Disappointed by a favorite musician

I saw Charles Lloyd early last year in New York at the Blue Note. I found it disappointing in the small venue - it was more of the tuneless Lloyd as opposed to those moments where he plays jazz of extreme beauty. In fact, I left early for a good night's sleep.

I agree with you that Jazz in a large venue really does not work well - it is all about atmosphere and intimacy.

As far as Tord is concerned, I do not mind that he has done a repeat for his second album as the quality is so high but he will need to move on soon.

I have not listened much to the new EST CD as to me, although good, it is very similar to a string of CD's they have made and therefore not so exciting.

Keith Jarrett with the Standards Trio generally repeats but I love each one of his CD's.

adrian

It's a shame when the venue doesn't suit the music, and the musicians are as aware of this as the audience, so it's a sorry situation all round. Similar sometimes with albums when the artist is required to make an album due to pressures from the management. I'm not altogether sure that in the whole scheme of things it is necessarily a bad thing. Musicians are not anything other than normal people like you & I and sometimes we all are disappointed by our own performance in whatever we do, and we all need this as part of the development process. It is a necessary part of the whole thing. I went to a series of small gigs with some of the guys here on the forum, and some were good and some were awful, but after an awful one we would get a gem, and then it really fires you up. Consistency is dull (at least, that is what I tell my clients ).

Excellent topic!

What is more disapointing, a cherished artist letting you down in a (much anticipated) live performance, or on record, possibly signalling a descent into poor form?

I'm disappointed by Beck's latest offering, but was even more wounded when I got to see Jaco Pastorious live playing dreary heavy metal with Mike Stern.

Mark S

Mark S

Saw two clunkers recently....

The first was Herbie Hancock, Roy Hargrove, and Michael Brecker, in an absilutely fantastic venue. Unfortunately Herbie spent the whole night playing loops off his iBook (really!).

The second was Bob Dylan, actually in the same venue (Paramount Theater, Seattle). Utterly unintelligible, and with a talented band that was poorly mixed.

Oh well, both legends I suppose.

Bruce

New Order (my fave group throughout the 80s and early 90s) have consistently disappointed me since 2001.

I have seen Dylan about 10 times in concert, and around half of those gigs have been extremely disappointing (but two or three have been almost transcendent!). With Dylan, I think, mercurial unpredictability,and consequently disappointment is part of the package.

The first time I ever saw my boyhood hero, David Bowie, live (on the Serious Moonlight tour), was very disappointing. The second time I saw him, in 1987, at the Glass Spider farce, was even worse (I walked out after half an hour). Fortunately he redeemed himself in 1990 and 2002.

Kevin

I once saw John Martyn headlining the South Hill Park festival in Bracknell. He was absolutely shit-faced and could hardly stand up, let alone play - a great shame. Ian Dury was superb the year before (I think).

Al green:
He was too busy preaching than performing.
We left after the 4th tune.

Todd Rundren:
He only played mediocre newer material.

Walked out after the 5th tune.
Plus too many drunks and I was stepped on.

Boulez on Stranvistky's 'the Rite of Spring':
Fell asleep. ('twas a long day )
Could not find my remote.

quote:

I once saw John Martyn headlining the South Hill Park festival in Bracknell. He was absolutely shit-faced and could hardly stand up, let alone play - a great shame.

As a big John Martyn fan I have,unfortunately, seen more dissapointing JM gigs than I've had hot dinners.

Best regards,
Mole Man

The new Daft Punk album is lazy (record in six weeks!) and well below what they're capable of.

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[QUOTE]Originally posted by The mole man:
As a big John Martyn fan I have,unfortunately, seen more dissapointing JM gigs than I've had hot dinners.
Best regards,
Mole Man
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Hit and miss (and often pissed) for sure, but when he's on form (like last November at Shepherds Bush Empire) you'd be hard pressed to see a better gig.

Dear Disappointed:

I saw Wyton Marsalis and his latest quartet at Symphony Center in Chicago a couple of weeks ago, and was unimpressed, both by the performance and the sonics. I was similary disappointed with a recent performance by Lee Konitz and crew in the same venue. The large space seems to rob these intimate performacnes of their life, immediacy and vitality. Not to mention the outrageous ticket prices Symphony Center charges for the SBC Jazz series performances.

By contrast, Brad Meldhau and crew sounded far more convincing at the Old Town School of Music last Sunday, and the intimate acoustics at the Green Mill perfectly suited Pat Barber and her latest working ensemble a few weeks back.

Still, on musical grounds none of these admittedly fine performers could match the fire and brilliance of the great Hermeto Pascoal
and his cadre of Brazillian masters at the Old Town venue last winter. Arguably one of the three or four greatest concerts I have ever seen, jazz or classical.

It would appear that attempts to "legitimize" jazz by holding performances in larger classical venues seems to me an approach that, more often than not, fails to deliver both the sonic and musical goods. Caveat emptor, jazz fans.

Lester

Way back in '69 I saw Blind Faith play one of their first gigs in Hyde Park and they were absolute crap. I'd always loved Eric Clapton up to then, with Yardbirds, John Mayall and Cream, but unfortunately this band seemed to herald his descent into journeyman muso mediocrity from which he has never really recovered (IMO).

I saw Bob Dylan a year or so ago at Wembley Arena, which is a rubbish venue soundwise, but he was pretty good. His voice is not getting any better with age but he played a committed set and the crowd seemed to really enjoy it. Bit strange to see him playing electric piano rather than guitar, but life would be boring if everything went the way we expected it to.

Andy

I heard Ravi Shankar at Orchestra Hall, and that, too, was disappointing. Extremely.The concert started and ended on time, for crying out loud. Never again.

Perhaps the problem is that orchestral music requires the order imposed by the large stage, the large space, and the formality of a place like OH, but...

the order imposed by the large space and formal seating is detrimental to music played by individuals or small ensembles.

Or perhaps orchestral music depends on communication between the many members of the orchestra and the conductor while jazz, Indian classical music, folk, etc., - maybe smaller ensembles in general - depend on communication between the players and the audience.

Perhaps, with the possible exception of classical music recitals, OH is just a lousy venue for anything but orchestras.

Personally, for blues, Indian clasical music, folk, etc., I'd avoid a classical hall almost altogether - I want some strange smells, people walking in and out, maybe even some smoke with those types of music. And the music should definitely start and end late.

Regards.

Phil

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[QUOTE]Originally posted by AndyFelin:
I saw Bob Dylan a year or so ago at Wembley Arena, which is a rubbish venue soundwise, but he was pretty good. His voice is not getting any better with age but he played a committed set and the crowd seemed to really enjoy it. Bit strange to see him playing electric piano rather than guitar
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Yep, He's as good now as at any point in his career. Thankfully seems to have got over the early 90's tendency to shambolic performances.
Apparently sits at a piano these days rather than stand playing guitar due to arthritis.
Hope he does at least one more UK tour.

quote:

Originally posted by Lester:
By contrast, Brad Meldhau and crew sounded far more convincing at the Old Town School of Music last Sunday

I heard Mehldau's first set at the Old Town School this past Sunday (as well as his previous engagement there a couple of years ago), and that room is one of the best I've ever experienced for any kind of small ensemble or solo music. I was sitting in the top row of the balcony, exactly center stage, and both the sound and the sight lines were perfect. Loved the music, not to mention the "new" drummer, Jeff Ballard.

I also heard Mehldau's trio year or so ago at Orchestra Hall in a double bill with John Scofield. I'd agree that it's not the ideal sonic venue, surely would have been better at Old Town, but I dug the music no less.

Speaking of Mehldau, I've been following him for ten years now, and have observed that while he started out with an overt debt to Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, and Bill Evans (and certainly nothing wrong with that for a young pianist ... unlike so many others likewise influenced, Mehldau could easily keep pace with his mentors), he now has his own distinct voice, which has grown drier and more acerbic with each outing. He sounds like no one but himself these days.

I wouldn't say that he disappoints me, far from it, but I will say that there are elements of his more youthful playing that I miss ... there is just a hint of a self-conscious effort to eschew his influences and "sound only like himself," possibly to the detriment of a certain amount of pleasure derived from his earlier style. That is, I sometimes find his current music somewhat less pleasurable, although no less rewarding.

One thing that has crept up on me lately is the fear of being disappointed by a performance and weighing up whether it would be better to not go and remember people as they were. I recently saw Mike Peters play an acoustic solo set in a very small club and was worried it might be awful - but it was fabulous. I am going to see Bryn Haworth this weekend in an even smaller venue and I haven't seen him since the late 70's. I've always loved his music and slide guitar playing - so now I'm hoping he won't shatter my memories.

Rush, last year. The band seemed to be on sparkling form, but by the time the sound people and PA had finished with the bass it was just a grumble. No music went on as a result, I left just after half way. Bah!

Pete.