Jazz Spotlight: Miles Davis - A Tribute to Jack Johnson (1971)

On April 7, 1970, John McLaughlin picked up his electric guitar in the 30th Street Studio in New York and began improvising some riffs. Soon after, he was joined in by Michael Henderson on electric bass and Billy Cobham on the drums. Herbie Hancock is asked to start playing the organ and does so. Finally, legendary trumpet player Miles Davis enters the studio and begins his own solo about two minutes into the riffing. So began not only one of Miles Davis's greatest albums but one of the greatest jazz fusion albums of all time, A Tribute to Jack Johnson.

A Tribute to Jack Johnson came about as a project as a soundtrack for a documentary by Bill Cayton about the boxing heavyweight world champion Jack Johnson. The result was the closest that Miles Davis would get to rock in his career and by far his funkiest album to date. Miles was riding high off the success of Bitches Brew only a year prior and continued to turn many in the jazz community on their head. Some complained that not only was Bitches Brew not jazz but neither was A Tribute to Jack Johnson. However, these two albums are just an example of Miles leading the way into yet another jazz subgenre as he would do so throughout his entire life. In other words, not only was it jazz but it was most certainly Miles being Miles.

The album can be seen as a bit imitating to your casual jazz listener with there being only two tracks, especially since both of them are at least 25 minutes a piece. However, both tracks have such a level of craftsmanship and level of skill accompanying them that it's hard to stop listening to them once you begin.

The first track "Right Now" contains a legendary lineup not only within the jazz fusion community but within jazz itself. Miles Davis leads the group on his trumpet, arguably the greatest jazz player of all time. John McLaughlin lends his skills on the electric guitar and he is certainly one of the greatest electric guitar players of all time. Herbie Hancock lends his skills on the organ and has already established himself with previous solo albums such as Maiden Voyage. Billy Cobham on the drums would eventually co-found the legendary jazz fusion group, the Mahavishnu Orchestra with McLaughlin. The track also has Michael Henderson on the electric bass and Steve Grossman on the electric saxophone.

As previously noted, "Right Now" starts with McLaughlin's legendary riff as the rest of the group joins in. Miles's solo beginning at 2:19 on the track is where "Right Now" really comes alive and starts to become something really special. Miles performs some of the best work of his career on this track and it's certainly something really funky along with being jazz. The change in sound momentarily at the almost eleven minute mark gives the track an even more special feel before the group kicks it back into high gear about a minute later. The entire group is firing on all cylinders and each one of them shine in their opportunity to showcase their skills on this track.

The second track "Yesternow" is an interesting case. The lineup previously listed performs roughly the first half of "Yesternow" up until about 12:55. The track does a wonderful job in the way it starts quietly and sets the tone for what's to come. Miles's playing on this track is wonderful and really enjoyable.

The lineup for the second half of "Yesternow" is uncredited on the album and their portion was recorded on February 18, 1970. Miles Davis remains on the trumpet and John McLaughlin remains on the electric guitar. Sonny Sharrock joins McLaughlin on his own electric guitar and Bennie Maupin joins in on the bass clarinet. Dave Holland takes over on electric bass and Jack DeJohnette takes over on the drums. Finally, the legendary Chick Corea takes over on electric piano.

The second half of "Yesternow" is certainly different enough from the first half to notice the lineup change as the piece's tone changes. The final result of the track is something just as special as "Right Now". It's a bit more subdued than "Right Now" but the solos are just as fantastic. The entire piece is a great example of improvisation and editing at it's finest.

Overall, Jack Johnson didn't certainly please everyone. It's didn't please many rock fans who were expecting something different from this album and it certainly didn't please many jazz purists who were hoping Miles was going to return to his Kind of Blue days instead of moving even further than he did into fusion after Bitches Brew. It certainly explains why the album didn't perform commercially as well as Bitches Brew but I personally think it is a superior jazz fusion album to Bitches Brew. The album is certainly worth listening to for anybody who considers themselves a fan of Miles Davis and or jazz in general. If only to hear, Miles being Miles.

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Link to the album on Amazon. The album is also available for listening on Spotify.

Book Review: The Great Influenza by John M. Barry

"It was influenza, only influenza." The influenza pandemic of 1918 roughly lasted almost three years after it's start in the winter of 1918. The pandemic killed as many as 100 million people worldwide according to most recent estimates. It killed more people in twenty-four weeks than AIDS has killed in twenty-four years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. The Great Influenza is a story of both triumph and tragedy.

John M. Barry does a wonderful job describing to readers about not only how this strain of influenza killed but why this particular strain was so deadly. The book is extremely detailed about the state of medicine at that time that was still undergoing a revolution into the newest century. The book at times feels like something straight out of a science fiction or Stephen King novel but it was unfortunately all too real. The book focuses on those in the medical science field that would reshape the landscape in the United States and make it the place for scientific research in the world instead of being a second-class joke to Europe. These same people and their proteges would throw all their efforts into defeating influenza once it started. People like William Welch, Simon Flexner, Oswald Avery, William Park, Anna Williams, and Paul Lewis.

Barry makes it clear that although the pandemic couldn't have been prevented, the number of deaths could have been significantly less. However, the media at that time all attempted to reassure people that "it was influenza, only influenza." Barry goes into great detail about what happened in Philadelphia and other states as it was ravaged by influenza. He discusses how it got to the point where people would not even dare touch one another or trust one another. Fear was not only was common across the country but it took up residence wherever the pandemic hit. And there weren't too many places where influenza didn't hit in the United States.

"During the course of the epidemic, 47 percent of all deaths (emphasis mine) in the United States, nearly half of all those who died from all causes combined - from cancer, from heart disease, from stroke, from tuberculosis, from accidents, from suicide, from murder, and from all other causes - resulted from influenza and it's complications. And it killed enough people to depress the average life expectancy in the United States by more than ten years." Another thing different from this pandemic was that it attacked those in their 20's and 30's who would usually be considered the most healthy in these types of epidemics. Influenza had the potential to kill a perfectly healthy person within 12 hours in some cases.

The book itself is 465 pages including the afterword. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history, the development of medical science, or this time period. Although the book at times can seem too detailed, it does a wonderful job of giving the reader the information necessary to have a full understanding about what happened. Barry also does a wonderful job of breaking down complex topics in order to make it more understandable for the reader. This was certainly one of the best non-fiction books I've read.

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Link to the book on Amazon.

Jazz Spotlight: Kurt Rosenwinkel - Intuit (1999)

Intuit is Kurt Rosenwinkel's second album as band leader. It was released in 1999 and features a number of jazz standards. Kurt Rosenwinkel plays the guitar on the album. Michael Kanan plays the piano, Joe Martin plays the bass, and Tim Pleasant plays the drums.

Intuit for the most part is an album full of jazz standards. The exception to this is "Epiphany" by the group's pianist Michael Kanan. The group is able to do a wonderful job and work together seamlessly.

The first track "How Deep is the Ocean"is a jazz standard by Irving Berlin. This track does a wonderful job of showcasing both Rosenwinkel's and Kanan's skills. Kanan has a wonderful piano solo about halfway through the track. It's a wonderful start to the album and also happens to be the longest track on the album.

The second track "Conception I" is by jazz pianist George Shearing. This track is certainly a lot faster than "How Deep is the Ocean". The group does a wonderful job on this fast take. The third track "Darn that Dream" is co-written by Eddie DeLange and Jimmy Van Heusen. The track returns the album to the similar feel of the first piece. Rosenwinkel's playing on "Darn that Dream" is particularly worth noting.

The fourth track "Dewey Square" is a piece by the legendary Charlie Parker. The group does a wonderful job of making the piece their own. The fifth track "When Sunny Gets Blue" is by Jack Segal and Marvin Fisher. The piece is also my personal favorite on the album. An interesting piece of trivia is that this track was also used on the show Hey Arnold!

The sixth track "Sippin' At Bells" was written by the legendary Miles Davis but was wrongly credited to Charlie Parker on this album. The track also happens to be the shortest on the album but the group makes the most of it with their fast playing. The group is certainly able to do the piece justice.

The seventh track "Epiphany" is the sole original on the album by Michael Kanan. The track is the second longest on the album and returns it to it's slower pace. The eighth track "Segment" by the legendary Charlie Parker livens things up a bit. The group does a wonderful job on this Parker piece as well.

The ninth track "Summertime" is by the legendary George Gershwin. The track showcases some of Rosenwinkel's skills and makes for a beautiful addition to the album. The tenth and final track on the album "Conception II" is by George Shearing. The track is an excellent listen and nice way to end the album.

Overall, Intuit is an excellent album and an album where the listener really begins to see how great of a musician Kurt Rosenwinkel is. The album makes for a great listen on a clear sunny afternoon or just when you would like to relax. The album is available for listening on Spotify.

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Dissection of the Current American Horror Genre

Peter in George Romero's 1978 film Dawn of the Dead remarked at one point: "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth." Apparently, when there's no more original ideas in Hollywood, the sequels and remakes will walk the earth. It would be unfair to categorize the American horror movie genre as being alone on the train of turning plenty of successful films into cash cows with numerous sequels and then later on remakes. However, it is likely the largest offender.

A perfect example of this phenomenon is the Saw franchise. Saw was a film shot in 18 days and had a budget of roughly around $1 million dollars. The film was widely acclaimed by both critics and viewers alike and it went on to make over $100 million. It could have ended there, instead five more films followed. Although the first film was largely a mystery, the next films have been classified by some as what amounts to torture-porn. In fact, the Saw and Hostel franchises were a large reason why the torture-porn subgenre of horror reemerged.

It is not difficult to see why the horror genre is perhaps the most ripe for this. The risk of making a horror film is relatively low when compared to say a blockbuster action film in terms of both shooting the actual film and the cost of it. The act of investing a few million dollars and hoping for the next Saw, Scream, or Blair Witch Project essentially amounts to gambling by studios.

The horror industry has certainly seen it's fair share of sequels and even prequels in the past. The Halloween franchise starring everybody's favorite boogeyman Michael Myers saw a total of eight films between 1978 and 2002. A Nightmare on Elm Street saw a total of seven films between 1984 and 1994. Perhaps the worst offender of the bunch is the Friday the 13th franchise. The audience saw a total of nine films between 1980 and 1993. It's not surprising however since all of those films turned a profit. Of course, I'm fairly certain everyone would like to forget Jason X.

All three of these franchises saw remakes in the last five years and Halloween even saw a sequel to it's remake. The financial success of all these films almost guarantees that will see more sequels down the road. It also guarantees that we will see more horror franchises be given remakes. I recently read that there will be a fifth sequel to Child's Play (Chucky) called Curse of Chucky to be released later this year.

I certainly don't expect a cinematic masterpiece whenever I go to see any of these movies. I'm also not expecting a high amount of quality from the same movie genre that played a large role in shaping Grindhouse movies. However, a great deal of these movies aren't simply so bad they're good but just plain bad.

The release of Texas Chainsaw 3D this past weekend is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Based on 42 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 21% approval rating, with an average rating of 3.6/10. The only horror movie with worse approval ratings than that is Congress. However, the film has already surpassed its budget of $20 million by grossing what looks to be about $23 million this weekend alone.

Texas Chainsaw 3D is also the 7th film in the Texas Chainsaw franchise. The original 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre changed slasher films as we know it and is largely regarded as one of the most influential horror movies of the 70's. It's worth taking a look at the franchise for a moment.

• 1974: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - Original film in the franchise. Rotten Tomato rating: 91%.
• 1986: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 - Sequel to the 1974 original. Rotten Tomato rating: 45%.
• 1990: Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 - Second sequel to the 1974 original and a reboot. Rotten Tomato rating: 14%
• 1994: Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation  - Loose remake and quasi-sequel to the original 1974 film. Rotten Tomato rating: 17%.
• 2003: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Remake of the original 1974 film. Rotten Tomato rating: 36%.
• 2006: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning - Prequel to the 2003 remake. Rotten Tomato rating: 12%.
• 2013: Texas Chainsaw 3D - The film picks up after the events of the original 1974 film. Rotten Tomato rating: 21%.

So to recap: We have three sequels to the original and two loose remakes by the fourth film. We have a remake almost thirty years after the original and then we have a sequel to the remake. Now we have another sequel to the original. Texas Chainsaw 3D doesn't mean the end for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series. In fact,  Lionsgate has already announced an eighth film with the option of up to six more films.

I certainly hope don't to see six rushed sequels as Lionsgate drives down a franchise that should have stayed dead and buried. However, as long as these films continue to remain profitable then that's what exactly will happen. 2013 doesn't bode well currently for the American horror genre as some of the most "anticipated" films include an Evil Dead remake and a Carrie remake. The consumer has a say in the quality of films being made by voting with their dollar and as long as the viewing public will pay to see bad horror films then that's what will be made.

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