James Farm, www.jamesfarmmusic.com, founded in 2009, is an exciting quartet of four of some of the finest, seasoned jazz musicians of the their generation; Joshua Redman (Saxophone), Aaron Parks (Piano), Matt Penman (Bass) and Eric Harland (Drums). They've come to this project as equals, each contributing compelling original material to a very democratic, powerfully interactive group, with one foot rooted in the strong jazz traditions of the 20th Century, bridging with the other foot into the 21st Century and the varied musical influences and grooves of the new millenium. Their music is fresh, progressive and charts intriguing new territory and exploratory improvisation. For those interested in dynamic and intelligent jazz, don't miss this opportunity to hear James Farm live this week in Seattle.
I am including here a very well recorded live You tube video of Joshua Redman's tune "Polliwog", made during the quartet's June 2011 appearance at the Jazz Standard, in N.Y.C. This is one of my favorite tunes from their self- titled CD and I think it captures, as a good example, some of the contemporary, funky grooves that they have incorporated into their work and the tight, sophisticated and complex interplay amongst the four musicians.
I have also included Jazz Alley's information about James Farm and their three night appearance below.
James Farm - Joshua Redman, Aaron Parks, Matt Penman and Eric Harland
The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley presents James Farm with Joshua Redman (saxophone), Aaron Parks (piano), Matt Penman (bass) and Eric Harland (drums). Set times on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 7:30pm. Doors open at 6:00pm Tuesday and 5:30pm Wednesday and Thursday.
Formed in 2009, James Farm is an acoustic jazz quartet collaborative consisting of saxophonist Joshua Redman, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Eric Harland. These four free-thinking musicians all individually hold a stake in the future of jazz, and together form a group with a new take on song-based improvisation, a group that invites you to share in the navigation of their own musical future. From their first gig at the Montreal Jazz Festival they have been writing and honing music that carries strong melodies and buoyant grooves, but defies facile comparisons. They strive, in their own words "to make new musical connections for the times we live in, and make new beats for what now surrounds us." Indeed, there is physicality to their music, as well as an urgency that comes across in the live performances especially. This band wants to move you, and only asks for an open mind.
These four virtuoso instrumentalists are committed to finding new ways to balance their work as composers with the vitality of improvisation, melding the two into a brand of storytelling uniquely their own. They're also committed to the concept of the Band, where the whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Penman explains, "There’s an artistic strength in being four equal members of a group that we're enjoying exploring. Put our four heads together and you get a lot of ideas … some of them cosmic, some of them plain nuts, but its all part of the process."
Redman, Penman and Harland all worked extensively together in the SF Jazz Collective 2005-2007, while Parks and Penman traded duties on each other's latest records, both with Eric Harland on drums. Parks explains "James Farm makes me play in a different way, sometimes taking more chances than I would otherwise. It forces me to step up.” He continues, "One of the things I love in this band is the balance of different energies. Our individual temperaments seem to be complementary in a way that makes for a unique creative environment, one with natural and intuitive communication, where we're constantly challenging and bringing out different sides of one another. Its complex and it's simple and it feels like a living thing."
Overall, James Farm gives followers of contemporary music much to be excited about with their forward-thinking and open approach to the jazz idiom. For all their compositional ambitions, their spirit is still best summed up by their drummer. “I have no idea what’s going to happen,” Harland admits, “but I am looking forward to the journey.”
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