January 31, 2012 in 09, 10, 12, 2, 2009, 25, 3, 50, 9, 99, a, age, all, am, an, and, Are, as, at, audio, ban, band, bands, Berkeley, book, bud, Burn, but, by, ca, california, can, center, chris, community, concert, concerts, Day, en, end, eq, fame, fee, FOR, Free, From, get, gin, hall, hampton, hi, improvisation, in, is, IT, jam, jazz, Labor, las, light, long, MA, MI, money, Music, My, nc, New, no, ny, of, on, one, op, PA, page, Part, Paul, Phish, pro, Pt, rs, saturday, So, SPAC, St, Stab, super, tab, the, to, University, us, va, van, WA, we, Ween, Wilson, with |
FUNDRAISING CONCERT FOR
UC BERKELEY JAZZ AND IMPROVISED MUSIC FUND
Art Lande |
The Department of Music at the University of California, Berkeley presents a special fundraising concert for the Jazz and Improvised Music Fund (JIM) on Saturday, April 10, 8:00pm at Hertz Hall, Berkeley, CA. Famed improvisers Art Lande (Pianist/Drummer) and Paul McCandless (Saxophonist/Multi-Instrumentalist) will perform a program of original compositions and free improvisations, and UC Berkeley professor and pianist Myra Melford will direct the Berkeley Nu Jazz Collective debuting student arrangements and compositions. There will be a preconcert Q & A with Lande and McCandless, for ticket holders, from 7:15 7:45pm.
Tickets are $15 general admission; $10 students, seniors, and groups of 10+; $5 UC Berkeley students. Tickets may be purchased at Hertz Hall one hour prior to performance (7:00pm) or in advance by calling (510) 642-9988 or visiting http://tickets.berkeley.edu.
The JIM Fund, under the direction of Melford and UC Berkeley faculty member and trumpeter Christy Dana, was created by and for UC Berkeley music students. Its primary purpose is to raise money and support for studies in jazz and contemporary improvised music, especially in light of recent budget cuts. The JIM Fund strives to provide new instruments and audio equipment, to increase the number of master classes and coaching sessions with world-class musicians, along with establishing an endowment. JIM allows students to study, perform and collaborate on a variety of approaches to improvised music by creating a thriving community of musicians.
Since its founding in 2009, JIM has created the Berkeley Nu Jazz Collective, produced an innovative collaboration between improvisers in food and in music, presented a master class with the progressive Jazz supergroup Kneebody, and held concerts with world-class musicians Denny Zeitlin, Taylor Eigsti, Matt Wilson, and Mark Dresser.
Tags: 00pm-at-hertz, bud, burn, chris, christy-dana, collective, gin, Music, paul, saturday, Stab, tab, tickets, university, ween
January 31, 2012 in 09, 10, 11, 12, 17, 2, 2009, 25, 29, 3, 30, 31, 50, 9, a, acoustic, after, age, all, Also, am, an, and, Are, as, at, away, Awesome, Bad, ban, band, bands, Bass, book, Bug, Burn, but, by, ca, can, cat, center, chords, close, comes, cream, Crowd, Day, dirt, does, down, Drums, electric, en, Encore, end, Eve, fee, festival, fi, final, FOR, From, get, gin, Guitar, guitarist, hall, hampton, hi, How, ice, in, inspired, interview, into, intro, introduction, is, IT, jam, Jr, King, know, las, League, Led, Like, live, live music, lz, MA, Main, Mars, metal, MI, Music, My, name, Nat, nc, New, News, night, no, NV, of, on, one, op, Open, opening, out, PA, Part, Phish, play, Pop, post, pro, Pt, rad, rage, rain, read, redding, rock, roll, row, rs, run, San Francisco, Saw, SC, set, show, Shows, Simple, Sky, So, solo, solos, song, sound, SPAC, St, stage, start, state, super, tab, That, the, Thursday, to, tone, tour, Tv, two, us, va, view, vocal, WA, war, Way, ways, we, with, You |
By: Eric Podolsky
Dinosaur Jr. :: 12.15.11 :: The Fillmore :: San Francisco, CA
 Henry Rollins |
Those in the Bay Area looking to satisfy their hunger for some crushing, sonic-assault fretwork knew where to find it on this Thursday night, as legendary post-punk guitarist J Mascus and his band Dinosaur Jr. were in town and ready to blow some eardrums. But this was no ordinary Dino Jr. show, oh no, this mini tour was a celebration of their landmark 1988 album Bug, which the band performed in its entirety, but not before being interviewed onstage by none other than Henry Rollins, punks own master of the spoken word.
The night started civilly enough with Rollins giving the band his own enthusiastic introduction, and was followed by an interesting Q & A session that touched on a number of topics: the rarity of soloing in punk music (and how J Mascus pulls it off brilliantly), the excitement of playing in the legendary, acoustically-perfect Fillmore (it’s hard to have a bad night here), the importance of the rhythm section being locked in underneath Mascus barrage of distortion, and Mascus perfectionism (he wrote every drum and bass part for every song on Bug). Rollins assertive questions and commanding presence were contrasted by Mascus droll, simple answers and unassuming persona, though this would all change once he strapped on his guitar.
 Dinosaur Jr. |
After a short break, the band came out revved up and ready to rock. Dwarfed by towers of Marshall stacks, Mascus transformed into a true force of nature, a shaman of sorts churning out super thick n crunchy bursts of sound, while bassist Lou Barlow (strumming chords, no less) and drummer Murph laid down a tight foundation — essentially the canvas for Mascus to paint on. His aggressively loud, ragged playing was cathartic in its absoluteness — the distortion washed over us, and we were taken away.
After playing two newer songs to warm things up, the band launched into side one of Bug, and the crowd and band alike threw themselves into the familiar music. Opening with Freak Scene, Mascus immediately showed us that he is in a league of his own when it comes to soloing — using feedback and raw sonic distortion, he can contort sound to his liking, making statements with his guitar outside of the realm of tonality. This contrasted with his mopey, mumbling vocals, which delivered his tuneful lyrics like the shy kid in the back of the class. These disparate contrasts of wimpy melodies and ferocious guitar define the sound of Dino Jr, and the crowd lapped up every moment.
 J. Mascus by Malzkorn |
Adding to his own legend, Mascus also showed us that he can shred more traditional, melodic solos just as well as he can experiment in the outer realms of feedback. His sprawling, grandiose guitar work on the catchy They Always Come solidified him as a true dirty rock god in my book. Things barreled forward at a furious pace from there, with Murph pounding the skins and Barlow chugging out bass lines and chords underneath the sonic whirlwind. The set reached a roaring, freak-out peak with Bugs final song, Dont, in which a fan was brought on stage to scream the songs one angsty line (Why dont you like me?) over and over while the band climaxed in a shredding, ferocious double-time barrage of noise and aggression before ending the set in a hypnotic feedback loop.
After a heavy set which essentially blew out our brains, minds and ears, it was nice to have an encore that showcased their more mainstream 90s days; namely, their two major label hits, Out There and Feel the Pain. These poppier tunes saw Mascus clean up his tone, upon which he proceeded to straight kill us with a searing metal shred-fest that inspired pangs of nostalgia to well up in me for the days when MTV actually showcased awesome music like this. To close the show, Mascus barreled us over with a final bout of sonic assault that left my head ringing for days after. We poured out of The Fillmore feeling cleansed by the power of electric music, knowing right well that there is no band on this earth that can do what Dinosaur Jr. does. May the slacker ethos live forever!
Dinosaur Jr. Tour Dates :: Dinosaur Jr. News
JamBase | Buzzing
Go See Live Music!
Tags: bad, dirt, earth, henry-rollins, inspired, opening, read, skins, spac
January 9, 2012 in 09, 10, 11, 12, 2, 2009, 2011, 25, 3, 30, 50, 9, a, after, Again, age, all, am, an, and, Are, as, at, Bad, ban, band, bands, beauty, Boys, Burn, but, by, ca, can, cat, center, close, concert, daily, dave, Day, dry, en, end, Enjoy, Eve, FEAT, fee, festival, fi, First, fool, FOR, Friend, From, Funk, gain, Genre, get, gin, give, Good, hampton, hi, high, home, How, ice, in, into, intro, is, IT, IX, jam, Joy, King, know, las, Last, Laugh, Led, life, light, lights, Like, live, long, love, MA, MI, mix, mod, Mr, Music, My, Myself, Nat, nc, New, News, NJ, no, NV, ny, of, on, one, op, Open, organ, out, PA, Part, party, Phish, photos, piper, play, pro, Pt, rage, rare, RCA, read, rock, row, rs, SC, So, Something, song, sound, SPAC, St, start, Starting, tab, That, the, times, to, tour, track, Trip, tuesday, two, us, va, van, view, WA, war, Way, ways, we, Wednesday, with, words, You, Your |
DAILY COVERAGE FROM THE SHIP STARTING TUESDAY
Yeah, along came Mr. Goodtrips
Looking for a new a ship
Come on, people better climb on board
Come on, baby, now we’re going home
 Pool Deck on Jam Cruise 9 by Dave Vann |
A full year has passed since Jam Cruise 9 docked in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and not a week has gone by that the good times, deep conversations and stupendous music hasnt cropped up at least a few times. And I know with absolute certainty that Im not alone in my nigh-endless poetic waxing over what happens at Jam Cruise, along with the certainty that friends and acquaintances who havent attended are a tad sick of hearing about it. Forgive us, pals and loved ones. It is rarer all the time in this 21st century world that we come across an EXPERIENCE that handily and gloriously exceeds expectations so spectacularly. To not sing about it would cheapen how dear and impactful sailing with this ship of wonderful fools is. Its a blast of beauty and invigorating intensity at the cusp of the New Year that carries us through until the next time the anchor lifts, the gigantic horn bellows, and the uncut funk ignites the gathered throng on the pool deck once again.
 Your Scribe Preparing For Jam Cruise 10 |
At the center of it all is music, sweet music, flowing in every corridor and cranny of the ship. If it isnt actual instruments being plied or voices raised in song its conversations about the tour life, the past years concert highlights or impassioned arguments about the merits (and demerits) of bands. It is the molecular bond that unites the performers and passengers into a single, undulating organ of sound as the hours and days of this once-in-a-lifetime-every-time excursion pile up. Sure, one can keep this heady mojo at bay, refusing to give into the swirling gravity that begs one to simply give into their unreasonable love of all things musical. Ive seen it happen in my two sailings, where someone sits on deck and just cant bring themselves to shimmy in the conga line, so to speak. Hell, Ive been there myself the first year I climbed aboard (2009), uncertain if I was welcome to this party thats been in progress for close to a decade now. Trust me, ALL are welcome and the reality of that starts at the port long before we launch, where cocktails are mixed for total strangers as masks are pulled out for modeling purposes and the collective scheming begins towards the end goal of having the time of our lives. Come alone or come with landlubber friends, it matters not. No one is alone here if they dont want to be. We are all joyfully in this together, laughing and hugging and connecting in ways that surprise one, especially if one isnt used to this sort of unity (or perhaps like myself, a bit punk-ishly dubious of such touchy-feely stuff by nature).
Its this last aspect that lies at the heart of Jam Cruises longevity and success. The music always top-notch and bloated with surprises and unique combinations of genres and sounds would be enough for most, but there is something palpably and exhilaratingly MORE to this gathering. Its a glimpse of humans sharing what they have with each other with a smile and an open hand. It is people breaking bread and enjoying conversation instead of hustling every waking minute. It is moments of sublime repose with a soundtrack that lives inside one long after were back on dry land. It is, to paraphrase a Federico Garcia Lorca poem, hearts of silk filled with lights, lost bells, lilies and bees, and a chance to throw on a feathered cap and joust playfully with wooden swords, the children of old inside us born anew on the high seas, lost boys and girls at play as mad (talented) pipers capture our attentions with tunes merry and deep. (Dennis Cook)
Daily coverage with photos from the MSC Poesia begins on JamBase starting Tuesday, January 10th. Check back all week for updates on this years festivities.
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 Your Scribe At Safety Gathering on Jam Cruise 9 by Chad Smith
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Tags: beauty, children, daily, federico-garcia, gain, read, song, tour