I’ve been wiped out by illness (it was either food poisoning or a flu….) since Thursday, so not much news to report. I did manage to get a little bit of listening done on the weekend during my brief periods of consciousness, including the new Charles Lloyd trio disc, Sangam. This is a disc of a live gig featuring CL, Eric Harland on drums and Zakir Hussain on tabla.
It’s a great disc, but to someone who has been listening to Zakir for years, on record and in person, he’s a letdown. His command of the tabla and of time and rhythm is astounding, but his taste and discretion are sometimes so suspect that one wonders how his esteemed colleagues let him get away with it. I mean, for 15 years I’ve been hearing Zakir play “musical jokes” (quoting Houndog, William Tell, etc. on the bayan (low tabla drum capable of pitch bends), and it makes me cringe every time. Of course, the “audience” (who are these people anyway, or for that matter, who am I if they are them?) loves it. Zakir can be moving and elegant in his bayan playing (I’ve heard him playing entire rags (scales) complete with ornaments, it’s unreal), and yet he cheapens it all the time with this crud. Even worse, he does it onstage with Charles Lloyd?!?!?!?!
This suggests to me that Zakir either has a lack of understanding of the deeply spiritual place CL’s music is coming from, or understands it but doesn’t respect it; or simply doesn’t respect his own playing to lift it above the hacky jokes. Anyways, too bad for Zakir. Cheap Laffs.
On the other hand, I got to watch my newly delivered NRBQ “Live At Connecticut Public Television” (which would be hands-down one of the great titles of the year if it was actually ironic, which it’s not) DVD. This awesome from start to finish. Tom Ardolino’s drumming is Jo Jones, Buddy Harmon, Ringo Starr, Earl Palmer and John Bonham all at once, but unmistakably Tommy Ardolino. NRBQ are always goofing off onstage, but never sacrificing the music, it’s something that Zakir doesn’t pull off. You can entertain and amuse without sacrificing or dumbing down the music you’re making.
….. It’s no secret that my “classic jazz” knowledge is sometime suspect. I mean, I have a decent (probably pretty good, actually) understanding and appreciation of the music, but my record collection is sometimes glaring in its omissions. Having said that, my good friend and cc3 bassist Mike Pelletier has been tireless in his support of the correction of this error, so far to the tune of 100s of records. I’ll probably never get through all of them, but they’re there, waiting for me. Also, Rob Price mentioned a few Paul Desmond 4tet albums (with Jim Hall, Connie Kay and various bassists) that he felt were essential. Thankfully, iTunes had them, and I’m now digging “Take Ten”. Thanks guys!
