Farewell Claude

Claude Sifferlen was a tremendously talented jazz pianist who passed away Thursday. I enjoyed watching him perform with Frank Glover–a talented jazz artist in his own right, but it was Claude I went to watch at the Chatterbox.

What impressed me most about Frank and Claude on a personal level was that they always seemed to have something to talk about together onstage, despite the fact that they performed as a duo for decades.

Claude will be sorely missed by many jazz fans in central Indiana. Rest in peace, maestro.

Mumuki

I was fortunate tonight to see the Butler Jazz Ensembles perform at Clowes Hall, under the direction of Matt Pivec, with Fred Sturm guest conducting.

Overall, the performance was quite good, with one notable exception: Mumuki, by Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla.

It was marvelous.

Brian Grimm on cello and Nana Omori on piano put on a wonderful performance. I definitely want to hear more of Piazzolla's works (apparently he created around 3000 songs, so that shouldn't be difficult) and I hope Brian and Nana aren't graduating this year; with luck, I'll get to see them again next season.

The omnipresent Norbert Krapf

Indiana's poet laureate is Norbert Krapf, and I can't escape him. He's everywhere!

I first encountered him this summer at a jazz and poetry performance at the newly-renovated Indianapolis Central Library (he's a fan of jazz...more on that later). Shortly thereafter, I visited one of my favorite used bookstores Bookmamas (regrettably, one of the very few independent bookstores left in Indianapolis), only to see him on a poster: he was going to be there the next day for a book signing event.

I started a jazz appreciation class three weeks ago (taught by Monika Herzig, a local jazz performer/instructor/arranger/etc/etc/etc, who I had also seen for the first time at the library performance), only to discover that Mr. Krapf was sitting in on the class, having been a student of Monika's during a previous semester.

The following week, I started a creative writing class (instructed by Andy Murphy, another local gem), who was promoting the Indy BookTalk Conference. Prominently featured on the handout was, of course, one Norbert Krapf.

I've resigned myself to the fact that I can't escape him, so I'm feeding him bad ideas for poetry in hopes he uses them to ill effect and is driven from town by a frenzied crowd with torches and pitchforks. So far, I've given him a line about poetry and jazz being like cockroaches and rats: difficult, if not impossible, to completely kill off.

I'm not holding my breath on this strategy working.

Jazz: Of saints and sinners

Oliver Nelson Jr. gave a presentation to my jazz appreciation class about his father's work, and it really drove home to me just how difficult it is to achieve immortality. Here's a guy who collaborated with many of music's brightest stars, was widely sought-out to arrange and compose, created songs that many of us would recognize immediately...and now, only thirty-three years after his untimely passing, how many music fans remember him?

(If you really want to see double takes at a party, put some Soul on Top on the stereo. James Brown doing swing? Ambitious, but it works. For some. Maybe.)

I now have a craving to seek out some vinyl. It's been a long time since I've looked at an LP cover, and I'd forgotten just how rich with information and artwork the covers and liner notes could be. Just beautiful.