To "jazz up" something can mean to make it less boring, less pedantic, shinier. It also implies a form of cheapening; "jazzing up the classics," for example.
In this case, it means an attempt to make pop music more subtle, intellectual; more musical, less popular, so to speak.
Popular music has been "jazzed up" for a century, going back perhaps to "Old Man River." The process was temporarily interrupted when many jazzmen, busy mourning the death of the Broadway song form, considered rock to be the enemy a priori.
After the turn of the century, Brad Mehldau interpreted Radiohead, and The Bad Plus did Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." It has become something of a fad. The French Orchestre National de Jazz is currently recording "Close to Heaven," an album of Led Zeppelin songs.
Here are some more recordings of "jazzed up" rock songs.
"BEATLE JAZZ, With a Little Help From Our Friends" (Lightyear): Magnificently produced and arranged by the percussionist Brian Melvin and the pianist Dave Kikoski, this is one of the best jazz records of the year. Mike Brecker's tenor saxophone version of "Working Class Hero" combines John Lennon and John Coltrane. Although the rhythm section goes out of its way to sound Coltranian, it is above all Brecker's outsized emotional investment that counts. Brother Randy Becker's trumpet makes a good old-fashioned standard out of "Imagine," John Scofield takes "Piggies" into outer space, and Mike Stern's "A Hard Day's Night" is like Miles Davis might have done it.
TIM RIES, "THE ROLLING STONES PROJECT" (Concord): Be warned - some people might say that any album with Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood on it is no jazz record. Ries has been the Stones's saxophonist since 1999, and, in fact, the music is sometimes a bit too close to fusion and/or smooth jazz for comfort. Sonny Rollins took a majestic solo on the original recording of "Waiting on a Friend," and Ries's improvisation is less interesting than that.
Still, there is plenty of fresh stuff left. A down-home organ trio version of "Honky Tonk Woman" features Larry Goldings and Charlie Watts, the Stones drummer.
Jazz versions of rock songs are almost always instrumental, and so it is ironic that one of the most satisfying tracks is Norah Jones singing "Wild Horses," on which, accompanied by a harp, she brings out the moody beauty latent in the song. The duo of the guitarist Bill Frisell and Ries on soprano saxophone playing "Ruby Tuesday" is a small jewel.
"ELTON EXPOSED, Revealing the Jazz Soul of Elton John" (Summit): Ted Howe, piano; John Patitucci, bass, and Joe LaBarbera, drums, are described on the jacket as a "a power trio that takes the listener on a stand-up, sing-out, sit-down, swingin' ride," whatever that means. It may have something to do with all of those fancy chords. Either way, the loose, ternary interpretations of "Benny and the Jets," "Circle of Life" and "Your Song" are much more than merely listenable (Patitucci is a monster).
And all of them work better than well without the lyrics, but, still, you can't help wondering: Elton John has a jazz soul?
Herbie Hancock, "POSSIBILITIES" (Hancock Music): Meanwhile, Hancock decided to make a rock record. In addition to producing and arranging, he plays piano, and you don't have to be a Juilliard graduate to hear that the piano solos with, and the accompaniment behind, John Mayer, Santana, Paul Simon, Annie Lennox, Sting, Trey Anastasio of Phish, and Christina Aguilera (a soulful version of Leon Russell's "A Song for You") are noticeably better than on your ordinary run-of-the-mill rock album. This is award-winning music.
"Musicians tend to limit themselves," explains Hancock, who was a funk star in the 1970s ("Watermelon Man"). "Once they find a comfort zone, they confine themselves to it. A lot of it is the fault of 'the business.' The music industry thinks artists should stay in their little boxes. But you can't really put a limit on human creativity."
"I brought my 40 years of jazz experience to the table," Hancock said, "but I wanted to make something more ambitious than a little box."
All of which sounds great, and is, in addition, all true, though it may not be the entire story. "Possibilities" is distributed and marketed by Starbucks, which also retailed the Grammy-winning Ray Charles album "Genius Loves Company."
Starbucks has more than 9,000 stores worldwide and about 30 million customers, most of whom come in more than once a month. The company granted Hancock more equitable percentages than is usual in "the business," he owns his own masters, and the name of the label is, remember, Hancock Music.
Never mind. Nobody ever said good music can't make money. Or did they?
By Mike Zwerin Bloomberg News
Technorati tag: Jazz
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