you can boogie you can slide
“is he a jamband?”
“So…Taylor Hicks is considered a “jamband” or “jam artist”???”
“What the hell does Taylor Hicks have to do with jambands?”
When Hicks’ set lists started appearing at jambands.com last March, these questions and ones like them started appearing on jam related message boards around the internet, largely because most of the music world only knew him, if they knew him, from the decidedly un-jam related tv show that put his name out there.
The question is sometimes answered on the basis of his roots, his fan base, his touring style, as in a column that appeared shortly after he started being listed at jambands.com:
While I like Jarnow’s take on it (and really appreciated the push to expand my vocabulary to include “wooks and custies”), his reasons for including Hicks are not about what he’s doing to the music. So the question still stands: is he, now, a jam artist?
Labels aside, what I’m really interested in is, first, seeing Hicks really get into the improvisational free-style that he can do so well. But I’d also like to know whether, in the greater jam band world, would he and his band now be considered a jam band?
Let’s start with the music. Like many people, this blessed bit of improvisation is what first got me interested in Hicks:
Georgia on My Mind, circa 1996
[audio=http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/3/1140363/mp3s/08%20Georgia%20on%20my%20Mind.mp3]
.. it’s improvisational, sometimes a wild mess, but is it jamming?
And hearing the way he would lead a vocal line, it was obvious that he could do some tasty give and take with a band, given the chance. With the exception of his work with his old band and some surprise sit ins, that chance didn’t seem to happen much in 2006. So I was listening for that hard early on this year in the spring tour. Not a lot of full videos from that tour due to tour policy, but here’s a good compilation of what was going on when it was going on:
.. and is that jamming? (and does the label matter?)
Press has both praised his style as imaginative, and panned it as being formulaic.
I’ve not yet been to a summer tour show, but it seems that he may be moving more into the jam - staying with a seque rather than just teasing it, longer and more improvisational instrumental jams, more free-style in the vocals. For example, a couple from the Cohasset show a few weeks ago:
Hold On to Your Love > Can’t Trust Your Neighbor > Lonely Avenue
Heaven Knows > The Maze > Warm Love
(the interplay between 9:50 and 10:50 alone is worth it for me - it’s not over-analyzing, it’s being hit by something so hard you notice it)
(ETA: both videos now gone. Anyone know a good replacement? 6/23/08)
And a nice take on Medicated Goo from Georgia a few days ago:
… whatever you call it, this kind of thing is what I’m looking for from this musician - the invention - it’s why I care about hearing this guy. It looks like the sets still contain a good dose of songs done more or less straight through, a few with the same fairly predictable teases. But is the extended style in some of these clips the direction he’s heading now?
Is this his once and future jam?
categories: live, music
tags: improvization, jam bands, jamming
posted by what at 10:00 pm
“… it’s not over-analyzing, it’s being hit by something so hard you notice it… whatever you call it, this kind of thing is what I’m looking for from this musician - the invention - it’s why I care about hearing this guy.”
Yes, well put! The quote above must be the accurate definition of whomp. It is time the jam message boarders and others now expand their vocabulary to include “whomp.”
Taylor was an indie and jam based influenced artist. I believe in the Relix Parting Shots article, he mentioned playing in a Widepspread Cover Band. Rumor had it he responded to a fan at a jam band performance,something to the effect…can I belong at a jam? I am a fucking jam band artist.
For those that track these things, we are on our 4th generation of jam bands which started with rock, and has folded in the fusions of jazz, funk, and electronica into the aesthetic.
Characteristics of jam bands that were formerly rules, but are now in play:
FREEly sharing tapes of performances
required improvisation
Is Taylor a jam band artist that can hop on any jam stage and perform with anyone? Can he jam for himself? Can he jam for the fans. yes
Does Taylor have a jam band? Is this the band? Does he have jam band circuit material? Does he want any of the above, or is it distilling down to a more general indie, touring artist desire? Or not?
How are Taylor’s recent setlists being received by the Jamband
readers - who were so negative toward him last year?
Have any of them publicly declared even a grudging acceptance
of Taylor and his band, or are they still complaining (loudly)
to anyone willing to listen?
These are generalizations Azure. Not all the readers were negative and if they were it was due to misperception. Jambands has been very open minded.
Taylor is a jam artist with a jam band. Period. It’s where his heart is and where he shines. You can’t be “formula” when you never do the song the same way twice.
Two words: Live. Album.
AI 2006, I hear this guy audition. Wow, I google “gray haired guy on AI” because I want to find out more about him. During the show, yes, I really like him, a lot! I see a lot of promise. Summer 2006, I take my niece to see the AI show in Sacramneto. Mmmm! But fun enough. A couple of days later, I go to San Jose to see Taylor with Limbo in a small club. Bingo! He IS the promise I had seen in him. Definitely of the jam band variety. I am blown away by this guy! The cd comes out. Mmmm! Spring tour. San Francisco. It’s a 2 hour drive on a week night, I’m not feeling great, but really I know what it is. I am afraid I am going to be disappointed by a watered down version of Taylor. So I decide not to go. Summer tour. Videos are coming out that show a definite shift towards the freer, more creative Taylor, and I know that’s who he can be because I have listened over and over to some of the pre AI tapes. Now, I am flying over to New York next month to see him at the St George Theatre. I can’t really aford it, but what the hell! (so I keep telling my husband who is really trying to be understanding). BTW, if anyone knows of a hotel room in New York for under $100, where you don’t have to share a bathroom with 4 other people, let me know. Been there, done that in my younger years. I’m not really looking forward to THAT part! So is Taylor a jam band artist? Yes, in great part. But he can also mix it up with a more “polished” performance. And I kind of like that he can’t just be pinned down.
Does Taylor have a jam band? Is this the band? Does he have jam band circuit material? Does he want any of the above, or is it distilling down to a more general indie, touring artist desire? Or not?
I think that is the key question - what direction does Taylor want and plan to take? Does he want to be seen and appreciated as a jam artist or is he after a more traditional, clear-cut radio-shaped future?
His band is KEY in determining his direction. With LMBO he was much freer and creative than with the current band. But having said that I agree that recently I see the same changes you’re all noticing with the current lineup, that they seem more open to improv and willing to take his lead. I think they needed to get used to playing together and have finally gotten to a kind of zone where they can let loose.
I guess where he ultimately goes is up to Taylor, but for now I’d say there’s jam bandishness in his past and jam band potential in his future, but overall the general direction with the tour seems to be more traditional up-front concert performance and less improvisation.
Has anyone defined jam band, btw?
I think it’s not just this band getting used to him, maybe part of it is Taylor bringing the fans along one step at a time. Not everyone who has attended a show is familiar with his history. It will be interesting to see where he goes next.
Yeah, I tend to think of Taylor and Taylor’s musical abilities as an “onion”; no, not the ridiculous term that was coined on some sites to refer to parts of his anatomy, but rather like layers and layers that we are slowly being given as time and resources allow Tay to do so. I think we have seen the “tip of the iceberg” as far as his musical journey is concerned. Am not an expert on jam bands, had never heard the term until recently, I just know that what I am hearing and enjoying is great and can’t wait for his next evolution.
I’ve only been able to attend one show…but watch all the video I can find and I definitely see him moving more and more in the jamband direction. And to me…the more jamming he gets to do, the happier he looks…so am guessing that is the direction he intends to go.
I can’t presume to know what he’s thinking, but just guessing that he doesn’t want to scare the AI, DIMYP kind of fan away…but instead is testing the waters during the spring and summer tours to see how far he can push the envelope, while still keeping the fans engaged. He’s just not in a place yet in his career where he can tell “all the f**king squares to go home”. When he gets to that place…I think we’ll be hearing the lion’s roar a lot more often.
Couple of things.
- Did not at all mean to imply that the jam community was overall negative to Hicks. As asstral said, jambands.com was very receptive. But also the fan base (at least the on-line version) was either mostly neutral or receptive. The conversations that continued from the quotes I opened with generally went to the positive.
- Though i personally would love to see Hicks continue deep and long into the jam scene, I’m not at all saying that it’s that or bland pop. There’s plenty of other ways to make great music besides going the jam route. Given the diversity of his tastes, I’d guess that Hicks will be doing a lot of different things. I just hope that all out improv is always a significant part of it. If it becomes his focus, I’d love it, but a good dose will do, too.
- To my ear, some of the stuff that he’s doing with this incarnation of the THB is as creatively improv as what I’ve heard with his previous band. Of course, I’ve not heard a whole lot from either group, there’s lots of differences that play into it, and I’ve got my opinions about individual performances, but I think this is a really good start.
He’s just not in a place yet in his career where he can tell “all the f**king squares to go home”.
But he already told the fans this at Workplay. Are you saying that he didn’t mean it?
No…I’m sure he did mean it. But I don’t think he’s ready to say it to a crowd of 2000….when maybe 1500 of them came to see him because they liked him on AI. I really don’t know what a realistic percentage is…but I’m betting that well more than half of the people in the theatres haven’t been following him online, learning about his musical history, or have any idea of the depth, intensity, or diversity of his music. He may want to bring those people along this journey at a little slower pace than the rest of us would like.
Please bear with my ignorance…Can Taylor be a jam artist without permanent band members? Also, does a jam artist sing heart wrenching soul music like ANS or Russian Roulette or even Georgia? Is jam music restrictive to uptempo pieces? I ask this last question since, Taylor’s slower songs seem to be very structured.
cypfan, I’m glad you mentioned Russian Roulette. That is one of my favorites, and to me it is a perfect, perfect example of the loose, improvisational Taylor Hicks. Very unstructured, to my ears. Very beautiful, too.
Russian Roulett, Taylor Hicks:
http://www.box.net/shared/rf79tterae
“can he be a jam artist without a permanent band?” - great question. On a technical, semantic level, I’d say yes. But can he (or anyone) really jam to their best potential without that level of knowledge and trust? I don’t know. Wouldn’t need to be 100% consistent forces, but a core group would be pretty helpful, I’d think. I wonder, down the road, if he sees himself as a soloist with a back-up band or a band leader. So far, it looks like both, but I don’t know if that’s by design or coincidence.
In general, jam isn’t restricted to up-tempo, and I’d say ANS and Georgia are definite signs of that. The blues jam interlude in HOTYL is usually slow and painful(in the good way). It looks to me like the choice is relative to the song, and the album songs get the least jam treatment, with HK>Maze being the notable exception.
But what I really like is how he jams. It’s not the endless technical noodling that sometimes passes for jamming. Maybe that’s because it’s a vocal style that sets the tone instead of a primarily instrumental one.
Thanks T and Jam for “Russian Roulett” link. How did I ever miss that one? Do you know when / where it was recorded? I thought I had every MP3 there was to have. Wonder what else I’m missing out on.
KimLoree, this recording of Russian Roulett is from the Smith’s Olde Bar Atlanta set. We don’t know for sure when it was recorded…a few years ago. You can get it, and other good stuff, here:
http://www.tay-online.com/discography/Pre_AI.htm
Thanks T and Jam, I had been there before…but missed that one.
Trying not to get off topic…but does anyone know what the reference to “Madamn Joanne (sp?) goin to the university to teach them well” is? Is that a tag from a song? I’ve heard that one frequently and also “you can’t walk me down”. I’m assuming the first is a tag and the second is a line of his own? (I love the you can’t walk me down” with the “don’t do it” backup in “Forever Man”.)
Kim, the first lyrics are from ‘Madame Joy’ by Van Morrison. Not sure about the ‘you can’t walk me down” lyrics.
I love that version of Forever Man. Another jammy one. (Does that make us back on topic?)
Re: “you can’t walk me down” - the other day I got thinking it might be the line “keep walking down” from Cyprus Avenue (Astral Weeks). So it was interesting to notice people thinking about this line today. Look at this ‘tube and tell me what you think.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=svgvIsbKL28