arg.

Looking forward to seeing the Jeremy Pelt Quintet at Smoke on Friday. I haven't seen this band since last winter when they were randomly playing in New London at the Jazz Underground.

I would hate to use my blog as a means to vent but the last few weeks my playing has been insanely inconsistent. I trace it back to my last "good" day of playing. It was about a month ago and I had finally seemed to unlock my struggle with high range. I remember reaching for double A's by night's end. Since then, sometimes I can't even hit a high C or move through the horn.

I know that people always say bad chops means your improving, but shit... throw me a bone here.

Releases!!

I am proud to announce that I have a few releases available for purchase.

Nick Di Maria Quartet: "Live Series, Volume 1: Live at Tisane" $5

A performance recorded in 2009 at Hartford's Tisane Lounge right before the management changed and cancelled all jazz at the venue. The band plays in high gear on originals and works by Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson and Miles Davis. My Favorite track is the opener "Toys" by Herbie that has been a NDQ staple tune. The band really stretches out as a we play in the style of Hancock's Mwandishi band from the 70s.

Nick Di Maria Quartet "Various Sounds" $5

A collection of studio and live tracks from 2008 to the present which showcase my originals and my quartet's book.

The Zero Dollar Trio "Live at the Uncertainty Music Series 10/9/2010" $10

This release I am very proud of. Its a live recording from my avant garde trio live in New Haven. It was our second gig, backed by a very enthused audience and more rehearsal time than I expected. We play everything from Albert Ayler to originals by myself to complete free improvisation. A MUST for adventurous ears!!

Alex Sipiagin

I am seriously looking forward to seeing the Alex Sipiagin Group tomorrow night at Small's in NYC. Its my first time checking out Sipiagin after listening to him for the better part of 3 years.

I first heard Alex on a Mingus Big Band album and never really thought much at first. He sounded like my hero Eddie Henderson, a section mate in the band, just without using the same amount of space in his playing. However, my curiosity was strong enough to buy one of his quintet albums on Criss Cross; Prints. Great CD and great band. Chris Potter is on sax and Dave Kikoski hangs on piano and fender rhodes. Their rendition of Monk's Epistrophy is my favorite track.

I later heard Sipiagin when he recorded on Dave Holland's sextet and then later octet albums. I recommend both to fans of all ages.

Alex's newest CD a dedication to Woody Shaw and his compositions I strongly recommend. I am throughly enjoying this record alot. Alex takes 5 Shaw compositions, reworks them to sound fresh and exciting. My favorite is his, ostinato driven version of Blues for Wood. A huge difference from the shuffle swinger from the original 70s version. Adam Rogers's playing, especially his multi-tracked guitar, sound dark and lurking.

The group on Thursday will be:

Alex Sipiagin - Trumpet
Donny McCaslin - Tenor Sax
Adam Rogers - Guitar
Boris Kaslov - Bass
Antonio Sanchez - Drums

A review to come later on.

The Bootleg

This past weekend, my reggae band, The Dharma Bums debuted at a new club in the CT area called the Blue Moon. I have to admit when I took my first look at the audience, I was worried. It is usually a bad sign when I have more teeth in my mouth than most of the patrons put together.

We hit with Duke Ellington's classic "Black and Tan Fantasy." Conveniently these old jazz tunes always work within the reggae beat and this tune is definitely my favorite tune to play right now with the group.

I was surprised at how receptive the audience was to us. When you play one of these kinds of joints the crowd can pretty much be lost the second you pull your horn out of its case. (And especially when your tbone player is practice long tones aimed at a wall.) I have played some gigs where an audience member looks at my trumpet, the rhythm section, then asks us to play Guns n' Roses. At least this time, some asked for Tijuana Brass. That I don't mind hearing, at least that makes sense.

So anyway the gig went off without any real problems. We got plenty of applause and positive responses from the crowd but I was surprised at how mellow the whole night felt. Even our faster, more frantic tunes were dropped down signifigantly. I thought it was a lack of rehearsal which has been a Dharma Bums staple. Like I said we opened with Black and Tan instead of our usual opener which is faster and I am not thinking that, that may have led to the overall vibe of the night.

Either way, I decided to set up my portable recorder in an attempt to document the band live and maybe release CDs at shows of the band at a very low cost to us. Currently, I am listening to them now and quite taken at how the band has gelled together in the last 6 months. One thing I did not focus on when writing tunes is things for the other horns to do during solos...

Backgrounds!! I never wrote any! Give me a break! I usually play in a quartet setting!

So I have to admit when, I heard my fellow horns creating sweet backgrounds during my solo I was excited, I was down right jumping in my seat when I heard how great they sounded on the play back! Holy Shit!

The two best moments for me were the newer material that I slapped together not too long ago. I wrote haphazardly two new tunes (one doesn't even have a melody) back in July or so and they sound great. The level of musicianship is most evident during these tunes where you hear the band listening and creating. Its the jazz vibe at its best.

The Future!!

Last night I began to compose completely new compositions. I have to admit I am pretty jolly about the idea of writing new material.

After recording my first solo CD with all tunes I wrote over the last 2 years, I realized my writing style was distinctly in a personal style. How could I be happier right? Well realized that the music I wrote was primarily influenced by Mwandishi and Jeremy Pelt's album "Identity." Only one tune had a swing feel to it. Not that anything is wrong with even 8th's I just realized this time around I want to write more "jazz" oriented material and use the other musicians and compositions that have inspired me. However, I do plan on continuing to write material in that grey area between true jazz and the other thing.

Here's a list of albums that I am currently using as a basis of inspiration:

Herbie Hancock Maiden Voyage/Empyrean Isles

Miles Davis Nefertiti/ESP/Seven Steps to Heaven

Joe Henderson In n' Out

Lee Morgan Last Session

Andrew Hill Black Fire

Freddie Hubbard Hub-Tones

Jackie McLean One Step Beyond

Pretty much all Blue Note albums but how can you go wrong with that? Anyway if this all works out I hope by the spring I will have a good number of pieces written and ready and then we'll see some serious shit.

The Band Leader

Whenever I find myself in a position of leadership, it is always interesting to me what the outcome of the task I am asked to do will be. When I was in school growing up I always hated those morons I got put with who would just sit there and not do anything. Or if I went camping and some idiot who wasn't supposed to even be there tell me I don't know what I am doing, I always enjoyed observing or predicting the outcome.

I get that every gig I play. Why? Because I am the leader of the band.

Band leaders are legendary. From Art Blakey to Duke Ellington to Miles to Kevin Eubanks to well whoever, band leaders have always given musicians the knowledge they need to be good band leaders themselves. Everyone knows the stories of Blakey teaching his sideman until he thought they were ready to lead they're own bands, where he would then let them leave the nest and try it out on their own. (almost every single jazz messenger became a famous leader)

Now a days one is expected to lead a band. In the old days you can just be a sideman and play or other peoples' groups and what not. Then jazz became lame and it was expected of you to be able to lead a group yourself if you ever want to eat.

From the moment I began my professional jazz career I was a leader. Of course being a horn player I had to be. In an era where gigs are hard to come by rhythm section players would normally play with as little people as possible for maximum money. Can you blame them? (I have had my fair share of stories about gigs and maybe someday I will just start posting them as they seem to get more ridiculous as the years go on.)

Whose the first cat they don't need? Well someone who doesn't play the entire time: a horn player.

So why would the least necessary instrument be the leader? You got me, but I have noticed over the years my sideman work has been dwarfed by my time as a leader. So who teaches me?

Well the most apparent lesson I keep learning about being a band leader is this:

Always have a back-up plan.

Famous?? Mother fucker I gig with the best.

Greetings Folks,

As the school year is wrapping up I am excited to devote more time to this blog and what I wanted to say about music and life here at Some Other Stuff.

First and fore most I would like to recognize a fellow musician who I feel is doing all the right things with maintaining a working, positive and creative career as a jazz musician. His name is Jason Parker, trumpeter, composer, educator and band leader from Seattle. He has a great sound, excellent band and full schedule. He is always blogging on his own site and I strongly recommend you go check it out: www.oneworkingmusician.com.

My quartet just had an excellent weekend this past, working at the Old School Saloon in New Haven and Park Central in Hamden. These are both my favorite places to gig. The crowd is always welcoming and even a little rowdy when we play. Park Central in particular loves those funky hits from the 60's Blue Note catalog: Watermelon Man, Red Clay, Cantaloupe Island, Mamacita, etc. If I added Song for my Father and Funji Mama to the book I will be all set. We actually get people turned in their chairs and bobbing their heads to the music. Not to forget we get applause!! Not polite applause from my mom in the audience, but the audience actually listens enough to clap after solos!! Very rare in jazz outside a NYC club.

Finding gigs is hard, any musician can tell you that and its even harder for jazz musicians. I am seriously cherishing the opportunity to play at these two venues. There are other places in CT where jazz is showcased but most places are exclusive for ridiculous reasons. One venue in particular is in Bethel and only accepts "famous artists." Famous?? Give me a break. Who does this guy think he is? Does he think Herbie Fucking Hancock is going to book a Sunday afternoon? I want to call the owner and say that I play with all the cats. "Oh yeah man, I have a regular gig jamming with Dexter Gordon every afternoon when I put A Swingin' Affair on my CD player." Or "I said hi to Roy Haynes once." "You haven't heard of me? You must not be too into the scene man, I am a cat!"

Its club owners like that who alienate a local working musician who hurt the music just as much as the club owner who advertises jazz as a rich delicate music. Wine Tasting gigs are horse shit too, no one plays those gigs other than the chance to make some bank. The point here is that there should be more showcasing local cats. There is a lot of talent here in CT and if you want to work here you should be able to.

Stay tuned.