The Audiophiliac

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like most musicians I meet are more into making music than listening to it. They don't care about how music sounds at home; many are satisfied with the sound they get from boom boxes or chintzy computer speakers. Some tell me they're more focused on the way the players play than the sound.

Sure, I've met a few musicians with ears for sound. That happened just recently when I struck up a conversation with jazz drummer and audiophile Billy Drummond.

He readily conceded my point: "Getting a good hi-fi isn't high on their list of priorities. Like everybody else, musicians listen to music while they're on the computer or sending e-mails. That's what music is now, a backdrop, so fidelity isn't important anymore."

Sad, but true, so what is music for? Drummond had a ready answer. "It's for people to enjoy," he said. "It can take you somewhere, you can dance to it, music conjures emotions. For musicians it's an expression, a way to challenge ourselves, and it can be inspiring. If you're a saxophone player and you're listening to Sonny Rollins or John Coltrane, music can motivate you. It lets you see what's possible.

"I really enjoy playing (live) for myself and for an audience, I want people to feel something when I play. When I listen to Tony Williams or Elvin Jones (two great jazz drummers) and what they've accomplished it's mind boggling, that's what music means to me."

That's all great, but how did he become an audiophile? Drummond explained that he was always an avid music collector, and when he first heard his favorite music played on a really great system he was blown away: "Wow, I never heard my music sound so real, so vibrant, so great."

It turned you on, I asked. "Right, I was even more motivated because I could hear the nuances of Max Roach's drum set or Tony Williams ride cymbal. It helped me become a better player because I can get in touch with the thing I'm chasing after. Which is, how can I sound as good as these guys."

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It's in the East Village around the corner from where the 1960s rock Mecca, the Fillmore East once stood. Rockit Scientist Records is a blast from the past, a 'Village record shop that's a treasure trove for collector oriented psychedelia, '60s, '70s, and '80s garage rock, underground, progressive, punk, blues, soul, reggae, and jazz.

Rockit carries mostly CDs, but there's a lot of new and used vinyl, with a smattering of music DVDs. Owner John Kioussis is there six days a week and always multitasking. "It's not rocket science," heh, heh--drop in, and you'll likely find him sorting records, chatting on the phone and serving in-store customers--all at the same time.

Asked if downloads are killing his business, John got a little worked up, "Anybody who legally downloads music is an idiot! You can get it for free, why pay for it? Download it illegally, who's going to catch you? Legal or illegal, they sound the same."

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Maria Schneider is a jazz composer, but on "Sky Blue" (artistShare) her music doesn't immediately sound like jazz--it's more meditative and expansive than what you might expect--it glides more than grooves. On paper her group, which has been together since 1988, looks like a big band, but it definitely sounds like an orchestra.

I recently spoke with Schneider about her music and she said "I want to create beauty and hopefully each time you listen to the CD, you'll hear something new." Well, with arrangements as densely layered as Schneider's that's bound to happen, and the free flowing improvisations by the soloists and rhythm players provide another dimension to the sound. "Aires de Lando" kicks off with an intriguing Peruvian rhythm that sneaks up you and then, wham, you realize Scott Robinson's clarinet is taking on an Eastern European, almost klezmer-ish vibe. "Cerulean Skies" starts with the orchestra making bird sounds with their mouths, and "Rich's Place" feels like the coda to a dark murder mystery set in 1950s San Francisco. There are times the CD evokes the classic feel of a Gil Evans/Miles Davis collaboration like "Sketches of Spain." The CD's five tracks are all long, the shortest is 8:06, so there's plenty of time for Schneider's ideas to develop. She provides insightful liner notes for listeners who want to delve deeper into the meanings of the songs.

The sound quality is wonderfully rich and organic, which perfectly frames the music; "Sky Blue" is available on her website. While you're there check out Schneider's "Concert in the Garden" CD that won a Grammy in 2004. Oh, and the orchestra is a bona fide working unit that regularly performs concerts. The tour schedule's on the website.

I read the sad news yesterday of the death of jazz drummer Max Roach, he was 83. He played on the first bebop records with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker in the 1940s and later worked with Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and many, many others. He remained active until fairly recently.

I literally bumped into Max Roach at the Tower Records store near Lincoln Center in the early 1980s. We were both deep in browsing mode when we collided; I looked up and immediately recognized him. We each excused ourselves while I tried to remain calm as we discussed whatever LPs we were holding in our hands. But hot damn, I'm two feet away from the legendary drummer. He told me a little about his all percussion group, M'Boom and their new LP, "Collage," and promised to send a copy to my home, which he did.

He was so easy to talk to I invited him to check out the high-end audio store where I was working as a salesman. Mr. Roach said he would drop in sometime, and sure nuff, a few weeks later he strolled in with a few LPs under his arm. I was shaking a little as I lowered the stylus into the groove on the Miles Davis LP he had handed me. I quickly excused myself and let him listen alone. When I returned he had a disappointed look on his face, but he listened for maybe another 20 minutes, and thanked me for playing the system. When I asked what he thought of the sound, he said it was nothing like the real thing, which was what he was hoping for. The sleek, flat panel speakers were made by a company that went out of business many years ago, but at the time Apogee's all-aluminum "ribbon" speakers were all the rage. He loved the looks of the speakers, that's for sure. Over the years since I've heard many speakers that Max Roach would have liked better, but that was my one shot, and the speakers didn't pass the audition.

If you want to get a taste of his music, start with "Money Jungle," a trio record he did with Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus in 1962.

It seems like Charlie Hunter has always played a Novax eight string guitar, but for the new CD he slimmed the neck down and nixed a string.

Even so, those remaining seven strings never sounded better than they do on Mistico (Fantasy Records). Hunter's a major genre jumper, he teamed up with DJ Logic in 2005 to make his Longitude CD, his all-instrumental Bob Marley homage Natty Dread was a career highpoint; his funk outfit TJ Kirk exclusively played reworkings of James Brown, Thelonious Monk, and Roland Kirk tunes; and early on he covered Kurt Cobain's "Come As You Are' on his first Blue Note CD, Bing Bing Bing! He's recorded something like 19 jazz CDs, but I have to admit there's more than a few clunkers in my collection. Even the better ones are a little uneven, but Mistico may be the best of all. And it's easily the most consistent, loaded with great Hunter penned tunes from start to finish.

Mistico was recorded live-to-tape, and most tunes were improvised on the spot and knocked out in one or two takes. The record, by the way, features the Charlie Hunter Trio, with Erik Deutsch on piano, Fender Rhodes and CasioTone keyboards, and Simon Lott on drums.Oh, I almost forget to mention Hunter plays guitar and bass, simultaneously on that seven-string guitar.

"Balls" jumps out of the gate with a burning jam session, and as it goes on it starts to feel like the old Blind Faith tune "Can't Find My Way Home." Hunter's cart wheeling riffage on "Wizard Sleeve" sounds great bouncing off Deutsch's Fellini-esque and totally warped keyboard machinations. The two musicians send chills up my spine when they play wildly off kilter runs and yet never-ever lose their way. Lott's bashing drums urge them on, so the trio meshes as a super-tight unit. The title track starts out atmospheric trippy, and Hunter's loping bassline adds to the tune's mysterious vibe. Our hero lays on the freaky wah-wah effects for the upbeat "Special Shirt," and hey, I guess this CD isn't really any sort of jazz record at all. I could go on, but maybe I should just say Mistico will appeal to any of you who played Jeff Beck's Wired album to death. Beck's great, but Hunter's got more tricks up his sleeve, that's for sure.