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Stating the Obvious
You Say (For Bobby Bradford)
Exile (For Astor Piazzolla)
The Black Horn (For John Carter)
Mothers and Daughters
Wheat and Weeds
Dan Clucas- cornet
Brian Walsh- clarinet, tenor saxophone
Noah Phillips- guitar
Michael Ibarra- contrabass
Rich West- drums
All compositions by Dan Clucas, © 2005 Highland Rock Music (ASCAP)
Recorded by Mark Wheaton 11/25/02
Mixed by Mark Wheaton and Rich West at Catasonic Studios, Echo Park, Los Angeles, CA
Mastered by Wayne Peet at Newzone Studio, Los Angeles, CA
Design and Layout by Jeremy Drake
"The imagination
--it represents a futile gesture in the U.S.A.--
And yet the heart lives on it."
Allen Ginsberg, from Journals Mid-Fifties, 1954-1958
"Exile is permanent. We are always aware of another locale, another point of view, another way of feeling the world, which could be ours but is not. We are also aware that our own tenuous realities are the exiles of others. We secretly suspect the greener grass to be not grass at all, but another substance entirely. Exiles long for a home from which they are displaced, or for the simple assurance of place itself. None of us is exempt; exile is not a feeling but a part of our true state.
This music came about at a time when my own sense of exile, encouraged by the events of the world, started to get the better of me. I wanted to say something that was HERE and NOW, so I wrote some music, got a band together, called it IMMEDIATELY, and we played some shows and made this recording. Whenever we played I knew that all the band members were fully present, and I felt at home. My sincere thanks to the musicians on this record, and special thanks to Rich West for the tons of support."
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Good Bait
Heavy Spirits
Saturn
17 West
Noonah
Space Jazz Reverie
Miss Toni
Miles Mode
Bill Barrett: harmonica
Brian Walsh: tenor saxophone
Carey Fosse: electric guitars, implements
Dan Clucas: cornet
Eugene Chadbourne: acoustic guitar, banjo
Rich West: drums
"Eugene Chadbourne is responsible for some of my favourite musical moments, as well as quite a few I'd rather forget. The Hills Have Jazz is a disc to add to the positive side of the ledger--in fact, it's the kind of album that could win over a lot of Chadbourne skeptics. No vocals. No mildly-amusing comedy routines. No electric rake, balloons or other paraphernalia. No lo-fi, no sloppy editing. A nice, in-tune, non-abused guitar (on loan from Eugene's buddy Wes Craven). A bundle of great tunes by Sun Ra, Dolphy, Coltrane, Dameron and Oliver Lake. A rotating cast of (little-known but excellent) LA players that includes drummer Richie West, Chadbourne's old partner from Camper Van Beethoven. The cover art . . . well, actually, the cover art is as cheesy as always. (Can't win 'em all.)
As for the music? There are, as you'd expect from Chadbourne, some cheerfully wayward swingers: the band handles a couple of Eric Dolphy tunes and Dameron/Basie's 'Good Bait' with a light touch and campfire-singalong looseness. Other tracks are surprisingly dark in mood. Sun Ra's 'Space Jazz Reverie' is nightmarishly intense, for instance, and Bill Barrett gives a mournful harmonica-blues vibe to Lake's 'Heavy Spirits.' Chadbourne turns Trane's 'Miles Mode' into a hypnotic, mournful groove piece on which his banjo might almost be a sitar. Best of all is the killer guitar/drums duet on 'Nonaah': Lonnie Johnson meets Roscoe Mitchell!
Aside from the music, there's another reason you should own this disc: Chadbourne's liner notes, one of the most remarkable prose narratives ever to grace a CD booklet. The tale begins at the grave of Bela Lugosi, takes a winding path that includes a day on the set of Wes Craven's new film and an awkward e-mail exchange with Larry Coryell, and winds up with a supernatural encounter in the hotel room where Chet Baker met his demise. (Chadbourne feels an odd kinship with the trumpeter: 'Chet Baker and I have something in common, I think: we both sing as well as play, and according to many critics we both sing badly.') It's a bravura and hilarious piece of writing, and also quite thoughtful too: Chadbourne speaks of how this session 'fulfilled a kind of ideal of playing jazz: taking the themes and making them sing in a way that is personal and special.' You can say that again."
--Nate Dorward, Cadence, November 2005
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