AJ Kluth: News

it's finally happened - i've put together another project: ALDRIC.
we're excited to have our first show at one of my favorite spots, The Whistler at 11pm June 17th. the band is: James Davis/trumpet, Toby Summerfield/guitar, Dan Thatcher/bass, Cory Healey,drums, and myself/saxophone/toys. i'm excited for this project as it doesn't sound like anything i've played with before. you'll just have to come out the 17th and hear it yourself.

the good people at All About Jazz were kind enough to give the new album a listen and their writer C. Michael Bailey offers this review:
Chicago-native AJ Kluth was educated at that city's DePaul University before freelancing around the Midwest and transcribing and self-publishing a book of Chris Potter solos. On Twice Now he leads a guitar anchored quintet through nine lengthy and provocative pieces, seven of which were composed by Kluth or guitarist Nick Ascher.
The simpatico between Kluth and Ascher extends from the pair's compositions to their respective performances. Although under Kluth's name, Twice Now is effectively a collaborative effort by the saxophonist and guitarist.
The relationship between the two, as well as with pianist Sean McCluskey, is defined on the Ascher composition "Red" that opens the disc. Over McCluskey's spare piano chording, Kluth and Ascher double on a devilishly complex melody line. While Kluth is more Michael Brecker than Wayne Shorter (or Sonny Rollins), Ascher is more John Abercrombie than John Scofield. These comparisons are loose at best as both artists have very characteristic sounds. Kluth sports a full-throated muscular tenor and sinewy soprano, while Ascher is distorted at the edges, giving his guitar a slight rock tone.
Kluth and Ascher achieve a delicate dance of counterpoint throughout the disc, easily heard on "A Time, Times, And Half Time" and "Wi Fi," the latter containing a lyrical solo by McCluskey on acoustic piano. "Quiet, Then Go" is a breezy Kluth ballad accentuating the stronger points of Kluth and Ascher's slower soloing. Chick Corea's "Litha" fits perfectly with the originals as a smart and edgy piece not fully smooth at the edges, providing just enough bite for pleasure.
Ascher's airy ballad "Sleeping" dovetails well into one of the more inspired covers in recent memory, Thom York's "Atoms For Peace."
Read the whole review, "The State of the Tenor: AJ Kluth and Ricky Sweum" at http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=33949 also, Richmond Jazz chimed in with:
A polished saxophone tone over gritty distorted guitar and heavily metered grooves is the formula, if there is one, for Chris Potter's Underground. Saxophonist AJ Kluth's newest release shows, at times, many similarities to his elder in jazz. At Kluth's age, it's difficult to escape the influence of Potter, one of today's main tenor saxophone heroes. But at 29 years old, he has assembled a formidable ensemble capable of both being inspired by and setting itself apart from such trend-setting groups. Kluth only contributes three original compositions to the record, but they stand out as the most cohesive, best executed, and most attractive tunes of the lot, even over their arrangements of Chick Corea's uptempo "Litha" and Thom Yorke's "Atoms For Peace." Unison melody with guitar and saxophone is a trend in almost every piece. The melody of Ascher's composition "Sleeping" contains this technique, and although its melodic arch is beautiful and the repetition is entrancing, by track 8 the technique is dangerously close to becoming old hat.
check that out at http://www.rvajazz.com/2009/08/new-releases-from-oa2-records.html dig the new changes in weather from Really hot to Kinda hot. more music happening. l'Orchestre Super Vitesse will have a month long residency at The Whistler in October to be followed by a recording at Coach House Studios. i'm excited to have the band recorded directly to tape - such a different concept than digital tracking, it'll be great. cheers!

just played a show with OSV at the Welles Park gazebo. beautiful. certainly one of the best ways i've spent an early evening in some time. the sunset against dark and full trees was reminiscent of a magritte painting, and what a lovely breeze! well then, enjoy whats left of the summer and do write or call. cheers!

ajkQ's "a time, times, and half a time" from the new album "Twice Now" is a featured FREE DOWNLOAD from All About Jazz. download the full track at http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/jazzdownload.php?id=4536. download it-listen to it-passe it along. huzzah!

hey ya'll! the new ajkQ album "Twice Now" has been getting radio spins on jazz radio all across this great nation. it's weird having tracks from our record played immediately after pat metheny or miles davis - how cool is that? the cd release at The Whistler (thewhistlerchicago.com) was AWESOME. thanks to all of you that came out, listened, and took a disc home with you - we had a great time. with any luck we'll book another show or two at the whistler in the future so, if you didn't make this one, you can hit one of those. l'orchestre super vitesse is still bouncing this summer, so come out to a show and get your dance on. also, last night was a performance of jeff greene's large ensemble at Heaven Gallery. four double basses, two cellos, viola, violin, vibes, two electric guitars, and two drum sets. jeff's written some truly wonderful music for this ensemble - don't miss another show (check out http://jeffgreenemusic.com/ for more info). he's written big chewy-melodic-noisy-longform-swelling music for this ensemble. its a great reprieve from the usual instrumentation abound and a wonderfully imaginative use of them at that.

this spring finds me exploring some new musical avenues as i've joined a wonderful new musical project. l'orchestre super vitesse is an ensemble playing songs from the famous national, regional, and private orchestras of post-independence Guinea, Mali, and Senegal, L’Orchestre Super Vitesse has, "arrived to share the wonders and beauty of classical West African music with you! Post-independence francophone West Africa was an historic moment ripe for musical creation." this is great music; heavily rhythmic and danceable, while being sophisticated and fun. check out http://www.myspace.com/supervitesse for more info and gigs. also, it looks like i won't be attending grad school this year. such a pity. yet, i have lots of work to do and another year to prepare and apply again - as i shall. if you speak german and want to teach me, please let me know. i'll be a great pupil. also, the artwork for the ajkQ album "Twice Now" is being finished up and signed off on very soon. look for a few ajkQ shows to celebrate.
Enjoy the spring, y'all!

good december 17th to you all. i am happy to report that i've applied for a few graduate programs to further pursue my interest in music, ethnomusicology, and cognition. i feel as though i am a rather good candidate, but time will tell how the cards will fall. in addition to reading and reading and reading, i find myself riding my bicycle every single day for miles at a time. some may think this a fool-hardy venture in chicago's wintry conditions, but it's quite nice. as long as the rider has ample lights, patience, and cat-like speed and reflexes, it is a lovely way to get around our fair city. if anyone needs a winter tune-up, let me know. i have many tools and know how to use most of them.
as for recent listening:
Brian Blade Fellowship (1st album)
Midlake
Paul Simon (Hearts and Bones)
Steely Dan (Aja)
Faure (Requiem)

Recent Reading:
Diderot - Rameau's Nephew
A Critical Theory Reader
Borgo - Sync or Swarm: Improvising Music in a Complex Age

Do call or write, lets hang, the season is upon us.
AJ

so for months now, i've been writing papers and preparing to apply for admission to a few PhD programs. december 15 is the due date for everything and i'm nearly finished with everything. can't wait to be able to come home from work and relax rather than write/read/study. i'll still write/read/study, but it won't be under the gun. for now.... if we haven't talked in a while, give me a call. i'll actually have availability to hang and get out for live music again.
oh, and egg nog season is here again!

observant readers will notice that there hasn't been much activity here at ajkluth.com for the last six months. reason being; life has been in a state of complete flux and anyone that knows me also knows that i'm not one for small talk or even to be brief. so, rather than bore everyone with my recent ups and downs, i just avoided writing at all. this last year has seen me move my area of focus away from performing and teaching as a primary means of income to trying to find a day gig, spend time with my family, and focus on further academic endeavors. the latter has recently taken up most of my time with the number of books on my coffee table growing everyday. lots of reading and even some thinking. so, things have been good - the ajkq cd is done and we're figuring out what to do with it - that will be decided shortly and the disc should be available before too long. it sounds too good to sit on the shelf. stay in touch and drink some cider. -aj

That is all...

My Chris Potter Transcription Book is now available at Jamey Aebersold's www.jazzbooks.com as well as right here from me under the Potter Book, Etc tab, as well as at PM Woodwind in Evanston, IL and IMC in Green Bay WI (my old stomping grounds). Hopefully the book will find its way into the hands of more and more players. Hope everyone had a great time on New Years Eve, I certainly did.

Thank you all for the great response to my new Chris Potter Transcription book. I've already sold books to people in the US, Canada, Switzerland, and Australia and I'm getting great feedback about the content. If you haven't checked it out yet, check out the book in the "Potter Book, Etc." tab on the navigation bar. In other news: beginning immediately, I am now an instructor for Greg Fishman Jazz Studios. I'll be teaching for Greg Fishman at his studio in PM Woodwind at 824 Custer Ave in Evanston IL and using Greg's independantly published educational materials (which are awesome). If you're interested in, as Greg says, improving your improv on saxophone, clarinet, or flute, give me a call and lets set something up. The studio itself is wonderful, and the student gets to take home a CD with a recording of the lesson after each session. Oh, and Greg has recently relocated to Phoenix, AZ and is accepting students there. To set up a lesson with Greg in Phoenix, AZ, contact him via email at: greg1111@aol.com or call 602-795-4545 or 847-334-3634 today to schedule. So, in review: book sales are great, thank you thank you, teaching at PM Woodwind for Greg Fishman Jazz Studios, go drink some egg nog. Happy Holidays!

I'm terribly pleased to let the world know that my long awaited transcription book, CHRIS POTTER ON STANDARDS: TEN NOTE-FOR-NOTE TRANSCRIPTIONS OF IMPROVISATIONS OVER STANDARD AND STANDARD STYLE TUNES, is now available. Click on the "BUY" tab to check it out. I'm very happy with how the book has turned out: the binding, cover design, content, everything. If anyone out there is wondering if it is hard work self publishing, the answer is "YES"! Regardless, I am very excited to be offering what I think is a valuable educational tool to improvising musicians. I hope everyone is well out there - have a great holiday season, drink lots of egg nog, and keep in touch.

Only a few more things to hammer out with my book, "Chris Potter on Standards: Ten Note For Note Transcriptions of Standards and Standard Style Tunes". Who knew it was soooo much work to self publish a book. I thought the actual trascribing was hard enough! Anyway, if you're interested in the book, keep coming back, it'll be done and available before you know it. Also, my quintet, the AJKQ has a few shows coming up. Come on out and hear some original music, arrangements of contemporary artists, and tunes from the Dave Holland Quintet and the like. Good times.

hey ya'll. i've put up the chris potter transcription and analysis of 'The Jones' that was in DownBeat last October for your Downloading pleasure. scroll on down to my October 20 entry and click away. also, the book's coming along. yipee!

so. sarah and i moved to pilsen to enjoy the low rent and wonderful atmosphere. the aj kluth quintet (ajkq) is looking for performance opportunities, the chris potter transcription book is still in progress, teaching many folks on now six different instruments. lots going on. sign up on the email list, i'll let ya'll know what's happenning as it goes down.

... with a 1955 Selmer Mark VI tenor saxophone. it was silver plated and played like i didn't know a saxophone could. wow. i need $9600 for it fast. any ideas?

I'm making progress on a big project I've been working on for some time. I'm in the final stages of putting together a book of transcriptions of saxophonist Chris Potter's improvisations. The book consists of ten standards/standard form tunes from a span of six records. Tunes include: Stella by Starlight and 7.5(a truncated Bb blues form) from "Lift: Live At The Village Vanguard", Star Eyes, High Noon, Body and Soul, and The Source, from "Gratitude", Giant Steps from "Concord Duos" with Kenny Werner, Children Go from "Traveling Mercies", You And The Night And The Music from "Concentric Circles", and Lotus Blossom from "Underground". I'm just finishing up the manuscript and trying to get copyright permission so I can go to press. I'll let you folks know when it's done. If you're a horn player who stumbled upon my site, give me an email or leave a comment to let me know if this sounds like something you'd be interested in, as I'm curious as to what the market for the book looks like. And, come back in a few months, maybe the finished product will be available. Also, the quintet has been doing some recording, and a rough cut of Avishai Cohen's tune Mediterranean Sun is up for your listening pleasure. Thats all for now, folks. As they say, keep it real.

i'm reading too many books right now and somehow they all seem to be related to eschatology/mortality. I'm halfway through David Crowder's "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven But Nobody Wants to Die - or The Eschatology of Bluegrass" and I just finished Neil Geiman and Terry Pratchett's "Good Omens" while just starting Dostoevsky's "Demons". also - are you familiar with the work of Hieronymous Bosch ? if you're not, do yourself a favor and do a google image search. wow. well then. i'm also doing some more session work these days and am playing the House of Blues here in chicago with the Trippin Billies this coming saturday. this'll be a fun week. also, the un-named quintet is sounding lovely and i'm hoping we'll get some recording done in february. hope you're all well - keep in touch.

i have recently acquired a melodica. i don't know if that excites you the same way it does me, but man - this is a wonderful little instrument. seriously. its a little wind powered keyboard. you blow in a tube, depress a few keys, and blammo, it sounds like an accordion/harmonica. so far the combination of aj and melodica has annoyed everyone in the immediate vicinity, but just wait. i'll figure out some interesting thing to do with it. they laughed at me, but i'll show them - i'll show all of them!!!
also, a little yorkshire terrier has recently found its residence in our apartment making my wife and i very happy and sleep deprived as it likes to play at 3am.
in musical news, the quintet rehearsals are coming along swimmingly and i'm on the road a bit more with trippin billies in the next couple of months. its going to be a fun new year for certain. i need to update my online calendar!

november is finding me as busy as ever. i'm working on a multitude of transcriptions (primarily Chris Potter) and trying to prepare some clarinet material (Mozart clarinet concerto) as well as writing for and rehearsing with my trio (trio contretemps). the more i transcribe the music of Chris Potter, the more i stand in awe of not only his virtuosity, but also his composition style and imagination. case in point, last week i saw saxophonist Eric Alexander at the Jazz Showcase here in Chicago. now, mind you, Alexander is an wonderful saxophonist, both technically astounding as well as thoroughly musical - yet, i felt that his quartet was only playing music that's already been played; albiet incredibly well as they swung HARD. what i was missing was a sense of something new. perhaps this sounds cliche but, i feel that in the music of some other groups i've seen/listened to recently that there is a general aire of "pushing" and exploration going on - the incorporation of odd meter, juxtaposed styles, esoteric harmony - yet all in the spirit of musicality. as if yet further spaces of the aural landscape need some light shown on them in order to manifest/realise a more complete representation of experience - whether real or imagined. i am referring to the music of: chris potter, the dave holland quintet, dave douglas' groups, ben monder, kurt rosenwinkel, avishai cohen (the bassist), etc. this is the yardstick i try to hold my own playing and compositions to, though i am constantly reminded of how deep this music is and how much further i have yet to explore before even hoping to tread on some new land of my own. wow. this all sounds so incredibly prolix. also in recent news, we made oatmeal-raisin cookies the other night. yay.

this month saw my first publication, a transcription/analyzation of Chris Potter's "The Jones" solo from Dave Douglas' "Strange Liberation" record. it appears right in the back of the October 06 edition. everything turned out allright save for the last two measures of the transcription which, for some reason, doesn't represent the actual solo, but rather has a quarter-note high 'G' on every beat. must have been an error in the file i sent or something. other than that, a very satisfying piece - for me that is. this month is also seeing a few seasonal obsessions: mortality, chess, dostoevsky, and soup.

Chris Potter The Jones Transcription Chris Potter The Jones Analysis

welcome to the new 'ajkluth.com'. i thought i'd finally get myself a website from which to harangue you all with my current musical endeavors, thoughts, events, recipes, etc. so then. visit often as i'll try to keep things interesting.