10 Seconds: Part Two (picks 17-34)
All aboard.....
John Coltrane - Blue Train (0'34"-0'44")
Taken from
John Coltrane - Blue Train
(1958)
"I think that the search for absolution is an intrinsic part of the human condition. It lies behind so many of our religious and scientific impulses.
How can we ever really know what is true? How can we be sure?
So much of my life I have been plagued by doubt... am I doing the right thing? Am I good enough? Am I too much? After I gave up playing classical music I wasn’t even sure if I was still a musician. It must have been somewhere around this time that I first heard John Coltrane’s Blue Train.
The opening bars of that record are like a chant, a call to prayer, gradually building in intensity before erupting into the first sax solo, all the coiled power of the tune finally unleashed. There is something so uncompromising about that sax entry. It’s as if that’s the only way it could ever be.
An inevitability about the driving momentum which carries you. Something like falling... the same sense of gravity.
Wynton Marsalis once wrote that the blues says “I’m down now. But I can always get up”. It is a celebration of life in all its beauty, all its pain. A raising of hands. Hearing that solo explode in my headphones for the very first time, it was like hearing a voice saying “you got this. Now get up”. And smooth and graceful as a train gliding across the tracks, you feel your life slide towards its destination." - Sarah Tandy
2. TWM DYLAN (Bassist)
Johnny Griffin - Soft & Furry (1'22"-1'32")
Taken from
Johnny Griffin - Change of Pace (1961)
"I stumbled across this album at the Greenwich Music Exchange. I saw the cover, looked at the lineup (drums, two double basses, tenor sax, French horn) and knew that this would at least be worth a listen. Years later I still obsess over the careful arrangements, crystal clear balance, and just THAT sound.
This ten second clip contains the first two phrases of the first solo of the record. This is his mission statement. He glides up the horn demanding your attention, it’s nothing but the blues. The silence allows his sound to travel across the room while the two basses work in tandem to fill the harmony left by the empty piano seat. Johnny enters again in his own time, pushing and pulling over the same few notes as Ben Riley keeps it tight on brushes after crashing into the top of the form. This is what I think Johnny wants from this record; Space. Later, Julius Watkins will cover Johnny’s part on ‘In The Still of The Night’ and let him really stretch out. But now he’s savouring his chance to occupy every frequency he can.
I can’t quite get this song out of my head. As a bass player the use of two basses is usually only novel, but here it makes total sense. It has never worked as well as in the moment when Bill Lee’s fingers usurp his bow at the top of the solo, locking in with Larry Gales’ earthy tone. Combined with Johnny Griffin’s masterful turn, it is a crystallisation of what I want to achieve as an artist. It shows you its constituent parts while they slip through your fingers from moment to moment." - Twm Dylan
3. RONAN PERRETT (Alto Saxophonist)
Maleem M. Ghania + Pharoah Sanders - Trance Of Seven Colors (5'42"-5'52")
Taken from
The Trance of Seven Colours (1994)
"This is the start of Pharaoh Sanders’ (second!!) solo on this track from the album ‘The Trance of Seven Colours’, recorded with the Moroccan Gnawa master Maleem Mahmoud Ghania.
Whilst listening through the tracks which occurred to me, this was the first to give me goosebumps. I love how Pharaoh echoes the singing coming from the percussionists and how he’s blowing so hard it sounds like his horn can’t take
it anymore.
I discovered this album after loving these two artists for years and it made me very happy to know they both respected each other as musicians enough to record this album together." - Ronan Perrett
4. DEJI IJISHAKIN (Tenor Saxophonist)
Mark Kavuma - Church (2'16"-2'26")
Taken from
Mark Kavuma - Kavuma (2018)
"2'16"-2'26" of Mark Kavuma‘s “Church” is my selection because, it sounds like a quintessential example of UK bebop. It reminds me of all the times that I heard him play at the Haggerston and the Prince Of Wales, and you can hear within those ten seconds how locked-in the communication between the band members was." Deji Ijishakin
5. DAN LEAVERS aka DANALOGUE (Keyboardist, Producer)
Mahavishnu Orchestra- Noonward Race (2'29"-2'39")
Taken from
Mahavishnu Orchestra
-The Inner Mounting Flame (1971)
"I picked this track because it has this kind of bottled intensity and relentless drive to it, its called ‘Noonward Race’ and it really has the Adrenalin of racing a motorbike at 100mph.
This is the moment in Jan Hammer’s keyboard solo where he switches on the ring modulator effect on the Fender Rhodes! I first heard this when I was 16 or 17 and it BLEW MY MIND! The keyboard sounds so surreal, amorphous and atonal, but you can till recognise it as being a keyboard. I also love the supportive roll of Jerry Goodman’s violin on this section, keeping a tight rhythm on the tonic, Billy Cobham’s explosive drums right up front in the mix, and the fact that John McLaughlin, like all the players in this unit, is happy laying out of sections, or playing supportive rolls, despite all being lead players. The dynamics, individuality and unity present in this track are astonishing." - Dan Leavers
6. STEVEN ADAMS (Singer-Songwriter, Guitarist)
Electrelane - Two For Joy (4'40"-4'50")
Taken from
Electrelane - Axes (2005)
"There are more finely crafted songs than Two For Joy, but the combinations of tension and release, of wistfulness and ecstasy, of restraint and sheer energy that Electralane managed to bottle on this recording are incredibly moving.
I've heard it a thousand times and I know what's coming; each time it plays I find myself back in the same place, waiting for the sound of communal joy. It's forceful without being weighed down by aggression, and it's a joyful, dumb, beautiful, precise mess. I chose these 10 seconds because this is one of the parts where the song kicks off. It's an absolute fucking banger." - Steven Adams
7. MATTHEW HERD (Alto & Soprano Saxophonist)
Elliot Smith - Everything Means Nothing To Me (1'07"-1'17")
Taken from
Elliot Smith - Figure 8 (2000)
"Sad songs are so often destructive, collapsing in on themselves, leaving no room for the listener. You’re expected to sit and wallow, like the despairing mother of a troubled teen.
Elliott Smith toes the porcelain line between openness and self-pity like a master aerialist. He stubbornly repeats his mantra, before hurling you down the stairwell with the drums. It’s primitive, it’s consuming.
It’s a fragile friend I’ll love to the end. " - Matthew Herd
8. GRIFTON FORBES-AMOS (Trumpeter)
Wayne Shorter - Lady Day (1'27"-1'37")
Taken from
Wayne Shorter - The Soothsayer (1965)
"The reason why I've chosen this is because the harmony between the horns (Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard and James Spaulding) blend so beautifully to create this atmospheric tension and release towards the end of the of the sequence. My favourite part of the song by far. And the the rhythm section (Tony Williams, Ron Carter and McCoy Tyner) enhance this feeling by building up the tension to the point it releases." - Grifton Forbes-Amos
9. NAADIA SHERIFF (Pianist)
Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now (4'20"-4'30")
Taken from
Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now (2000)
"I’ve listened to these 10 seconds countless times and they never fail to move me. Whatever I’m doing, I’ll stop and listen to Wayne’s soaring response to Joni’s ‘I really don’t know life - at all’; a true cry from the heart. The whole song, actually the whole album is building to this point.
I don’t find all of Wayne Shorter’s music easy to listen to or to understand but every now and then a phrase of his grabs me and won’t let go. And Joni.
What can I say? She’s been with me since I was a teenager and has taught
me a lot about life, whatever she may think! " - Naadia Sheriff
J.Brahms Piano Quintet Op 34 - 3rd movement (7:00-7:10)
Written in 1864
" This is the Scherzo, 3rd movement of Brahms Piano Quintet Op 34, played by Maurizio Pollini and Quartetto Italiano. The clip I have chosen is the final repetition of the scherzo section, which in this performance is so well paced across the movement and the tension so ruthlessly released in this section that it made explode into a heap of God Knows What....
I have recently been re-enaging with classical chamber music after not really having played or listened to it that much for almost 20 years - my musical life having taken other directions, and it is refreshing to do so with a new perspective that is most certainly informing my listening. And Pollini - AHHHH!!!" - Shirley Smart
11. SAM WARNER (Trumpeter)
Miles Davis - Stella By Starlight (1:44-1:54)
Taken from
Miles Davis - My Funny Valentine; Miles Davis in Concert (1964)
"I’ll never forget when I first heard this record. Miles at the top of his game,
his sound gave me goosebumps and this moment sums the whole record up when someone in the audience just can’t contain themselves." - Sam Warner
12. JO HARROP (Vocalist)
Jazzmeia Horn - The Peacocks (A Timeless Place (0'58"-1'08)
Taken from
Jazzmeia Horn
- A Social Call (2017)
"When I was learning this melancholic & beautiful song, this is the melody that constantly went around in my mind and lingered there . It’s such a pretty hook - i often just find myself singing or humming it - and I love the way
Jazzmeia Horn interprets this song." - Jo Harrop
13. CAMILLA GEORGE (Alto Saxophonist)
Joshua Redman - Hide & Seek (0'00"-0'10")
Taken from
Joshua Redman -
Freedom In the Groove (1996)
"The first 10 seconds of Hide and Seek by Joshua Redman.
This is a special piece for me as it was one of the albums that made me realise that I wanted to be a serious musician. I love everything about it and it holds special meaning for me." - Camilla George
14 SIMON ROTH (drummer)
Jason Moran Trio + Sam Rivers - Kinda Dukish ("0'42" - 0'52")
Taken from
Jason Moran - Black Stars (2001)
"This is one of the tracks I have listened to most since its release in 2001. I utterly love it. It's my favourite era of Jason Moran's trio, so full of reference and tradition yet so forward-looking.
This piece is a total treat because they're playing an Ellington composition
re-imagined, and the second section that the trio go into uses the coda from a 1920s recording of Black & Tan fantasy, another Ellington piece. This feels like a conscious statement about African-American art and I believe this ten second clip encompasses the trust, support, risk and artistry essential to making music, and which elevated African-American music to its pinnacle of artistic achievement and realisation of human potential. This particular moment demonstrates mastery in time, feel, phrasing and precision from all three players.
This release came at a time when I was really getting into the possibilities of my instrument, and the piano trio is the perfect situation for all that is possible on drums." - Simon Roth
15. OLI HAYHURST (Bassist)
Keith Jarrett - Gotta Get Some Sleep (0'56"-1'06")
Taken from
Keith Jarrett - Bop-Be (1978)
"Right after the head, Charlie Haden jumps into these triplets where Keith is playing a similar shaped melody but in a completely different rhythm. They sit on that for a while, developing the melody, but where did it come from and how did they get there? Two musicians taking chances and getting lucky. Of course the alternate take is completely different at that point." - Oli Hayhurst
16. TAL JANES (Guitarist)
Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun (4'01"-4'11")
Taken from
Jimi Hendrix -
Band of Gypsys (1970)
"I always gravitate towards other -worldliness in music and these 10 seconds sound like he’s ripping through the cosmos with one note.
Machine Gun is about the fighters in the Vietnam war and this song always roots me back to the power & purpose of music. I also love the end of this track & I think Jimi Hendrix was one of the great sonic improvisers of our time."
- Tal Janes
Korn - Freak on a Leash (2'37"-2'47")
Taken from
Korn - Follow The Leader (1998)
"10 seconds that fucked me.
Why these 10 seconds/ This was the first time I heard using the voice as more than just singing melodies and lyrics. This was way before I found jazz and the deliciousness of scatting, as I started off as a proper rock/metal head. But I always come back to this song and this specific part in it because I’m still so obsessed with how sick it is. Sounds fucking nuts!!
I think at this current point in my musical exploration as well, I might even be more influenced by this style of vocal experimentation than jazz scat,
'cause it’s gritty, eccentric and weird." - Plumm
18. METTASHIBA (Drummer)
Aretha Franklin- You’re All I Need to Get By (2'37"-2'47")
Taken from
Aretha Franklin & King Curtis
- Live at Fillmore West
(1971)
"Aretha’s Fillmore West recordings give me this feeling of… The Ultimate. It’s the final chapter. It’s music I’d want to be played at my funeral. The band is so loose, with no tension obstructing their channels of expression: they’re giving it everything they’ve got, in a way that’s only possible when you’re fully surrendering to a moment and the whole. I mean, how could you give anything other than everything when you’re enlisted to contribute to Earth’s nuclear reactor of soul for everyone’s sake? Thank you!
Bernard Purdie on drums and the backing vocalists feel just that bit closer to Aretha, dynamically catching and elevating the feeling. I chose this moment when Purdie does a massive drum fill to complement Aretha expressing the ease of opening any door when you feel something ultimate and divine—in this case passionate love. This moment expresses the infiniteness of energy born of inspiration." - MettaShiba
