Hi listeners-- I know it's been a while with no updates. Unfortunately I haven't been performing nearly as often as I'd like lately (an Obama fundraiser here, a street fair there), and with the recent closing of two more San Francisco jazz venues (Jazz at Pearl's and the Octavia Lounge), prospects don't seem encouraging. Pearl's was an especially tough blow, as it was home to the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, which I really enjoyed playing with once or twice a month. But no excuses, we musicians just have to get out there and find new places to play.In this month's JazzTimes and in a post on his blog, the great jazz writer Marc Myers takes a critical look at the cult of adoration surrounding Miles Davis' Kind of Blue (1959), which has been widely hailed as the greatest (or at least most essential) jazz album of all time. The post is definitely worth a read, as it places the album in the context of its time and looks at factors (on both the musical and the marketing sides) which contributed to its lofty stature.

After mulling the post over for a few days and seeing Marc accused of being a "reactionary nitpicker," I left the following comment which sums up my feelings about Kind of Blue, and why, for once, I agree with the "conventional wisdom":

I know Marc ISN'T a reactionary nit-picker, so I took this post as a legitimate question, and one that deserves to be asked periodically of any canonical artwork.Aside from the question of whether KoB can be separated from its reputation, as I thought about this post I realized the more difficult task for me was separating it from my memories of the record. Although I'd grown up hearing my dad's copies of the Miles/Gil Evans compilations, KoB was the first jazz CD I bought myself, mainly because of its rep (and despite the cheesy cover the first Columbia CD issue featured). My first listen to it was a sort of rubicon, and maybe because of its reputation, I listened to it with a focus I'd never given any other album. It was moody without being somber; bluesy without being corny; intelligent without being effete; virtuosic without being cold.And even though over the years I've come to see it in the continuum of Miles' output (and jazz history in general), it still remains above and beyond for me because of that near-religious response I initially had to it, and which has stuck with me.The other records mentioned are great, too, but I hear them as great jazz albums, whereas KoB still feels like the Gutenberg bible (even if I hear it in Starbucks). How much of that is due to the hype-based expectations of a teenager, it's hard to say--but I'd still rather take it to a desert island than any other jazz record.

I also read an interesting post by the excellent New York jazz writer Howard Mandel talking about his visit to Berklee College of Music and the incredible number of young musicians still dedicating themselves to jazz even as the market dwindles. It reminded me of my student days, and I left the following comment:

I've often wondered whether it would've been helpful for someone to clue me in to the incredible imbalance of supply and demand in the jazz world when I was going into a mountain of debt to finance my jazz education at the New School... (I think I remember my roommate at the time telling me that the average starting salary of a Parsons design grad was over $50,000, and thinking that the average starting salary of a New School Jazz grad would be tips and a beer.) However, I probably wouldn't have listened if they had, since I was young and invincible and little things (like the fact that there seem to be more people making jazz than listening to it) couldn't faze me.

Howard nicely responded with this note: "... I don't mean to dissuade anyone from studying jazz; as you write the power of jazz to attract the young and invincible is stronger than financial considerations for them. Those of us involved in the music though ought to look at our society clearly, and consider how to work with the gap between what we're called to do and how we can live. This is what jazz musicians have done since the get-go. I think such reality-checks strengthen the musician and the music. Who said it was gonna be easy?" Damn straight.

Hi Listeners, and apologies for the long break in posting here. I'm currently in the middle of a 3-month sabbatical and have been hard at work in "the shed," practicing, listening, and working on new music for my group. (More about that in a moment.) But I'm breaking my radio silence to let you know about two shows coming up in April, both of which I'm pretty excited about.

The first is the release show for a new album by the great local pianist Ben Stolorow called I'll Be Over Here (click to sample or purchase). Ben was nice enough to ask me to do the design for the CD, and then even nicer enough to ask me to sit in with his trio during the second part of the release show. Here's the details:

WHAT: Ben Stolorow Trio CD Release Show
WHO: Ben Stolorow, piano; Greg Germain, drums; Ravi Abcarian, bass; + Ian Carey, trumpet & other special guests
WHEN: Friday, April 11, 8-11:30pm
WHERE: Anna's Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley (tel: 510-841-JAZZ)
HOW MUCH: $12 (there will also be a special one-night-only supercheap price of $5 for the CD!)

Next, I'm excited to announce the first Bay Area show for the Ian Carey Quintet in many moons. We're going to be playing Anna's in Berkeley (a few weeks after Ben's previously mentioned show). Although Fred, Adam, and Jon (of the original ICQ) are unable to make it, I've put together a heavy-hitting group of all-stars (each of whom has played my music before) to take up the torch--and of course the inimitable Evan Francis will be holding down his usual role as saxophonist/flautist and general inspiration machine. We'll be playing highlights from the Quintet book, as well as plenty of new compositions and arrangements (including tunes by Keith Jarrett, Andrew Hill, Adam Shulman, and Ornette Coleman), hot off the presses for the event. Here's the scoop:

WHAT: The Ian Carey Quintet
WHO: Ian Carey, trumpet & flugelhorn; Evan Francis, alto saxophone & flute; Matt Clark, piano; Kurt Kotheimer, bass; and special guest (direct from New York) Tim Bulkley, drums
WHEN: Wednesday, April 23, 8-11:30pm
WHERE: Anna's Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley (tel: 510-841-JAZZ)
HOW MUCH: $8 (Wednesday cheap!)

Finally, here's some video from an impromptu show last week at the Parc 55, where I filled in for Betty Fu while she recuperated from a little under-the-weatherness. It features me, Noah Shencker on bass, Adam Shulman on piano (unfortunately out of the frame) and the favorite improvising vocalist of everyone I know, Lorin Benedict on the microphone. The tune is "Just You..." Enjoy!

It's 2007, and I thought I'd give a little update about what's going on musically for me and my co-conspirators in the new year, as well as provide a little downloadable jazz goodness for you, the listeners. First the update:

• I've been rehearsing regularly with the Joe Henderson Memorial Big Band, led by the excellent trumpeter and Bay Area native Warren Gale, Jr. It's been a great opportunity to play a book of superb arrangements and compositions by Henderson, Woody Shaw, McCoy Tyner, and other greats of the Blue Note era (as well as a chance to hear Warren tear it up on a weekly basis). Performances and a recording are planned for this year, so I'll be sure to keep you posted.
• I've been working on new music for the Quintet, and hope to premiere several new compositions at our next performance, which will be... soon, I hope.
• I've also been attending some fine jam sessions, including the Beep Trio session at Uptown in Oakland (unfortunately no longer happening), and the Michael Parsons Trio session at Octavia Lounge.
• Adam Shulman, the great pianist who has been a member of my Quintet for several years, recently recorded his second album as a leader, which will be released in the spring. It features saxophonist Dayna Stephens, bassist John Wiitala, and Jon Arkin (also an I.C. Quintet member), and I was pleased when Adam asked me to create the graphic design for the CD.
• Fred Randolph, longtime bassist for the Quintet, also released a fine album, New Day, featuring many local luminaries and some beautiful original writing by Fred.
• Rounding out the Quintet-member news, saxophonist Evan Francis released a CD last fall with his outstanding electro/jazz/hip-hop group Spaceheater, which cracked the Top 100 in the Electronic genre in iTunes.
• Finally, I've been listening to a lot of great music, soaking up excellent releases from Jacob Varmus, Scott McLemore, Joe Lovano/Gunther Schuller, and Ron Horton, among others. I also really enjoyed the week-long Bach Festival from WKCR over the holidays—that radio station is a treasure, and I'm glad that, thanks to the internet, I didn't have to give it up when I left New York.

Well, that's just a bit of what's going on. I'll keep you updated about upcoming gigs or other news as information becomes available. I'll leave you with a bonus track from a performance of the Quintet from last March, just before we left the House of Shields' nest for good:

• Groovin' High (Gillespie) Dizzy's bop burner. With myself on trumpet; Jon Arkin, drums; Adam Shulman, piano; Fred Randolph, bass, and Evan Francis, saxophone. Recorded live, 3/14/06.

Hi listeners--I hope everyone is enjoying his or her summers. In lieu of lemonade and hot dogs, I have one gig announcement, one travelogue, and one absolutely-free mp3 download for you.

First, I'd like to announce a performance next month which I'm really excited about: on Saturday, July 8, from 8 to midnight, the Quintet will be playing at the Octavia Lounge on Market Street. This will be our first public performance since April, and will feature some new original music as well as selections from our CD (and most likely a few standards and classics). The regular line-up (myself on trumpet, Evan Francis on alto & flute, Adam Shulman on piano--last chance to hear Adam before he heads to France for the rest of the summer!--Fred Randolph on bass, and Jon Arkin on drums) will be there. There's a $10 cover, but it's a small price to pay to hear the band in a beautiful club (with a beautiful piano). So save the date, since I know Saturdays in the summertime book up fast.

Second, Linda and I just got back from a whirlwind tour of Kansas City, where we were able to make it to several jazz-related events. See below for the full story.

Finally, as a bonus for remembering who we are after these past few gig-free months, here's a complete tune from our final House of Shields gig in April. Enjoy!

• Con Alma (Gillespie) Dizzy's classic Cubano chorale. You might subtitle this rendition "Requiem for a Steady Gig." I especially like interplay between Evan and I toward the end of the tune.

Hi listeners, hope you're enjoying your springs. Here are a few items to keep you informed about the Quintet, and my music in general:

First, thanks to everyone who turned out for our final performance at the House of Shields, or any of the performances during our several-year-residency, for that matter--it was a good run, and I can honestly say that the band's chemistry would not have developed nearly as quickly without those regular gigs. It's unfortunate that we weren't able to keep building on that base, but that's the nature of the business.

Fortunately, we have some potential quintet shows on the horizon, so stay tuned. In the meantime, I'll try and post some audio highlights from the H.O.S. archive from time to time, partly to keep you (the listeners) interested, but mainly because I just think the band makes me sound really good.

There have been some more positive developments for our CD, Sink/Swim:

• David Adler, an excellent writer whose work has been featured in Slate, JazzTimes, and elsewhere, has selected the album as one of his monthly picks for All About Jazz's "New York @ Night" column.
• Speaking of All About Jazz, their featured download of "Thirteen," the album's first track, has been downloaded nearly nine hundred times! Good to know it's getting "out there" (and bringing visitors to this site from Italy to Malaysia).
• The album has also recently received some airplay on KCSM, the country's only 24-hour commercial-free jazz station, which we're fortunate to have here in the Bay Area. If you're a local, consider giving them a call to request it. (And while you're at it, make a donation for their pledge drive.)
• In addition to being available on CDBaby.com, the CD can now also be purchased locally at Groove Yard, a fine independent record store specializing in jazz and blues, which is located at 5555 Claremont Avenue in Oakland. (The selection and prices of their jazz records and CDs are outstanding.)

That's all for now--thanks for stopping by.