So I’m poking around looking for any interesting links for former Jah Kings keyboardist and Kalamazoo music talent, Willie Phipps. Fairly quickly, I stumbled onto this YouTube video from the Gull Lake Girls performing “Let’s Have Some Fun”. Willie’s playing the keyboards for the arrangement.

What really cracks me up, though, is that my mother, Nancy Husk, is the Gull Lake K-6 music teacher, so I’m sure the Gull Lake Girls are former students of hers. Nice work, people. Keep up the good work!

Addendum:
Here’s a little more funky project that highlights Willie Phipps’ talent.

The Jimmys have been invited to play a 45 minute set in downtown Austin, Texas on Friday, March 20th at the Blind Pig Pub as part of the Red Gorilla Festival.

It’s not a money-making gig, but it should be a lot of fun for a band featuring the talented Jimmy Voegeli (B3 Hammond, piano), The Crashers and the Clyde Stubblefield Horns (me - tenor/bari sax, Pete Ross - alto sax, Chad Whittinghill trumpet/flugel horn).

Now all we need to do is figure out how to get there. It’s only 1,181 miles away. While my new Outback would love to eat up the miles, it’s just too far to be practical (~19 hours). Currently, flights are running at ~$500, although there were some available for ~$300 a week ago. Let me know if anyone finds a good deal from Madison to Austin from Thursday to Sunday…

So this spring/summer’s ‘jazz elective’ is Thelonious Monk. First off, the Clyde Band’s new alto saxophonist, Pete Ross, and I have rekindled the torch that Roscoe Mitchell and I had kept lit for a number of years. We’re beginning to meet regularly to study and practice jazz pieces, primarily focusing on Jamie Aebersold books that we would like to learn or learn anew. We decided the Thelonious Monk book, Volume 56, would be our starting point.

Thelonious Monk’s sound and style was eccentric and unique, but deeply rooted in harmonic theory and rich jazz tradition. Monk’s compositions had a powerful formative influence on John Coltrane’s playing style. After years of serving as the primary saxophonist for Miles Davis, Coltrane grew hungry for a new challenge, a new inspiration for his own insatiable pursuit for musical knowledge. He found that creative energy in Monk. Coltrane discovered new chord and harmonic relationships, patterns of sounds and relative structure that really had never been applied to jazz composition until Thelonious Monk. Some say Coltrane’s years with Monk after Miles had the biggest impact on Coltrane’s growth as a musician, helping Coltrane break free of conventional standards that were obstructing his driving creativity.

That said, it couldn’t hurt to try and understand Thelonious Monk’s music a little better myself.

Here’s a fun tune called “I Mean You” that Pete and I are working on, performed by Monk in Paris in 1969.

There is one more important thread to mention regarding Monk. Ellis Marsalis just released a new album titled “An Open Letter to Thelonious,” which has been heralded as a ‘must have’ by my music aficionado friends, most notably, Kevin McFadden of Portland-via-Detroit. It’s on my list to purchase this week, and should be on yours.

I always enjoy discovering upcoming gigs by reading about them in the paper before actually getting notice from the band. We have pretty good communication amongst the band members, but there are over ten of us. Sometimes we miss a gig announcement (or two).

Summer is looking like a Funky Good Time, indeed.

Here’s what I know:

The Clyde Stubblefield Band will be playing the Middleton Big Event, Saturday, June 14th from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. with headliners Koko Taylor and everyone’s favorite Milwaukee band, The BoDeans.

Also, I just read in this week’s Isthmus (featuring on the cover friend-of-the-band, Fraizer, who is now a famous Gomerokie singer) that The Clyde Stubblefield Band will be playing this year’s Madison Roots Festival on Satuday, August 2nd at Willow Island at the Alliant Energy Center with headliners G Love and Special Sauce and The John Butler Trio.

Nice work, Clyde. I knew you had some gigs brewing, but I didn’t know they’d be “big stage” shows.

Add to that list the Saturday, June 14th afternoon gig the Clyde Stubblefield Horns are playing with Jimmy Voegeli and supporting band, The Crashers, at the New Glarus Brewing Company brewery expansion party. And add one more gig with the same lineup with the Clyde Horns at the Belleville American Music Festival (BAMFest), Friday, July 11 from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

So put those dates on the calendar and we’ve got some summer fun (and work) ahead of us!!

When: 2:00 p.m., Sunday, March 16, 2008
Where: The Grand Hall at Meriter Main Gate, 333 W. Main Street
Sponsored By: The Madison Music Collective

Madison-area musician Dave Stoler (Tony Castenada Latin Jazz Sextet, Madison Jazz Orchestra, and many other projects and ensembles) will present a lecture discussing the life and musical styles of jazz saxophonist and composer, Wayne Shorter.

Using audio clips, live performance excerpts by Dave Stoler, and drawing on the recent biography of Mr. Shorter titled “Footprints”, by Michelle Mercer, a discussion of Mr. Shorter’s musical evolution will explain how Mr. Shorter contributed to and changed the history of jazz. A 35 minute video will also be shown, documenting performances of Mr. Shorter’s current quartet and rare personal insights by Mr. Shorter himself.

333 West Main Street, Madison, Wisconsin

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