“Birdsongs On The Wasteland”
Posted on February 18th, 2013
categories: Equinox tags: general, Wouter
Wouter Buyst is a buddy of mine I met through friends in Gent. A year or two back there was a summer we were hanging out now and then, and he would play guitar and sing, I’d jam along on clarinet. We hung out, played in the street now and again, stuff like that.
A while later he called me up and asked me to do some stuff for a recording project he was working on. I liked his stuff, so I agreed, a few weeks later he turned up at my apartment with a rucksack full of recording gear. Three of four hours later we were done.
I didn’t think much more about it. Then, maybe a year later, I got to hear the results. The album is called “Birdsong On The Wasteland”, and it is just knocking me out. Mixed by Darren Allison (who worked with such as Tina Turner, Dave Stewart, Robert Plant … you get the idea), the whole sound of the album, the quality of songwriting, the lyricism … well.
We did a few gigs recently to launch the album, and the live band is sounding pretty damn good too. Wouter has something going on here.
A lot of the time these days, I don’t get involved in pop/rock stuff. I am pretty glad I did this one.
Link : Equinox The Peacekeeper
Thanks Wouter.
New Orleans, Masterclasses …
Posted on February 15th, 2013
categories: concerts, teaching tags: general, New Orleans, Samois-sur-Seine
Been quite some time since I have posted here. Quite a lot has happened. In October and November I was in New Orleans for six weeks, playing with some of the finest jazz musicians on the planet, and generally having a great time in one the most amazing places you could imagine. Jazz musicians graft so hard for gigs in most places – imagine being in a place where a good player can get gigs almost every day. People in NOLA really appreciate musicians. You can sit in Washington Park, by Frenchman St, and play – musicians and listeners will come by and pay compliments, and pretty soon you will make connections.
I went there knowing noone, by the time I came home I had played with Meschiya Lake, Russell Welch’s “Showarama”, country blues maestro Stalebread Scottie, Tim Laughlin (protege of Pete Fountain and one of the best clarinet players I have ever heard), the wonderful David Boedinghaus (a piano player who sounds amazingly like Teddy Wilson), Tuba Skinny, and others. The thing about New Orleans is that good musicians are appreciated and welcomed. They have world class musicians there simply don’t get talked about outside the city. It’s in the culture.
Well, the visit must have done me a lot of good, because on my return I started connecting with some great Belgian swing musicians. I started hanging out at Hot Club De Gand, where they have a great Sunday night jam. With a wonderful rhythm section of Dajo and Waso De Cauter making the foundation, the music there swings as hard as anywhere I have ever been. I’ve made some friends there as a result, and a few gigs have started coming my way.
Since December (back in Belgium) I have been giving a series of masterclasses in La Louviere, which started as a result of musical friends that I met at the Django Festival at Samois last year. It was great to be invited to do this. and it made me think a lot about the way that I have learned over the years. Although I have taken a few private lessons from time to time (and still do), I am mostly an auto-didact. So I really had to dig and think about what I would like to pass on to students.
I decided to base the classes on the simple idea of learning tunes. This is basically how I learned I guess. All the stuff about harmony and so on came out of my desire to play those tunes better, and say more with them. So I think that this is a very strong approach to learning jazz, and to get people out of the “music by numbers” thing that can happen when songs are treated as a sequence of chords that happen to have a melody attached. Hey people – the melody comes first. The chords hang off it. And the melody is very much your friend.
There is some more info about the classes here. I will write more about this in the coming weeks. I hope to be doing a lot more of this in 2013.
There are some new gigs coming up too, in Antwerp, Gent and the surrounds. Some with Ilja Scotch – our more bluesy band, and also a new project with members of Nomad Swing – two guitars, bass (Dajo!) and me on clarinets. Yes – I am trying to get that bass clarinet under control. More about that to come as well. Anyhow – see the calendar page.
“Clarinet Swing” now at Jazz Cares
Posted on September 19th, 2012
categories: Clarinet Swing tags: New Orleans, promotion
You can now buy Clarinet Swing from the Jazz Cares website, here.
Part of proceeds of the CD go to the Jazz Foundation Of America fund (which helps New Orleans musicians experiencing hardship, amongst others).
Practicing in the Antwerp docks
Posted on September 5th, 2012
categories: Stuff tags: general
Tenor sax can be kind of loud, and playing at full tilt in an apartment isn’t really on. So, every now and again if the weather is nice, I head up to the docks, I have a spot where I feel like I can play as loud and as long as I wish.
Watching the ships roll in In Antwerp
Well, I thought there were only warehouses there, but about a year back I discovered that there is a family apartment in one of those buildings. Luckily, they like what I do so I feel fine to keep going back.
Monday evening it was sunny and no wind, up I went and started to play. On the other side of the water was a Moroccan family hanging out, they were waving and smiling. After an hour or so, the guy came out from inside the family apartment – with a nice bottle of red, two glasses and a chair. Two hours later, not a lot of practice happened – but we had a nice evening.
Sometimes you just have to love the music life. Cheers Hendrik.
It Had To Be You (new video)
Posted on August 21st, 2012
categories: Songs, Videos tags: Bruno Gil, general
Bruno and I made a short video of the old swing standard a few weeks back, in my living room. You can see it at the top of the videos page.
Clarinet Swing hits RMR Jazz Chart – at No 1!
Posted on August 21st, 2012
categories: Clarinet Swing, reviews tags: Kari, promotion
Clarinet Swing continued to get strong attention on US radio this week, going straight into Roots Music Review Jazz Chart at No 1, and peaking at no 7 on the CMR Jazz Chart.
“Clarinet Swing” gets played on “Jazz After Hours”
Posted on July 29th, 2012
categories: Clarinet Swing, reviews tags: promotion
Just heard that Jim Wilkes at “Jazz After Hours”, a prestigious late night jazz show that goes out across the US and Canada, played “Jitterbug Waltz” the other evening!
(Click the image below to go to the Jazz After Hours site.)
(update: Jim played another track, “When I Grow Too Old To Dream” on August 12th).
“Clarinet Swing” takes No 1 slot at CMJ Top Jazz Adds Chart
Posted on July 27th, 2012
categories: Clarinet Swing tags: Kari, promotion
Thanks to the excellent efforts of Kari Gaffney, my wonderful US publicist, “Clarinet Swing” is the most added CD in US college, NPR and community radio this week!
What exactly does this mean? (more…)
A great gig and a new horn
Posted on July 24th, 2012
categories: bass clarinet, concerts, Ilja Scotch / DanMcB Quartet tags:
Friday 20th I was at the Lazy River Jazz Club in New Orleans with my buddy Ilias Scotch on piano and vocals, Kurt Lens on bass, and Koen Van Peteghem on drums. This is the group we call the “Ilias Scotch / Dan McB Quartet”. We play blues and jazz with a very no-nonsense attitude, and I love the band.
The day before I had spent the day driving to the north of the Netherlands, to buy a new horn. Why? Well, I had been thinking about a bass clarinet for a while, and I saw a vintage Selmer at a reasonable price. I know these instruments don’t sit around long when they come up, so I decided to go for it. So, I was home late Thursday evening with this new horn. (more…)
“Critical Jazz” says “Clarinet Swing” is “a stellar recording”
Posted on July 24th, 2012
categories: Clarinet Swing, reviews tags: Kari, promotion
Respected independent jazz critic Brent Black, the founder of Critical Jazz has picked up on “Clarinet Swing” and written a long, and very favourable review. Here is a sample of what he has to say:
“Now we have Clarinet Swing from McBrearty which is a delightful foray … (the) McBrearty original “March Of The Bluestones” sounds like a forgotten standard … A stellar recording in every way.”
It’s great to see that the critics are picking up on this album, and giving the album such warm praise. I’m already thinking about the next one!
Big thanks to my publicist Kari Gaffney for making this happen!
Read the full review here.