Kevin Sun

A little while back, I came across a blog post by David Valdez that linked to a couple recordings from a Joe Henderson master class from 1985. These appear to be from the same masterclass as  recordings  in the University of North Texas library, which unfortunately are unavailable to me. I thought I'd take a break from practicing and transcribe some of Joe's responses to student questions: Any kinds of questions that anybody has about anything that has to do with this thing called jazz: sociologically, psychologically, financially, anything—just ask it.   Some of your tunes are in illegal fakebooks; how do you feel about that? Do you have any recourse and maybe would some of your tunes possibly be published by Jamie Aebersold or anybody in the future? To answer your first question: I’m of two minds about that sort of stuff. I appreciate and realize the good that having this kind of literature around does because there was a lack of it for a long time. But tha

Tristano, ca. 1947 I first heard about Lennie Tristano's famous improvisation over "All of Me" changes  reading Ethan Iverson's blog post about Tristano and his disciplines in the late '40s and '50s. I'm ambivalent about the style of playing that's generally associated with Tristano-ites, particularly w/r/t the sound of saxophonists and their approach to group interaction, but this particular solo is a fascinating study in deliberately and thoughtfully manipulating phrase lengths and note groupings to create uncanny lines from pre-existing bebop vocabulary. My friend has described this particular recording as a popular jazz nerd reference point, which I wouldn't disagree with, although it seems that Tristano's legacy has seen a bit of a revival in recent years .  A couple weeks ago, I saw Dan Tepfer and Ben Wendel performing duo in Cambridge; they were on tour for the release of their new record Small Constructions , which features a ren

As I did  last year and the year before, I'll be trying to complete a self-addressed syllabus of summer readings for my own pleasure and edification. After a brief hiatus from the blog, I'll also be updating more frequently over the next few months as I did last summer. Expect to see fewer transcriptions and hopefully some more diversity in the content. Since I'll be doing thesis research (or planning to do so) in New York City as well, I might occasionally post some updates about how that's going.  Feel free to chime in with any suggestions! I'm also keeping an ad hoc "Film and Television" syllabus, which I've decided to keep to myself for the sake of keeping that from growing out of control (hint: David Lynch's Twin Peaks  is first up). 

Darcy James Argue in 2009, conducting to the void Yesterday was the last day of classes, which meant that instead of going to discussion section to talk postcolonial lit., I had the chance to check out Darcy James Argue's workshop at the New England Conservatory today. Billed as composer, conductor, and ringleader on the liner notes of his new record for Secret Society,  Brooklyn Babylon , Argue is probably one of the most visible and more contemporary large ensemble leaders. It's been a couple years since his debut Infernal Machines , and thus far, it seems like the critical response is overwhelmingly positive.  The workshop was given in two parts: first, he talked about the impetus for the project and the considerations that played into the composition of this music. He gave three major points: For musical models, he looked less to film scores and more to ballets. He made a point about how the telling of the Brooklyn Babylon narrative was distinct from film in that it