Creative Jazz for those who like their music real. Guitar, Tenor Sax, Bass, Drums - a mellow set from a mellow quartet.

8 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Traditional Jazz Combo, JAZZ: Smooth Jazz



Details:
Jazz â I

What is jazz?
What is good fiction?
What is great art?
What is anything?
Who have you played with?
Who do you play like?
Do we know their names?
Do we drop their names?
Coltrane had a name. So did Bird.
Miles had a name. So did Duke.
Who did they play with?
Who did they play like?
Yes, they walked the earth,
Heroes to some, saints to some,
Masters to some, junkies to others.
They heard the sounds before they played them
And when they played them, their fragile notes
Became us.
Something stirred, something started,
Something late at night
When hipness awakened
And set us apart.
We knew their names.
We knew their sidemen.
We know them now
Who they played like
And who they played with.
They played like themselves
They played with us.

Jazz â II

Jazz comes in all flavors
Some you recognize
The mellow cry of pain,
Relaxing with the blues
It donât make sense
The chaos of the city and of your feelings
The groove of driving straight ahead into the night
A lonely bar at 2 A.M.
A crowded floor of dancers
A soulful song sung just for you
Just for lovers, just for losers, just for loners, just for boozers
Words sometimes, they sound like a horn
And prayers sometimes, a horn says words for them
That donât make sense and donât need to
Bebop, hard bop, inside, outside
Free thing, No thing
Smooth jazz, rough jazz
Black jazz, white jazz
Jazz is dead. Always was. Always will be.
Thatâs what I love about it
Jazz comes in all flavors
Some you recognize


Jazz â III

Heâs in his zone
So donât disturb him
Heâs all alone
You canât perturb him
His solo flies
The blues surrounding
His alto cries
The drummer pounding
A beat so fierce
A groove so thrilling
His sounds will pierce
Someone whoâs willing

The set is done
The club is quiet
He packs his horn
Chicks at the bar
Tonight the village
The road tomorrow

One night here, one night there
A troubadour with no change in his pocket
So let good times roll on
Inside the loneliness, the constant gnawing
Discontent and sadness
Disconnect and madness
A hipster clown, not a square bone in his body
His song a cry of laughter and pain
The ecstasy dissipates
And all that is left over
Is the jazz life. Cool.

Heâs in his zone
So donât disturb him
-Mel Nusbaum, 2005
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The Musical Biography of Guitarist and Composer Mel Nusbaum

Exciting and creative, originally from Chicago (played blues with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Mike Bloomfield, jazz with John Klemmer and Hart McNee); Madison (founded the Original Imitations and Sebastian Moon; played with Michael Moss, Ben Sidran, Roscoe Mitchell); currently lives in the New York area; has played jazz, funk, latin and fusion with the groups of Cecil Payne, Harold Ousley, Chico Hamilton, Howard McGhee, (including McGhee's big band with George Coleman), Cliff Dukes, The Brecker Brothers, Booker Ervin, Tom Malone, (producer of Mel's first album, "Further Adventures of Sebastian Moon" with pianist Jose Hunt, drummer Rudy Lawless, and saxman Joe Ferguson). He has played guitar and enhanced the groups of Ted Curson, Lonnie Smith, Milt Larkin, Bill Hardman, Patato Valdez and many others.

Mel is a very rhythmic player, at home in a hard driving rhythm section. He has sat in with some of the great drummers, including Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, Philly Joe Jones, Al Drears, George Brown and Charli Persip; pianists such as Harold Mayburn, Billy Taylor, Toshiko Akioshi, Joanne Brackeen, Richard Wyands, and Sir Roland Hanna. His bass mates have included Reggie Workman, the great Jimmy Garrett (musical director of the Supremes), Wilbur Bascomb (Aretha's bassman), Vishnu Wood, Paul Ramsey, Marcus MacLaurine, and Stanley Banks. For several years, Mel studied piano and music theory with Sir Roland Hanna.

Not content to stay in one place musically or mentally, Mel counts versatility as one of his traits. He has backed up the "Clown Prince of Bebop", Babs Gonzales; played 50's doowop with the Crests; jammed with Rahsaan Roland Kirk; played at the Newport Jazz Festival with John Garvey's U of I big band. In the 70's, Mel could be found playing with funky jazz groups in the clubs of Harlem, and latin groups in the Bronx after hours scene. In the 80's, Mel formed the Sounds of Space, a jazz/pop fusion group, and played the downtown loft scene. His group included veteran sidemen John Purcell, Wilbur Bascomb, Stanley Banks, Steve Butler and Jimmy Madison. When the loft scene dried up, Mel went on to form a computer consulting firm to support his growing family. In the 90's, Mel has returned to Madison several times and renewed his musical roots there, reuniting with Sebastian Moon, veteran bassman Dennis Oliver, and dynamic drummer Myron Cohen, producing a CD recording of their live concert, "Phasing In..." which featured Mel's original compositions. Riding on the wave of that release, Mel produced "Another Side of the Moon," showcasing more original compositions, this time in a live set with stunning horn arrangements by David Cooper.

In the 2000âs, Mel has been doing even more with music.
Mel says, "Lately, people have reacted positively to my new tunes. I'm encouraged and am looking for new ways to express these creative feelings." Mel's new CD, âOur Loveâ is a mellow set of all original tunes with a quartet consisting of Scott Avidon on tenor sax, Mike Richmond on bass, and Armen Halburian on drums. Mel is looking to work with the quartet in clubs and concerts.