Ask Frank Kimbrough

Lois Gilbert · July-27th-2003, 12:12 AM

Hi Frank

I noticed that you've registered and online here a bit. So I thought I would out you with a thread dedicated to you and maybe even the jazz composers collective.

Tell us what you're up to?

Best Lois

john williams · July-30th-2003, 12:00 AM

Hi Frank,

I absolutely adore "The Willow", your collaboration with Joe Locke. Its very different to anything else I have in my collection and very refreshing. I am from Australia, which has a terrific CD shop in Sydney called Birdland. I have them to thank for discovering your CD as they promoted it very well on their website and catalogue. I am certain Birdland have helped increase sales of The Willow in Oz. I also work in a library, we play it quite often and have received very positive comments from the public and collegues. My partner Louisa often asks me to play it on Friday evenings after a hard working week. In the online interview your producer Frank Tafuri, said he had heard/seen The Willow work in many environments and I have to agree. I like nothing more than to hear at higher volume and be totally absorbed and quite stunned by its beauty and luminance.

Welcome and cheers from an Aussie!

Sorry I don't have an intelligent question for you but I just wanted to congratulate you on a fine album, of which I am sure is special to you and everyone who worked on it.

jazzy mary · July-30th-2003, 10:59 AM

Frank is the greatest!! Consider me his "unofficial" president of his fan club!! Not only is he a great artist but he's a real ly nice, sweet, funny guy too! Isn't that right, Frank?!

Frank Kimbrough · July-31st-2003, 11:07 AM

Thanks for setting up the thread Lois. I really appreciate it. JBW - thanks for your kind comments about the Willow. Joe and I just played at the Caramoor Festival last weekend, and we had a great time. The response was very positive and very gratifying, and it was wonderful to to share the stage with Crispell/Helias/Motian, Dena DeRose, and Joe Lovano.

I've been busy this summer - playing with the Herbie Nichols Project at Lincoln Center, the North Sea Festival, and other dates in Italy and Portugal. Also with Ben Allison's Peace Pipe group in Italy. I'll be doing a couple dates with Michael Blake at the Standard in August, first with Free Association, and then with the Eulipion Orchestra.

I also have a new trio CD (with Ben Allison and Jeff Ballard) coming out Sept. 2 on OmniTone. It's a live date from the Jazz Composers Collective concert series - all original music. To celebrate, we'll be playing at the Jazz Standard on September 23. Jeff can't play with us that night, so Matt Wilson will join us. Please come if you can............FK

jazzy mary · July-31st-2003, 12:15 PM

Hey Frank, I'm marking Sept. 23rd. on my calendar now! I should bring my genius piano playing kids with me (see my "shameless Brag About Your Kids Here" thread). It would be great for them to see a master in action.

Frank, do you know any good restaurants near MOMA in Queens?

Sorry, for the free-for-all nature I'm taking this thread in. I guess I could have e-mailed Frank, but I already put it all here. Oh well.

Gary Sisco · August-1st-2003, 08:42 AM

Hi, Frank -- Thanks for the Herbie Nichols Project records. Also dig your stuff with Ben Allison, much. I'll be looking for the trio record. Glad you're posting here at JC.

TheloniousFunk · August-7th-2003, 12:08 PM

Hey--I'm that fifteen year old girl from Dallas who you kept seeing around New York last month--if you remember. That was weird.
Anyway--right now I'm enjoying one of your solos on Michael Blake's Elevated. Very nice.

Frank Kimbrough · August-7th-2003, 02:59 PM

Of course I remember - I think I saw you at every festival event I attended - we heard a lot of great music that week, didn't we? Thanks for the compliment - I'm glad you're enjoying Michael's record. We had a lot of fun making that one. Hope you're well - see you next time you're in NYC.

graypencil · August-12th-2003, 02:07 AM

Frank:

The Herbie Nichols stiff is primo ..thanks for y'alls work on bringing his music back to life .. and to peoples attention..a very worthy undertaking ..

p.s. : say hii to Lou Marini when you see him in NYC after he gets off the James Taylor tour ..

Phil( Graypencil ) Kelly ..

kelly

Frank Kimbrough · August-12th-2003, 11:04 AM

Thanks a lot, GP..........playing Herbie's music has been most gratifying. Hope to make a return trip to WA sometime. We had a great time at Earshot last fall. With any luck, next time we'll be able to meet in person.

Capt. W./TX. · August-19th-2003, 04:48 PM

Hi, Frank:

Glad to see you got your own thread.

Just acquired a copy of "Noumena"; heard it at Lyles West's house, had to add it to my 'must-have' list.
Am glad to hear about your new trio CD and will be watching for it. Loved "Chant"-one of my favorite trio CDs of the last 20 years.

(What did you think about the trio CD Jeff did with Chick Corea? I liked it better than any Corea-threesome I've heard since "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs"...)

Are you doing any more gigs with Judi Silvano?

Very best regards:

Dave Zoller

Frank Kimbrough · August-19th-2003, 07:13 PM

Hi Captain - good to hear from you. Thanks for your kind comments about "Noumena" - it was the first Jazz Composers Collective concert ever released (the new trio disk will be the second), and I'm really glad you're enjoying it. "Chant" is just a few copies away from out-of-print status, as IGMOD is sadly out of business. The OmniTone store has a few left, and that's it. Live versions of some tunes from "Chant" will be on the new disk - hope you'll enjoy it.

I have enjoyed Chick's trio with Avishai and Jeff very much - I like the record, but hearing them live is something else!

No gigs on the book with Judi at the present time, but you never know.....

Please tell Bro. Lyles I said hello. Will you be at IAJE in NYC in January? If so, I look forward to seeing you there. Best, FK

Captain Hate · August-25th-2003, 08:45 PM

Frank,

I'm pretty late to your work but I'm going hard to make up for lost time. Got any interesting anecdotes about the Peace Pipe sessions?? Like was muting the piano a spontaneous decision or is it something you'd been doing for quite a while and regularly incorporated? Is Michael Sarin the regular drummer? I've seen him in a number of different settings (Sephardic Tinge, Brad Shepik & Thomas Chapin) and he's been an absolute monster every time.

Frank Kimbrough · August-26th-2003, 01:29 PM

Hi Capt. - I've been playing around with prepared piano since my late teens - Cage's "A Book Of Music For Two Pianos" got me fired up to know more about it. How it's used in Ben's groups varies, but most of the preparations are mobile to facilitate live playing as opposed to overdubs. In Peace Pipe, it's mostly muted strings, or playing open strings with a metal object. In Medicine Wheel we did lots of things, even a little bowed piano - we used fishing line with rosin applied to it, and that had to be overdubbed. I'm out the door on my way to the airport for a Peace Pipe tour in Italy - let's discuss it further after I get back. Thanks for your interest - FK

Captain Hate · September-3rd-2003, 07:51 PM

Thanks for the info, Frank. Definitely tell us how the tour went!!

Frank Kimbrough · September-6th-2003, 11:34 AM

The tour was fine - short but sweet. We played in Italy - the first gig was near Bologna. A little outdooe theatre in the center of town, next to an ancient church. Great people there - the whole town turns out for this kind of event, and it's truly gratifying to see little kids, old folks and everyone in between - a real community that enjoys being together. The next morning we took the train a few hours south and played around L'Aquila for 3 days. A beautiful old town - the food was out of this world, and the hospitality of the folks there was unbelievable. We got to meet (and play opposite) some of the local musicians, and it was great to hang out with them. Also nice to be in the same town for 3 days, as opposed to the hit-and-run style of touring that's the norm. To answer your question above: Michael Sarin is the drummer for Peace Pipe - he's played on lots of other Jazz Composers Collective projects too. I agree with you that he's a monster musician - nice guy too (and a new dad - his son Julian was born between tours this summer). Talk to you again soon...............FK

mtaylorjazz · September-9th-2003, 05:31 PM

hey frank,

just wanted to say hello and welcome you to jazzcorner. i'm not active in too many online communities (at least not that i can mention in polite company

) but i'm having a ball here.

mt

Frank Kimbrough · September-11th-2003, 12:02 PM

Hi Mark - thanks, and congrats on your new recording! It's especially gratifying to see that you've moved away from the Shady Maples, if you know what I mean. Hope to see you again real soon.

mtaylorjazz · September-14th-2003, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Frank Kimbrough
Hi Mark - thanks, and congrats on your new recording! It's especially gratifying to see that you've moved away from the Shady Maples, if you know what I mean. Hope to see you again real soon.

i forgot you used to live there too!

getting this thing out and now trying to promote it is quite a job. i'm open to any suggestions you might have.

i know i say this every time i see (or talk to) you but, WE HAVE TO PLAY sometime, somewhere...

take it easy!

mt

Mike Schwartz · September-14th-2003, 06:18 PM

Hi Frank;
This is Mike Schwartz from KSJS, San Jose CA.Happily, we're back to steaming on the WWW again www.ksjs.org

It was terrific to have you on with us as a guest, with a resolute pledge to get all the NY Composers Collective guys on when they have projects out! Had Ted Nash on for his most recent CD that you are on.

E-mail me in regards to the new trio recording, please.
L.I.C...the new jazz capitol of the world;-))

I echo the thanks given by others by keeping the Herbie Nichols music alive . In my case, you guys pointed me right to Herbie himself, one of the great 'discoveries' for me in the past several years.

It's also very nice to have you jump in on the boards when a topic gets your interest.
Joe Locke used to be active on the old JCS board, which seems like 100 years ago now...

Fleurette Africaine · September-16th-2003, 10:27 AM

Hi Frank,

I was wondering if there is somewhere I can get accurate scores or lead sheets for any of Herbie Nichols' compositions. I don't have much faith in my own transcription ability.

Frank Kimbrough · September-16th-2003, 11:52 AM

Hi Fleurette - thanks for writing. There's indeed a book of Herbie's compositions (the unpublished ones) available. Check out www.changingtones.com/gerandsz/hnichols.html. for a complete list of tunes, etc. I know we're not supposed to post web sites here, but in the interest of furthering your knowledge about Herbie's music, I'm gonna break the rule and hope that Lois doesn't bust me. There's also another book by the same publisher that has a couple of his tunes from his Blue Note Recordings (House Party Starting, Terpsichore) - It's called Bop Piano, or something similar to that, and also has tunes by Sonny Clark, Andrew Hill and others. The transcriptions are accurate, with loving and insightful annotations by Roswell Rudd, who knew Herbie and his music better than perhaps anyone alive today - you can't go wrong with either of these books. I transcribed most of his tunes from the Blue Note and Bethlehem recordings, and it's quite an undertaking - for instance, some of his harmonies are quite vague, and the melodies sometimes change just a little each time they appear. Sometimes it's difficult to tell what's written and what's possibly improvised. A half-step here and there can make quite a difference! One thing for sure, if you transcribe several of them, you ears will sharpen up considerably, and you'll begin to realize the full extent of his genius! Best of luck, and enjoy! FK

MRS · September-16th-2003, 12:14 PM

Frank. . .the way in which you describe the ever-unfolding Nichols tune is spot-on! A couple years ago I was working with '2300 Skidoo' (for guitar) in a rather perfunctory manner, thinking the tune relatively straight-forward for Herert Horatio. As the months past, the wholetone implications seeped through and it simply feels like another composition entirely whence I play it today. A genius indeed. . .thanks for keping the flame alive!

Michael

Fleurette Africaine · September-16th-2003, 12:33 PM

Cool, that's exactly what I'm looking for. Unfortunately, the website says the Bop Piano book is out of print, but no matter, those Unpublished Works will keep me busy for a loooong time. Thanks!

Frank Kimbrough · September-16th-2003, 01:03 PM

Hi Michael - we had a ball last January with the Herbie Nichols Project at Jazz at the Bistro. Tell Gene and everyone else there that we say hello and tell 'em we want to come back soon. Were you at the gig? It was the middle of January and sooooooo cold!

Ellery Eskelin · September-16th-2003, 01:32 PM

Hi Frank,
Just wanted to give you a quick shout...HEY

Frank was one of the first people I met in NYC 20 years ago...at the Star Cafe if I remember correctly. THAT place...what a hang...

Anyway...glad to keep up with your work...

MRS · September-16th-2003, 01:48 PM

I very unfortunately was out of town on business though the show in question was the one bloody set on the Bistro's calendar I considered a must! I will definitely pass on the hello to Gene (as well as some influence to get you back here). Thanks for the opportunity to talk with you in this forum.

Michael

Frank Kimbrough · September-16th-2003, 03:51 PM

Ellery - great to hear from you - yes, we met at the Star. What a joint - I remember meeting lots of folks there. It was the toughest session I ever went to for sure! I remember getting there before they started at 10, then signing "the list" and waiting until 4 in the morning and never getting to play.... at first. A great place to learn the ropes.

Ellery Eskelin · September-16th-2003, 04:15 PM

Yes, it was a great place to learn the ropes. I vividly recall one night Billy Higgins came and sat in with Albert Daily on piano and Ed Howard on bass. Yow. On the other hand you had those occasional sessions with seven tenor players all lined up to take their choruses on (name any tune) one after the other. Yow.

And the place had plenty of character, eh? You could stand out on 23rd street and look in through the front door all the way to the back of the club where the bathroom was and see people huddled in this tiny space snorting cocaine over a toilette that hadn't been cleaned since the civil war. Yow.

But I did learn quite a lot of music there. Junior Cook!!

Ever run into Harold White? (Harold ran the sessions and used to play drums w/ Horace Silver years back).

Frank Kimbrough · September-16th-2003, 06:25 PM

Ellery - believe it or not, the last time I saw Harold he was pushing a baby carriage(with a baby in it) through Washiongton Square Park - that was a few years ago. Thinking back to that place, I think I could write a book - it'd be funny, too! Great music, though.........Junior was always wonderful. I also remember the tenor players........one night I remember after about 7 or 8 had come up and played their 30 choruses apiece, one really went overboard...first the pianist dropped out, and after a while the bassist and drummer just looked at each other at the top of a chorus, quit playing, and went straight to the bar and left my man up there all by himself - hilarious - that must have been an eye-opener!