The Paul Carlon Octet: So the Story Goes…(A Not-So-Brief History and Bio)

How it all began

In the Spring of 2002 I was approached by visual artist Joan Carlon (aka my mom) regarding writing some music as a kind of accompaniment to Where is Home?, a visual art project she had been developing. The project revolved around the themes of immigration and the way it disrupts, reshapes and redirects the lives of people who come to the United States from all over the world. I put together a group, somewhat randomly I have to admit in terms of instrumentation, and recorded the Where is Home? suite in May 2002. The Spirit Calls is one of the movements from the suite. The recording was intended to be played during the exhibition of Where is Home? Over the next couple of years, the project grew into a multimedia performance piece featuring the Octet, Rumbatap dancer/body percussionist Max Pollak, and an installation of tapestries hung onstage around the band. The tapestries, made from long strips of clear vinyl, were painted with testimonials my mother had collected from various immigrants in the Syracuse, NY area describing their experiences, either in leaving their home countries or in adjusting to their new lives in America. Here’s a couple of examples:

We (the Ocet + Max, with the installation) performed an extended version of Where Is Home? in 2003-2004 at Small’s jazz club and El Taller Latinoamericano in NYC, and at the Delavan Center in Syracuse, NY. As Where is Home? was being developed as a performance piece the Octet also began playing on its own in club and concert settings in New York City. For some time I had been thinking about writing for a group larger than the quartets and quintets I’d primarily been composing for, so once the ball got rolling with the Octet it just seemed to pick up steam.

The Plot Thickens

My early writing for the band involved a combination of original pieces and adaptations of things I’d written for smaller lineups like Grupo los Santos. Over time I moved towards performing material written exclusively for the Octet. I like to include arrangements of other composer’s music as well when something really grabs me, though if we cover another artist’s material I try to reinvent it to give it our own sabor. For the first couple of years of the group’s existence it was more of a side project for me as I went through the process of working different musicians into the group and trying different musical ideas out for the Octet format. I’d been heavily involved in Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music and salsa since the formation of Grupo los Santos in 1998, so those influences were always there in the kind of material I was putting in front of the group. The Cuban influence was present as well in the two-trombone lineup I employed and in the heavy use of the flute. In 2005 I added vocalist Ileana Santamaría to the group as a special guest. Ileana, daughter of the legendary Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaría, had been putting together her own group, a timba-influenced, high-energy Latin band that I had the privilege of working with as musical director and saxophonist.

First Recording and Tours

Ileana is a featured guest on the Octet’s 2006 debut CD, Other Tongues, along with my longtime creative collaborator, Max Pollak, and one of my mentors on the tenor saxophone, jazz veteran Buddy Terry. The regular Octet lineup by this time was Dave Ambrosio on acoustic bass, William “Beaver” Bausch on drumset, pianist John Stenger, trombonists Mike Fahie and Ryan Keberle, alto saxophonist/flautist Anton Denner, and trumpeter Dave Smith. The CD was recorded and mixed by a good friend of mine who also happens to be an incredible sound engineer, George Petit. The majority of the songs on this recording are originals; listen to Extraordinary Rendition for a taste of what the band was doing. The only exception to the all-originals format was Billy Strayhorn’s “Smada”, which I reimagined as a combination Cuban danzón/Colombian porro.

Artwork by Meg Carlon

In conjunction with the release of Other Tongues, we traveled to Hudson, NY and the Hudson Opera House to play our first show outside of New York since performing Where Is Home? in Syracuse in 2004.

The PC Octet featuring Ileana Santamaria at the Hudson Opera House in 2006; photo by Tina Chaden

The HOH has been our home-away-from-home ever since. Less than a year later, we were on the road again, performing in Boston and in several central New York venues. By this time Ileana had left the band, to be replaced with Afro-Caribbean vocalist Christelle Durandy. Christelle brought to the group a familiarity with Cuban rumba and the tradition of improvising coros as well as a deep knowledge of Afro-Cuban Orisha chants and an extremely honed musicality. Her instincts onstage are right on the money and she has a natural charisma and energy. Bassist Edward Perez also became a regular in the group during this time. Over the next couple of years, the group traveled and gigged together, working up material for our next recording, and developing an extraordinary cohesion and group identity. We performed in upstate and central New York, Boston, and Vermont, including gigs at Cornell University, Hunter College in NYC, and at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, NY. These experiences of playing live in front of a variety of audiences, and of traveling together, have been formative ones for the band’s creative core and performance style.

Elliot Spitzer’s Good Works

We’re all aware of how his tenure as governor of New York State came to an end, but I’ll bet you didn’t know this about Elliot Spitzer: without him my Octet’s second CD would not have happened when it did, nor would it have been recorded as well. While he was the Attorney General of the State of New York, Spitzer brought a payola suit against several large music companies; the subsequent settlement payments were used to create the New York State Music Fund, a granting resource used to “benefit the residents of New York State through music education and appreciation programs.” Through the grant-writing efforts of Lesley Tillotson and the Central New York Council for the Arts, my Octet received a generous grant from the NY State Music Fund in support of the Sabor Latino project, which presented a week’s worth of performances in the Utica school districts with my original compositions used as units of study by the program’s teaching artists. Go Elliot!!! The income from the school gigs helped to fund my Octet’s second recording in NYC, and the mixing sessions in Brazil. Say what??? That’s right, Brazil. Remember my good friend and incredible sound engineer George Petit? Well, I brought George in to record our second CD. George arranged for the Octet to record at New York City’s Legacy Studios, one of the finest live rooms in the states. It turns out George was also developing a relationship with Na Cena Studios in São Paulo, Brazil which included him flying down from time to time for recording sessions. George hooked up an amazing deal for mixing time, and I had the necessary grant funds to pay for the deal and an excuse to go to Brazil again. Add Max Pollak’s network to the mix, and voilá! — we had not only mix sessions for the already-tracked Octet tunes, but recording sessions in Brazil for myself and Max to collaborate on a couple of new tracks, and Pollak/Carlon dance/music workshops in Fortaleza and Rio. Gotta love it when the stars align!

Artwork by Meg Carlon

Roots Propaganda

Thus was born our second CD, Roots Propaganda. This album featured Christelle and Max as special guests, and included a few more covers than the first one; songs by Baden Powell, Skip James, and Jimmie Cox made the cut, as well as a couple of traditional Yoruban chants. The rumba-driven Backstory features solos from Edward, Ryan, and Dave Smith, as well as a soulful vocal from Christelle. Launched in August 2008, we had a great run with Roots Propaganda; it garnered stellar reviews as well as airplay around the country, including on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered. In August we played one of our biggest shows to date, as guests of Max Pollak’s Rumbatap at Summerstage in New York’s Central Park. In October we toured again, this time hitting Springstep in Medford, MA; the Vermont Arts Exchange in North Bennington, VT; and the Hudson Opera House in Hudson, NY.

And to top it off, on election night 2008, my sister called me to tell me she’d heard Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out, from Roots Propaganda, being played on NPR as an interlude between interviews with voters leaving the polls.

Recent Happenings: Hawaii and Japan

More recently I’ve been writing material for the Octet’s next recording. I’m mulling over several ideas for themes for the project; actually there’s at least three different CDs I can see myself wanting to record: the first is a Billy Strayhorn tribute record, the second a tribute to Baden Powell, and the third involves music based on experiences my father had as a U.S. Marine fighting in the Korean War. A fourth idea would combine some elements of all of these as well as other new music I’m working on, which would make it more like the Octet’s first two releases. I’m open to suggestions on this, so feel free to comment below!

Most recently I took the Octet book with me to Oahu and for the first time played an Octet gig without my New York regulars. On October 14th, 2009, the Honolulu edition of the Paul Carlon Octet took the stage at Gordon Biersch beneath the Aloha Tower, and in a beautiful setting right on the water we shared some New York Afro-Latin sounds with an amazing and appreciative Hawaiian audience. Click here to go to my blog about the Hawaii trip.

And hot off the presses is this news: Clave 66, a track from Other Tongues, will be included on a Japanese compilation CD called Samba do Mar, to be released by Mar Creation in the fall of 2009.

The Paul Carlon Octet: Personnel

Though various musicians have performed with the group, I’ve been extremely fortunate in maintaining a stable lineup of some of New York’s finest jazz musicians for the last four or five years. Drummer William “Beaver” Bausch and trumpeter Dave Smith are both founding members, holdovers from the original Where is Home? suite recording. The rest of the Octet’s current lineup includes pianist John Stenger, bassist Edward Perez, trombonists Mike Fahie and Ryan Keberle, alto saxophonist/flautist Anton Denner, and vocalist Christelle Durandy.

Artwork by Meg Carlon

Our next show: This Thursday October 29th at Drom in NYC as part of The Deep End!

Wheelin’ and Dealin’ in Honolulu/Oct. 4-16, 2009

Get Me to The Gig On Time

I arrived in Honolulu on Sunday Oct. 4th and played a gig on the North Shore of Oahu that night. But there’s a story behind that; I played a wedding gig in TriBeCa, NYC, on Saturday night Oct. 3rd. So that’s a Saturday night gig in NYC, Sunday night gig in Hawaii. Call me crazy, but it don’t do to turn down money gigs these days. I got out of the wedding Saturday at around 10 pm, was home at 11:30, slept barely at all and left the house at around 4 AM for the ride to Newark Aiport, where I caught my 6:45 AM flight to Honolulu via Houston. I arrived in Honolulu at 12:50 pm on Sunday, was picked up by my buddy Enrique Zender, and chilled for an hour or so before leaving to drive to Banzai Sushi on the North Shore for a duo gig.

The payoff was worth it; the North Shore of Oahu is an idyllic, laid-back surfer’s paradise:

Caterpillar Rolls at Banzai Sushi

Monday I spent mostly recovering. By Tuesday I was back in the game, playing at Jazz Minds in Honolulu with the Gilbert Batangan Trio. Gilbert’s a fine Honolulu guitarist I met on my last Hawaii trip. And Jazz Minds is a classically funky jazz den. Run by Ms. Young (whom everyone calls Mama), the club has a lounge feel and is populated by a great mix of young & old, tourists & jazz crazies. Just to give you an idea, the last time I was there some guy tried to sell me a pizza out of the trunk of his car in the parking lot behind Jazz Minds.

Wheelin’ and Dealin’

The rest of the week was a combination of jet lag, madly finishing some charts for an upcoming Octet gig, occasional trips to the beach, and hanging until 4 or 5 AM every night, sitting in with various Honolulu musicians. Wednesday Enrique and I went down to Gordon Biersch, right on the pier beneath the Aloha Tower, to check out vocalist Jimmy Borges with special guest saxophonist George Young. George has performed and/or recorded with many many artists; it was a pleasure hearing him play his tenor, and sitting in.

PC, George Young, Jimmy Borges, DeShannon Higa

After the gig we went over to a very cool ultra lounge called Apartm3nt. My friends Justin James, Mark Tanouye and Josh Kaye were laying down the funk and soul, accompanied by guest spoken word artist Bridget Gray and vocalist Sherry Eatmon. We sat in, to the tune of several pints of Guinness. Awww Yeeeahh!

hangin' at Apartm3nt

Thursday and Friday the hang continued with another pass through Jazz Minds, a trip to the Dragon Upstairs to sit in with singer Santino Sgambelluri, and a couple of late-night Honolulu food runs with Gilbert Batangan and Mark Tanouye.

Back to Work

Saturday I played at the Dragon Upstairs with Satomi Yarimizo, Von Baron, and Steve Jones. We had a blast on this gig! Sunday was a return gig at Ward’s Rafters, a unique ‘living room’ venue with one of, if not the best, views from the stage in Honolulu. For this gig I joined Satomi, her husband Shinya on drums, Chris Roth on bass, and Enrique Zender sitting in on percussion.

Tuesday the 13th I was back at Jazz Minds for a really fun gig with Gilbert Batangan, Mark Tanouye, and drummer Chuck James, and I also taught three classes at the Iolani School.

The Paul Carlon Octet, Honolulu Edition

Wednesday Oct. 14th was a big one: the first time I’d played an Octet gig without my regular NY lineup. The Honolulu musicians on the gig were up to the task, and did a stellar job with very little rehearsal time. Muchos Mahalos! George Young was with us, as well as DeShannon Higa on trumpet, and special guest vocalists Sandy Tsukiyama and Santino Sgambelluri, with Enrique once again throwing down on percussion. We got a great writeup in the Honolulu Weekly:

Honolulu Octet listing in Honolulu Weekly

And we rocked it!

Special Thanks to the musicians: DeShannon Higa, George Young, Brien Matson, Curtis Abe, Darryl Pellegrini, Dean Taba, and Robert Shinoda

And also to Gordon Biersch for having us, and to Dave Rohner, DeShannon, Satomi, and Enrique for helping to promote the gig. And to the dancers who got up and made it happen!

Thursday night the 15th was my last gig in Honolulu, a theme night at 39 Hotel called Prohibition. Bassist Jon Hawes and I played duo. Check out 39 Hotel if you’re ever in Honolulu; this is a great club with an open-air veranda and house cocktails. Prohibition happens every Thursday; you need a password to get in so sign up for their newsletter online.

Can’t wait for the next one!

The Deep End October 29th at Drom

You don’t need to stay out of the Deep End of this pool if you can’t swim

The Deep End is a meeting place for music, dance, and improvisation. Three acts will bring their dynamic mix of brass, strings, woodwinds, body percussion, the African mbira, Yoruban chants, and freewheeling improvisation to the stage Oct. 29th at Drom Nightclub in New York.

Max Pollak & Rumbatap

Dancer and percussionist Max Pollak has performed for Fidel Castro one night and rural Cuban sugar workers the next. He has painstakingly transcribed a Mongo Santamaria timbales solo for six tap dancers and has traded moves (and shoes) with Cuba’s rumba masters. It all started when Pollak realized he not only wanted to play Afro-Cuban music, he wanted to dance it. Not dance to it; but audibly create the rhythms with his feet and hands. It’s as if Fred Astaire fell into perfect step with the Santería orishas. Rumbatap is the result: three saxophones, marimba, two vocalists and six dancers bring Max’s vision to life in expressing the transcendent beauty of Afro-Latin and World traditions.
check out Rumbatap’s video clip
Rumbatap website

Gentile/Romano

Michel Gentile (flute) and Tony Romano (acoustic guitar) bring an artistic collaboration of extraordinary maturity and depth to the Deep End. Through a commitment to regular rehearsals and performances,Tony and Michel have been probingly developing a style that invokes the ancient beauty of the sound of the flute and guitar. Dispensing with conventional roles, and taking their cue from the Bill Evans trio, the Paul Motian trio, Jimmy Giuffre, and Hermeto Pascoal, the Gentile/Romano duo has created a musical experience rich with interaction and nuance. The ten tracks on their debut CD Flesh and Steel (Deep Tone 003) navigate Brazilian and jazz standards, focusing on the bossa nova of Jobim, the choro of Pascoal and Pixinguinha, and pieces by Irving Berlin and Alec Wilder. The title track, the album’s lone original, hints at a fascination with the rhythmic expressiveness of Brazil as well as the sonic drama of the Flamenco guitar style.

listen to Gentile/Romano: A Felicidade
Gentile/Romano website

The Paul Carlon Octet

Imagine the soundtrack to a Fellini film starring Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn on a spiritual quest through Cuba, Brazil, Colombia and America, with funky bass, Yoruban chants and a killer horn section, and you’ll begin to get an idea of what this group sounds like. Featuring Saxophonist/Composer Paul Carlon’s original music, vocalist Christelle Durandy, and an array of stellar soloist/instrumentalists, the group ranges stylistically from Cuban rumba to Colombian cumbia to American gutbucket blues. The Octet has released two CDs on Deep Tone, 2006′s Other Tongues and 2008′s Roots Propaganda; they will be debuting some brand new material at the Deep End.

listen to the Paul Carlon Octet: Backstory

Paul Carlon’s website

DJ Medina

DJ David Medina will be spinning his patented mix of Afro-Latin, salsa, and Brazilian soul classics in between sets at the Deep End.

Deep Tone Records

Established in 2006, Deep Tone Records is a NYC indie label specializing in an eclectic mix of jazz, afro-latin, blues and funk styles represented by some of New York’s finest musicians. Each act on the Deep Tone label has invested itself in putting a bold and distinct group sound over individual virtuosity, resulting in recordings that will entice the listener again and again.

Deep Tone Records on Myspace

The Deep End/Event Details

Thursday October 29th from 7 PM to 10 PM

Max Pollak & Rumbatap: 7PM

Gentile/Romano Duo: 8 PM

The Paul Carlon Octet: 9 PM

Drom

85 Avenue A btw. 5th & 6th Streets, New York NY

Phone: (212) 777-1157

Drom’s website
event page/ticket sales

Hawaii, part 2: Upcoming Shows

I’ll be heading back to the Aloha State and the island of Oahu for a series of gigs from Oct. 6th through the 14th. I’ve got a couple of gigs that are yet to be confirmed, but so far here’s the schedule:

Tuesday Oct. 6th: I’ll be guesting with guitarist Gilbert Batangan and bassist Mark Tanouye at Jazz Minds.

Enrique Zender, Shinya & Satomi Yarimizo, PC, Mark Tanouye, Gilbert Batangan

Saturday Oct. 10th: I’ll be playing in a quartet with pianist Satomi Yarimizo, bassist Steve Jones and drummer Von Baron at the Dragon Upstairs, a very cool bar in Honolulu’s China Town.

Steve Jones and Von Baron

The Dragon’s decor is one of the things that makes it an extremely cool place to hang. The walls are hung with large, ornate and funky masks:

Sunday Oct. 11th: I return to Jackie Ward’s unique in-house venue for a Sunday afternoon jam session with Satomi and Shinya Yarimizo.

Tuesday Oct. 13th: I guest once again with Gilbert and Mark at Jazz Minds

Wednesday Oct. 14th: I’ll be performing at Gordon Biersch with a Honolulu edition of the Paul Carlon Octet! Trumpeter extraordinaire DeShannon Higa is putting the group together. I’m really looking forward to this one!

DeShannon Higa

I will be updating this page with any more as-yet-unconfirmed gigs; or you can check my website for updated info.

Lonie Levister/JazzaNova, Part II

In talking with Lonie about my first post we both agreed that there could have been more depth about the Jazzanova recording itself, so here goes:

BACKGROUND AND RECORDING HISTORY

JazzaNova was recorded at various sessions spanning 2007 to 2008. The CD was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Kamilo Kratc at Soundworks Recording Studio in Astoria, Queens, NYC. In my first post I stated that Lonie had “written a series of songs meant to be recorded together as a kind of concept album”, but Lonie pointed out to me that this is not entirely accurate; that, in fact, he did want to record a whole CD’s worth of material, but that the concept evolved and emerged more clearly through both the recording process and the subsequent mixing process. We recorded “Chocolat” first, and it became the template for the rest of the songs, in terms of energy, dynamic, tempo, and the musical ‘veneer’ or layering of sound achieved by the blend of instruments. Lonie felt we’d gotten the feel so right on this first one that it was worth using as a guidepost for the rest of the songs. As we continued to record various tracks, Lonie would take them home, listen, and in listening hear things that could be improved or edited in ways that would contribute to the overall feeling. He would then go back in the studio and edit as needed, or parts would occasionally be rerecorded. In this way the project emerged as a kind of sonic sculpture, carved out over time.

JAZZANOVA IN DEPTH

The finished CD is a series of pieces loosely connected by various recurring themes and an overall attempt to maintain the languid feel of the best bossa nova and cool jazz, with a side excursion to the gutbucket blues. Listened to end to end, the songs on JazzaNova create a beautifully serene, almost austere sense of floating melody, much like a memorably romantic movie soundtrack from the 60′s. The back cover of the CD contains the following text:

This JazzaNova CD is a twenty-five minute piece in 9 separate but connected tracks of Jazz and Bossa Nova designed to be listened to in a continuous, uninterrupted flow. JazzaNova is engineered and mixed for a warm, mellow, hypnotically quiet sound. The goal is to soothe the ear and calm the soul. Good for getting up in the morning. Great for going to bed at night.

The Musicians

The instrumentalists on JazzaNova are some of NY’s finest, and their contributions to the recording are irreplaceable and unique. They are:

Tony Romano: Guitar

Pete Smith: Guitar (on Chocolat only)

Doug Largent: Bass

Greg Glassman: Trumpet

Max Pollak: Percussion

Felix Sanabria: Percussion (on Chocolat only)

and yours truly, Paul Carlon, on Flute and Soprano Sax

The Music

The song list for JazzaNova reads as follows (highlighted songs can be played by clicking the song name):

1. Chocolat

2. Soho (Take the “F” Train) – Interlude

3. Jazzanova (Daba Daba Dadah, Dadah)

4. Soho (Take The “F”_Train)

5. Cool Breeze (The Wings of Time)

6. Jazzanova – Interlude

7. Lower 9th Ward Lowdown Blues

8. Cool Breeze – Reprise

9. Soho Too

The calming energy of the CD is balanced with sporadic improv from primarily the trumpet and flute (and soprano sax on one song); the solo sections are integrated quite well into the overall feel of each piece, which was something Lonie was particularly concerned with in the studio. I think mainly he wanted the solos to be melodic and groove-oriented, “tasty”, and to not range too far from home. The exception to the mellow vibe is “Lower 9th Ward Lowdown Blues”, which to my ears has the 12/8 swing of one of Marvin Gaye’s classic hits from the 60′s, like Trouble Man. There’s a very old-school feel to JazzaNova, in the sense that every part, be it in the background or foreground, was created with a specific place in the overall architecture in mind, and helps to move the song forward.

Interested in learning more, or hearing more of the tracks? Check out these links:

Lonie’s Website

JazzaNova on CD Baby

Lonie on 46th St. in Times Square

Lonie Levister: Jazzanova

Jazzanova is a new recording I’m very pleased to have been a part of. Written and produced by Lonie Levister, Jazzanova is, in the composer’s words,

a warm, mellow, creatively excellent combination of Jazz, Bossa Nova, and Blues created and engineered to soothe the ear and calm the soul, with a new Birth Of The Cool.”

Click here to hear a track from Jazzanova: Lower 9th Ward Lowdown Blues (A Song for Katrina)

Background on Lonie

For years now I’ve been involved in an off-and-on way with various projects put together by composer Lonie Levister. I first met Lonie in around 1992 or ’93, when I was recommended to him for his Jazz/Opera fusion piece called Blues in the Subway. Lonie was looking for a new tenor player to replace Clifford Jordan, who had been the last saxophonist involved with the production. Stepping into a giant like Clifford’s shoes was intimidating to say the least, and the job wasn’t made any easier by Lonie’s tongue-in-cheek-but-no-I’m-serious admonition to “play it perfectly the first time.” We had the usual next-to-no rehearsal and the budget was thin, so he was pushing for the best he could get. We completed a demo recording and staged several performances with the goal of drumming up some backing for a full run. The longer run never materialized, but I spent some more time with Lonie. As I got to know him a little better I learned that he’d been around the music scene for decades, and had been on hand for some of New York City’s golden years back in the 1950′s. He’d known Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, and other household name jazz musicians. He’d rubbed elbows with Leonard Bernstein, and been praised by the likes of Gil Evans. Here’s a photo of Lonie back in those halcyon days:

As you can see, the man had his thing together. His press kit includes the following endorsements:

“Lonie Levister is unmistakably gifted.” — Leonard Bernstein

“Alonzo Levister is one of the most passionate and most important composers this country has ever produced. The celebrated – and essentially artificial – war between music known as classical and the music known as jazz does not occur in his work…” — James Baldwin

“Lonie Levister is a bitch!” –Miles Davis

Lonie ‘s background and training are from the ‘classical’ side of things. He told me a story about Miles that shows how precise he is in his conception. He once brought Miles some music, and after looking over the charts, which were written out so that the finest detail was notated, Miles said in his trademark gravelly voice, “you sure are thorough with your shit, ain’t ya?” Over the years Lonie has regaled me with stories about his experiences with various well-known musicians, such as the time Mingus threw one of his famous tantrums in Lonie’s direction at the Café Bohemia, or how it came to be that John Coltrane recorded one of his original songs for his classic album Traneing In. Lonie had already met Coltrane previously; it seems Trane was on his way to the studio when Lonie ran into him on the street. Wanting to lay down original music rather than standards, Trane asked Lonie if he had anything ready to record. Lonie wrote out the lead sheet to “Slow Dance” for him, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Fast Forward

A couple of years ago Lonie approached me with the idea for a recording session. After years of hustling to get funding for his theater projects, he’d decided the time was nigh to put together a CD with an eye towards accessibility. He wanted to make a record that would reach people, ála Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, and he’d written a series of songs meant to be recorded together as a kind of concept album. He wanted me to be involved as an instrumentalist and as a possible copyist. This was to be a self-produced project, so the money was light, to say the least. But let me back up a moment. Over the years I’d been part of various performances on stage with Lonie, as well as various studio recordings. He at times had been very difficult to work with, so I wasn’t sure about doing another project with him. He is extremely demanding and when he hears something he doesn’t want he’s very clear about it; the problem is that he is not always clear about what he does want, or he wants you to play through various options until he finds what he’s looking for. This can be very frustrating for the instrumentalist, as what’s on the page, though clearly notated, does not always turn out to be what he wants in the end, and he at times expresses his opinions in a, shall we say, brusque manner. Add to that a shoestring budget and you’ve got a situation it’s easy to say no to. So when he asked me to be involved in Jazzanova, I had some qualms. See, I’ve known Lonie long enough to know that he has survived into his 80′s on his own terms by being uncompromising, both artistically and in his views of the world. I said he’s in his 80′s, but to look at him you wouldn’t know it; he could be 60. He still has an iron handshake and the mind of a 20-year old. He’s as pure as they come; he is truly convinced that to be a better human being, to be a person of integrity, is the most important thing in life. Here’s a personal manifesto, originally from the late 60′s, that can be found on his web site:

After twenty years of writing every kind of music, including symphonic, opera, musical, jazz, and commerical jingles, I came to believe that becoming a person I could like and respect was more important than achieving fame and fortune. Now I feel in a position to seek some degree of artistic success. Hopefully now, I’m wise enough to not have success kill me like it did so many people I’ve known or known of.”

Lonie is extremely motivated; he’s still out there hustling, trying to make it happen for himself. Trumpeter/Arranger/Publisher Don Sickler, who administers the rights to “Slow Dance” as well as other Levister compositions, once told me that one of the things that impressed him about Lonie was that he was an old school hustler, something Don felt he didn’t see much in younger musicians.

So due to past experiences I was feeling a little tense about working closely with Lonie again. I wanted to help him and I knew that his stuff was high-level and needed to be heard but I dreaded watching him shoot himself in the foot yet again by alienating the people he’d be working with through overly-demanding perfectionism. So I told him I’d be involved, but that he had to let me hire the musicians, had to let me interact with the musicians, had to let me run the session in the studio. Basically I took on the role of designated straw boss. I felt it was the only way the project could be successfully realized. He agreed and to my surprise was as anxious as I was to avoid any tension between us. And that’s another quality that I like about Lonie; he continues to evolve as a human being and is not the kind of person who says, “take me or leave me, I’m not going to change.”

He’s irascible and cantankerous at times:

but his heart’s really in the right place.

I have to say Lonie really surprised me throughout the Jazzanova sessions. He was just as determined and demanding when it came to getting the sounds he wanted on tape (or hard disk, in this case), but he was also invariably warm and funny with the musicians and the studio engineer, and repeatedly expressed his appreciation of what we were doing for him. As the sessions went on and he got to know the musicians my role as straw boss became unnecessary; he knew what he was doing and trusted that he was going to get the best performances out of all of us. And the results speak for themselves. Here’s what Lonie has to say about Jazzanova:

I’ve written a lot of music – Jazz, Classical, and Musicals, but I don’t know if I will ever do anything as perfect as this again. The writing, arranging, the performances of the players, the engineering and mixing, and a lot of luck, all came together. It really is perfect. Let me know if you agree, or not.”

My intention going into this recording was to help Lonie to see this through, to take a vision and help make the best possible reality out of it. And the fact that Lonie is so satisfied with the results tells me that I reached that goal. I’m proud to have been a part of Jazzanova.

Jazzanova on CD Baby

The Kiosk

I’ve been sending out newsletters about my gigs at the Kiosk in Harlem for the last couple of months. I’ve talked up the owner, Mounir Nadj, and tried to give some of the flavor of the restaurant, but a few lines in an email can’t really do the man justice, so I decided to write a blog about him. This is Mounir:

Mounir

Let me tell you a little story about Mounir: a few months ago I was walking home from the train along 116th St. near Park Avenue. I noticed a little place across the street, a new cafe/restaurant, that looked interesting, so I went to check it out. Stepping inside the Kiosk, I was immediately greeted by Mounir. He’s a friendly and gregarious guy, so we talked for a while and he told me he’d been open for a few months. I ordered a sandwich to go, nothing too fancy, and as Mounir handed it to me he also handed me a free bottle of wine, a good Argentinian cabernet. I couldn’t believe it! I started going regularly, and I have to say everything I’ve had there has been mouth-watering. Not only does Mounir know how to put a menu together, he also knows how to create an atmosphere that makes you want to go there just to hang out. Speaking of that menu, take a look:

Kiosk Menu

Not bad, eh?

Mounir also makes a mean martini and has a very fine selection of wines, beer, and liquor. He and I started talking about having some music at the Kiosk, and eventually we started up the duo gig I’ve been playing every other Thursday. Here’s Mark McCarron and myself at the Kiosk a couple of weeks ago:

I keep meeting people at the Kiosk who have just discovered it, or are regular customers, and all are as enthusiastic as I am. If you’re into hookahs you can also find them at Mounir’s:

So if you like Moroccan food, and enjoy a night out where you won’t have to drop a lot of money, come try the Kiosk: 76-80 East 116th St. between Park & Madison; (212) 348 9010. Mounir will be there to greet you.

Mounir and his daughter selling lemonade

Click here for my next Paul Carlon sax/guitar Duo gig at the Kiosk; once at the site click the ‘gigs’ link on the left