Benjie Messer

It’s been a few months since I wrote- I’ve just been having too much fun with Bad Cactus Brass Band! We had a packed December, performing at the Desert Botanical Garden’s twenty Luminaria Nights, as well as various tree-lighting parties around town. In the spirit of New Years resolutions, we’re shooting to record our first album soon. We’ll be recording it at a live show sometime in the next few months- I’ll post more details when I know more. We’re also looking ahead to Mardi Gras in February, which should be our next really busy season.

I’ve had a nice break from composing, but it’s time to jump back in. This month I’ll be working on the latest episode of Carol Benwell’s “Stand Up Guy”, and writing music for a short film by the Rebel Filmmaker AZ Group titled “Of Blood and Gin.”

At One Light Music, we finally released the first-ever complete karaoke Messiah, which helped push Spiritrax through a great holiday season. We’ve done a few musicals for Desert Stages Theater and a Sondheim collection for Stage Stars Records. We’re also working on some extensive back-end changes to improve the functionality of Productiontrax and give it room to grow.

We have a lot of musicals in the office this month- one for Desert Stages here in Scottsdale, another for Children’s Musical Theaterworks in Fresno, Cali., mastering The Wizard of Oz and Little Shop of Horrors albums for Stage Stars, and David’s orchestrating an original Gerry Cullity musical for Desert Stages- all due in the next two weeks. I also fit in some karaoke arrangements of patriotic songs for Spiritrax, just in time for July 4th events, and they’ve been selling well.

In the composing department, I’m finishing a 5-minute comedy for SCC senior Chris Redish, entitled “Got Milk?” I’ve also been offered the next episode of the web comedy series Stand-Up Guy by local producer Carol Benwell, so that’s next in line. And Ryan and Jeremy (of At Best Derivative-fame) are starting pre-production for their next movie, a historical Western about Arizona lawman Commodore Perry Owens. I’m super-excited to do another feature- but I’m also glad I have another year or so before it takes over my life. Speaking of, the DVD of ABD has finally been released- it’s at the Friar’s Lantern store.

The Bad Cactus Brass Band has had a promising first month. We’ve recorded a solid demo, which is up at badcactusbrassband.com, and band photos and gigs are in the works. Our first show is on July 8, opening for the Sugarthieves at the Sail Inn.

I’ve also been practicing trombone every morning before work. Besides Bad Cactus, I’ve played this month with Renee Patrick, the Sugarthieves, the Jazz Alliance, and David Bernstein, as well as at the jam sessions at Pita Jungle and 98 South in Chandler.

Phoenix has a new sound- it’s the Bad Cactus Brass Band. We don’t have any photos of ourselves yet, but we have six music tracks up at badcactusbrassband.com, and more to come. Watch out Phoenix- here comes Bad Cactus!

Here’s a sample from a new track, just to give you a taste:

Well, the first rehearsal for my New Orleans project was very promising. Here are two tracks we recorded. This is a five-man band- we’ll be getting cutting a demo in a few weeks with a bigger group.

First rehearsal Monday night- won’t say more now, but hopefully I’ll have something to book soon.

Also, just finished a first draft of music for a 5-minute comedy short by SCC student Chris Redish titled “Got Milk?” I’ll let you know when it’s ready to watch-

A month ago, I got to present a concert of original music as part of the Jazz in the Hills series, in Fountain Hills, AZ. The musicians were Mike Krill on saxophones, Denny Monce on trumpet, myself on trombone, Dave Henning on piano, Tim Paree on bass, and Andy Ziker on drums, who all learned a lot of my tunes in a very short time. I’ve posted a few of them here, on the left, just below my gig calendar. I really want to record cleaner, tighter versions, but for now, enjoy! The first four are originals- Mo’ Better Blues is the theme from the movie of the same name, composed by Bill Lee.

Why did it take me a month to get these up here? Well, I’ve had a long month. If you’re a friend of mine (and I doubt many other people ever read this), then you probably already know what’s been going on for me- if you don’t, just ask. If you’re an enemy, I’m not telling.

So then, in the same weekend, I was lucky enough to go to a concert by saxophonist Kenny Garrett. Garrett is 44, played in some big bands early on, but has made a long career leading small groups. At different times, his playing and compositions are playful, funky, spiritual, and often draw on various world cultures. I’ve known many saxophone players who consider him one of their favorite players. Anyway, on Sunday he played a concert in Chandler, AZ as one of the headlining artists for the Chandler jazz festival. Let me see if I can describe why this show was so inspirational:

The show’s MC introduced the band as “a swinging good time”, but when they hit it was like stepping into a trendy shoe store in NYC- very modern house rhythm, very ambient, evolving slowly through textures. The organist played cloud-like morphing synth pads, drums and bass slammed out the house beat, and Garrett played his saxophone sparingly, and only through effects pedals, using wah and distortion to get an evocative, electric sound. Garrett also played his sax through a keyboard synth, distorting the sound even farther beyond recognition. They still played some songs with heads and solos, but the emphasis was on continuously evolving texture, subtle rhythmic play, and relentless modern groove, not on blowing hard and fast through chord changes. Garrett also had a Rhodes onstage, and he would often put down his saxophone and join the rhythm section, picking out repeating rhythmic figures that would be picked up by the band and take the feel in a new direction.

Anyway, after a weekend of being sad that the 20th century was gone, this made me psyched for the 21st. I was just so inspired to see his approach- that his band was as danceable as any dance music- that his solos weren’t about “showing off” or even playing choruses, but were more directly evocative, often like vocal cries- that there’s still room for creativity about form and texture- and that there doesn’t have to be anything old-fashioned about jazz. It was really a good model for me, and really inspired me to keep playing and to put together my own band. Of course, it’s hard enough to do what’s been done before; doing something that’s never been done before, like Garrett is doing, probably requires exceptionally talented and creative musicians- but it’s an exciting goal. I gotta go buy some pedals…

I guess we’ll be back at Dragonfly sometime soon- but for now I have Fridays free. Anybody know of a good Friday jam session?

I guess we’ve been a hit at the Dragonfly. The owner wants us to start playing Thursdays as well- I don’t know if Thursday will be another night at the Tempe location, or if it’ll be at their Mesa location. And we got a visit the other day from Bart Salzman from Jazz in AZ, who said he liked us and wanted to book us at the Chandler Jazz Festival! I’m looking forward to being busier.

[PS Looks like Thursdays will be in Mesa, and not starting just yet. Until then I'll probably be playing with Dennis Rowland's band on Thursdays at the Kazimierz in Scottsdale.]

Privas’ regular keyboardist, Dave Henning, coaches lacrosse in the spring, and has a game every Friday night, and our regular bassist, Harald Weinkum, is on tour for the next six weeks, so our drummer Nick found another bass player, a recent Phoenix transplant named Toby Curtright, I’ve been playing keyboard, and that’s the trio. We’re at Dragonfly on Mill Ave. and 4th every Friday night, 7:00-11:00 PM.