CRAIG PEDERSEN

Days Like Today now on iTunes!

Hi all —

Just a note that days like today is now officially up on iTunes.  There are now three ways to buy it online –  iTunes, Bandcamp an CDbaby.

Buy on iTunes
Buy on Bandcamp
Buy on CDBaby

If you missed the album, here’s a little info:

#1 Jazz Album of 2012 – Earshot Online

The Craig Pedersen Quartet’s debut full-length album, Days Like Today is the follow-up to their much-acclaimed Early Winter EP. Inspired by the music of John Zorn, the AACM, Ornette Coleman, and Duke Ellington, the new album contains ten tracks of original music that walk the distance between approachable and challenging. Freewheeling, energetic, and just-a-little crazy, the music keeps you listening, thinking and on your toes.

Craig Pedersen – trumpet, composer
Linsey Wellman – alto saxophone
Joel Kerr – bass
Mike Essoudry – drums

recorded, mixed by Matt Ouimet (www.mattouimet.com)
mastered by Philip Shaw Bova (www.bovasound.com)
album design by David Bosschaart, photographs by David Barbour

Reviews and media:

Free Jazz Blog
Monsieur Delire
Step Tempest
Exclaim
Culture Magazine
The Jazz Session with Jason Crane
Ottawa Jazz Scene

Days Like Today review at Free Jazz Blog!

Hi all —

Just a quick note.  The Craig Pedersen Quartet album Days Like Today received a nice 4 star review at the Free Jazz Blog.  Have a look here: http://www.freejazzblog.org/2013/02/oh-canada-roundup.html

Thanks to Philip Coombs, Stef and the Free Jazz blogging Collective for this nice review.  It’s nice to be held up next to some amazing musicians I admire.

Remember, you can buy the album on Bandcamp, iTunes and CDbaby:

Buy on iTunes
Buy on Bandcamp
Buy on CDBaby

#TTmusic #7: Sex Mob’s Dime Grind Palace

#TTmusic #7: Sex Mob’s Dime Grind Palace

from Sex Mob’s Dime Grind Palace (2003)
composed by Steven Bernstein

Steven Bernstein – slide trumpet
Briggan Krauss – alto saxophone
Tony Scherr – double bass
Kenny Wollesen – drums

plus guests: Brian Mitchell – wurlitzer, David Tronzo – slide guitar, and Peter Apfelbaum – organ, melodica, tenor saxophone..

Follow on twitter with #ttmusic.  Please share to your friends using the share links at the bottom. Leave a comment if you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, edits, etc.

Want to join? Jump on in on twitter, or send me an email.

Click the image below to see the PDF (opens in new window). Transposed, .mus and .xml, and PDF all zipped together here: Dime Grind Palace Files

Listen & Buy:

Listen on Grooveshark: Here
Buy on iTunes: Here

Notes:

So, it’s no secret that I love Sex Mob.  The music is simple, direct, and feels great.  The grooves are heavy and the ensemble playing is super tight.  Then add to that 3 killing guests and the music soars.

I want to start by talking about the groove.  Listen to how patient the opening bass-line is.  I’ve been using this tune to practice upright bass to, and I’m continuously amazed by how Tony Scherr sits back on the beat, and how good it feels.  Add to that the tight snare and bass drum of Kenny Wollesen and you could almost put anything on top and have it sound good.

Next, have a listen to the melody.  Again, Steven Bernstein’s articulation and colouring of the notes on the slide trumpet is what, to me, brings this melody to life.  I love how simple the melody is. I’ve been practicing both slide trumpet and regular trumpet along with the track to see if I can get close to the level expressiveness he gets out of each note.  I’ve also tried diligently to notate all the articulations, but as usual, notation falls short.

Finally, have a listen to guitar solo (not notated in my parts).  The core quartet sets up this perfect space for David Tronzo to build and shred on.  You might notice that the blowing form is a little funny.  There’s a 12 bar vamp, before heading into the head again.  This allows the guitar extra time build.  They leave also out 4 bars of the melody right before heading to the final V chord.  I’m not quite sure I follow the purpose of the cut, and am curious to know what they do live.

Thoughts?  Leave’em in the comment section below.

Links:

Concert PDF: sexmob-dimegrindpalace
Bb melody PDF: sexmob-dimegrindpalace-Bb
PDF, .mus, .xml: DimeGrindpalace
Listen on Grooveshark: Here
Buy on iTunes: Here

Other Transcription tuesdays:

TT#6: Sex Mob’s Slide Serenade
TT#5: Masadapalooza
TT#4: Come Sunday, Sex Mob version
TT#3: Dave Douglas’ solo on Bith Aneth
TT#2: John Zorn’s Netivot lead sheet
TT#1: John Zorn’s Bith Aneth lead sheet

Other Transcription tuesday peeps:

Jamie Breiwick
Kevin Sun
David Fink
Nate Weiss

Obviously, all this music is (c) Steven Bernstein & Sex Mob. The purpose of this lead sheet and blog post is to help myself and others gain further understanding of the music. The commentary and images are (c) Craig Pedersen

#TTmusic #6: Sex Mob’s Slide Serenade

#TTmusic #6: Slide Serenade

from Sex Mob’s Dime Grind Palace (2003)
composed by Steven Bernstein

Follow on twitter with #ttmusic.  Please share to your friends using the share links at the bottom. Leave a comment if you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, edits, etc.

Want to join? Jump on in on twitter, or send me an email. Also check out Jamie Breiwick, Kevin Sun, David Fink and Nate Weiss for their transcriptions!

Click the image below to see the PDF. .mus and .xml, and PDF all zipped together here: Slide-serenade

Listen & Buy:

Listen on Grooveshark: Here
Buy on iTunes: Here

Notes:

Wow!  Where to start with this tune?  It’s another awesome example of what makes Steven Bernstein and Sex Mob so rad!  First I’m going to talk about Steven Bernstein’s articulations and sliding (again…), talk about how the band sounds together, and then a little about how this piece is structured.

So! Steven Bernstein’s slide trumpet playing is super expressive.  So much so that it is too much of a pain to write it into the digital score.  What I suggest you do is follow along with the head and take note of all the ways the notes are bent, shaped and articulated.  Bend-wise have a listen to how he plays the long bends in measure 1 and 4, and the super long bends in measures 16 and 20.  For great staccato articulation listen to the end of every 3-eighth-note figure, like in the pick-up bar, mm 3, 8 and 10 — They’re all slur 2, staccato 1.  Super clipped!  Check out the way they shape the notes in measures 14 through 21.  They’re almost falls, almost bends, almost embellishments. I love love love how Steven Bernstein is able to take the slide trumpet and make it sound like a soul singer.  Breathtaking! Listen to his solo to hear more of that side of his playing.

Another thing that really blows me away is how well Briggan Krauss is able to follow the slide trumpet’s bends.  Have a listen to all those bends again, and notice how awesome the saxophone is at bending and matching the slide trumpet.  Listen to the tight groove that the drums and bass have, and how they hit all the shots and entrances together (except measure 12, where the bass jumps in a sixteenth-note earlier than everyone.  Super dope).

A few notes about the composition itself.  There’s a 5 bar phrase, followed by a 3 bar phrase, the same 5 bar phrase again, an 8 bar bridge, then the same 5 bar phrase again.  Did you notice all the odd phrase-lengths when you listened? I sure didn’t.  I think it’s a testament to how well contoured the writing is and how well the band plays it that these odd phrase-lengths go unnoticed.

Finally, I know I haven’t included the solo, but check out the energy arc of the whole piece.  The trumpet solo and band have an amazing build followed by a super tight break.

Links:

PDF: Sexmob-slideserenade
PDF, .mus, .xml: Slide-serenade
Listen on Grooveshark: Here
Buy on iTunes: Here

Other Transcription tuesdays:

TT#5: Masadapalooza
TT#4: Come Sunday, Sex Mob version
TT#3: Dave Douglas’ solo on Bith Aneth
TT#2: John Zorn’s Netivot lead sheet
TT#1: John Zorn’s Bith Aneth lead sheet

Other Transcription tuesday peeps:

Jamie Breiwick
Kevin Sun
David Fink
Nate Weiss

Obviously, all this music is (c) Steven Bernstein & Sex Mob. The purpose of this lead sheet and blog post is to help myself and others gain further understanding of the music. The commentary and images are (c) Craig Pedersen

CP4 Live in Quebec Recording!