So rather than do another straight album review, this time I thought I would rank some of the top 10 music videos I’ve come across on YouTube in the past few months, with a few honorable mentions. These aren’t music videos in the same sense that you would come across on VH1 or MTV2 (I think they still show videos from time to time). These are recordings of bands performing live where the audience is lucky enough to witness the conception of timeless classics, true music conceived in its most pure and almost vulnerable form. They are the result of ideas that progress from a disenchantment of anything commonplace and are always riding on the crest of a wave of change.
1 - Naima
This classic Coltrane track was recorded from a live European performance by the quartet including McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones, broadcast on the French TV station ARTE. Appearing on the studio recording Giant Steps, this somber dedication to Coltrane’s first wife Naima Grubb (whom he left through an addiction to drugs and his music) conveys the artist’s innate ability to affect the mood of the listener through sound. There is an undeniable tone of remorse, an expression of sorrow revealed in the quartet’s performance that almost conveys an air of repentance. For me this is the most powerful performance on the site I’ve seen thus far.
2 - Bitches Brew 1969 - Part. 1
This performance by Miles finished a close second in the top 10. Recorded on the album Bitches Brew track 3 off disc 2 entitled “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down” is executed flawlessly by the all-star combo of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Hammond, and De Johnette at this 1969 concert in Rome. Miles Davis always seemed to have an instinct for the course of jazz evolution and it’s largely through his innovations, particularly in fusion with the implementation of electric instrumentation, that this genre of music progressed the way it did. Listen to Shorter’s soprano solo at 3:57. The group’s modal approach to this album allows him to improvise vertically, and with an abandonment of the typical walking bassline and swing style rhythm, this form of sonic architecture facilitates a greater a far greater freedom of expression.
3 – Charlie Hunter If 6 Was 9
The Charlie Hunter Trio breathes life into this historic Hendrix jam, and through a traditional jazz perspective, revitalizes the classic Axis: Bold As Love (1967) track. Hunter (8 string guitar), Skerik (tenor sax), and Moore (drums) tear through this cover with an amazing knowledge of and sensitivity to the groundbreaking and fearless style that was Jimi Hendrix. In the original recording Mitch Mitchell’s Elvin Jones-esque drumming provides a tight framework for Jimi’s tale of staying true to yourself even if the world turned upside down, because after all “If the mountains fell in the sea, let it be, it ain't me.” I actually should have titled this “Skerik If 6 was 9” in lieu of the solo he plays. The first riff he wails at 4:20 really sets the tone for the whole show and you have to believe if Hendrix played sax instead of that lefty axe this is what he would have sounded like. Skerik uses everything; the growls, the pedal tones, the reverb to perfection, climaxing at 6:00 when he creates vocal distortion by yelling into the bell of his sax as Stanton Moore beats the drums like they owe him money in a truly rock fashion. I actually saw him with Galactic at Bonnaroo 2005 where they had to physically duct tape his ride cymbal and high hat to the platform he was playing on as they were about to shake off the side.
4 – Fela Kuti & Jethro PART 2 of 2; LIVE in Munich 1983.
Fela and Jethro straight rip this show in Munich, the body of sound these two are able to create is really astounding. Tull’s lyrical flute is driven forward by a surging Tony Allen Afrobeat drum rhythm, soon to be joined by Kuti’s angry blistering soprano solo. The result is an intense hypnotic groove seemingly defiant in nature to any form of oppressive pigeonholing, the Kuti Tull combo is far too mercurial for that.
5 - Charles Mingus - Flowers For A Lady (1974)
Ellington aside, Charles Mingus has been the single greatest jazz composer hands down for the last 50 years. That being said this performance is somewhat depressing as Mingus nears the end of his career, shortly before Lou Gehrig's disease takes his life January 5, 1979. By this point the health of “the angry man in jazz” was clearly deteriorating as he appears overweight and heavily medicated. In this performance of “Flowers for a Lady” Mingus is almost a side note, seemingly distant from the other musicians and not soloing in his typical fashion. I do however like the faster tempo and more avant guarde rhythm of this performance versus the slower bossonova feel to the 1973 studio album Mingus Moves. It is still a bit disheartening to see Mingus past his prime, touring and recording albums not only because he feels underappreciated but also due to a dire financial situation. Not to take anything away from Pullen and Adams, this performance certainly illustrated their versatility and ability to embrace dissonance and push the band in a different direction than previously recorded, however in my humble opinion, they really can’t hold a candle to Dolphy and Byard on Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (1963).
6 - Joshua Redman - Jazz Crimes (Live)
The first time I saw Joshua Redman with his Elastic Band I was a bit taken back by the logistics of having dual Hammond B5s facing each other across the stage. I must say after Redman and Sam Yahel went to work with the lyrical rhythms of Brian Blade, any theories I had as to the creation of chaotic sound were quickly dispelled. “Jazz Crimes,” the second track off the studio album Elastic 2002, is one of many perpetually grooving pieces where Redman expands on a relatively simple idea, continually striving for a balance between improvisation and composition. When the necessary elements are there with simplicity comes innovation, and Joshua Redman remains one of the few contemporary artists continually reinventing himself and bringing an individuality to a musical scene in dire need of it.
7 – Giant Steps
Willy Dalton and the gang tear through this big band arrangement of the John Coltrane classic Giant Steps. Originally recorded in 1959 with Coltrane, Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers, and Art Taylor, the changes in this piece are so intensely obscure when the title track “Giant Steps” was first laid Flanagan asked for a retake after he went through a couple rough choruses, only to achieve redemption by re-recording the track in the mid 80’s. From this show Chris Hunter clearly needed no such retake as he “burns” his tenor solo according to Dalton in his youtube post.
8 - Medeski Martin and Wood. Santiago Chile, Epílogo Acústico
John Medeski (melodica), Chris Wood (bass), Billy Martin (drums) play a nice little encore here in Santiago, Chile. I’ve seen this group about 7 or 8 times and they tend to end sets this way, in a funky jam walking around with handheld instruments. At the Sommerville Theatre outside Boston they actually started a conga line at the end of the show walking up and down the isles for half an hour. Listen to the riff John plays at 4:28, more of this is on the way with the new album to be released 9/26/06 with the legendary John Scofield on guitar.
9 - Jimi Hendrix - Red House
There isn’t much you can say about this besides Jimi being Jimi. Again he shreds “Red House,” the blues standard he made famous on his Blues (1994) album.
10 - A Love Supreme
I decided to post this performance of Acknowledgement from the greatest album of all time, John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, even though an interpretation of this track by anyone other than Trane himself nears sacrilege.
Honorable mentions
Actually these should all be in the Top 10 I just didn’t want this post to be any longer given the length of pages necessary for dedications to So What, Whipping Post, Since I've Been Loving You (my favorite Zep song), Josie, or this take by the Chico Hamilton Quintet, all excellent performances which you should definitely check out.
