Jamie Cullum

I like to think that I have an eclectic taste in music. I can enjoy the works from such variable musicians as Miles Davis, Culture Club, Pearl Jam, Tchaikovsky, Eminem, and many, many others. I also like to think that I have a discerning taste in music as it has been difficult for me to get into much of the modern artists that are taking the world by storm like Lady Gaga, Kesha, and Miley Cyrus. I have attended numerous great concerts of noted veterans in the music industry. My two favorite concerts that I've ever been to are of the same person.

Jamie Cullum is not a household name in the United States. He may be in England, however, where he is originally from and seems to have a wide, devoted following. His latest album was released in the UK four months before it appeared here in the states. His music might be characterized as jazz/pop though it's difficult to pinpoint specifically. He is a multi-instrumentalist though he spends most of his time at the piano. His vocal style calls to mind Harry Connick Jr. but with a rougher, gritty edge.

I have been a fan of his for the last seven years and finally got to see him perform live in 2006. I was in awe of his show and knew that if I ever had the chance I was going to see him again. That chance came again this summer as I just saw him last week. I went with my wife who had never seen him before but is also a huge fan, and two other friends. As he walked out on stage the audience immediately erupted in joyful and applause even though he had yet to sing or play a single note. It was nice to know that even in a somewhat small venue in north Texas he had fans that were as enthusiastic as me. His band consisted of a set drummer, bass player, trumpet/guitarist, and tenor sax/keyboardist with Jamie on piano. He started the set with a new tune called "I'm All Over It" and the first sound that came out from his voice put a smile on my face that didn't leave for the at least the next two hours. His set list had a nice variety of tunes from the various albums he's recorded over the years. It was a perfect blend of fast, get up and dance type songs like "Get Your Way", poignant, mellow pieces like "Photograph" and others that lie in between like a sultry cover of "Please Don't Stop the Music" which in my eyes is a vast improvement from the original. He came out for an encore and did a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Wind Cries Mary" and his original ballad "Gran Torino" that he wrote for the motion picture and which was nominated for a Golden Globe. He stands at only about 5'6" and weighs no more than 125 but his stage presence is enormous. He truly grabs the members of his audience and takes them on a musical adventure that they will probably not experience the likes of very often. Even when he just talked between tunes his charisma made him seem like the kind of guy you could chill with have a meaningful conversation. The concert was just unbelievable and my description does not come even close to giving it what it's due. My wife said it was the best concert she's ever been to hands down.

After the concert we found his tour bus and waited with a small group of people for 45 minutes to an hour with just a hope that we could see him and possibly get an autograph. When he finally emerged from a back door of the theater he seemed happy to greet his fans and spend a little time with us. We got his autograph, picture with him, had a little conversation, and he even kissed my wife's cheek, which I guess is standard practice where he's from. She raved about getting kissed by Jamie Cullum all the way home. If you are not familiar with Jamie I implore you to check out his work and I don't think you'll be disappointed. If you ever get the chance to catch one his shows don't even give it a second thought, just buy the tickets immediately. You will be in for a phenomenal musical experience.

Now THAT is Music

Just about everybody has an opinion on music. Everybody has a favorite and a least favorite band. Everybody has a song that just reaches their core and pulls their emotional strings as far as they can stretch. On the opposite side everybody has a song that from the first note just disgusts them and their insides just groan in agony from having heard it. It is difficult, if not impossible, to judge what is good and what is trash with something so subjective as music. All we have are individual's preferences. Sure we can try to quantify it by #1 hits, record sales, harmonic complexity, or the test of time, but using those arguments hardly convinces anyone to change their preferences. How do we know what's good? I don't know, but I'll tell you what I think is good.

I now live in an area where there is a multitude of radio stations to choose from. Sadly, I mostly stick to two. I listen to the classical station and the jazz station. I could throw in the sports radio station that I occasionally listen to but that doesn't have much to do with music. This morning the first piece of music I heard was Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. What a way to start the day! Later on I heard Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor. Even when I reached my destination I just sat in my truck and listened to it until the final movement was done. It was magnificent! It was played by Sir James Galway, the second greatest flutist I've ever heard live. The greatest was my own girlfriend, of course. The other day I heard Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 The Pathetique. Yesterday I heard the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2. in C minor. After all these pieces of the music I just said to myself, "Now that is music." It is so deep, so complex, and yes, it has withstood an adequate test of time.

If you read my last blog you know I do have my favorites in the genre of pop/rock. But what I hear when I'm flipping around mainstream radio today is awful. Even most of what they play on retro radio stations does not please my ears. There is one station that says, "tired of listening to the same boring radio? Tune in to us...". I tried that and found out that they're just like the rest of them that I don't like. Almost everyday I try to listen to the popular radio stations and I hear a song that I like maybe 10% of the time. That's probably stretching it. Why is that? How come what mainstream radio wants us to listen to is so bad? Is it the bell-shaped curve principle? Like I said, I don't know. But its okay, the world can keep American Idol and I'll keep listening to the classical and jazz stations along with a handful of other people.

A Collection of Souls

Several months ago, but not too many blog posts ago, I wrote about all the trumpet players that I have seen in concert. If you are not a trumpet aficionado you probably would not recognize most those names. I have also, however, seen many bands in concert whose names you probably will recognize if you pay any attention to pop culture (which I do not condone, but sometimes it's inescapable!) Anyway, here is the list: Counting Crows (2x), Goo Goo Dolls (2x), Gavin Degraw, Lifehouse, Augustana, Maroon 5, Colbie Caillat, Josh Ritter, and Jamie Cullum. I could write individual posts for each one of these concerts if I ever run really low on material. The point of all this is that just a few weeks ago I added a few other bands to this list.

On September 2, I had the privilege of seeing Ryan Star, Black Stone Cherry, and the headliner Collective Soul. I was not familiar with Ryan Star but he is most famous for writing the song "Long Train Home" which was featured in the movie P.S. I Love You. He also wrote the theme song for the Fox television show Lie to Me called "Brand New Day". He put on an energetic show and displayed a wide range of vocal prowess. His tune "Psycho Suicidal Girls", though the title may suggest deep seeded angst and resentment, was catchy and fun.

Next up was Black Stone Cherry. I had heard of them before but I didn't know what to expect. Out came four guys with 1970s-esque long hair, clothing that looked like hand-me-downs from Lynyrd Skynyrd, a vibe that was primed to rock, and a sound that was rooted in an earthy mixture of blues and classic rock. Their set began in rip-roaring fashion, with fast guitar riffs, heavy drum kicks, legs flailing, and hair exploding like fireworks. Their lead singer's voice was blues-inflected, powerful, and just throaty enough to reveal the band's southern roots. The band backed off the accelerator with each song and eased into a ballad of sorts called "Things My Father Said". They kicked it up again at the end and finished with an in-your-face rendition of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child". I was really impressed with Black Stone Cherry, a band from the small 1500 person town of Edmonton, Kentucky. They really shook the place up and delivered a strong punch to my thoughts that real hard rock 'n' roll was dying. It may still be but Black Stone Cherry is at least the respirator trying its best to revive it. Here's the official video of their hit "Please Come In" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKtpyeWb3jg

As the main attraction approached the crowd slowly began to multiply and my friend Shane and I were gradually getting pushed to the front, which was fine by us. Then Collective Soul entered the room and the crowd erupted. Collective Soul got their name from the Ayn Rand novel The Fountainhead where the phrase collection of souls is used to indicate a threat to the main character's individualism. Lead singer Ed Roland, son of a Southern Baptist minister, has pointed out that they chose the name not to make a statement about objectivism, egoism, nor because the works of Ayn Rand had any influence on his life. "We just dug the name," he's been quoted as saying. In their career, which catapulted with 1993's hit Shine, Collective Soul has had seven mainstream #1 hits, and five certified platinum albums. Needless to say, their performance lived up to expectations. I have always liked the band, but there were many people around me who surpassed my fandom. There was the overweight, balding up front flowing out back haired man with pork chop sideburns to my right who from the first note just closed his eyes, threw up two rock on signs with his hands, and just emersed himself in the music. There was the tipsy, middle-aged woman behind me who claimed to have seen Collective Soul in Morocco and preceded to tell me what a great guy lead singer Ed Roland was in person. There was another woman to my left who nearly fainted when Roland looked her way in the middle of the concert. They put on a high energy, diverse show that featured many of my favorites including, "December", "The World I Know", "Heavy", "Run", "Gel", and of course "Shine". I walked away more than satisfied with that musical experience. For a taste of a Collective Soul concert check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKROlUWkbsQ

I consider myself lucky to have seen some of my favorite bands in concert. I'm not done yet, though, as my sights are set on catching a John Mayer or Matchbox Twenty concert in the future. I'm hoping that the concerts I've seen thus far are just the beginning of a multitude of musical listening endevors in my life.

Musical Nostalgia

Every now and then I revert back to the tastes of days past and listen to music of the 1990s. I specify 1990s because I have also been known to listen to music from the 1890s or even 1790s but the subject of this entry will be the music that was being created as I was coming of age. The mid to late 90s was when I began making that great pilgrimage into adolescence. This is the time when most people experience the greatest number of changes in the shortest amount of time. The physical, emotional, and intellectual changes are abundant as each day has its successes and disasters. The perception is that the whole world is watching your every step and the slightest mistake will be witnessed by thousands. Tomorrow seems so far away in the eyes of a teen and each day is truly lived like it will be the last. Some of us even come close to that on a few occasions. I think that the music one listened to during this time always holds a special place.

The music that I listened to during adolescence was my choice. It sounds simple but its quite profound because prior to that I was just listening to music in my environment. I was listening to what my parents listened to. I come from a highly trained musical family, which I'm sure will be the subject of future blogs, so we listened to anything from Bach to the the music of Singing in the Rain to 70s bands like Chicago and KC and the Sunshine Band back to the music of The Wizard of Oz and Mozart. Some of it I still like today, some of it I have long since rejected, but the point is that I was not choosing to listen to this music. It was around me and it was all I knew. The music that you discover on your own takes on a significant meaning.

When I flipped on my first little clock radio I chose to listen to bands like Matchbox Twenty, Creed, Alanis Morissette, Third Eye Blind, Barenaked Ladies, REM, and Stroke 9 among others. I chose to listen to songs like "She's So High" by Tal Bachman, "Linger" by The Cranberries, "Leaving Town" by Dexter Freebish, "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus, and breakthrough revolutions to me like "Name" by The Goo Goo Dolls and "Long December" by Counting Crows. I could go on and on. One summer I mowed lawns and everytime I got paid I asked my mom or dad to take me to Hastings and I would buy another album. That was back when people actually bought CDs. It is difficult to debate what is good and what is not when it comes to music because it's all a matter of taste and opinion. That being said, the hit songs of today just don't measure up according to my tastes. It makes me think we are at a new low point regarding what kind of music is popular.

That's okay though because the music is still out there somewhere. Whether the artists are struggling to survive or have long since faded into obscurity the music is still there. Since that time my musical tastes have broadened but I ocassionally get nostalgic when I hear a song from that era. I appreciate the music of the 90s that was with me in that metaphorical roller coaster called adolescence. A time when things seemed so complicated but were actually so free.

First Blog

I decided to create my own blog as I was pondering if all of my thoughts and opinions are really worth something. Some things that have been running through my head lately are the need for the ability to improvise in life, just how much gray area there is in this world, what playing music can do for someone, the Detroit Pistons new lineup, and why Michael Vick has been subjected to such extreme treatment. I have a rule, however, that I will not air my opinions on any matters between the hours of 12 and 6 am. Since we are now in this area of time, this blog will serve as an introductory sample of what is to come.