When I found out that I was to interview musician/composer Dave Painchaud, a nominee for 2012 Best Jazz Artist from the Artists In Music Awards (AIMA), for his “Tales Told and Journeys Imagined†CD and Digital album my thoughts naturally turned to smoky Greenwich Village bars. So, when it was time to turn to iTunes to listen to some of Painchaud’s works, I poured a glass of Audelssa Chardonnay (a favorite) — in the name of work of course – turned down the lights and upped the volume so that I could listen to a sampling of works from the award nominated CD in the proper frame of mind.
“Making an Entrance†the first track to which I listened is a cool, well-produced track in the vein of progressive jazz that I had expected to hear. Mixing layers of sound and the standard tools of jazz – a heavy horn section made melodious with the help of a keyboard and strings – I was lulled … into a second glass of the lovely Audelssa grape and so enjoyed “Searching and Ruminating†.
Then I tuned in to “Up Number Indigo III†and “Piz Osti Redux†(the one piece not composed by Painchaud but he covers a classic here; its’ by Tchaikovsky) and actually had to wipe the visual and the wine from my mind; suddenly, Painchaud had transported me to a concert hall with his symphonic references and full, melodies. Clearly, I was not prepared for the breadth of this artist, a graduate of the Berklee (not the UC but the prestigious, Julliard caliber music school in Boston) School where he trained in trumpet and flugelhorn, and his love of blurring genres.
“Tales Told and Journeys Imagined†, Painchaud’s first album, “is supposed to take you on a trip and maybe expand the way listeners view the genres I’m trying to bend,†says Painchaud, “why can’t a jazzer go to the symphony space?†Why not indeed, the complexity and breadth of Painchaud’s work is sure to make his old Berklee teachers proud.
“I can jump around genres and I think that the audience make the trip if I can get ‘em to listen to the ambient sound associated with Progressive Jazz and Electronica a la Brian Eno maybe then I can take ‘em to some place that they haven’t gone before and discover that this other genre is nice, that the water is fine,†enthuses the mile-a-minute North Eastern native as he becomes ever more passionate about his art.
“The first piece, [on the album] is straight ahead and then, with the second track, I start to take the listener somewhere else… that’s where the title of the album comes from, I wanted the sense that we’re going on a journey together… some of the places are predictable and others … not so much,†Painchaud concludes after several digressions about music and life. “Yeah, I digress a lot,†he says – and lucky enough for the audience so does his music.
For more information on Painchaud: www.mellobrass.com
For more information on the AIMA: www.aimusicawards.com
