ein Theaterstück (Peer Gynt) und für ein Hörbuch (Kieselstubsen)." [I am working in brass/wind groups for many years now, I teach and I organize workshops. Play saxophone and oboe in the band Fish for Fish and with numerous other groups (among others Fehlfarben, Can, Palais Schaumburg, Buschband, Ougenweide and several jazz line-ups), live and in the studio, contributed to film and tv music, also played in some events of the Thalia theater [in Hamburg, Germany]. In 2003 I composed the music for a play (Peer Gynt) and an audio book (Kieselstubsen).]


January 4, 2009

Tibor Zelig

Tibor Zelig (vi): [Frank Zappa: Lumpy Gravy track #2] [Beach Boys: Pet Sounds tracks #4,6]

see also Frank Zappa
see also Jimmy Zito

Tibor Zelig was a member of the Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra from 1959 to 1974. With this ensemble he appears on Frank Zappa's Lumpy Gravy. He played the violin on many studio productions of rock, pop, soul and jazz music, among them the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (on Don't Talk and Let's Go away for a While), albums of Randy Newman, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Joan Baez, Lionel Ritchie. Occasionally the credits would even attribute flute and percussion to him.

January 3, 2009

Zelu

Zélu (el-b): [Paulo Moura: Gafiera etc. & tal]

Zélu (or Zélú?) is an electric bass player, usually with the Orquestra Tabajara.