When one wants to find out where the “mainstream” gets its lifeblood, simply look outside and underground–there you’ll find all the hidden gems and roads less taken. Karl Denson is an artist who has operated in both of these worlds since the 1980s. His saxophone is the first choice of Lenny Kravitz and the Rolling Stones, to name a few, and on the flip side he cuts with Andy Bey and the Greyboy All-Stars. Then there’s his own stunning discography… Funk, blues, rock steady, and loads of soul make up the music of Karl Denson, along with some gnomes and badgers, which he’ll explain in the segment.One thing we’re proud to brag about here at the Major Scale are some of the artists we’ve featured from the late night talk show scene: such as Grace Kelly and Jon Lampley from Stay Human of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Thanks to a suggestion by Hillary Donnell, we can now add Allison Miller to the list. She’s one of the rotating drummers from Late Night with Seth Meyers, and upon listening to her work you can tell why she get’s the gig. Or simply ask Ani DiFranco and Dr. Lonnie Smith, some of the other excellent talent she’s held her own with. Miller’s band is called Boom Tic Boom and they’re on a roll with their latest album “Glitter Wolf.”
Two artists, from different decades and veterans in their own right, presented to a new generation that’s taking on bold new territories.
As a prefix, “post” tends to signify both the offspring of something major and a place where you can lay multiple creative ideas on the table–like “post-punk” or “post-rock.” The last term is synonymous with both the trio Twin Talk and their hometown city of Chicago. Twin Talk’s music is jazz, but it’s produced like an indie-rock record, not too unlike the music of some of their illustrious fans such as Bon Iver or Jason Moran. With a brooding, elegant, cinematic, and dreamlike sound, Twin Talk takes on the intensity of Sonny Rollins with the soundscapes of Tortoise.
Perhaps Generation X’s first jazz star, Roy Hargrove came through at a time where the ‘new’ was pushed along by the rising tide of hip-hop. Hargrove gave both the genre and the trumpet a newfound energy, one that could stand up to the changes happening as the 20th century gave way to the 21st. With two Grammys and a career that’s spanned 30 years, his talent has held its own with such titans as Joe Henderson, Shirley Horn, Sonny Rollins, Wynton Marsalis, and Joshua Redman. He sadly left us too soon, but his influence lives on in his collaborations with contemporary artists such as D’Angelo, John Mayer, and Common. We pay our respects to the man with violinist Tanner Johnson, whose arrangement of Hargrove’s “Strasbourg-St. Denis” serves as a touching tribute, and Jon Lampley of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s Stay Human band, who finishes the segment with thoughtful insight and a sensitive note.