Marc Copland: The Quiet American

Marc Copland (piano, b. 1948)


Marc Copland is a highly accomplished pianist with an astute approach to performing that is both introspective and emotional. He is a prolific performer with over 15 albums in the last 10 years. That's more than most artists in any genre. If you haven't guessed it, he is definitely one of those undiscovered treasures.

I have to admit I have only just recently gotten into his music in the last two to three years. I had always known the name but never paid any attention until I borrowed a trio session featuring one of my favourite bassists, Drew Gress and John Rueckert (drums) entitled Some Love Songs (Pirouet). He has collaborated with some the greatest jazz musicians of recent times including, Gary Peacock, John Abercrombie, Bill Stewart, Randy Brecker and Greg Osby to name a few. Many of his collaborations in recent years have been duo or trio recordings, all of which I highly recommend.

Copland started his career as a saxophonist before switching to piano in the mid-eighties. Since then his career has taken off and his style has been revered by students and his contemporaries alike. His most recent album is simply titled Alone (Pirouet) and is a beautiful solo album of delicate entries including a number of pieces from the Joni Mitchell cannon. This may be the perfect way for anyone unfamiliar with Copland to start out.

He does have a very vast catalog but you will be very satified if you seek out one of the trio sessions he recently recorded entitled The New York Trio Recordings Vol. I - III (Pirouet) which appear to be the easiest of his catalog to find in stores and online. While highly regarded overseas, his profile is limited in his native U.S. but hopefully more people will discover this truly underrated musician. Check out Marc Copland's version of the standard Milestones.

What About Chet!?!

Chet Baker (trumpet; b. 1929 - d. 1988)

So I took a look back at some of my discussions over the past few months and realized I forgot to talk about Chet Baker. What the hell was I thinking!?! Chet Baker played in a style very similar to Miles Davis' early recordings--smooth, melodic and sophisticated. Nowhere near as adventurous as Miles, Chet still possessed the ability to craft a rhythm that was just as haunting and brilliant.

Chet Baker is quite regarded among jazz fans but remains somewhat a cult figure for those new to jazz. His unfortunate struggle with heroin destroyed his chances of really scaling the highest of Miles', Clifford Brown or Dizzy Gillespie. Chet Baker played in Charlie Parker's band early in his career before moving out on his own with the legendary piano-less quartet with Gerry Mulligan. Chet would later go on to form his own group and record a series of wonderful albums during the mid-fifties. His drug habit resulted in erratic recording dates throughout the rest of his career even though he still had ability to perform quite well.

There are so many compilations on Chet Baker it almost matches those of Miles Davis. The one I would recommend is Career: 1952-1988 (Shout Factory). It's hard to sum up a career as expansive as Chet's but this collection manages to touch on all the important points for any beginner. One of the things that really set Chet Baker apart from his contemporaries was not only his effortless ability on the trumpet, but also his warm, lush vocals that added to his mystic. Career: 1952-1988 captures both over the span of two discs. From his beautiful classic version of "My Funny Valentine" to the enchanting cover of Elvis Costello's "Almost Blue" this collection has exactly what you would need to learn about one the greatest and often overlooked genius' in jazz history. In addition, I would suggest you also check out Chet Baker's final studio session entitled Peace (Enja Records), recorded in 1988 which was a lovely return to form and a great testament to his legacy.

The Intersection: Squarepusher

The Intersection looks at artists that blend jazz with electronica (a tradition pioneered by none other than Miles Davis on such classic recordings as On the Corner). This week's focus is Squarepusher.

Over the course of nine albums since 1996, Tom Jenkinson aka Squarepusher has hacked the electronica subgenre of drum 'n' bass by cross-wiring it with jazz fusion. As the son of a jazz musician and a talented bass guitar player in his own right (not to mention a multi-instrumentalist), Jenkinson has demonstrated -- perhaps more than any other d'n'b proponent -- how to marry jazz concepts with electronic technology.

Following his impressive debut, Feed Me Weird Things, Squarepusher moved to the head of the d'n'b class with the back-to-back juggernauts of Hard Normal Daddy and Music is Rotted One Note. Over the course of the next several albums, such as Go Plastic and Ultravisitor, Jenkinson continued to experiment with the form, pushing the envelope with increasingly jazz-influenced compositions.

Legend has it that Jenkinson was weaned on the music of Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Charlie Parker and other jazz greats. The jazz influence manifests itself in Squarepusher through the use of complex chord progressions, the influence of bop-influenced drum breaks and Jenkinson's fluid fusion-influenced bass guitar work. D'n'B is an intrinsically complex form of electronic music thanks to the rapid-fire drum programming, but Jenkinson's traditional mastery of the form's basic elements have enabled him to stretch the boundaries of the genre.

The Importance of "Bitches Brew"

Miles Davis
Bitches Brew
(Columbia; 1969)

To say Miles Davis recorded quite a few influential albums is silly. But of those few, none can be more important than Bitches Brew. Bitches Brew was a defining moment in jazz history in that it singled-handedly created the term jazz-rock and jazz-fusion. The year, 1969, was a time of change on all fronts (politics, life and music). Bitches Brew was a mirror of the time and a door way for the future.

Assembled by Miles and longtime producer Teo Macero, Bitches Brew is an album that would influence almost every musician from every genre since. Miles had put together an ensemble cast of musicians, many of whom were becoming highly influential themselves (Joe Zawinul (piano/keyboards), Chick Corea (piano/keyboards), Wayne Shorter (sax), Dave Holland (bass), John McLaughlin (guitar), Jack DeJohnette (drums) to name a few. The album itself grew out of a series of live dates during the beginning of the year as Miles started to introduce new material into the band before the first studio session.

As some of you may already know the striking moment came after the Woodstock Festival and the extra impetus Miles had after witnessing the funk soul sets of Sly & The Family Stone and Jimi Hendrix. Miles would use that energy in the Bitches Brew sessions for more improvised and experimental interaction with the band, all the while still having a vision of a completely different direction of the music. The album flourished with blues, funk, rock, psychedelia and jazz--all pushed to the limits with extraordinary results. It also contains a heavy use of electric guitar, keyboards, bass and distortion on Miles' already muted trumpet. Miles would later incorporate the electric guitar fully into his repertoire after this album.

At the time, you wouldn't have known what to think of Miles' as this record is pouring out of your speakers or at a live concert. This is an album that continues to astound every time I put it on. Tracks like "Pharaoh's Dance", "Sanctuary" and my personal favourite "Miles Runs The Voodoo Down," demonstrates how aggressive, experimental and "out there" Miles was thinking at the time. Bitches Brew many be a classic example of experimentation but that doesn't mean the uninitiated should avoid it. It is an album of sheer beauty and depth that forces you to examine every other album you may own that came after 1970 to see how it was influenced.

Bitches Brew is a road map for many musicians. A road map that says the road is limitless. For those of you interested there are two versions available; the two disc original album (with bonus track) and the four disc deluxe version which I highly recommend to give the full picture of the recording session. The four disc set is a lot of money and probably only for the die-hard, but it you should definitely treat yourself to one of the versions if possible. This is important history.