Home : Plato's Words : December 2007

December 2007

One of the most wonderful evenings of music that I have experienced lately was getting to see Nancy King and Steve Christofferson at The Cellar in Vancouver. It was the second time that we have been lucky enough to have them come up and perform for us. Listening to the two of them play music together is a highly emotional experience for me. I find myself constantly surprised by the electricity and chemistry that exists between Nancy and Steve. I have never seen another duo that is so connected in every way and it sometimes appears that they may even surprise each other. Songs that I have heard them do many times either live or on recordings take on a new life and character and their improvisations continue to explore the depths of each song. I have to admit to feeling a type of reverence as I listen to them sculpt the dynamics and bring to life each tune so I was annoyed to hear the staff at the Cellar continue to pour water and ice cubes for the customers with no regard to the noisy interruptions that this created. Each time a staff member seemed to choose to do this it happened to be a rather quieter moment in the music and it was almost like having the icy water poured on your lap when the sonic annoyance occurred. I remember being in New York at The Jazz Standard (a fantastic club) and there the staff was particularly careful with any noise they might create while the music was being performed. They would lean over to you and whisper to find out whether you wished to order anything further. Water glasses were certainly not refilled complete with ice cubes on my few enjoyable nights listening to music there. Now, all these complaints may sound like I am being a true prima donna while the poor staff were simply trying to do their jobs. However it is my opinion listening to music at the Cellar is not the same as listening to music as an after thought or background music as might occur at one of our other local restaurants or lounges. That is a different situation. The Cellar is supposedly a listening room and that is primarily why people go there. You pay a ticket price so in essence when you decide to go you are attending a concert and you also have the opportunity to have a meal and drinks as well. I suppose that would be considered cabaret seating. I think that there is a way to provide food and beverage service while the music is being presented without creating any outside distractions that may detract from the performance or affect the artists or audience in some negative fashion. I should end my griping about the excessive noise distractions but I did have other people comment the same to me so I know I was not alone in my observations.

It is a wonderful thing to be able to hear artists of Nancy and Steve’s caliber in the intimacy of a club setting like The Cellar. You are able to be as close as you might be in a living room and the connection between artist and audience is much more immediate and personal than it would be in a concert hall setting. So we are indeed lucky in Vancouver to have The Cellar whereby we can witness the magic of some international artists besides having a concert space for local jazz artists to perform as well. I guess there is also a great difference sonically between listening to a full rhythm section including bass and drums, which add decibels to the sound as opposed to listening to a piano/voice duo. There are obvious contrasts in the dynamic range achieved and background conversations and other sounds created will be more apparent when the music itself is quieter by nature. Perhaps I am just getting fussier about things like that as I get older.

A CD that I have been listening to is a new one by my friend Laura Crema. Laura is a wonderful singer with a deep rich sound and she has come up with a fantastic collection of some of my favorite standards. I attended her CD release concert in early November and enjoyed every moment. She sings a song that Bill Coon first suggested to me the year we did our duo tour a number of years ago: A FLOWER IS A LOVESOME THING. It is a Billy Strayhorn tune and is absolutely haunting and beautiful. Laura does a fantastic job capturing a tender mood and inventive pianist George McFetridge accompanies her. Another fellow musician who is on the CD is Paul Rushka who is a very good friend of Laura’s. On the disc he plays absolutely beautifully and I believe he is one reason that the entire disc has a unique and captivating quality to it. Guitarist Bill Coon in on the CD as is Brad Turner and Paul Townsend and they all play sensitively and help support Laura’s interpretations. Laura’s new CD is called SPRING IS HERE, named for a Rodgers and Hart tune. I suppose another reason I love this CD so much is that it is a “real jazz” CD. So many vocalists these days are making more of a pop/jazz CD and I like those kinds of recordings too sometimes but I suppose I am pretty much a tradionalist in the sense that I like the standards and other newer material as opposed to including pop tunes that have been revisited. Perhaps I am a bit of a hypocrite in that way because I have included renditions of pop tunes on occasion too and here on Laura’s disc she includes an arrangement of the Beatle’s BLACKBIRD which is one of the most beautiful pop tunes ever written in my opinion. Still this isn’t a smooth jazz/pop CD. It’s hard for me to describe why I see a difference but perhaps one reason would be that the instrumentalists are still exploring all the harmonic possibilities that they would in the standard swing tunes and there is a commitment to sculpting the tune around Laura’s phrasing and interpretation. It becomes a personal conversation between Laura and her fellow musicians and that conversation in each case truly makes the song a collective statement. How is that different from hearing a jazzy rendition of a pop tune? I need to ponder on that and perhaps another time I will be able to better articulate why I feel this way. For now I will just say that I am so proud of my beautiful friend Laura because she has made a remarkable jazz CD that really demonstrates an honest truthfulness musically speaking. There is a heartfelt connection that she brings to each song that makes you as the listener linger and cling to her every word. How wonderful is that!

So now I end my words for another year. December 2007 came quickly. Have a peaceful and enjoyable holiday season everyone. I hope you get to laugh and make music with your family and friends. I hope it will be a joyful time for all of you…

Karin