Quincy Jones keynote at SXSW 09

He probably doesn’t know it, because there were always 200-2000 other people there as well , but WE knew it and it was AWESOME. It was like spending the day in the presence of giants and their ghosts and their shadows as Mr. Jones walked us through the amazing history of music in his lifetime, so much of which bears his unmistakeably great music mark.

After the extended keynote, Bob and I went to a panel celebrating the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue album. And guess who showed up and was asked to join the panel… Mr. Quincy Jones.  And so continued our wonderful day with Mr. Jones. If time allows, I’ll post more at a later time detailing more of the amazing conversations with Quincy Jones and the Kind of Blue panel, but for now…

As wonderful and amazing as Mr. Jones conversations were, what he brought to us musically was even more amazing and fantastic.

Get ready for it, because Quincy Jones has a new protégé, Alfredo Rodriguez – a pianist so intense, so beautiful and so emotive you never, ever want the music to stop. Just two months ago Rodriguez, a tender 23 years old, defected from Cuba where he was not allowed to tour internationally.

Alfredo Rodriguez at the Elephant Room in Austin

Rodriguez played after Mr. Jones’ keynote address Thursday afternoon, and again later that night at a SXSW showcase in the Elephant Room, displaying his amazing improvisational skills and beautiful artistic soul. Part of Rodriguez’ genius is his ability to be so playful and simple interspersed with moments of exquisite emotional intensity.  He takes a melody and weaves it in and out of harmony and discord while maintaining the pure integrity of the melody and the feel of the song.

Part and parcel with the music are the expressive faces and body language that Rodriguez deploys to communicate even further the emotion of the music without need for spoken word.  Much of this you can hear in the music and see in the videos, but to really feel the full impact of Rodriguez’ music you must see him perform live.  If you ever get the chance to see him live, do not miss it! It’s an experience of a lifetime.  If you don’t believe me, just ask Quincy Jones.

Alfredo Rodriguez and "patron" Quincy Jones

After Rodriguez’ performance at the Elephant Room, Mr. Jones gave us a a few more words from his heart, saying about Rodriguez “this young man makes me even happier than I already am to be alive” and finally adding “This is what music is about.”

Like Mr. Jones, Rodriguez projects a sense of humility and gratitude for his talent, which makes him feel all the more genuine and authentic – truly deserving of his wonderful musical gift.

I’ll post links to purchase Rodriguez’ music as it becomes available.  Meanwhile, here are a few links where you might find new information on this newly emergent artist:

• Alfredo Rodriguez’ official (I think) web site:   
  www.alfredomusic.com
• Alfredo Rodriguez’ facebook page:
  www.facebook.com/pages/Alfredo-Rodriguez/71659295609
• Alfredo Rodriguez on MySpace:
  www.myspace.com/alfredorodriguezmusic
• Follow Alfredo Rodriguez on Twitter:
  twitter.com/alfredomusic
• Alfredo Rodriguez on YouTube (QuincyJonesProd channel) :
  http://www.youtube.com/user/QuincyJonesProds

While Alfredo Rodriguez obviously will soon be very well known (that is to say, he’s not exactly “under the radar”), I was so touched by his music and his talent that I wanted to share him with you right away, now, so you don’t miss any opportunity to hear him play.   I’ve included some of the best videos I found on YouTube below.  Enjoy! But don’t miss a chance to see him live!

My Favorite:

But this one was awesome too:

Last, but not least, here is a video of Alfredo Rodriguez playing the Elephant Room at SXSW – Bob and I were sitting about 7 feet behind Mr. Jones, next to the loud but well meaning drunk you’ll hear hollering in the video. I’m afraid the video doesn’t really do it justice.  This encore had me in tears.

See the Quincy Jones Production Channel (QuincyJonesProd) on YouTube.com for more.

Other photos:

Quincy Jones Keynote at SXSW 09

A standing ovation from The Elephant Room

Alfredo Rodriguez at the Elephant Room

Someday this photo will be the coolest thing on the block! Oh, wait! Already IS!

Irishman Foy Vance followed Neilsen-Chapman with his one-man show in which Vance filled the room with a full band’s worth of music through the magic of looping. While the looping gimic has been around for a long time, Vance is a master of putting a song together such a way that you don’t even notice how it’s done. Vance layers harmonies and rhythms during interludes that bring increasingly complex melodies, harmonies and groove. As he builds the background harmony, Vance goes from deep baritone to a beautiful high falsetto climbing another interval after each verse. The result is an ever increasing tension and structure that ends with him down on his knees pleading “please don’t go”. It’s great breakup music. I was so carried away in the emotion of the song that I didn’t even notice that while he was down on his knees, he was shutting down the loops (on the floor) to fade the out the song.

Vance showed he could fill the room with music even without the loop machine with his new song asking “How can you break a heart that’s already broken?” This song absolutely gave me goosebumps. A beautiful melody, wonderful chords and rhythms had me asking to buy a CD with this song on it after the gig (no such luck – it’s a brand new song, so you’ll just have to catch him live, but I still got a CD!).

Finally, Belfast rock band The Answer, just blew the place away in a fantastic acoustic guitar set. The incredibly georgeous Cormac Neeson fronts this band with searing, highly emotive vocals with harmonies and a classic rock groove and smoother melodic acoustic riffs from guitarist Paul Mahon and bassist Michael Waters. Drummer James Heatley was on the sidelines for this acoustic gig, but they’ll be in full force at their showcase this Friday. I loved Neeson’s smooth voice in the earlier songs, then with a rocking gospel sound in “Preachin’”. Late in the set they apologize for their lack of experience doing an acoustic set! Huh? The Answer was awesome, and I can’t wait to see them again and in full-rock mode. You’ll hear a lot from this group in the near future! Be glad!

You can catch these last two bands during SXSW at these showcases:

The Answer plays at Latitude 30 this Friday, March 14 at 12:45am (well, technically it’s Saturday, but really it’s a Friday night gig…).

Foy Vance plays that same night at Buffalo Billiards at midnight.

Bob and I were walking down 6th Street here in Austin on our way to a SXSW party, and as we walked past Nuno’s we heard some awesome blues guitar coming out the door, and decided we’d stop in after attending some sxsw “official” parties. Best idea we had ALL night, maybe all week! We stopped in a few hours later and the blues coming out the door were so incredibly soulful, rocking and pure we couldn’t believe it –then we recognized the pianist, whom we’d seen with Kenny Wayne Shepherd last year – the legendary, grammy award winning Pinetop Perkins!

No wonder the blues were so deep and rich, because this man knows how to lay it down, and does it effortlessly. As he rolled through these amazing blues you don’t really realize the man is in his mid-nineties, because he’s as young and vibrant in his music as the young guys he’s playing with only with that incredibly old soul that only a true blues man can have.

According to local Austin songwriter, Lee Duffy, Pine Top was displaced during Katrina, and has settled down here in Austin where he’s been taken in as one of their own by the Austin music community. And I couldn’t resist getting my picture taken with the amazing Pinetop Perkins. He’s certainly still got his mojo workin’!