The problem of what songs to play remains acute in jazz. For example, do we really need to hear another brilliant version of "These Foolish Things," given the many wonderful versions that have been done over the years? And playing contemporary pop songs usually doesn’t work because there isn’t enough harmonic "meat" to really make for interesting jazz improvisation. "My Humps" is just too idiotic to do much with, no matter how good you are.
That’s why I wanted to draw your attention to the 38-year-old Canadian pianist Andy Milne, who has made the savvy
observation that the popular singer-songwriters of the 1970s offer plenty of
material ripe for jazz improvisation. In doing so, he bucks the conventional wisdom that rock songs generally
lack the harmonic richness on which jazz thrives. But on Milne’s new album of solo piano performances, entitled Dreams and False Alarms, the
introspective character and thoughtful lyrics of songs like Joni Mitchell’s
"Amelia" and Neil Young’s "After the Gold Rush" provide a
sturdy platform for Milne’s imagination. He moves playfully between the familiar melodies and his complex
postbop vocabulary. Most
of his
audience knows these songs by heart, much as an earlier generation
memorized
the standards of Gershwin, Porter, and Kern. The currency of the songs
gives his music a vitality absent from the many jazz concerts today
that are technically accomplished but dull.
If you want to give his music a listen, I recommend his version of "The Times They Are A Changin,’" which he fully reimagines at http://www.andymilne.com/Audio.htm
Accidental Blogger 
3 responses to “Finding Jazz Inspiration In Dylan, Joni, and Neil Young (Andrew)”
This makes a lot of sense – infusing new blood into a genre which may have hit the dead end of creative inspiration. I am not much of a music aficionado but after rock ‘n’ roll, jazz is my favorite kind of “western” music. I am going to forward this to my son, the musician. He played the piano in his high school jazz band for four years and is a huge Dylan fan.
The Economist recently carried two short Jazz related reports. The first one is about the post Katrina plight of musicians from New Orleans, many of them members of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The other was an obituary of George Melly.
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He’s got that Mehldau/Paranoid Android thing going on, but Milne’s level of reimagination and refashioning certainly exceeds Mehldau’s. (And Dylan’s a better source than Radiohead on any day.)
Hey, Andrew, you must know Alan Broadbent. He’s my vote for the top rank of pianistic intelligence. I think I prefer his Concord Jazz material, or his work with Lee Konitz, to some of his later stuff or even to the work with Quartet West, although I’m kind of a sucker for the recent Linda Ronstadt album he arranged. Arranger, composer, performer…he’s masterful at understatement and just-rightness. (Too bad he’s not using Putter Smith on bass in his trio these days, his soul mate in these regards.)
I recently picked up an old Irene Kral LP with a picture of Alan on the back (paid one buck, mostly for the picture). Long hair, cigarette, tumbler of scotch…a far cry from the AB of these days, Grammy winner, father…
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Hi Ruchira,
Glad to hear you’re a jazz fan, even if it’s a plan B for you. And I hope your son likes the music.
And Dean, yes, the Mehaldau analogy is a good one, and I like that Milne doesn’t have the pomposity of some of the Largo album. (As a reformed Mehldau-hater, I must say that the Places album is brilliant).
As for Alan Broadbent, I haven’t listened to him much. I heard a strings record he did with Charlie Haden in the 90s on Verve, which I found cheesy — so I’ll look forward to checking out your recommendations in order to find the better stuff.
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