RVANews

Bryan Hooten: Be present

Susan Howson — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 12:39:59 +0000

DANG IT, BRYAN HOOTEN...is a thing we say a lot in the RVANews office. Mostly because everything he does is so inspiring, but also because, despite all of the inner calm stuff you're about to read, he's a super fun and down-to-earth person to hang out with. And a professional trombonist. And an all-around productive person.

In 2013, Publisher Ross and I heard Bryan speak at a bill conference. We invited him out to dinner immediately and grilled him for more information on how we could become more like him. Both of us were improved individuals afterwards. Your personal issues may not be addressed by anything yoga-related,¹ but if Bryan's path seems interesting to you, grab a pair of new pants, scarf down a chia bar, and get balanced.

What does "fitness" mean to you?

Fitness means fitting into the flow of life, knowing when to move with it or appropriately against it. Fitness means acting, thinking, and feeling with clarity and compassion. In purely physical terms, being fit means having the capacity to do what needs to be done with the tools you have been given.

How did fitness find you?

My first fitness love was running. I vividly remember being home from college, sitting on my parents' couch in Alabama, and realizing that it was time to run. I called up a couple of friends of mine and we jogged two painful miles at a local park. I kept running all through college, grad school, and into my adult life. I had brief affairs with free-weights and machines but it was only running that I did with any consistency. During a particularly difficult time in my life, the therapist I was seeing for anxiety and depression suggested I try yoga and meditation. After a couple of weeks of almost daily practice, the same rush of clarity emerged about yoga as had emerged about running. I realized that fitness involved taking personal responsibility for my own emotional as well as physical health. Since then, a daily yoga practice has been my primary means of staying fit.

What's your personal roadmap for staying fit?

In general

Sleep: Try (usually fail) to get eight hours a night
Breathing: Maintain awareness of my breath throughout the day
Posture: Sit and stand up straight as much as possible
Food: Eat whole foods, mostly vegetarian, and drink lots of water
Thoughts: Observe thoughts but do not let them distract from experience

Formal practice

One to two hours of asana (postures) done in a vinyasa style. Vinyasa yoga links postures together through the breath and borrows heavily from gymnastics as well as ideas from turn-of-the- 20th-century body building. Within the framework of the Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskar), I practice standing postures, arm-balances, inversions, seated postures and savasana (relaxation), all while trying to maintain relaxed, focused breathing. Since I have a fairly pronounced scoliosis and kyphosis, I target much of my work at the spine to cultivate balance and openness there. In addition to strengthening and stretching, this practice allows me to expand the capacity of my nervous system to safely tolerate different joint positions, leading to an expanding of mental, emotional, and energetic capacity.

Twenty minutes of pranayama (breath work): In this seated practice, I explore forced exhalation and passive inhalation, alternate nostril breathing, retention of the breath, and extending the inhales and exhales, all as means of directing prana (or life force). Most of the work here is in gently exerting control over the passive elements of respiration in order to form new patterns. For example, I have found pranayama particularly effective in learning to manage anxiety.

Twenty minutes to one hour of meditation: I sit on a cushion and release control over the breath, the mind, and the body except for what is needed to maintain an upright posture. Hopefully, new, more healthy breath, posture, and thought patterns emerge without too much effort. Essentially, I just sit still with open awareness and remain present with whatever arises. This usually involves just watching my mind race for a while.

How are you helping to keep Richmond fit?

I offer instruction in asana and meditation in my classes and private lessons at Ashtanga Yoga Richmond. We offer a variety of asana classes that give people an opportunity to explore these practices under the guidance of wise teachers. We're also hosting an Immersion in January/February that will include additional classes in pranayama, meditation, and text study. I'd like to think that we, teachers and students, all leave that place seeing and thinking more clearly and acting with more compassion.

If you could encourage people to make one change in their lives in order to become more fit, what would it be?

Approach your fitness practice as a means to better serve others by expanding your mental, emotional, and physical capacity. Do this and you will never lack motivation! Be fit so others can depend on you!

And we're going to help you find what IS best for you by providing various stories this week. Enter our lululemon Great Fit Challenge and try out a bunch of local options yourself! ↩

Ho there, reader of RSS feeds! Do you ever want to support RVANews in a real and tangible way? Or at least pay a small penance for reading ad-free content? If so, support us on Patreon for a couple bucks a month!

part two: Bryan Hooten – Richmond Love Call

Aaron Williams — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:00:12 +0000

Click here to read part one of this article.

Bryan Hooten is a trombonist, composer and educator who performs with a variety of ensembles from across the musical spectrum including Fight the Big Bull, No BS! Brass and Ombak.

Bryan Hooten's solo trombone record "Richmond Love Call" is available now on itunes or find him for a hard copy.

Question: How different is the process of working on a record and developing music alone?

BH: Most of it is different because of the amount of time I can spend on it. I can practice my solo trombone repertoire anytime regardless of other people's schedules.

In other ways, I think it is more difficult. You have no one to bounce ideas off of, no time to rest and fewer ways to change the orchestration. In some ways it is really hard but I really enjoy it.

Question: Did you learn a lot of things about yourself?

BH: As a player, what didn’t I learn about myself. As a player and personally, I am learning to have more patience. In the solo performance situation, the right answer always appears to be, I need to fill up all of this space. But actually, doing that can ruin some really good musical ideas. Musically I need to learn to be patient. That also affects me personally. I don’t need to fill up all of the space in my life. I also learned that a project like this is possible. Every time I reach a plateau, I have a better perspective on what is possible.

Question: Over the past few years, you have performed solo several times. How different of an experience is it performing solo when you aren’t surrounded by Fight The Big Bull, Ombak, NoBS!, etc.?

BH: It is like being naked in front of a whole bunch of people. The more teaching that I do, the better I get at playing solo trombone. Teaching a theory class, or leading a big band or instructing a marching band, you are the guy in charge and you have to be on with no one else to depend upon. That is not to say that I am ever musically or mentally disengaged when playing with other bands. It is intense having all of the music be on you and no one else for the audience to look at.

Question: You aren't from Richmond, but you love it. What does this city mean to you personally and musically?

BH: I think it is the perfect blend between everything I love about the South having grown up (in Alabama) and everything I love about being a creative person. It’s friendly. Everyone knows everyone else, yet it is also artistically very forward thinking and the artists take a lot of risks. I am so glad to be a part of the scene. I think for lack of a better term, Richmond is a spiritual home for me.

Question: Finally, what is next for solo trombone and your music in general?

BH: Well, for solo trombone, I want to do two or three more albums. I am entertaining the idea of recording each one at a different studio and working with a different producer.

There are no electronics on this record but I can see the next one involving electronics. I have experimented a little with using a distortion pedal live but for the time being I am staying away from loop pedals.

I am really enjoying writing and singing for No BS!. I am writing a new set of songs for Ombak and I do mean songs with words sung by a singer. I am also kicking around the idea of a top-secret collaboration with snow panda. I am also excited about all of the upcoming recording projects with Spacebomb records.

part one: Bryan Hooten – Richmond Love Call

Aaron Williams — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:00:03 +0000

Bryan Hooten is a trombonist, composer and educator who performs with a variety of ensembles from across the musical spectrum including Fight the Big Bull, No BS! Brass and Ombak.

Bryan Hooten's solo trombone record "Richmond Love Call" is available now on itunes or find him for a hard copy.

Question: Solo trombone albums are very rare. Can you talk about the history of solo trombone and what inspired you to record Richmond love call?

BH: You can list the trombonists that have put out solo jazz trombone albums on one hand: Albert Manglesdorff, George Lewis, Gen Baker and Samuel Blaser.

What really inspired me was listening to Albert Manglesdorff’s solo albums, particularly his use of multi-phonics and making an album sound like a duo or a trio. Another part of it was taking a look at some of the ways I was practicing and realizing that some of those techniques could becomes vehicles for musical expression.

Listen to Richmond Love Call:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/01 Richmond Love Call.mp3|titles=Richmond Love Call|artists=Bryan Hooten]

Question: Looking back through your discography, there are very few standards or covers. This record has a few. What resonates with you about “In a Sentimental Mood” and “Nostalgia in Time Square?”

BH: First of all they are great compositions with great melodies and great harmonic content. They both provide me the opportunity to explore playing counter point with myself by singing the melody and playing the bass line. Those tunes also offered me the opportunity to practice something new.

With something as obscure as a solo trombone record, I thought it was a good idea to create a bridge between popular jazz music and the sometimes far out nature of any unaccompanied record.

Question: One of the most interesting things about solo records is hearing a musician push the limits of his or her instrument. It is immediately obvious that you are exploring "extended technique" for the trombone. Can you explain some of the ways you explored the instrument?

BH: Obviously, the combination of singing and playing is a focal point of this album. I wanted to see how far I could take that, but obviously it can go further. Part of what I am doing is playing one note, singing another note and using multi-phonic singing to create a melody on top of that.

I wanted to explore some different timbral possibilities with the plunger mute. I also wanted to push my own musical focus. So much of the album is improvised and I wanted to create interest while adhering to some central improvised idea.

I also wanted to challenge the listener’s expectations. Both in terms of what is possible on the trombone and also in terms of what we listen for. One of the bigger transformational experiences for me was hearing Ligeti’s static music. It allowed me to appreciate the subtleties of a single tone. On some of the multi-phonics driven tunes that I do, there is a sustained sound and I want to challenge the listener to experience those same subtleties.

Question: Richmond Love Call contains a suite of tunes dedicated to other trombonists. How were these tunes written and recorded and how have some of those trombonists influenced you?

BH: All of the tributes were improvised in the studio. I didn’t realize until after I had recorded the tracks that each one of them personified the trombonists.

Part of the reason it occurred to me was because of the great trombone exodus of 2011.

The tune “For Chapman,” while it doesn’t contain a lot of “bass trombone” effects, it does pay homage to the angular nature of his melodic conception. He actually commissioned me to write a piece for him a few months ago and I think this piece contains some of that material. He always has a way of playing that sounds like 2 or 3 people.

Listen to For Chapman:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/02 For Chapman.mp3|titles=Richmond Love Call|artists=Bryan Hooten]

Reggie Pace is such a master of that visceral/ vocal style, especially with the plunger mute. I always love hearing him do that, especially one of the solos that he played on the Sounds of the South performances. After that piece was done, I realized that it was an homage to that style of his playing.

I love Toby’s kind of beboppish chromatic style. That style showed up in “For Toby.” It is funny that I didn’t allude to any salsa techniques because that is what he is best known for.

“For Albert” of course is a multi-phonic excursion which is what Albert Manglesdorff is best known for. I don’t know him personally but it definitely reminded me of his music.

Check back next week for the final part of the interview.

Megafaun featuring RVA

Aaron Williams — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 10:00:20 +0000

Somewhere between Bon Iver's newest record, their sold out show at The National and trombonist Reggie Pace joining the band, Richmond discovered and fell in love with Justin Vernon's music. While many in Richmond are familiar with Bon Iver, fewer are familiar with Megafaun. That is about to change.

Now based in Durham, North Carolina, the members of Megafaun hail from Wisconsin and used to be in Deyarmond Edison with Justin Vernon. Their new record hits stores September 20th but you can stream it now on rollingstone.com. With a rigorous international tour and a new record, the band will undoubtedly get more national attention in the coming months.

This is good news for guitarist Matt White who arranged all of the horn parts for the record. The record also features many of Richmond's finest jazz musicians including John Lilley (saxophone), Jason Scott (woodwinds), Bob Miller (trumpet), Marcus Tenney (trumpet), Reggie Pace (trombone), Bryan Hooten (trombone), Toby Whitaker (trombone)and Reggie Chapman (bass trombone).

You can catch Megafaun September 23rd in Washington D.C. at The Red Palace with Matt White.

Cutting contest, part 2

Aaron Williams — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 10:00:15 +0000

cut·ting
[kuht-ing]
–noun
1. the act of a person or thing that cuts.
2. something cut, cut off, or cut out.
3. Horticulture . a piece, as a root, stem, or leaf, cut from a plant and used for propagation.
con·test
[n. kon-test; v. kuhn-test]
–noun
1. a race, conflict, or other competition between rivals, as for a prize.
2. struggle for victory or superiority.
3. strife in argument; dispute; controversy: Their marriage was marred by perpetual contest.
cut·ting con·test
[kuht-ing-kon-test]
1. A form of musical battle between two improvisatory musicians.

Mum is the world when it comes to the illegal distribution of music. So many people do it and so few people talk about it. Trombonist and regular porch sitter Bryan Hooten and saxophonist and regular rival John Lilley have each contributed their rebuttals to Cutting Contest Part 1.

John Lilley

Professor Hooten, I have to say that accepting illegal copies and full hard drives of music from fellow musicians is a razor fine line indeed. If you say, as you do in your article, that downloading music is wrong because it's stealing, what is the difference between downloading it through the internet versus another persons hard drive? Would not this still be classified as "stealing" in the eyes of the law? A hard drive "full" of music?! Lets see, the 60GB music library on my home computer is about 7,200 tracks. Now if we assume 10 tracks come on a CD at $10.00 a disc we are talking upwards of $7,000 worth of stolen property in your possession!

We must draw a distinction, however, between stealing and pirating. Unlike stealing, pirating does not necessarily constitute a direct monetary loss to the creator of the product. For example, lets say I develop a faint but persistent interest in hearing the newest Lady Gaga recording. Something where my infatuation is not so great as to actually shell out fifteen bucks for the CD, but enough so that I felt it was worth my while to waltz down to the local music store and steal myself a copy. The CD that I stole represents a direct loss to the store, the record label and the artist. Because I stole the CD, no one will ever be able to purchase that particular copy.

Conversely, pirating the same recording online only constitutes stealing if I ever intended on buying it because there's no direct monetary loss. It is certainly common for people to expect to be able to hear a CD cover to cover before purchasing it. The fact that record labels have purposely leaked recordings in order to build buzz around a recording is well documented. In addition, many of the records being pirated in the infancy of the MP3 revolution were recordings that people already owned on CD.

Napster was much more accessible and well known in this time period than software that allowed you to convert your CD's to MP3's. Interestingly, 'Fair Use' copyright law doesn't explicitly allow the duplication of a CD you own into MP3 format unless expressly permitted either, so it wouldn't be sure fire way to avoid breaking copyright law.

The truth is that most people pirating music are the same people partially financially driving the industry as well as representing a key demographic for album sales. By releasing albums for streaming and leaking them to internet bloggers before they are available for purchase, the industry is acknowledging the truth that they missed when prosecuting pirates in the Napster versus Metallica era. As the old adage says "No press is bad press", and in a time when reaching an expansive target audience is more difficult than ever for advertisers, due to the fragmentation in the way we access media, CD length recordings just might be the advertisements of the future.

Bryan Hooten

My esteemed colleague makes several excellent points. Most importantly, his argument that the ubiquitous illegal access to media has “prompted a money bloated and backward looking music industry to change in profound and potentially wonderful ways” is an apt one. While I agree with him that change is good, I disagree with vilifying the whole music industry, which I assume includes record companies, booking agents, publicists, managers etc. While the internet has made it easier for musicians to DIY their own careers, the above professionals play a vital role in disseminating music to the audience.

When we download music illegally, we destroy the ability for these people do their jobs as well. I think John and I can both agree that we have met and worked with plenty of “music-industry” types who were as passionate and dedicated as the musicians they represent. Before we celebrate the death of the Evil Music Industry at the hands of illegal downloading, we must ask ourselves how much of the music we love we would even know about without the people working behind the scenes.

Yes, illegal downloading has pushed the need for, as John puts it, “premium content.” Would he then argue that as soon as our computers can handle this content, it’s ok to download that illegally too? If so, where is the line? We eventually put ourselves on a path where no one makes money from recording music.

I recognize that John believes the moral questions here to be irrelevant. Even if we ignore the moral consequences, the effect of illegal downloading on our psyches is a real one. I would argue all art gives us the chance to slow down, to focus. I am not convinced that the ability for us to have whatever we want, whenever we want it, is a good thing. Many times, while on trips to New York, my fellow musicians and I would take a visit to Tower Records while it was still open. The breadth of options there was more paralyzing for me than exciting. I would much rather be in a small record store with fewer options to choose from.

Likewise, the constant contact and instant access provided by the internet has simultaneously brought human beings closer together but driven them farther apart as we chase down every possible piece of information. With this in mind, it’s not surprising that so many music fans love vinyl. Records are artifacts. They can exist in only one place at a time. We value our record collections because of these qualities. In short, we value the things we pay for. If we think of our digital media the same way we can stave off the continued fracturing of our attention and patience.

Bryan Hooten plays trombone in Ombak, Fight the Big Bull, No BS! Brass and is working on a solo trombone project. He teaches music at VCU, Hanover High School and James River High School and is a frequent contributor to RVANews and RVAJazz. He is currently accepting challenges in table-tennis. http://bryanhooten.com
John Lilley plays saxophone in Fight the Big Bull, Glows in the Dark and James Wallace in the Naked Light. When he isn't closing big business deals at work he watches movies, cooks amazing food and engages in extemporaneous debate with friends.

Cutting Content, part 1

Cutting contest

Aaron Williams — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 10:00:36 +0000

cut·ting
[kuht-ing]
–noun
1. the act of a person or thing that cuts.
2. something cut, cut off, or cut out.
3. Horticulture . a piece, as a root, stem, or leaf, cut from a plant and used for propagation.
con·test
[n. kon-test; v. kuhn-test]
–noun
1. a race, conflict, or other competition between rivals, as for a prize.
2. struggle for victory or superiority.
3. strife in argument; dispute; controversy: Their marriage was marred by perpetual contest.
cut·ting con·test
[kuht-ing-kon-test]
1. A form of musical battle between two improvisatory musicians.

Bryan Hooten

Talking about the money side of the arts is always tricky. While there are exceptions, the vast majority of artists I know do their work for its own sake, not for the achievement of fame or riches. However, in order to spend the countless hours in the practice room, in the studio, in the van and on the stage, money must be made. The question of whether or not it’s ok to download media illegally is about much more than money, however. This is a question about human relationships.

Downloading media illegally is wrong for a very simple reason: Technically, it’s stealing. If artists wanted their audience to have any or all of their work for free, they would make it free. If an artist ascribes a certain value to his or her work, the audience can either acquiesce to that level of value or not. If we value someone’s work and want reap the benefits that artist’s continued ability to create, we must invest in it. With all the talk of sustainability in regards to our natural resources, we should obviously strive for sustainability in our creative resources. In music, for example, albums don’t just appear out of thin air. Booking studio time, hiring musicians, hiring a recording engineer, mastering, and printing up physical albums to sell all cost money. Many musicians that I know don’t go into the album-creation process thinking that they will make their money back, but every little bit helps.

We cannot view the relationship between artist and audience as strictly producer/consumer, however. This relationship is a sacred one. As in any relationship, if both parties don’t agree on its inherent value, it can no longer exist. Much of the great art we love was and is made by professional artists. They are professionals just like lawyers, doctors, janitors, bartenders or anyone else with a full-time job. Could they keep working if their services and products were free? The question we have to ask ourselves about any behavior is: if everyone acted like this, what would happen? Is the next step a justification for sneaking into performances for free? Sooner or later, full-time artists would cease to exist. In the end, art is connected to the human beings that make it and that connection must be honored on personal and financial levels.

In the interest of full disclosure, I don’t think any of us who love music can claim to be total saints in this department. Personally, while I’ve never sought out an album for illegal download on my own computer, I have accepted, as gifts for study from fellow musicians, data discs and portable hard-drives full of classic recordings. This is a fine line, I know. One could make the case that, as a student of music, there is no way to afford everything we need to listen to. However, one could also make the case that sacrifice, financially or otherwise, is a huge part of a life in the arts.

John Lilley

As a musician trying to figure out how to make my chosen profession an employment reality, it's a bit difficult for me to argue in favor of taking someone's artistic product without permission. Although few musician's actually make a sizable portion of their income through album sales, it is an important piece of the pie for, if nothing else, recouping costs of recording, printing and pressing CD's. But I also believe that the battle over the monetary value of recorded music has already largely been fought and won with the result being an increase in the digital distribution of albums for a much lower overhead and cost to the consumer.

With our society become increasingly accustomed to having any kind of media at our fingertips, whether it be television programming, books, or music, we expect instant access to an extensive catalog of recorded music without paying a variable fee based on how often you stream or download content. It won't be free, but it will offer a more complete a catalog of music for a cheaper price than anything we've used before. We already see the industry trending in this direction with Apple paying the four largest major music labels up to a total of $150 million for the rights to include their music in its iCloud music streaming service. In addition to being able to store any purchases from the itunes store in an online storage locker accessible from any device with internet access, you will even be able to upload all the music you've downloaded illegally to this online database of music for $25 a month.

Itunes is simply following in a trend that we see in other progressive music media in which these entities are recognizing an expectation by the public. Everywhere we see that the record industry is undergoing a shift from making money off of audio recordings to monetizing an expanded experience. National Public Radio streams full albums from major artists free from their website weeks before they are available for purchase. Pandora radio has an extensive catalog of music that streams for free in addition to developing an artificial intelligence to help you find new music. You can now see live performances by the New York Metropolitan Opera in movie theaters.

Premium content is the future of the music industry and people are willing to pay for it. As our culture becomes more technology-centric, we will use new inventions to experience music in a more immersive way than ever before. Record companies, in turn, will have to sell something that uses cutting edge technology far beyond the computing ability of your personal computer and will therefore be impervious to illegal online distribution. Just as new 3D movies offer a cinematic experience beyond what you can experience in your home, music technology will offer some sort of equivalent immersive experience.

The illegal dissemination of music has already prompted a money bloated and backward looking music industry to change in profound and potentially wonderful ways that it would have never done by its own free will. Whether or not you think illegally distributing music is an action of serious moral weight is irrelevant, the fact that so many people have done it, has already shaped the future of the industry in an exciting new direction.

Check back on Friday for rebuttals. Bryan and John's "strong" personalities will definitely make it an interesting read!

Bryan Hooten plays trombone in Ombak, Fight the Big Bull, No BS! Brass and is working on a solo trombone project. He teaches music at VCU, Hanover High School and James River High School and is a frequent contributor to RVANews and RVAJazz. He is currently accepting challenges in table-tennis. http://bryanhooten.com
John Lilley plays saxophone in Fight the Big Bull, Glows in the Dark and James Wallace in the Naked Light. When he isn't closing big business deals at work he watches movies, cooks amazing food and engages in extemporaneous debate with friends.

Ombak – Fan Bricks

Aaron Williams — Wed, 04 May 2011 09:59:53 +0000

Album design by Cary Ralston on top of a Suzanna Field's painting.

Ombak
Fan Bricks
(Self released, 2011)

After two years of anticipation almost to the day, Richmond’s own Ombak will release their sophomore album, Fan Bricks tonight, Wednesday May 4th at 10pm at Balliceaux. The album is only available for digital download, but the band will be selling limited edition posters at the release party that contain download codes on the back.

Ombak is the brainchild of trombonist and composer Bryan Hooten, but Fan Bricks takes the band's collaboration a level beyond their first album Framing the Void.

Pop in the record (or in this case, open iTunes), and you may immediately notice a few things. Breaking the tradition of Ombak, Bryan Hooten did not pen every tune. The first notes heard are Trey Pollard's ethereal guitar. Before long the band joins in full force and sets the tone for the album: aggressive.

The first track is the only pre-released material from the record. "River Tam" has been on http://ombakmusic.com/ for two weeks. It is the pure essence of Ombak in one track. In only four minutes, the journey includes a full range of emotions that build into a heavy multi-metered groove. The uneasy climax transforms into the relaxed ending so smoothly that the change goes unnoticed.

Listen to “ River Tam “
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/RiverTam.mp3|titles=River Tam|artists=Ombak]

The band, which spends more time playing bars than quiet listening rooms, has no reservations about playing loud and playing angry, but this album is not all of about “the stuff.” It is the bands development of negative space around “the stuff” that should make it a permanent resident on your daily playlist. Unlike the first record, the shadows around the obvious are more often explored in the improvisations than the compositions. Brian Jones leads the charge with his ever creative playing that seamlessly constructs and deconstructs, chases and flees and tells a story.

The second tune is "Megatron" or originally "Megatron Wants What is in My Mind." Only a rhythmic sketch scribbled down before a show, Megatron is Ombak at its most simplistic level. After the head, each soloist has the freedom to play anything and it is special to hear how Trey Pollard, Cameron Ralston and Brian Jones react.

Trey Pollard’s compositional voice is known in Richmond, but "Harmonica Shopper" is the first time that it is documented by Ombak. The gyrating melody leads into an impressive tenor saxophone solo by J.C. Kuhl, Ombak's newest member and reed player. He lights a fire on top of a heavy groove that slowly frays into space. In true Ombak fashion they reconstruct the groove and recap the melody on the way out.

"Hammer" starts as a duet between bass clarinet and trombone but after two minutes, the rest of the band joins in on a blues. The blues is far from normal. Using only quarter notes, Hooten masterfully manipulates the simplest harmony on one of the simplest forms into a masterpiece.

Next comes Ornette Coleman’s "Lonely Woman." While the tune is executed masterfully, it is slightly disappointing. The band has established a tradition of incredibly original music and for the first time this slows their momentum.

Ombak has a different personality in the studio. Microphones enable the nuances and complexities of Hooten’s timbral changes to be captured and heard. Every detail of his playing from the multiphonics on the track "Fan Bricks," to his plunger mute solo on Lonely Woman to the beauty of his normal sound on every track.

Ombak not only avoids a sophomore slump, but they logically expand on their debut record that earned exceptional praise including five stars from Style Weekly. Play the albums back to back and it just makes sense. The new record certainly expands with its heavier grooves and stronger improvisations but there is continuity. Like their first record Framing the Void, Ombak’s Fan Bricks is a must have for any serious listener in Richmond and beyond.

Farewell

Aaron Williams — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 09:56:48 +0000

Its 9 o'clock in the morning. Early for jazz musicians. Dean Christesen and I sit in the RVANews office. Artifacts from Richmond line the walls of the old principals office turned conference room. Dean and I reflect on his three and half year journey with RVAJazz while talking about my past and my future with music, the website and Richmond.

Williams: What inspired you to start RVAJazz and how did you start it?

Christesen: I started RVAJazz in December of 2007, which puts me as a sophomore at VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) in the music program. I didn’t necessarily feel like I had the authority to do something like this but I did feel like it was needed in the community. Not just for the community or the musicians, but for myself. I was often wondering what was going on any given night of the week. I would have to go from website to website to website, go from MySpace to MySpace, when MySpace was still the key ingredient and find out who was playing where.

It was starting to get really annoying for me and I wanted it all in one place. So that’s kind of how it all started, as a calendar for what was going on. Then I figured I would try out my writing chops and write news. Basically keep everyone up to date with the scene. That’s how it started.

Williams: You just put up a calendar?

Christesen: Yes, it was a BlogSpot blog. I used a picture that my dad took of a brick wall and I overlaid white text and that was the masthead and that was it. Not too long after that, I got the domain name RVAJazz.com. It was really just an experiment of mine to write anonymously about the scene and the main players in the scene.

Williams: It was anonymous at that time?

Christesen: It was anonymous for a long time.

Williams: When did it stop being anonymous and what made you stop?

Christesen: I’m not sure exactly when it stopped, we would have to check the books on when it stopped being anonymous. Again, the reason it was anonymous is because I didn’t feel like I had the authority. I was just a young kid documenting…not just documenting, critiquing and criticizing the scene. So it was like, “who is to listen to this kid?” So that is why I was anonymous. I guess when I became not anonymous…It’s not when I realized, “Oh yeah I’m now an authority, now I can speak under my name.” Who cares if I am an authority or not, this is a resource that is needed and it is more work to be anonymous than it is to actually fulfill this goal.

Williams: Were people catching on?

Christesen: Not really, but it made it really hard to do interviews. Everything was email based. Even people like Skip Gailes, we would be talking in class and he would be like, “Who is this RVAJazz?” It kind of hurt a little bit to not be able to tell Skip that it was me. “I don’t know Skip, (laughs), I don’t know who it is.” Eventually, I just became not anonymous. That was right around the time that I began planning the first RVAJazz Fest. So I was like, “this is going to be impossible if I am still anonymous and there is no need for it anymore.

Are you excited?

Williams: I am very excited. I love this city. People in this city are why I am into jazz and why I am into music. Its not because I discovered some recordings of some people from the 50’s or 40’s or 30’s, its because I met people in this city and heard people in this city play. Taylor Barnett was my brother’s high school jazz band director and he has such a magnetic amazing personality. He is one of those people you just want to be around because he is so passionate and amazing at what he does.

Then I met Bryan Hooten and I had the same experience as my brother at my high school. I just started meeting people. It is so different to experience something live than it is to listen to recordings, and I have a passion for original music. Richmond has all of that. It is so approachable. I was just a kid and I had the ability to meet people who I really looked up to. Now to be a part of that, sometimes as a player, and to document that is amazing.

Christesen: Well you are a young guy. You are a freshman at VCU and you are one of the few people that as a high schooler in the area, already had a reputation, especially with your band High Noon. So what was your high school experience like? Did you study with Bryan and you were in the Greater Richmond High School Jazz Band?

Williams: Bryan was my high school band director at James River High School. We met once a week after school. Freshman year, his and my first year, the saxophone section was so weak. This was the first year we had a jazz band and the saxophone section was so strugglin! The band was super young. I didn’t have any idea what I was doing. He brought in John Lilley because no one had an idea of what saxophone was really supposed to sound like. So I approached John Lilley and asked if I could take lessons with him.

He kind of hesitated for a minute. I think I even asked, “Do you teach lessons?” He responded, “Well yeah, of course I do.” (Laughs) He has some other students now but I was his only student for a really long time, which was amazing. I learned a lot of great things.

The cool thing about Richmond is that there is a lot of emphasis put on original music and building bands. For me, I started writing music, put a band together and recorded a record. For me, that was just obvious. High Noon, for me was, “duh.” I talk to some people from other towns and they have played a lot of standards gigs and different things but its not quite as obvious to do that. I really love the creative process and the process of working with other people towards a collective goal. High Noon is probably one of the most rewarding things I have done in my life.

The Greater Richmond High School Jazz Band was really amazing. I was a member for three years. VCU seemed like the logical decision on where to go to college. That is where I met most of the guys in High Noon and a ton of other people. It is cool that even on a high school level those connections are being made.

Christesen: Yeah, you aren’t excluded because of your age. Everybody is welcome and you especially because you assert yourself. You are there hanging out. You are at the Matt White parties (the leader of Fight the Big Bull). That is certainly part of it. Being friends with everybody, so you know what is going on. Friendship is part of the music making community here in Richmond. Everyone is in bands together and they all learn from each other.

Williams: Absolutely. Everyone has been super welcoming even though I am a lot younger than everyone else.

Can you talk about your departure from Richmond and RVAjazz.com? How has your experience building this website from scratch influenced what you want to do?

Christesen: I am going to Chicago in August to study arts management at Columbia College. RVAJazz prepared me for that. My career path has become less of that of a performing musician. Even though I was a performance major during my undergrad: jazz studies, that is ok with me. It doesn’t hurt me that I am not going to be playing music professionally for the rest of my life because I have discovered other strengths of mine. I did that because of RVAJazz.

I discovered that I could put on these “bigger than small scale” events because I am organized and I think I can see the big pictures enough to put on things like that. I have also realized that a lot of musicians need help. That goes back to the very beginning of RVAJazz when I was just creating a calendar. A lot of these people didn’t even have a calendar of their performances, which tells you they aren’t even promoting their events to their fullest potential. That is really a shame because that is what it comes down to for musicians. Maybe they are promoting their CDs a lot or maybe they are not but these club dates maybe go totally under the radar.

Facebook has changed a lot of that and people are talking it up as much as possible on Facebook but it goes so much further than that. People are embracing this new media but are totally forgetting about traditional media. I think I can help with that. I think I have tried to help with that and learned more from doing it through RVAJazz.

Williams: RVAJazz had a lot to do with my ability to get downtown and find out about these shows because I wasn’t a Facebook friend with these people. That was important to me. I remember going to check the calendar and I would run and talk to my parents, “this is the night, this is the night I HAVE to go.”

After more than three years with RVAJazz, there is a lot to be said! The second half of this interview will appear next week.

Photo credit: Lauren Serpa

Listening Back: Jazz By Numbers

Dean Christesen — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 11:00:55 +0000

In Listening Back, we chronicle the happenings at The Camel’s free weekly jazz series on Tuesday nights. Be there if you can. But if you can’t, stop by here every Saturday for a recap in sights and sounds. This week, Jazz By Numbers featuring Bryan Hooten, SCUO, Trio of Justice, and Scott Clark 4tet continued the series.

photos by Amber Smith

From soloist to quartet and everywhere (duo and trio in case you needed it spelled out for you) in between, Jazz By Numbers on Tuesday was a night of instrumentations of various size.

Exploring extended techniques and playing as a soloist is not new for trombonist Bryan Hooten, but recently he has begun performing more by himself, with an album likely to be released in the future. Listen for his multiphonics -- multiple notes played at once by creating overtones -- which Hooten uses tastefully a la one of his trombone heroes, Albert Mangelsdorff. The duo called SCUO (guitarist Scott Burton and drummer Scott Clark) drive home heavily hypnotic rhythms in a minimalistic way, making the process in which they vary the music evident. Trio of Justice continued to champion their unusual instrumentation of Reggie Pace on trombone, Reggie Chapman on tuba, and Devonne Harris on drums. Lastly, Scott Clark 4tet gave a teaser to their featured performance at RVAJazzfest 2011 in April.

Listen to Bryan Hooten:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/Bryan%20Hooten%20020811.mp3|titles=Live at The Camel February 8 2011|artists=Bryan Hooten]

Listen to SCUO:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/SCUO%20013111.mp3|titles=Live at The Camel January 31 2011|artists=SCUO]

Note: Due to technical difficulties during this set, we were unable to capture audio. This is their performance from the week before.

Listen to Trio of Justice:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/Trio%20of%20Justice%20020811.mp3|titles=Live at The Camel February 8 2011|artists=Trio of Justice]

Listen to Scott Clark 4tet:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/Scott%20Clark%204tet%20020811.mp3|titles=Live at The Camel February 8 2011|artists=Scott Clark 4tet]

On Tuesday, Larri Branch Agenda and Steve Kessler continue the free series. The Camel is located at 1621 W. Broad St. in Richmond, VA. More information is available at thecamel.org.

Listen back to other gigs in Richmond

Farmer, Hooten dual Friday at Sprout

Fan of the Fan — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:30:40 +0000

This Friday at Sprout: Chris Farmer and Bryan Hooten – dualing soloists 9PM FREE: Bryan will begin with solo trombone, Chris will follow with drums and robot keys, and other things may or may not present themselves

No BS! releases No BS!

Dean Christesen — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 16:02:47 +0000

With every album, every tour, every sold out show, and every Thursday night rehearsal, No BS! Brass is finding their sound, and they might be the closest they’ve ever been on that search. The third album from the 10-man collective of brass, drums, and saxophone, No BS! represents a solidified concept and a path for growth with nothing standing in their way.

A lot of that has to do with the band maturing over time. “The music is written with the reference of everyone in the band knowing what we sound like now,” says trombonist and No BS! co-leader Reggie Pace. “We know the best way to learn the music. We know the best way to voice things.” Efficiency has cleared the trail for creating the band’s finest work yet.

It’s also a departure from the jazz- and funk-laced norm that they’ve developed, with more material leaning toward rock, punk, and pop. Drummer and co-leader Lance Koehler’s “To The Day,” relies heavily on vocals that pay tribute to Richmond, with lines like, “You know it’s crucial the way we’re living life today / Living in RVA.” Written while biking around the city’s Fan District, Pace says the band’s performance of it is indicative of how they approach the different tunes. “‘To The Day’ was written as love for the city,” he says, “and we all understand that, so the piece exudes it.”

“The tunes are all written from very different places,” he continues, “so they attack your spirit in very different ways.” Like Pace’s “Dr. Wiley,” inspired by childhood video games, or bass trombonist and vocalist Reggie Chapman’s “Hoodie,” which the composer calls a “triumph over tragedy” that he wrote during a bad summer.

Pace’s “Hadji” -- named for the character on Johnny Quest -- is a result of his studying African music. What began as inspiration while sitting in an Ethiopian restaurant combined with what he had learned about music from Africa and how that traced to Brazilian and Haitian music. The two parts represent that divide, the second with the energy of Brazilian Carnival.

A road trip to San Francisco and a very friendly bartender contributed to Koehler’s “Bad Sake,” which features alto saxophonist David Hood and trumpeter and tenor saxophonist Marcus Tenney, here on sax. After an evening of the free libations, Koehler and his friend were so obliterated that his friend -- who had lived in the city for years -- couldn’t find Chinatown from a few blocks away. Koehler’s multilayered composition represents the stumbling duo as well his and the band’s often Ellingtonian approach. “We’ve been writing songs for specific players,” he explains. “The instruments are secondary to the musicians playing them.”

Another Koehler contribution is Agent Orange’s “Everything Turns Grey,” a favorite from his teenage years (Pace notes the first time he heard the song was on Beavis and Butt-Head in 6th grade), and an appropriate addition to No BS! Koehler says, “I like the fact that when I listen to this record, I forget I’m listening to a brass band a lot of the time. It’s just a rock band!” The timbres of the brass certainly help, trombonist Bryan Hooten’s chainsaw trombone similar to his work with Fight the Big Bull, trumpeter Rob Quallich’s shredding high solo that might as well be on a guitar, and Stefan Demetriadis’s tuba buzzing like a bass on a fuzz pedal.

“I like that we don’t sound like a band from New Orleans or like a jazz band,” Pace says. “There are tons of jazz bands that play jazz better than I do, and all the brass bands in New Orleans play New Orleans music better than we do. So let’s not write any of those kinds of tunes.”

Chapman adds, “Not all of the tunes on the album were written for brass; they’re written as entities in themselves. We play them and we just happen to play brass instruments.”

They do their own thing, and they do it extremely well. Songs like “Brass Scene Kids” are staples to their live performances. Chapman’s singing and screaming through a ThunderPower megaphone is paralleled by exemplary solos and dense textures that consume the listeners, enveloping them in sound like any great rock band would.

Like their two-day CD release stint at The Camel this past weekend, they are consistently selling out their live shows to young audiences who may just want to dance and party. Or they may realize that they’re listening to some of Richmond’s greatest musicians and improvisers. Whichever it is, they bring change to a generation obsessed with what it already knows.

Personnel: Reggie Pace: trombone; Bryan Hooten: trombone; Dillard Watt: trombone; Reginald Chapman: bass trombone, vocals; Rob Quallich: trumpet; Marcus Tenney: trumpet, tenor saxophone; Taylor Barnett: trumpet; David Hood: alto saxophone; Stefan Demetriadis: tuba; Lance Koehler: drums, vocals. All: percussion.

Track listing: Brass Scene Kids, Dr. Wiley, Everything Turns Grey, Hoodie, Khan!!!, Representing, Boss Battle, Hadji, To The Day, Bad Sake, *hidden track* NO BS!

To purchase, look for the album soon on CD Baby and iTunes. No BS! Brass plays the Richmond Folk Festival this weekend. Visit No BS! online.

Hooten assumes leadership of big band

Dean Christesen — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:00:34 +0000

Trombonist Bryan Hooten has been named the new director of the VCU Jazz Orchestra II, replacing trumpeter and previous director Taylor Barnett. As Barnett celebrates new beginnings in the fall with his doctorate studies at James Madison University, Hooten will be diving into his new duties at the helm of VCU's second big band.

What has your experience with big bands been like?
I played in jazz big band throughout high school, college, grad school, and then in various freelance settings, and of course have been listening to all the records, checking it out. I guess the first big band that I was actually in charge of was at James River High School. Jim Stegner, the band director at the time, wanted to resurrect the jazz band program, turning to Tony Garcia for advice. Tony offered me the job so we started meeting after school while I was still a graduate student. I directed that band once a week. Mr. Garcia later asked me to be the assistant director for the Greater Richmond High School Jazz Band. So I was excited to do that with some of the more experienced high school players around. I’ve been doing both of those things for three or four years: four years at James River and three years doing GRHSJB. Both of those gigs came through Mr. Garcia, so he’s been very helpful in giving me opportunities to lead big bands.

Taylor’s a good friend of mine and I’m sorry to see him leave town. I’m humbled and honored to be able to step into this position that’s had so many great people in it in the past. John Winn had it once. Doug [Richards] ran both bands at one point. Those are some big shoes to fill but I’m up to the challenge.

What is your approach to teaching the high school big bands, and what kind of goals do you have when directing a band?
My goals in running the two high school bands have always been to expose them to the best literature that exists for big band at the earliest possible point in their career. Through those things, teach them how to play with good time and good feel, play in tune, and with wide dynamic range. All the basic fundamental things that I think are best brought out by those charts, the classic big band literature. So my goal is to expose them to that music and get that in their bones and get them to really enjoy playing it. Even people of my generation didn’t grow up hearing and playing that music a lot. Until somebody really exposes us to it, we don’t get to check it out. We definitely don’t get to check it out very often live in a quality, professional way. So I think it’s important to dig on the classics for this big band. That’s not a new thing. That’s been the mission of JO II since it was formed.

I think the way that the jazz world used to work was that you cut your teeth playing in a big band and then became a soloist from there. Now, in modern times, it’s kind of the opposite. A lot of big bands are amalgamations of these great solo players. JO II can be a great environment to learn to be a section player. You’re going to have to do a lot of section playing in your career. That’s one of the best parts of playing in a big band.

What do you teach as the "classic literature"?
I think we can all agree on Basie, Ellington, and Thad Jones. Pretty much anything inside those libraries are considered to be classic literature. Once you get outside of that, there might be some debate, but I don’t think there’s any music literature out there that’s going to make you a worse player if you play it really well.

Do you think there are different ways to interpret what falls into the category of classic literature?
I can see that, however I do think that somewhere along the line, everything comes back to Basie or Ellington or the combination of those two. And all of that goes back to Louis Armstrong. On some level it all goes back to Africa. So I’m not so concerned with what’s technically classic and what’s not. I just want to play good music that swings, that grooves, and has a high level of compositional craft.

What’s different about the roles of JO I and JO II?
JO I is a different situation than JO II. It’s a different band with a different mission. It seems to me that the idea of JO II is designed to lay the foundation of exposing the band to Basie, Ellington, Thad Jones, Oliver Nelson, Quincy Jones, Charles Mingus, that kind of stuff. Now, it’s impossible to cover that whole world of music in a semester or a year. But the way I understand it is that the mission of JO I is to build upon that foundation and do music that chronologically comes after it or explores some different areas.

You’re not going to make a living playing Basie, Ellington, or Thad Jones. You have to understand rock and roll, funk, salsa, pop, classical, all of that stuff. I think the challenge of any music program is trying to be comprehensive in that way: preparing the student so they can step into any of those situations and play well, know their surroundings, know what’s required in each genre of music. There’s always going to be a battle to be fought on how much time to spend on this versus this, and what’s practical. We educators do the best we can and realize that good music is good music and if you can play that classic stuff, a lot of times you can play anything.

Your main gigs are Ombak, Fight the Big Bull, and No BS! Brass. Two of them are literally big bands, although their music is modernized and evolved from the traditional repertoire, and the instrumentations are tweaked. What experience do you bring to those bands that you’ve gained from playing in or leading traditional big bands?
Having played in a lot of big band sections, I’m comfortable “playing lead.” That’s not always what I do in these Richmond bands, but that experience certainly helps. I’m comfortable blending in with a brass or reeds section in Fight the Big Bull. In No BS! Brass, the horn section is basically a big band without the saxophones, but the role is very similar to what it would be like in a big band. Being a trombone player, who traditionally sits in the middle of the register of the spectrum that big band is capable of and is physically placed in the middle of the horn section, you have a good chance to hear everything that’s going on around you and hear how your part fits in. I think that’s why a lot of trombone players end up as composers and band leaders: they get to hear all the counterpoint and every thing else that’s going on.

Through both of those larger bands, I’ve always been exposed to a lot of different styles of music, most of which ultimately comes from the same place that classic big band literature comes from. On some level, that’s the blues or spirituals (particularly in Fight the Big Bull) or rock, New Orleans funk, or other traditional New Orleans music as in No BS! Brass. All of this music is ultimately coming out of the same place. Learning how to play unison riffs from Led Zeppelin’s “The Ocean” in the brass band will definitely inform the way I help the big band’s horn section play the unison riff from Basie’s “Splanky” and vice versa. It’s all coming from the same place. Getting to play music with so many of the great musicians in town doesn’t hurt either.

I think it’s a great benefit for students to see their director taking part in bands like this and using his big band experience to make music and a career, which is something that was certainly true about Taylor Barnett. Is this something you let your students figure out for themselves, or do you make the connection for them?
I tell them. I try to get them to come out and hear live music as much as they can. Going to hear live music and playing live is a better music education than you can get at any school. Music is learned through repetition. I encourage them to get out and come hear me and my friends play and to do their own thing: put together bands, write music, make records, try to book a gig. Because that’s what the life is like if you want to be a successful musician. All day every day, attacking it from a ton of different angles, both musically and in a business sense. I try to tell them about everything and encourage them to do as much as possible both inside and outside the school.

It sounds like you’re excited to start.
I am excited. Running a big band is one of the most fun things in the world to me. I’ve gotten my high school band to the point where we can rehearse for 2 hours and 15 minutes without taking a break. I’m interested to see if I can do the same thing with JO II. Just cultivating that level of focus is fun for me.

Rehearsal can be a magical thing. I think the challenge with my high school students or any young musician is getting them really excited about playing music well, because there are all kinds of other factors that motivate kids to be in band: hanging with friends, building a resume, getting to go to football games. All of those are positive things in young people’s lives. But the challenge is convincing young musicians of how much fun it is to play something really, really well. Getting that chord in tune can be a euphoric thing. Waiting those four bars and smacking that hit in Basie’s version of “All Of Me” is an incredible feeling. The feeling that we feel when we achieve that is what the audience feels when they get to hear it. So that’s always the trick.

In this time when we are so easily distracted and trying to multitask and do a million things at once, I think it is good for the human soul to focus on something for a long time. If that means that for two hours at JO II rehearsal we’re not thinking about anything else, I think that’s healthy. I always tell my students to do the best you can with what’s right in front of your face. It can be a very centering thing. That’s one of the most exciting parts of leading a band, playing in a band, and being involved in music.

VCU Jazz Orchestra II's first concert of the semester is at the Fall Jazz Festival, scheduled for October 14 at 8pm, with Jazz Orchestra I. Watch this site or vcujazz.org for more info.

Hooten goes home (with No BS!)

Dean Christesen — Mon, 24 May 2010 09:50:27 +0000

Bryan Hooten is going home, and he's bringing one of his most popular bands with him. Not Ombak, or Fight the Big Bull, or even Verbatim. But it's No BS! Brass who's currently on their mini-tour of some southern states, and tomorrow they're hitting Birmingham, Alabama, while they're at it.

It'll be the first time for any of his many bands to play in his home town, and he's pretty excited.

No BS! is going back on the road. What's going to be different about this tour from the last one (besides the band's new bus)?

BH: We've got more club gigs this time as opposed to focusing mostly on busking, though we're planning to hit the streets in Athens, GA. We've also got a ton of new material since our last tour, almost all of which will be going on our new album.

What does it mean to you to play in your hometown for the first time with a Richmond-based group?

BH: I'm very excited to bring the Richmond sound to Birmingham. I grew up around my dad's pep band at Birmingham Southern College and spent lots of time in the marching, concert and jazz bands at Vestavia Hills High School so it will be fun to be there again surrounded by brass instruments, family and friends. My mom, dad, brother and sister all live there and they've been really helpful in terms of building the buzz. I still have lots of friends there too and they have been spreading the word. The opening band is led by an old trombone-playing friend of mine, Chad Fisher. We crossed paths a lot while I was in high-school so it will be fun to share the stage with him again. It's going to be a party!

Where else is the band stopping to play besides Birmingham?

BH: Greensboro and Asheville in North Carolina and Athens, Georgia are the planned locations but I'm sure there will be some spontaneous hits along the way.

Any busking planned? Do you plan to busk or does it just happen?

BH: We are definitely planning to busk in Athens but most of it just happens. I think most musicians are naturally restless people. The combination of our restlessness with our quick set-up time will have us playing more rather than less.

One would think New Orleans would be a must-hit spot for a brass band on tour in the south. Any reasons beyond logistical obstacles for not bringing your own style of brass band music to the Crescent City?

BH: One would indeed think that. Our reasons for not getting down there this time are purely logistical. The tightness of our tour-window combined with the distance from here to there was just a little too difficult to work out. We have plans to make it down there at some point, for sure.

Talk a little about being on a bus with those guys for extended periods of time. Will mayhem ensue?

BH: Mayhem is guaranteed. Any time you put 11 guys (Lucas [Fritz] is coming along) in a small space it's bound to be a little crazy. We have a way of making up hilarious songs and raps, especially late night, post-gig. I think everyone will be much more comfortable in this bus as opposed to the traditional 15 passenger van and that might mellow us out a little, but I doubt it. Lance (and the rest of us, but mostly Lance) has been doing a lot of work on that thing to ensure that we'll be cruising in style.

Visit No BS! Brass online, and read their updates from the road on their various Twitter accounts: @nobsbrass, @bryanhooten, @jdillardwatt, @dhood49

If you're in Birmingham, No BS! Brass and Chad Fisher Group play Bottletree (3719 3rd Avenue South in Birmingham, AL) on Tuesday, May 25, at 9pm. More info.

Tuesdays with Richmond

Lucas Fritz — Wed, 05 May 2010 10:00:21 +0000

Editor's note: As we often discuss here on RVAJazz, weeknights are prime opportunities for seeing great music in Richmond. Our photographer/contributor Lucas Fritz documents his diverse musical evening last Tuesday from The Camel to the Cary Street Cafe.

Just because the week has hardly started doesn’t mean Tuesday can’t pretend like it’s Friday. Tuesday, April 27, proved to be a night of wonderful music here in Richmond, VA. My night started at The Camel with Great Architect, an avant-garde/free-jazz group out of North Carolina.

Fresh off their new 7” split record release with Moenda, the six multi-instrumentalists (lap steel/harmonica/recorded samples, trombone/trumpet, tenor sax, guitar, drums, cello/violin) of Great Architect took The Camel’s stage a little bit after 9 pm for their one continuous, 25 minute set. The highs, lows, timbral shifts, and intense peaks kept the crowd’s eyes and ears fixed on what was to come. The set abruptly finished right in the middle of a cacophonous free improvisation...Silence. “Thanks for listening, we have 7”s and LP’s for sale.” And they walked off stage.

During the set break, not only was I in need of a chance to reflect on the music I had just experienced/been a part of, but I also needed to get their LP. Shortly following, Richmond favorite Ombak, led by trombonist Bryan Hooten, took the stage.

Hooten’s jagged movements whilst allowing the music to escape his body coupled with the head bobbing of bassist and new father Cameron Ralston, engaging the listener in a way recorded music will not. Drummer Brian Jones can hardly keep his seat (and neither could I!) while banging out the asymmetrical grooves composed by Hooten. Hooten’s melodies, often doubled by guitarist Trey Pollard, left me wondering just what exactly is going on in that bald head of his...

After a quick ride and search for the appropriate stop/one-way/no-parking sign on which to lock my bike, I entered the already crowded Cary Street Cafe to catch the tail end of The New Belgians' set. Made up of members of bands such as the DJ Williams Projekt and NO BS! Brass Band, The New Belgians combine elements of funk, soul, and jazz into something you must experience to understand.

Marcus Tenney, trumpet player turned tenor saxophonist and the lone horn player here, rips through melodies while Brian Mahne (organ) and Joel DeNuzio (drums) hold down the funky rhythm section. The combination of guitar and lap-steel (Todd Herrington and Charles Arthur) offers an interesting timbre and great accompaniment to Tenney’s soloing.

The crowd continued to pick up as The Former Champions took the stage as the home team (the Champs play every Tuesday at Cary Street Cafe and have for quite some time now). This electronic quartet could at first look like a Phish wannabe jam-band but don’t let the light show fool you: these guys know what they are doing. Guitarist Matt Walton, bassist David Ashby, and key/synth player Ben White all have attended or currently attend VCU to study Jazz Performance. White’s use of the Nord running through a Moogerfooger (an analog effects pedal made by the Moog company) coupled with his Korg MS 2000 and Korg Triton produces sounds ranging from a deep-space alien attack to some funky clavinet a’la Stevie Wonder.

Drummer Geoff Bakel never seemed to lose the groove that he and Ashby had established right from the start. To the right of Bakel’s set was a table-top covered in all sorts of auxiliary percussion instruments ranging from the standard cowbell to things I had never seen before and to the left, an electronic drum pad with numerous samples activated with a quick tap. I left before the band finished their second set but most of the crowd wasn’t ready to stand still and stop dancing (let alone leave!).

I feel the two CDs that I purchased the day before on a trip to Plan9 very accurately described my night of music: Ornette Coleman’s “Free Jazz” and Tower of Power’s “Back to Oakland.” You say there is no music happening in good ole RVA? I say spend a Tuesday with Richmond and then decide.

View the entire photo albums on flickr: Ombak & Great Architect at The Camel, Former Champions & The New Belgians at Cary Street Cafe

Brass boys in the studio

Dean Christesen — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 10:00:34 +0000

Photos by Lucas Fritz

Richmond's favorite brass band entered their resident studio this past weekend to record for their next album. The large group of brass players plus lone reedsman and drummer that make up No BS Brass got down to business at the eccentric and popular Minimum Wage studio, owned and operated by No BS drummer and co-leader Lance Koehler.

The guys recorded eight songs over the weekend, with a couple more to do to complete the album that should be out by September, co-leader and trombonist Reggie Pace said. A few tunes will have singing (or screaming) by band members, which explains photos of the dudes standing around a microphone sans instruments. Jesse Harper may contribute his vocals to a track.

Once again, Lucas Fritz was there and took some photos. Click here to check out the entire album.

Reggie Chapman looks on

Trumpeter Rob Quallich

Rob Quallich, Taylor Barnett, Marcus Tenney, David Hood

Bryan Hooten and Reggie Pace singing

Trombonist Reggie Chapman

Trumpeter Marcus Tenney

Saxophone: the only reed instrument in No BS!

Quallich, Barnett, Tenney, Hood, Hooten, Pace

Drummer Lance Koehler

Playback

View the entire album on Flickr

Ombak returns to the studio

Dean Christesen — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:00:36 +0000

On Monday, Ombak went into the new Songwire Studios in downtown Richmond to record for their next album. Trombonist and leader Bryan Hooten said they recorded six tunes -- mostly first and second takes -- in about five hours. "We recorded enough music to put out a solid EP," he said. "It covers most of the new tunes we've started playing since the first album."

The band had planned on recording with saxophonist Tim Berne while he was originally slated to be in Richmond in early February, but a family emergency deterred those plans. A collaboration is definitely on the horizon once again, Bryan said, once they figure out scheduling and funding.

Songwire Studios is operated by Trey Pollard (also guitarist for Ombak) and Ryan Corbitt and is now located in Shockoe Bottom after a very recent move from their smaller space in Manchester. "It's a beautiful, great-sounding space," Bryan said, calling the new studio a "great place to do live recording but with enough separation that you can really tweak each instrument's sound."

Lucas Fritz was on hand to take some photos of the session. Check out a couple of the photos below, or view the entire album on Flickr.

Bryan Hooten

Cameron Ralston

Brian Jones

Trey Pollard

Pollard, Hooten, and Ralston

Pollard, Hooten, Ralston, and Ryan Corbitt

Pollard and Jones

Corbitt and Jones

Drums

Bass

All photos by Lucas Fritz

Trio of Justice: Without hesitation

Bryan Hooten — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:00:44 +0000

The other day, I ambushed Trio of Justice (formerly R2DToo), a relatively new band comprised of Reggie Pace, Reginald Chapman, and Devonne Harris, after one of their rehearsals. We got to talking about the band, their music, their new name and what makes Richmond such a trombone-friendly city. Devonne even talks a little smack, ensuring his place in the RVA Trombone mafia for years to come. They all speak with the same humor, spontaneity and sophistication that inspire their music. Trio of Justice will perform at RVAJazzfest this Saturday along with the Adam Larrabee Trio and Ombak+Ray Anderson.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/8870703[/vimeo]

View more photos of Trio of Justice on Flickr

RVAJazzfest featuring Ray Anderson & Ombak, Adam Larrabee Trio, and Trio of Justice takes place on Saturday, February 6, 2010, at 9pm at The Camel, 1621 W Broad St., Richmond VA. Click here to purchase tickets.

Ombak: On record and in collaboration

David Tenenholtz — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:00:05 +0000

Ombak (pronounced "Ohm Bach") is our headlining band for RVAJazzfest. The quartet led by Bryan Hooten will be performing a set in collaboration with Tim Berne that we absolutely cannot wait to hear. Our guest writer David Tenenholtz dug into Hooten's mind. --Ed.

Ombak is trombonist/composer Bryan Hooten's band featuring guitarist Trey Pollard, bassist Cameron Ralston, and drummer Brian Jones. At the start, the quartet played songs that were written 100% written by Hooten. They involved mixed meters and long, complicated forms. Often, the material was through-composed, meaning that no sections of the song repeated from its start to finish.

The 2009 self-released album Framing the Void documents that phase in the group’s development. However, much of this recording will have you nodding your head, and some of the down-tempo grooves have a swagger all their own. “Aware” has a unisonal funky riff, followed by improvisation passed around quickly. "Odalisque" displays some severe interplay between Hooten's trombone (at times guttural and at others airy) and Pollard's visceral, hornlike tone. “As Rome Burns” reflects an image of Nero fiddling while his city burned. Musically speaking, there is a unison line that goes on while the bass and drums unleash frenetic bursts of mayhem.

In our recent conversation discussing the elements of Ombak's music, Hooten explained, "Most music is about rhythm first and foremost." In a much older conversation, he said that he's obsessed with music where an even pulse is somehow evident, but all the musical action shifts against it. After a little investigative reporting (i.e. typing "Bryan Hooten" into YouTube), I learned that he has been comfortable writing within this framework for some time. Just for fun, peep this clip of Hooten's alma mater playing his arrangement of Herbie Hancock's "Chameleon."

But seriously, back to Ombak.

With the collaborative minds making up this quartet, a push to get eclectic got the band focused on less composition, and more freedom and looseness. This led also to the inclusion of cover material such as Ornette Coleman’s staple “Lonely Woman” and “When Will the Blues Leave,” which is in a more straight-ahead swing style; a departure from the explosive rock influence heard throughout Framing the Void. A more recently penned tune, “Megatron Wants What’s In My Mind” has rhythmic cues, but otherwise a flexible structure based on spontaneity.

Set to play the RVAJazzfest event with saxophonist Tim Berne, the band is going to include their own material along with current originals by the guest artist. When we talked, Hooten related that much of Berne's writing employs a flexible instrumentation of two, three, or four parts on any set of horns covering the pitch ranges. This allows for a great deal of adaptability.

To read more about Berne, check out this fascinating two-part interview on Ethan Iverson's blog. Spoiler alert: Under a mentorship with saxophonist Julius Hemphill, Berne’s writing for his own bands was encouraged immediately. He thus has had a different career trajectory than the normal jazz player that starts mainly as a side-person, which shows not only his courage to do that, but also that he is "...a model of someone who’s just a natural artist and carves out space," as Iverson puts it.

And just as Berne believed from the beginning to play his own music, Hooten is similar in mindset. No doubt there will be some chemistry in the experiments that will happen on The Camel's stage on Saturday, February 6.

RVAJazzfest featuring Tim Berne & Ombak, Adam Larrabee Trio, and Trio of Justice takes place on Saturday, February 6, 2010, at 9pm at The Camel, 1621 W Broad St., Richmond VA. Click here to purchase tickets.

Visit Ombak on the web at ombakmusic.com

Announcing: RVAJazzfest 2010

Dean Christesen — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:00:10 +0000

On the heels of the successful first RVAJazzfest, I'm pleased to announce the line-up and details for the second RVAJazzfest, which will take place in February 2010! The featured artist will be saxophonist Tim Berne, who will be performing with local band Ombak. Like the first RVAJazzfest with Steven Bernstein and Fight the Big Bull, Berne & Ombak will also be rehearsing and recording an album while in town.

Along with Berne & Ombak, the Adam Larrabee Trio with Randall Pharr on bass, Brian Jones on drums, and Larrabee on guitar will perform their interpretations of the music from Ellington/Mingus/Roach's Money Jungle album. Kicking off the show will be the ever inventive Trio of Justice, the group formerly known as R2Dtoo made up of Reggie Pace on trombone, Reggie Chapman on sousaphone, and Devonne Harris on drums.

You're going to want to mark your calendars for Saturday, February 6, 2010. The Camel will once again be the host for the evening. Music will start at 9pm, so come early and grab a seat and some dinner. Tickets will be $10 in advance and $15 at the door. More information on purchasing tickets in advance will come later, but you can click here for the full details.

-----

Tim Berne, a disciple of such musical innovators as Anthony Braxton and Julius Hemphill, has become an influential force all his own. With several groups to his name -- like Science Friction, Big Satan, Buffalo Collision, Bloodcount, Miniature, and more -- the majority of his career as a musician has been serving as a leader, not a sideman (The Bad Plus pianist Ethan Iverson covers this and more in his lengthy interview with Berne). A true do-it-all man, Berne also operates his own record label, Screwgun Records. Over a mid-afternoon lunch on Grace Street, Ombak leader Bryan Hooten talked about what he's learned from Berne.

"A lot of the ways that Ombak plays and the way that I write and the way that I've kind of gone about things," Hooten says, "are definitely influenced by how Tim Berne has created his music."

Hooten first became introduced to Berne's music through his Science Friction live album The Sublime And. He was captivated by the amount of counterpoint involved and by all of the free yet very dialogic improvisation. And, of course, the beats. He says about that album and Berne's compositional influences on him:

The first thing I noticed is that there's no bass player. While there's a guitar player and keyboard player in the band, nobody's really playing chords. And that's one of my classic Bryan Hooten catch phrases: 'I don't like chords.' So I was just fascinated by the counterpoint that was going on. Everyone had a line, and because of that all of the tunes had this forward momentum. If you think about why Bach's music was great: you could take just the alto line out of his chorales, and that by itself sounds great. It has melodic integrity, tension and release, rise and fall, all of that. So I noticed that in Tim Berne's playing. Even with the drumming and the way the drums interact with the band, he seems to always be thinking about lines and, as a result, interlocking rhythms. And that was all really fascinating to me, which greatly influenced the way that I write.

In September '07, after digging into his music and realizing that one of his favorite records from early on (Ray Anderson's Big Band Record) featured Berne, Hooten went to New York City for a lesson with the saxophonist. Shortly after that, the then active Patchwork Collective hosted Berne with bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Tom Rainey for a gig in Richmond at the Firehouse Theatre.

Berne's mark on Hooten reaches beyond compositional techniques and band-leading successes. Hooten explains:

In terms of his playing, I feel like what he's playing is always a surprise to him. I never listen to his music and say, 'Oh, there's that lick.' Or, 'That's that scale,' or, 'That's that superimposition,' or whatever. It seems like he really is improvising with a capital 'I.' He rarely repeats himself. I never hear him go to the same place, like solo to solo to solo. And I think that is a captivating thing to listen to. When you're listening to music, it's great to be able to grab on to something and say, 'Oh, I recognize what THAT is.' But, on the other hand, as soon as you start doing that, you're not really listening anymore, you're doing a math problem or something.

The conception of February's weeklong residency with Berne began with Hooten sending him Ombak's debut album Framing the Void earlier this year. Berne liked it, Hooten invited him down to record another album, and Berne accepted.

The week will involve rehearsing and recording the band's second album, this time starring Berne. The pieces might be composed by Hooten, Berne, or any of the other Ombak members: guitarist Trey Pollard, bassist Cameron Ralston, and drummer Brian Jones. "We'll get together and figure out what works the best, what we sound the best on, and that's what we'll play," Hooten says. "But I think there will be a healthy dose of new music."

In addition to playing at RVAJazzfest, rehearsing, and recording, plans include Berne giving a workshop at James River High School and the band taking a day off for Superbowl Sunday.

Berne's personal journey, Hooten adds, is interesting:

He didn't get real serious about playing music until he was in college. He didn't have a saxophone until then. He just traveled to New York a lot, listened to people play, and became this super fan and got into it that way. Ever since he started, he's been a leader of his own groups first and foremost and has always been doing original music. That's inspiring to me because that's what I'm most interested in.

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photo by jason bachman

Fight the Big Bull at Balliceaux: A new space, a new sound

Dean Christesen — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:07:29 +0000

Many remember the old Bogart's Back Room: the legends and the locals who played there, the stories that have originated there. The space is only a memory now since being recently acquired by a new pair of restaurateurs and experiencing a total gutting and impressive renovation. Like its predecessor, Balliceaux has asserted itself as a small but in-demand venue for live music since beginning service in August. Chris Bopst, who books music for the restaurant, is a firm believer of only booking bands that can knock you off your feet with power, intensity, or just plain uniqueness. All of the above describes Fight the Big Bull.

Last night, coming off of their three year gig at the restaurant and bar Cous Cous, Fight the Big Bull began their new bi-weekly residency at Balliceaux. The difference from the old home turf to the new was striking, from the band's sound to their appearance.

Most everybody could agree that the band sounded incredible. They took over the room, in a good way. Unlike at Cous Cous, bar chatter didn't stand a chance intruding on the music, except maybe at the quietist of musical moments. There was great balance and clarity between the brass, reeds, and rhythm section. The saxophones had a large sonic presence during even the loudest, most brass-heavy sections. Everything seemed to fit right in place at the right volume, much like the band's performances to completely attentive audiences like at RVAJazzfest or Mingus Awareness Project. Even with conversations going on in all corners of the room, the music's balance wasn't jeopardized.

As always, Matt White's Fight the Big Bull seems to run itself. The antithesis of an arm-flailing conductor, White's left to other decisions like cuing new sections or focusing on his own guitar work while each section is democratic in cuing backgrounds based on the pacing and development of the solos. In last night's case, the mix of the brass behind one of Jason Scott's clarinet solos was perfect. And Scott, squealing and searching with bluesy expression, commanded the new room.

Trumpeter Bob Miller's electroacoustic noise and ambience -- created with sounds from the trumpet played into a microphone that's fed into an amp with effects -- creates staggeringly different moods each time a tune is played, but it's only one stitch in the fabric. While some horn backgrounds for solos are notated, others are made up on the spot to serve the music's needs, and the perceptive and creative rhythm section of bassist Cameron Ralston, drummer Pinson Chanselle, and White, dish out new ideas each time to keep their extended story evolving.

One highlight of the first set was the multi-dimensional title track to the band's upcoming album on Clean Feed, All is Gladness in the Kingdom. The second set saw a rare performance of an early favorite, "California is for Suckers." White's Papa Staples gospel tone on the guitar dripped with soul, appropriately seguing into another early favorite: a re-arrangement of the Staple Singers' version of "Uncloudy Day." In his solo, trombonist Reggie Pace played the role of lead singer Mavis, borrowing inflection and bringing the singer's voice to life. The evening closed with their powerful version of The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," with trombonist Bryan Hooten taking his signature lead on the song and an infectious sing-along on the final chorus.

Add Fight the Big Bull to the list of bands that are impressed with the way they sound in this space. White commented afterwards that he thought the room sounded great and that it's "nice to have some space" for the band, adding that not being situated directly above his amp makes all the difference for him. Hooten noticed that the rhythm section wasn't as overpowering in the new space, thanks to acoustic features like the cork ceiling and wood paneling. Both guys contributed to the general consensus that clarity and balance were the two key words for the band in the new space.

Fight the Big Bull plays at Balliceaux every other Wednesday. They'll be back November 18. Meanwhile, Glows in the Dark plays there tonight, 9:15, free, 203 N Lombardy St.

Weekend roundup: Wilson, Stein, free jazz

Dean Christesen — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:25:02 +0000

A lot went down this weekend in Richmond. I experienced about one music-related thing each day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and still missed out on a lot. Hopefully you had a chance to get out of the house and enjoy some music yourself. Maybe you checked out our Halloween Jazz Guide, or saw some spook secular events like Glenn Wilson or Terence Blanchard (of which we welcomed your comments and feedback).

I started my weekend at Glenn Wilson Quartet at The Camel. Photos are on their way, but here's a short video to enjoy if you missed the show:

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/7414407[/vimeo]

On Saturday afternoon, there was a small free jazz jam at Black Hand Coffee with two drummers -- Forrest Young and Emre Kartari -- and two tenor saxophonists -- John Lilley and Jason Scott. Bespectacled with 3D glasses (double vision, get it?), the quartet plus an array of drummers sitting in experimented with different forms and themes, like an avant garde medley of children's songs. Another short video:

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/7414487[/vimeo]

Bass clarinetist Jason Stein from Chicago blew away a small but intent crowd with a solo set at Ghost Print Gallery on Sunday evening. Trombonist Bryan Hooten opened with a great performance.

Afterwards, we headed over to Minimum Wage Studio for the Fight the Giant Bull (remember them?) session. The multi-percussionist and multi-bassist rhythm section was laying down hypnotic, driving vamps as the base for what should become a huge tapestry of psychedelic minimalism. A trio of singers recorded repetitious intervallic layers over the rhythm section and synthesizer, and Stein blew over one track, adding much variety and drama with nearly funk-inflected syncopations. Matt White described his vision for the Fight the Giant Bull record in August, and so far it seems right on track.

Jason Stein returns to Richmond

Dean Christesen — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:00:22 +0000

Bass clarinetist Jason Stein is a Chicago-based musician who has released albums on Clean Feed and 482 Music, two of the leading record labels for avant garde and creative music. His newest album, In Exchange for a Process (Leo Records), is a solo statement, and his first one. Back in May 2008, his trio Locksmith Isidore visited Richmond with a performance at The Camel with a then-young Ombak. On Sunday night, Stein will be playing solo at Ghost Print Gallery with Ombak-leader and trombonist Bryan Hooten opening also in a solo set.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq0y8bIvcbc[/youtube]

Jason Stein with Locksmith Isidore

Over a year ago, before Stein's first trip to Richmond, Matt White succinctly wrote about Stein on RVANews something that is also relevant to this visit (see The Jason Stein Article):

Wonderful improvising is truly a rare and valuable thing – really and truly rare and valuable. In very simple terms truly great improvising combines, among a whole lot of other things, a loss of ego with a true sense of musical proficiency – something that can come close to being mutually exclusive. I’m telling you that [this guy has] that and it is worth your while to come see it. I’m not going to hide the fact that this is kinda “free jazzy” and it might sound a little “weird”. But to view it in strictly those terms is discounting the profound interaction between musicians exploring the limits of their instruments.
On [Sunday] night Richmond is responsible for taking care of [him]. We have a chance as a community to take in a wonderful [musician] – a [man] that is attempting to tour in a market that Americans seem to have a difficult time embracing. Be curious, spend an hour listening to something you’ve never heard before. Maybe you’ll love it or maybe you’ll think it blows. But spending an evening listening to any music of such high calibre is an experience that can be just really fantastic.

(Matt originally wrote about Stein's group as a whole, although, as you can see, it can also refer to Stein as a solo musician)

Listening to music -- a statement, a story -- created with only one instrument and no accompaniment can be a beautiful experience. Like Matt alluded to, crafting a piece of music through improvisation requires taking yourself to another place where your ego is nonexistent. A solo piece of music can be a transcendental moment for the musician, one that removes all middlemen from between your thoughts and the sounds that are produced. Free jazz, Stein said in an interview with RVAJazz before the May 2008 gig, "just kind of felt like home. It was more natural than straight ahead music. Free jazz was very modern, everything else was a throw back."

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Halloween Jazz Guide

Dean Christesen — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:00:39 +0000

Last Halloween brought some spine-tingling music to those looking for a spooky musical time, like Fight the Big Bull's Thriller at Cous Cous, Glows in the Dark's music of John Carpenter (which is still available for listening on GITD's blog), and No BS! Brass's Halloween bash team-up with Supa Fly Floosies. Richmond's jazz and funk (and beyond) musicians have a lot in store this weekend for your enjoyment. Some might say it's scary how much is going on.

Thursday

J3 Project starts the weekend off early with a Pre-Halloween Boogie on Thursday at Emilio's. Funk inflected jam band music à la Medeski Martin & Wood. View event details.

Friday

RVAJazz presents Glenn Wilson Quartet at The Camel on Friday. Not a Halloween-related event per se, but going places in costumes always makes thing more interesting. View event details.

Halloween

No BS! Brass's Halloween Parade returns for its fourth year, starting in Monroe Park and winding into Oregon Hill. The parade is put on by All the Saints Theater Company and led by the brass band. All are welcomed to join in for this family-friendly march that features very large puppets. View event details.

No BS! ends up at Gallery5's Carnival of 5 Fires later that night. The Carnival goes on all weekend from Friday to Sunday with different bands and/or burlesque shows happening each night. View event details.

James Brown tribute band The Big Payback will provide a funky good time at their Halloween Special, taking place at The Camel on Saturday night. The night is complete with a costume contest and prizes. View event details.

Beast Wellington will also do its best to quench your insatiable desire for Halloween funk at Bogart's. View event details.

Sunday

Cool down with some post-Halloween treats, like solo bass clarinetist Jason Stein's performance at Ghost Print Gallery. Local trombonist Bryan Hooten opens with a solo set. View event details.

Miles Davis-inspired band Petit Machins performs their renditions of Miles classics at The Camel. Use The Vastness opens. View event details.

Photo by D'Arcy Norman

Snow Panda’s Ombak Mixes

Dean Christesen — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:00:20 +0000

Snow Panda has struck again, and this time it's with material from Ombak's Framing the Void. The man behind the project is Gabe Churray, ilad keyboardist and mixing wizard. Using Ombak's music recorded both in the studio and in performance, he has created six new mixes that will all be available for listening here in the next week.

Each week day between today and Ombak's performance with Churray at Cous Cous next Wednesday, we'll be releasing one track, accompanied by Snow Panda's descriptions, Ombak trombonist and leader Bryan Hooten's thoughts, and my analyses.

Hooten says about the project's origin:

I had long been a fan of Snow Panda (Gabe Churray) and his keyboard and electronic wizardry as part of ilad, but the discovery of his remixes of drummer Brian Jones's music made me curious about what he could conjure up using the Ombak album, Framing the Void. The already jump-cutting, angular, and mathematical sounds on the record seemed ripe for further manipulation. I also found out through the grape vine, before he even mentioned it, that he was a trombone player himself, so I knew he'd have a great ear for the project.
In May, I handed Gabe our studio tracks and some live recordings from our CD release party at Cous Cous, which he combined with his own field recordings of the band. After months of work, Snow Panda's brilliant alchemy has yielded tracks that sound at once strangely exotic and intimately human. One can hear recognizable snippets of tunes as well as sounds fractured, compressed, stretched or otherwise completely transmogrified.

Ombak - Snow Panda Mixes track list
1. Hooten
2. Shuffle
3. Elegy for Aeroplanes
4. Oki
5. Theologue
6. Bushido

All tracks will be available for download on Ombak's blog and Snow Panda's website after 10/28.

Bryan Hooten Faculty Recital at VCU

Dean Christesen — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 01:31:00 +0000

copied from press release:

Bryan Hooten presents a VCU faculty recital:

The Music of Verbatim

Bryan Hooten is pleased to announce his faculty jazz trombone recital on Tuesday, September 8th 2009 at 8pm in the Sonia Vlahcevic Concert Hall inside the Singleton Center for the Performing Arts at 922 Park Avenue in Richmond, VA. The recital will feature the music of Verbatim, an experimental duo comprised of Hooten and drummer Dean Christesen. The recital is open to the public and is free for VCU students, $5 general admission for non-students.

In June of 2009, Verbatim recorded its debut self-titled album in Richmond composer/guitarist and Fight the Big Bull leader Matthew White’s sweltering attic, otherwise known as Spacebomb Studios. Recorded in only a few hours, the album consists of all first takes of original compositions that were mixed in one pass while using no overdubs or splices, fully capturing the group’s dynamic live-performance energy. In support of the album, the duo embarked on an east-coast tour earlier this year, hitting experimental music hotspots in Washington DC, Brooklyn, NY and Philadelphia, PA before returning home for a CD release party at The Camel in Richmond, VA. The album is available at all Verbatim gigs.

Verbatim’s music combines the sounds of jazz, math-rock, punk, salsa, Tuvan throat-singing, New Orleans street beat and the avant-garde to create an original synthesis of composition and improvisation. Verbatim grew organically out of conversations and jam sessions between Hooten and Christesen in 2008. After playing on a few one-off gigs and a steady opening slot in front of Alan Parker’s Connect Four, the duo began planning a summer tour during a post-gig hang at The Camel in Richmond, VA.

Bryan Hooten plays trombone and composes for Ombak and Verbatim and also performs with Richmond super-groups Fight the Big Bull and No BS Brass. He teaches Music Theory, Small Jazz Ensembles and Jazz Composition lessons at Virginia Commonwealth University and teaches music at Hanover High School and James River High School. He also serves on the faculty for the Virginia Governor’s School for the Humanities and Visual and Performing Arts.

Dean Christesen is a Richmond-based drummer, writer and creator of RVAjazz.com, a portal for Richmond’s jazz, experimental, and improvised music scene. He is currently studying jazz performance at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a member of Mason Brothers, Verbatim, and various local jazz and free-jazz concoctions.

www.mypace.com/verbatimrva

Season Four at Cous Cous

Dean Christesen — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Tonight marks the return of Fight the Big Bull and Ombak's rotation on their home turf venue, Cous Cous. The summer there has been occupied by various bands, but these two regulars have been on summer vacation since May 27. In what's being called "Season 4," they're back to bring life to Wednesday nights once again.

Band leaders Matt White and Bryan Hooten spoke about their plans for the season, how they kept busy this summer, and their future goals.

From Matana Roberts, Glows in the Dark, Fight the Big Bull @ MUSE

Fight the Big Bull

RVAjazz:How have you spent your summer, Matt?

Matt White: I planned the Richmond Marching Band Party, went on a tour, I went and heard a lot of music in the south, spent some time in New Orleans. That's basically the music-related things I've been doing.

RVAjazz: What should we expect with season 4 of Fight the Big Bull at Cous Cous?

MW: Fight the Big Bull will be retiring a number of songs.

RVAjazz: Like "California is for Suckers"??

MW: I don't think we'll retire "California is for Suckers." That one has kind of been semi-retired many times now, though. I think we'll probably retire the whole first record for now and kind of focus on just spending time with some of the new material. We spent a lot of time playing "Grizzly Bear," for the good. It's a lot different now than it was 3 years ago. But you only have a certain amount of set time. I want to focus on new All is Gladness material. I thought the Ken Vandermark material was really good, but it never became part of our set. Part of that is its different instrumentation.

We've got a recording session coming up in November with the Giant Bull. We'll probably be workshopping some ideas for that (at Cous Cous), although it won't be the same kind of thing, won't be the Giant Bull obviously. I'll probably pass around some ideas and see if they sound cool.

RVAjazz: Are you going to be shopping the Giant Bull record like you did with Big Bull, ultimately landing with Clean Feed?

MW: We're doing a collaboration with this guy, Karl Blau, who did some work with The Great White Jenkins. He's kind of famous in indie rock circles. He's on K Records and does a lot of really quirky home recording stuff, and he's really fluent with tape, cutting and splicing. A lot of mixing, post production, dub. The way we record will be different: it won't be all live. You don't have the same mixing options when you (record live). He wants to do it kind of On The Corner, Teo Macero style: basically be big grooves. We're not shopping it around. He's got some serious street cred as far as major indie markets go. Critics love him to death. Karl will be in town for three days, so it'll be done really quick.

From Fight the Giant Bull, Ilad, Runaway Circus @ Gallery5

RVAjazz: Will you be recording at Lance's (Minimum Wage Studios)?

MW: I have the date scheduled at Lance's, but the more I think about it, I just got a new 16-track tape machine. Basically, if I'm using that, I'm using the same platform that Lance is. And then we'd be mixing down to my quarter inch mastering machine anyway. I might try and do it at my house and see what would come of it.

I want to do short little vocal snippets, like Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band did. Kind of like a cheesy big band thing, that I think would be funny. People chanting shit every once in a while. I think there will be some vocals, like in Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra. I think that would be cool if there was wild groovy shit and in the background there's some opera singing.

Fight the Big Bull plays tonight, Wednesday, August 26, 2009, and every other Wednesday thereafter, at Cous Cous, 10pm, free, 21+. Cous Cous is located at 900 W. Franklin St. at Shafer St., Richmond, VA.

Ombak

RVAjazz: How did you spend your summer?

Bryan Hooten: Ombak performed at the Virginia Governor's School for the Humanities and Visual and Performing Arts on July 24. It takes place at CNU and is a month-long program for gifted Virginia high school students. This was my 3rd year on the faculty there. Ombak did an hour-long concert, and we also did a thing where musicians in the program came up and played with us, and we had a question & answer session at the end. Fight the Big Bull played last year. It was really cool to see a room full of 400 high school kids go absolutely nuts for the music we're doing. They were completely excited about it. Everyone had a blast.

We worked a lot on Verbatim stuff, put out an album, went on tour. I was on the No BS! tour, stuff like that.

RVAjazz: Where is Ombak at the moment, musically?

BH: Snow Panda (Gabe Churray) is in the process of working on a remix project of some of the studio recordings from Framing the Void and some live recordings. So that's been in the works. Towards the end of our spring run at Cous Cous, we got into some Tuvan folk music and some drone oriented things, and some of the new music that I'm writing alludes to that a little bit. It was kind of a refreshing change of pace to all the math-rock centered stuff. We also did some kind of very, very loosely composed stuff, where I just gave the band rhythms to work with.

RVAjazz: What's Ombak's music going to be like during this season at Cous Cous?

BH: We're planning on doing some Radiohead music ("15 Step"), some Ornette Coleman tunes, plus new original tunes by everybody in the band. Lots of new music, including re-imagining some of our older material. We're probably going to explore playing some music that is a little less thorough on the compositional side, and a little more open, just to juxtapose the newer music that we're doing with the body of work that we already have.

RVAjazz: I've heard you talk about doing another album. What's Ombak's plan for the near future?

BH: I think I'd like to record another album at the beginning of next summer, so we'll start thinking about that. I don't want to give it away yet, but I'm working on bringing somebody down to guest artist with the band in the spring. We're also planning to play more up and down the east coast.

Ombak plays next week, Wednesday, September 2, 2009, and every other Wednesday thereafter, at Cous Cous, 10pm, free, 21+. Cous Cous is located at 900 W. Franklin St. at Shafer St., Richmond, VA.

No BS! Brass Tour Reflection, Pt. 2

Dean Christesen — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:42:00 +0000

From August 5-8, No BS Brass, Richmond’s Manliest Band (as described by Style Weekly) set out on a busking tour. We drove, we played on the street, we drove again. These are our adventures, as told by Bryan Hooten, trombonist and usually successful navigator.

After what would be our last full night’s sleep for a few days, we reconvened at Lance’s to depart for DC, Philadelphia and New York. We had planned to busk at a few locations in the first two cities and come to rest in Brooklyn during the wee hours of the morning. Unfortunately, reports of bad weather canceled our stop in DC and we decided to press northwards. The previous day’s driving music had included Tuvan throat singing, Tabla music, Armenian jazz and Balinese Jaw-Harp duets. Today we checked out the new (unreleased) Fight the Big Bull/Steven Bernstein album, among other things. As we rolled into Philly, Reggie put on the only reasonable choice, The Roots. The sounds of their first album, Do You Want More ?!!!??!, thumped through the van, summoning many an approving roof punch.

Lance snaked the van through the neighborhoods of west Philadelphia until we eased to a stop on South Street, the area’s main drag. Pouring out of the van, clown-car style, we each went in search of liquid related activities. Reggie Chapman, our resident tea aficionado, found a hip coffee shop managed by a stunning and friendly attendant. As per his recommendation, almost all of us made a trip into the shop at least once during our time on South Street. Another group of us went in search of restrooms and found relief in a nearby fire station. The fire-fighters were equally friendly and curious about why we all had on the same shirts. Come to think of it, we were getting a lot of looks that said the same thing. We explained that we were in a band, an answer that always gets a smile and a nod.

Directly across the street from the fire department was an abandoned Subway restaurant, the perfect place for a busk. With blinding speed we retrieved our gear from the van, hurried to our spot and set up. Not sure how long we’d get to play before the cops or store-owners or neighbors would shut us down. By the time we looked up from the first tune, we were again surrounded by a crowd of smiling, fascinated people. It felt good to hear Reggie Pace speak over the bullhorn what would become our mantra for the trip:

"Hey everybody! We are the No BS Brass band and we’re from Richmond, Virginia!"

As we played though our set, the crowd grew, Marcus’ trumpet case filled with dollar bills, email lists were signed, CD’s were bought, stickers were handed out, and a good, sweaty time was had by all. Out of the corner of my eye, through the multiple tuning slides on Chapman’s bass trombone, I could see a mass of bike cops starting to form. They sat motionless, leaning over their handlebars, sunglasses reflecting the cityscape. At the end of the last tune a few of them coasted over to our corner. Were we getting a ticket? Were we being asked to leave? Were we in big trouble?

“Where are you guys from?”
“Richmond, Virginia. We’re on the way up to New York.”
“I really like your music. Can I get a CD?"

A few of us handled several different versions of this conversation with the cops and with the bystanders and we were once again encouraged by the response. Reggie even sold one of the officers a CD. After a few more minutes of hand-shaking and thank-yous, We packed up the van and went walking in search of the most sough-after of all Philadelphia cuisine, the cheesesteak.

While the rest of the guys piled into Jim’s for a cheesesteak, David and I found a killer falafel place around the corner. Over our dinner, we spoke, as men do, of the world and its people, of music and of growing old.

A post-dinner van-cruise looking for another happening place to busk didn’t turn up much and we decided to make our way to New York, leaving Philadelphia at 11:30pm. The drive up was largely uneventful until some combination of Lance’s driving and my navigation led us into Manhattan even though our directions had us passing below it to get to Brooklyn. Almost everyone in the band was asleep at this point so nobody really noticed the detour until we arrived at our destination at around 4 am. We stayed the night at our friend Josh’s apartment. Josh used to play with Richmond guitarist and bandleader Scott Burton in a group called Ones and Zeroes and now lives in Brooklyn, building guitars. The Richmond musical community reaches far and wide, but always feels like a family. Stumbling wearily in to the basement of the apartment that had been Glows in the Dark’s refuge a few weeks prior, Reggie Chapman and Reggie Pace found spots to crash on a couch and air mattress respectively while the rest of us spread out on the linoleum floor. Short as it was, that night contained some of the most efficient sleep of my life.

Read part 1

No BS! Brass Tour Reflection, Pt. 1

Dean Christesen — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:24:00 +0000

Last week, No BS Brass, Richmond’s Manliest Band (as described by Style Weekly) set out on a busking tour. We drove, we played on the street, we drove again. These are our adventures, as told by Bryan Hooten, trombonist and usually successful navigator.

Busking is the practice of performing in public places for tips or gratuities.

The band members start arriving at Lance Koehler’s (drums) house around 2pm on Wednesday afternoon. For those not in the know, Lance’s house is also home to Minimum Wage Recording, where No BS, Fight the Big Bull, Ombak, Glows in the Dark, Bio Ritmo, Brian Jones and countless other Richmond bands have laid down their records. Many of us were rolling in immediately after some serious travel. Taylor Barnett (trumpet) had just returned from Hong Kong, where he was visiting family and performing. Luckily the jet-lag/time-change was on his side this time. After some last-minute stuff-grabbing and packing of the trailer, we all piled into a fifteen passenger van by about 3pm. Most of us spent the quick drive to Charlottesville catching up and telling stories. I had been out of town for the previous month so I had plenty to hear. At some point in the journey, during a discussion of when the band would get some food and who would pay for it, Rob, our lead trumpet player, shouted from the back seat “I don’t even need to eat, I’ll just go get that killin’ Chris Potter record.” Hilarity ensued. A cacophonous roar of laughter and van-roof punching erupted into our confined space. This quote would be repeated countless times over the course of the week in varying accurate impersonations of Rob’s voice.

Before we go on, I must explain a bit of the history of this van-roof punching business. During my time in the salsa band, Bio Ritmo, punching the roof of the tour van became an expression of anger, frustration, excitement or just the punctuation at the end of a declarative sentence. Roof-punching has now become part of the No BS vocabulary. Dillard, one of our trombonists, attempted several times that day to master the technique with little success. He’s young though. He will learn.

We found a place to park near the downtown mall in Charlottesville, a picturesque strip of the city that is closed to cars and frames a slew of local shops and restaurants. After scouting out a spot towards the center of the mall, we set up the drums and arranged the stickers, CD’s and T-Shirts. We started playing not totally sure how our enormous size and volume would be received. Within a few bars of "Lando," however, we were surrounded by fascinated, head-bobbing onlookers, including one uncomfortably enthusiastic dancer. As the crowd gathered, we quickly found our groove. Marcus and Reggie Pace (trombone) dealt out thrilling solos while Lance and Stefan (tuba) laid a rock-solid foundation. Reggie Chapman (bass trombone) electrified the crowd with his megaphone singing and trombone intros. All the dance moves came out as well. When not playing, Taylor often took on the role of email-list distributor, stepping out of the band to pass around paper and pen, collecting the addresses of new No BS fans.

LESSON #1: Bring someone with you to work the crowd.

Our tip jar quickly filled up and by the time we were respectfully given the ‘15 more minutes’ sign by a local police officer, we had played for almost an hour. New fans and old friends came rushing up after the final tune, including former member Hayden Hopkins, for whom the tune ‘HH’ is named. This busk was a great one, and foreshadowed more adventures. After a quick pack-up and single file procession past the counter of a delicious dumpling joint, we navigated the van through the winding streets of the UVA campus and up to the hill-top studios of WTJU.

We were met by a crew of three friendly guys and hurried to set up in their small auxiliary studio. Somehow, we crammed the whole band in to a 10’x10’ room, with a significant amount of that space taken up by the soundboard. If you have seen No BS live, you will recognize this as a towering achievement. No BS is a huge band both in numbers and individual size. Marcus and I had to be especially careful, however, since we were positioned almost on top Lance’s crash and ride cymbal, respectively. After a brief intro by a DJ who seemed to be surprised by our name every time he read it, we started playing around 9:15 pm, blowing through many of our most up-tempo tunes. It was fun hearing the band play just as hard alone in a room as it does in front of our home crowd at The Camel in Richmond. The set was broken up by a quick interview, during which Reggie Pace uttered the phrase “We’re trying to go international, and such.” An hour later, once our time on the air was over, we took a look around the studio, mostly focusing on WTJU’s enormous record collection. We had a good hang up there, listening to some music and checking out a sneak peak of the live recording from the radio show. I found out that Cameron Ralston, bassist for Ombak, Glows in the Dark, Fight the Big Bull and Ilad, was once a DJ at the station.

After a quick stop at a sandwich place and entertaining Jesse Harper’s idea crashing a gig somewhere else in Charlottesville, we decided to head back to Richmond, knowing we had a long journey ahead of us.

RVA Magazine: The State of Jazz

Dean Christesen — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:00:00 +0000

By Dean Christesen

This article was originally published in the July 2009 Music Issue of RVA Magazine. It is reprinted with permission here.

photo: Dean Christesen

It's Wednesday night and Cous Cous is packed. I can hardly make it back to the bar to get another beer, so I stand with my empty glass watching Fight the Big Bull play raucously to a full restaurant. The bar is loud and the music is energetic, yet when the music reaches a hushed moment, the audience becomes silent, both out of respect and of genuine interest.

Four or five people sit, legs crossed, engaged in a Brooklyn-based avant-garde trio's performance at The Camel. A dividing wall in the club can't contain the sounds of a dance party in the venue's other half. Management tells us it's fifty people versus five, and there's nothing he can do to stop the intruding noise.

In Richmond, both scenarios are not only mere possibilities or outliers on the spectrum of potential audience turnout, but are regular occurrences that happen weekly, even nightly. Our city's small size can be blamed: there are just only so many people who listen to avant-garde or "out" jazz. But luckily, we benefit from having a unique and creative populate. Even if there's not necessarily an audience, there's still a steady output of original and forward-thinking music.

Everyone has their own answer to the question, "What is 'jazz'?" Like any other city, here there are purists--who believe it must swing and must stem out of the blues to be jazz--and there are those who feel that the jazz aesthetic is one of improvisation and can be open to the influence of contemporary music styles. The purist, straight-ahead jazz artists are alive and kicking in Richmond. Organizations like Richmond Jazz Society play a large role in the music's preservation and performance, and university music programs like the one at VCU tend to teach fundamentals of purist jazz, including bebop and big band music. This type (many will call it the only type) of jazz is available all over America and worldwide. No matter your location, driving 100 miles in any direction will most likely lead you to more great straight-ahead jazz.

Lately, a trend is forming right inside our city limits involving the more liberal definition of jazz music: bands are forming to play music that ties together all of their influences, with the same improvisational aspect that embodies jazz still intact. These bands are creating identities for themselves that depend wholly on the band's members. Young musicians here are seeing the successes of their older role models--few of which are much older than 30--in these types of bands and strive to follow in their paths. The older musicians are touring the U.S., making names for themselves and for Richmond, which, until recently, has been overlooked and unannounced in discussions about strong and thriving scenes.

photo: Lindsey Prather

Like any modern punk or rock band, these Richmond bands are breaking new ground and existing to do things that have not yet been done by extending their necks way out of the jazz realm that most of them were educated in. No BS! Brass Band is party music with the soul of New Orleans and improvisational chops of the finest musicians in the city. Glows in the Dark's brand of avant-garde jazz breathes life into sound like color to cinema. Ombak crystallizes trombonist Bryan Hooten's sharp, angular thoughts into math metal beats and frantic group improvisation. Fight the Big Bull conjures gospel-laced back-roads big band music with some dance grooves thrown in and surprises (like Michael Jackson's Thriller or Weezer's Blue Album) around every corner.

Drummer Brian Jones plays drums in Ombak and percussion in Fight the Big Bull, but ultimately makes up a league of his own in Richmond music. His scope of influence in Richmond extends way beyond his sensitivity behind the drum kit: nearly everyone looks up to him for his massive catalog of creative output he has achieved through the years. Jones constantly composes and records music for his own bands, and not one product has the effect of sounding like a mediocre attempt or a rushed effort to record and move on to something else. From his Guitar Quartet, Double Quartet, Wurlitzer Trio (each preceded by his name) to his duos Jones + Kuhl, + McCavitt, + Curtis, Jones has branded himself a musical identity.

Jones is also a valued member of the music community as a guy who gets things done. Mingus Awareness Project is an event founded in Chicago to benefit research for ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) that Jones picked up to organize in Richmond. With two of them under his belt now, he has made M.A.P. the jazz event of the year. October's event featured stellar performances by his own M.A.P. Trio and M.A.P. Big Band, both assembled for the occasion to perform music by Charles Mingus, and Fight the Big Bull, which performed new music inspired by Mingus.

His Musicircus, a re-simulation of the John Cage creation, has occurred six or seven times now (even he cannot recall which). In September, at least twenty musicians--some organized in duos, trios, quartets, or beyond, and some solo--claimed their spot among bookshelves at Chop Suey Books and played music independent of his or her neighboring performer. The result for the wandering audience member was cacophonous yet beautiful, improvisational and changing at all moments.

Jones's group Boots of Leather was given a set alongside Sex Mob front man and trumpeter Steven Bernstein--who performed with Fight the Big Bull--at RVAjazzfest in February. Set at The Camel, the night also included a performance by Glows in the Dark and acted to give the spotlight to music that doesn't often receive overwhelming support in Richmond. People of all backgrounds came: straight-ahead jazz listeners, avant-gard

e connoisseurs, and people who would not even call jazz a favorite genre. Bernstein's week-long visit to Richmond covered three performances and a recording session with FTBB and gave him insight into the grassroots nature of the scene as well as an opportunity to witness some of the bands that help make Richmond music worthy of attention.

photo: David Hood

These bands that are considered at the forefront of the jazz scene are still young bands, and the last year has unarguably been the most active one for each of them. No BS! Brass released their most powerful album yet, and their monthly "With Our Powers Combined" series has the group collaborating with other area bands like Ilad, Gull, and Old School Freight Train, and packing The Camel while they're at it. Fight the Big Bull is preparing to release their second album, this time with Steven Bernstein and again on the prestigious Portuguese record label Clean Feed, and will play at a National Public Radio party in New York City later this month. Ombak and Glows in the Dark have both put out debut albums and continue to gig locally and regionally.

The younger musicians on the scene aren't missing a beat. They're at every show they can get into, dreaming up their own ideas for bands and following the blueprints of their older friends. Use The Vastness (aka UTV, which includes members of No BS!), Yellow Grass, and The Compass Rose Orchestra are just three examples of very new bands that are bringing unique musical ideas to the table. These young composers look at their role models' listening habits and how they shape the bands they lead, like Fight the Big Bull's Matt White and his reverence of The Staple Singers and Randy Newman, or Ombak's Bryan Hooten and his affinity for György Ligeti and The Dillinger Escape Plan. The question "What music do I love and how can I make it work with what I learn in music school?" is the catalyst for these bands and their creative decisions.

These younger Richmond bands are often the ones creating new performance opportunities, and in doing so saying goodbye to the formal booking process at established venues. Lucas Fritz, VCU student and leader of The Compass Rose Orchestra (formerly The Fritztet Offensive), started a potluck barbeque in his own backyard. With two occurences already this summer (sequentially titled the Vine St. Rumble and Vine St. Re-Match), Fritz quickly made people eager for another Vine St. Melee.

Reggie Pace, co-founder of No BS! Brass, and Larri Branch created the Thompson & Grace Balcony Concert Series last summer as an excuse for bands to perform on a second story balcony at Saturday afternoon block parties. It's going strong again this year with concerts already by The Great White Jenkins and Verbatim.

UTV and Yellow Grass somehow found the space to hold a gig at Black Hand Coffee recently on a Friday afternoon. With the sun still shining and the audience sitting within reach of the band, it made for an interesting but totally welcomed concert experience.

A couple hours later across town in the large, open, and sophisticated listening room that is Muse Creative Workspace in the Bottom, Glows in the Dark, Fight the Big Bull, and internationally recognized saxophonist Matana Roberts hit as the sun began to set.

While such eclecticism exists in any artistic city, what Richmond jazz does currently offer is growth at an explosive rate with a consistently high quality of music. This music depends on friendship, trust, and community, which is probably why musicians and bands stick together, hang out together, and play music together. The Richmond pride is communal around here, and they want you to feel it.

photo: Dean Christesen

RVA Magazine is free and is available throughout Richmond in the Fan, Shockoe Bottom, Shockoe Slip, around Virginia Commonwealth University, and Church Hill. You can also view current and past issues online at rvamag.com

Ombak releases Framing the Void at Cous Cous Wednesday

Dean Christesen — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 06:12:00 +0000

by Dean Christesen

Ombak, the current project and alleged brain-child of trombonist Bryan Hooten, will be releasing their debut album this Wednesday, April 29, at their regular bi-weekly gig at Cous Cous. Hooten has been busy sharpening Ombak's knives around town lately, as well as infiltrating the internet (blog, twitter, facebook, myspace) with music that all should hear. Because of my previous brief stint with the gentlemen last spring, it wouldn't be fair of me to rave too furiously about the band...without at least giving that very disclaimer before doing so.

A little history first: The band's biography states they have been formed since the fall of 2006. Facing shifting personnel changes for the band's first year-and-a-half, this seemed to be more of a period of compositional growth and idea percolating for Hooten than it was of regular gigging and fanbase building. With the addition of drummer Brian Jones, its current line-up was set in 2008's summer. A tour for The Great White Jenkins--which contains many Fight the Big Bull members--that summer was a serendipitous moment for Ombak: it allowed them to temporarily take over FTBB's regular Cous Cous gig, which made possible the band's most fertile period, leading up to today and this release. As Lindsey Prather observed for RVAjazz during the beginning of the Ombak gig in May 2008, "They combine to bring heavy metal beats, neo-soul dance grooves, and stylish improvisation to the masses. It is no secret that Richmond prizes musicians who can really shred on their instruments, and Ombak offers this in addition to skillfully written compositions with infinite variety and versatility."

Read RVAjazz's review of Framing the Void to get a feel for what the album and this band is about. But if you really want to come prepared to Cous Cous on Wednesday, listen to this. Listen to Jones insist on a faster tempo immediately upon his entrance, listen to a multi-metered theme played in unison between three instruments and still be so powerful that it hurts, and listen to each musician shred. "Aware" is one of those characteristically Hooten compositions: big beats meet serialist logic meets Behold...The Arctopus-like complexities. (More tracks from this live concert at the Titan Jazz Festival are up on Ombak's blog)

With music that captures the band's consistently forward-thinking live performances and brilliant packaging and design (by .:. impossible, who also created this website's header), Framing the Void is a debut album for Hooten, his band, and Richmond, to be proud of.

Ombak is: Bryan Hooten: trombone, compositions; Brian Jones: drums; Trey Pollard: guitar; Cameron Ralston: bass.

Wednesday, April 29
Ombak: Framing the Void Album Release
Cous Cous
9:30 pm/free
21+
900 W. Franklin St., Richmond, VA 23220

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Ombak releases Framing the Void at Cous Cous Wednesday