We had a reunion of sorts with Shenole Latimer this past Saturday at the New Smyrna Beach Library - part of his Southeast tour. Great to see him and play again, especially on his new compositions. It's been 2+ years since we played last, but it felt like there was no gap at all! Thanks to Gloria Mariash for the video! - KM
Monday, April 16, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Fantastical Dream Come True...
As a young boy I'd occasionally have a dream that I either suddenly came into or already was the owner of some astounding, heretofore undiscovered cache of enviable booty - which for me was either records or musical instruments, although toys and sweets also made their appearances. Massive, king's castle size collections of albums, 45s, 78s, pianos, drums - whatever. Usually it was the last dream before waking up - to the hard truth, and some logical, consoling thoughts: "that was magnificent, but such things only happen in dreams."
Cut to the year 2012. I've done my fair share of crate digging over the years; recently, more than I can keep up with. So when a student's mom called me 2 weeks ago to tell me she'd found a thrift store in Flagler Beach with 2 shelves of records - I was highly pleased, but decided some restraint might be needed. On the way there a few days later, I asked myself "Why am I going?". I concluded that I needed to get out of the house, and that maybe there'd be one or two gems that would truly give me some pleasurable moments. The call from the friend and the trip there had a distant sense of 'destiny' to it.
As I shuffled into the shop I heard the owner making generous bargains with another customer for some knick-knacks - "half-off today only". I thought nothing of it. Finding the records within microseconds, I was hunched over going through the bottom shelf. The sign said "Records $1 each; or take them all for $30. Bring Your Own Totes".
In minutes I had chosen 2 or 3 jump blues 78's from the 1950's, and was really just browsing from that point on. The selection was unusually refined. With the unearthly speed of an angelic messenger, a pair of man's shoes and khaki shorts were suddenly in my eye-line, and a calm, confident voice heralded the offer to cart off all the vinyl for $30.
I had considered it; but not that seriously. I wheeled around and told him "I would if I had the room for it". I thought I had declared that with a solid sense of finality. But Charlie (co-owner of Charson's Treasures) also knew it was destiny, destiny for him to gain some serious shelf room for an upcoming purchase of his own! He then gave me one of his obscene discounts that, frankly, the Scot in me was in no condition to refuse - all of the records for $15. The deal was sealed; I gave him $20 because I thought it was just too low (the Frenchman in me?) and began hauling armfuls of albums into my poor little Taurus for one of two trips home.
From the rest of the evening I was in a foggy, blissful state: somewhere between "I can't believe this is happening", "this is not happening" and "you are one lucky dog!". An hour or two later I realized - this is the sort of thing that happened in those dreams I had as a boy. "It's a dream come true!" Needless to say I got around to thanking God for the crazy-sized blessing, and for remembering.
I'd conservatively put the addition to my collection at about 500-600 lps and 25 78's. There is a healthy percentage of easy-listening in there, so my dad is set for life. The rest is mostly classical, well kept with one annoying exception, the owner was very free with a magic marker. There's a good chunk of classic gospel (including Shirley Caesar - probably my favorite) smattering of rock (Yes, Strawbs, Rick Wakeman) and the wonderful dash here and there of absurdities- my favorite!
I didn't even look through the collection for a day or two, and then only a little at a time over the next week. It was kind of like having a thrift store in my piano room. "Let's see what we have today". When I decided to have my first listen - I went for the Nonesuch release (of course! see this) of some Couperin harpsichord music. Next were some of the ones pictured below. "Hog Heaven" would be a good description of how I feel each time I look at the new acquisition. No rude awakening this time! - KM
Cut to the year 2012. I've done my fair share of crate digging over the years; recently, more than I can keep up with. So when a student's mom called me 2 weeks ago to tell me she'd found a thrift store in Flagler Beach with 2 shelves of records - I was highly pleased, but decided some restraint might be needed. On the way there a few days later, I asked myself "Why am I going?". I concluded that I needed to get out of the house, and that maybe there'd be one or two gems that would truly give me some pleasurable moments. The call from the friend and the trip there had a distant sense of 'destiny' to it.
As I shuffled into the shop I heard the owner making generous bargains with another customer for some knick-knacks - "half-off today only". I thought nothing of it. Finding the records within microseconds, I was hunched over going through the bottom shelf. The sign said "Records $1 each; or take them all for $30. Bring Your Own Totes".
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| one of the jump blues 78's I was eying... |
In minutes I had chosen 2 or 3 jump blues 78's from the 1950's, and was really just browsing from that point on. The selection was unusually refined. With the unearthly speed of an angelic messenger, a pair of man's shoes and khaki shorts were suddenly in my eye-line, and a calm, confident voice heralded the offer to cart off all the vinyl for $30.
I had considered it; but not that seriously. I wheeled around and told him "I would if I had the room for it". I thought I had declared that with a solid sense of finality. But Charlie (co-owner of Charson's Treasures) also knew it was destiny, destiny for him to gain some serious shelf room for an upcoming purchase of his own! He then gave me one of his obscene discounts that, frankly, the Scot in me was in no condition to refuse - all of the records for $15. The deal was sealed; I gave him $20 because I thought it was just too low (the Frenchman in me?) and began hauling armfuls of albums into my poor little Taurus for one of two trips home.
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| the first trunkful - those piles are about 70 deep. |
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| front seat... |
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| back seat... wait - is this a song? |
From the rest of the evening I was in a foggy, blissful state: somewhere between "I can't believe this is happening", "this is not happening" and "you are one lucky dog!". An hour or two later I realized - this is the sort of thing that happened in those dreams I had as a boy. "It's a dream come true!" Needless to say I got around to thanking God for the crazy-sized blessing, and for remembering.
 |
| 2nd trunk full - before the trip home |
I'd conservatively put the addition to my collection at about 500-600 lps and 25 78's. There is a healthy percentage of easy-listening in there, so my dad is set for life. The rest is mostly classical, well kept with one annoying exception, the owner was very free with a magic marker. There's a good chunk of classic gospel (including Shirley Caesar - probably my favorite) smattering of rock (Yes, Strawbs, Rick Wakeman) and the wonderful dash here and there of absurdities- my favorite!
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| one of two Jonas Mazurkas 10" albums - you can never have enough mazurkas... |
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| looking forward to getting with this one... |
 | ||
| oh yeah - that painting in his shirt is embossed on the cardboard - Freddie Hubbard & Milt Jackson on this 'un. |
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| my choice for 1st listen from the massive stash... nice relaxin' baroque harpsichord with some humor... |
Friday, February 10, 2012
New Gigs - Old Gigs
We had the time of our lives on Jan 28th at Jazzland in Jacksonville. The place draws a special audience who are respectful & attentive, and who contribute to the music simply with love and enjoyment. Still waiting on some photos from that gig, no audio was recorded. Too bad - it was an A-game night; with new arrangements and some songs we hadn't played before live - "Surely" and "Sky Blue". The third set we played the "Kind of Blue" album in it's entirety!
Tomorrow night we're at a new venue here in my home town of Palm Coast, FL - the Three Dogs Grille - another new joint dedicated to jazz; looking forward! We'll be playing lots of Monk, like we did back in September at Le Crepe en Haut in Ormond Beach (now closed). Below is a new video from that evening.
Over on the Listen Page there is a set of music in the player from a gig at Arthur's Tavern in November 2003 with Lieven Venken and Mike Bates. A real groovin' night - the "Blue 'n Boogie" is one of my all-time favorites for the way it ends; I also love how Michael brings his own brand of improv to the table. Lots of fine empathy going on and Lieven is highly imaginative and brilliant as always. A little anecdote - at one point during the 1st set I had the boys start "Blue and Green" without me, so I could run out and put quarters in the parking meters. Those NYC meter cops were relentless! I think I paid more in tickets than I ever made at the club. Worth every penny for the memories & the musical moments. - KM
Tomorrow night we're at a new venue here in my home town of Palm Coast, FL - the Three Dogs Grille - another new joint dedicated to jazz; looking forward! We'll be playing lots of Monk, like we did back in September at Le Crepe en Haut in Ormond Beach (now closed). Below is a new video from that evening.
Over on the Listen Page there is a set of music in the player from a gig at Arthur's Tavern in November 2003 with Lieven Venken and Mike Bates. A real groovin' night - the "Blue 'n Boogie" is one of my all-time favorites for the way it ends; I also love how Michael brings his own brand of improv to the table. Lots of fine empathy going on and Lieven is highly imaginative and brilliant as always. A little anecdote - at one point during the 1st set I had the boys start "Blue and Green" without me, so I could run out and put quarters in the parking meters. Those NYC meter cops were relentless! I think I paid more in tickets than I ever made at the club. Worth every penny for the memories & the musical moments. - KM
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah - etc :)
Hope you all have blessed and happy holidays! I'm in admiration of it's speed, this year. I try to find ways to savor the moments but my body still wants sleeeeep... Last night I discovered a bonus disc to season 5 of the X-Files I'd never watched. That kept me awake til 2am - a rarity these days! But enough of that...
If you ever step outside the realm of jazz into electronic music, allow me to introduce you to what kept me busy in off-hours the last month and a half: an electro-funk version of "Fum Fum Fum". Click the little green guy to play. It's a free download if you dig it - just click that little arrow above the waveform.
If you like your beats a little more downtempo, here's a new video I made for an older recording. These videos are usually a low-tech affair; but good for zoning out to while you listen. "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is a bit more jazzy, with a complete (albeit simple) re-harmonization and lots of major 9 chords.
Another thing that's kept me occupied is the major undertaking of converting a ton-load of my Dad's vinyl muzak albums to digital [a well-meant Christmas present; rife with fond-ish childhood memories of album art and intriguing musical moments, that is nonetheless taking it's toll on my sanity]. Gone are the days of Easy-Listening record sales, cornball album covers with hotties in time-capsule apparel, and boasts on album covers about sound quality and "2 albums on 1" platters, as shown below. (The "hour of music" claim is an outright lie, however lol).
When crate-digging, I'm prone to picking up releases like the one below. I get a kick out of the design, and my Dad gets 40 more minutes of musical ether.. There's a Pink Floyd joke in this one somewhere, but I'm gonna save it for my FB wall. (In Dad's defense, he's also big on big-band, and the older, lighter side of jazz.)
And finally - if you are a "Keep Christ in Christmas" kind of person - John Pellegrino and I are the jazz rhythm section on "O Christmas Tree", over at Christmas Music Reborn - a project that features various artists and secular holiday songs with new Christian lyrics by Mike Ronci.
The trio will be back at Jazzland in Jacksonville on the 28th of January - looking forward. In the meantime - Peace, Love & Happy Holidays!! - Kenny
If you ever step outside the realm of jazz into electronic music, allow me to introduce you to what kept me busy in off-hours the last month and a half: an electro-funk version of "Fum Fum Fum". Click the little green guy to play. It's a free download if you dig it - just click that little arrow above the waveform.
If you like your beats a little more downtempo, here's a new video I made for an older recording. These videos are usually a low-tech affair; but good for zoning out to while you listen. "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is a bit more jazzy, with a complete (albeit simple) re-harmonization and lots of major 9 chords.
Another thing that's kept me occupied is the major undertaking of converting a ton-load of my Dad's vinyl muzak albums to digital [a well-meant Christmas present; rife with fond-ish childhood memories of album art and intriguing musical moments, that is nonetheless taking it's toll on my sanity]. Gone are the days of Easy-Listening record sales, cornball album covers with hotties in time-capsule apparel, and boasts on album covers about sound quality and "2 albums on 1" platters, as shown below. (The "hour of music" claim is an outright lie, however lol).
When crate-digging, I'm prone to picking up releases like the one below. I get a kick out of the design, and my Dad gets 40 more minutes of musical ether.. There's a Pink Floyd joke in this one somewhere, but I'm gonna save it for my FB wall. (In Dad's defense, he's also big on big-band, and the older, lighter side of jazz.)
The topic of vibraphonist Jack Brokensha came up in my interview with Sid Blair. One thing led to another and I discovered this Christmas album by his quartet, with Bess Bonnier on piano, Paul Keller on bass and Jim Ryan on drums. At the risk of getting arrested - here is some Detroit jazz holiday music to dig - posted below the artwork. It's out of print, I believe, but I'll also post a link to Amazon for used copies - it makes a nice change in your Christmas music arsenal, including a real nice bass melody from Keller on "Let It Snow..." There is also a Hanukkah track!
And finally - if you are a "Keep Christ in Christmas" kind of person - John Pellegrino and I are the jazz rhythm section on "O Christmas Tree", over at Christmas Music Reborn - a project that features various artists and secular holiday songs with new Christian lyrics by Mike Ronci.
The trio will be back at Jazzland in Jacksonville on the 28th of January - looking forward. In the meantime - Peace, Love & Happy Holidays!! - Kenny
Friday, November 25, 2011
Website Updates
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| John Pellegrino at the NSBJF 9/24/11 |
A few of the pages on the website have been spruced up! The Store Page now has audio samples and Itunes links for all the tracks on our albums; the Pictures Page has new photos like the one above, taken at the New Smyrna Beach Jazz Festival by Randy Barber, and the Listen Page has selections from a recent all-Monk set we did in Ormond Beach.
Gloria Mariash has hooked us up with a whole lot of video she shot at recent gigs, we'll pick the best ones and get 'em up soon! - KM
Monday, October 17, 2011
Great new jazz venue in Jacksonville
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| Kenny MacKenzie Trio at Jazzland, Jacksonville Oct 15 11 |
We returned to Jacksonville for the first time this year at an exceptional new venue called Jazzland. If you are in Jax, or passing through - I encourage you not to miss checking out a show there. No food license, so eat before or after; but what a classy joint. The lighting is not only perfect but beautiful. The sound is great, with so many different areas to sit and take in the show - from right up front to tucked away in a back corner at the huge bar. With the friendly staff and the warm, attentive audience it didn't take long for us to get comfortable and get inspired to give one of our most creative shows this year.
Below is a video filmed Sept 2nd 2011 at La Crepe in Ormond Beach~ Our entire first set was of music by Monk. What a blast!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Nonesuch audio & visual bliss...
A fine example of the Nonesuch package back in the day...with the familiar cover designs by William S. Harvey, and this particular artwork by Edward Sorel. I picked this up in the late 80's, special ordered at a mom and pop store. Even then the owner thought I was weird, wanting vinyl...I played the stuffin' out of it in the height of my mania for sacred choral music. It is, alas, unplayable now.
On another blog I recently wrote of how Bach's Magnificat impacted me mightily as a young boy. I hear the opening measures now and I still go "Wow!". Back then it was akin to an out-of-body experience. I hadn't heard anything so powerful and well-crafted before, and it gripped me and shook me. It was, as the above, a Nonesuch cut-out, I picked up for $2.99 most likely.
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| Nonesuch H-71091 Artwork by Donald Leake |
An equal sonic punch was delivered to me by their release of Bach's Cantata 140 "Wachet Auf..."; it's spiritual value as compelling as it's aural. I remember gazing at the cover intently, while the stately, dotted figures of that grand opening movement announced to me: "Here comes music from another world." I own neither album now, I keep an eye out for a bargain on ebay or Amazon from time to time. No matter, the feelings still reside within me.
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| Nonesuch H-71132 Artwork by Donald Leake |
By now some readers know my devotion to Bach, Vivaldi and even Handel. Tucked back in a curious corner of my mind is an inquisitiveness about and an open ear for Telemann. I'm ever impressed by his super-human output, I mean the man has 600 Ouvertures alone! Almost mocking the 4 similar Suites that Bach left us. Handel 'borrowed' liberally from them, and Bach transcribed 2 of his concertos for keyboard.
In his time, he was first choice before Bach at any gig offering, turning down the job at Leipzig that Bach then held for the rest of his life. Right or wrong, these things I can't overlook - and in the last few weeks, I've given him a lot of spins on the hard-drive turntable. He is his own man, and yet can be overlooked for the more obvious and concentrated powers of his more famous contemporaries - a justification they might have appreciated to see, at least secretly. (Bach and Telemann were friends.)
Well anyway, my thoughts on Telemann brought me to remembering some fine moments I had just a few years ago, listening to the above pictured albums on my little Handy Trax turntable. Today, I listened to the blue one with the moths, and had a grand old time! Got me to thinking about Nonesuch... and my endless musings on marketing, and what makes these covers such a success.
I think there is something to be said for formula, if you've got a good one. Naxos cds follow a very similar pattern; in artwork presentation, making unfamiliar titles available, and in budget price (at least formerly). Even Impulse Records work with one theme for their art, with black and orange and passionate photography. Each one is new yet familiar!
Nonesuch (also a pioneer in world music) is still around, not making budget classical releases, mind you - and under the Warner umbrella. Thanks for shtoppin' by :) - KM
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