Artist.......: Brubeck Braid
Album........: Twotet/Deuxet
Label........: ind
Genre........: Jazz
Catnr........: n/a
source.......: CDDA
rip.date.....: Sep-20-2007
str.date.....: June-29-2007
quality......: VBR/44,1Hz/Joint-Stereo
Url..........:
track title time
01. Huevos Verdes Y Jamon (Brubeck) 06:23
02. Wash Away (Braid) 07:00
03. The Return of Dr.Spookulus (Brubeck) 07:21
04. Mnemosyne's March (Braid) 08:45
05. Improvisation 17.04.2006 (Brubeck/Braid) 04:54
06. Sniffin' Around (Brubeck) 05:25
07. It's Not What it Was (Brubeck) 09:51
08. Spirit Dance (Braid) 05:48
Runtime 55:27 min
Size 70,8 MB
Release Notes:
www.davidbraid.com
www.mattbrubeck.com
David Braid seemed like such a laid-back guy û
humble, kind of shy, so reverential about his art
form û until he came within a hair of dissing John
Coltrane.
It was triggered by a reporter's observation that
the Hamilton-born, Toronto-based jazz pianist
rarely records other people's songs. Not that he
needs to.
Since making his album debut in 2001, Braid, 31,
has been acclaimed as an exceptional composer,
arranger and player. He's just been nominated for
two Junos and seven National Jazz Awards, largely
on the strength of his current disc, Zhen: The
David Braid Sextet Live Vol. II, which gets its
first full airing in Toronto this week with a
performance at the Rex.
The record, like Braid's previous efforts, is a
showcase for his arsenal of both thoughtful and
carefree compositions.
"I love playing standards," said the soft-spoken
musician. On Zhen, that includes sax legend
Coltrane's "Giant Steps."
Braid, who paid royalties for the first time with
the adaptation of the famed song, exposed his
not-so-mild-mannered side while talking about his
deconstruction of the tune.
"I really feel that that isn't Coltrane's piece any
more û no disrespect intended," he said.
"But if this were architecture, it's like I
borrowed some moulding and put it on a completely
different building."
In this case, he's rendered Coltrane's buoyant tune
almost unrecognizable with a light, languorous
approach to the harmony. But why even bother?
"Because I'm really interested in the engaging
process of music, like how memory works with music
and what happens in the psychology of a listener
when they listen to a piece of music. How can I use
a familiar strand (such as "Giant Steps") and
manipulate that to my advantage?
"I look at a composition much like how a director
directs a film: taking into consideration people's
expectations, the timing of events, the familiar
vs. the unfamiliar."
The classically trained Braid, who didn't discover
jazz until his late teens, can spend months
crafting a single tune. He cites Mozart, Ellington
and Stravinsky among his influences.
"I admire people who embrace the musical tradition
that precedes them, so that the essence of their
music isn't really revolutionary in that they broke
all the rules, it's just they're so creative they
make something old sound completely new. I like
that sense of lineage in music."
Braid's own adherence to custom is why this
interview took place at the University of Toronto's
Faculty of Music. He graduated from the school's
jazz program in 1998 and, despite a flourishing
professional career, has been back teaching senior
piano since 2003.
"I like how in the jazz tradition there's sort of
that connection between the generations, where one
generation pulls up the next. I think all (jazz
musicians) teach, if not formally, as part of the
culture. And because I gained so much from being
here ...this was my opportunity to give back in a
small way."
Braid said he's "bummed" that more students don't
seek him out to discuss their futures. "Being just
a few steps ahead of them, I'm in position to give
good advice."
Although the boyish-looking tunesmith is the
youngest member of the sextet he formed in 1999,
the group of A-list players whose ages span 30
years don't seem to have any problem following his
lead.
"I'm not only writing for their characters, I know
the instrument that they play so well I know which
notes sound best on it," Braid said of the band,
which is comprised of Terry Clarke (drums), Mike
Murley (sax), Steve Wallace (bass), Gene Smith
(trombone) and John MacLeod (flugelhorn).
"On `Lydian Sky' (from Zhen), there's a key pitch
that happens throughout that piece that sort of
defines the whole piece and I chose that pitch
because of the brightness that it had on Mike
Murley's tenor. If it was someone else's tenor, I
feel the piece wouldn't work."
So if Murley's horn gets left in a cab?
"We can't play that song."