Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Southern California Fires Hit the Jazz Community
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
Bandleader John Raymond is set for a short run of dates beginning Oct. 1 in Detroit.
(Photo: Matthew Johnson)Flugelhornist John Raymond knows not to overwhelm folks with a flurry of notes—or a flurry of recordings.
During the past several years, the assistant professor at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music has issued a steady stream of bucolically tinged, deeply personal recordings with his Real Feels ensemble. It’s a band with a ruthlessly unique make-up and an equally distinctive sound.
“Where We Grew Up,” a tune being released ahead of Raymond’s upcoming live dates, is perhaps his most pastoral effort, something that solders together Bill Frisell’s sonic ideal with the hint of a Milsean tone. But Raymond’s band—which includes Gilad Hekselman on electric guitar, Jesse Lewis on acoustic guitar and Ben Lester on pedal steel—dashes the proceedings with the character of a 21st-century troupe steeped in as much contemporary music as in the history of jazz.
“I wrote the song years ago, thinking nostalgically about the people, places and things that were a part of my formative ‘coming of age’ years,” Raymond said in a recent email. “For me, these were spent in Eau Claire, [Wisconsin], which is now a booming arts city ... and home of the band Bon Iver, among others.”
Live dates are below. But for additional information about Raymond, visit the bandleader’s website. DB
Oct. 1: Cliff Bell’s, Detroit
Oct. 2: Bop Stop, Cleveland
Oct. 3: An Die Musik, Baltimore
Oct. 4: Nublu, New York, NY
Gerald and John Clayton at the family home in Altadena during a photo shoot for the June 2022 cover of DownBeat. The house was lost during the Los Angeles fires.
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