Mary Halvorson, Julian Lage and Miles Okazaki: "Blue Monk Sandwich" Improvisation

Miles, Julian and Mary go deep down the rabbit hole of electric guitar improvisation at EastSide Sound in NYC. Part Three of Three!
Audio recorded by Marc Urselli at EastSide Sound in New York City

[@jackk9366]

1:23 Julian's expression is hilarious

[@eoinodonnell]

My expression watching the whole video 😆

[@Athraminaurian]

Damn! They all have such distinct voices on the instrument.

[@fredtanner9257]

I've loved every bit of this series. Thanks to the guys who filmed it. I really hope you can persuade these three that a recording together is a good idea!

[@AudezeHQ]

Thanks Fred, we had a blast making these, so glad you enjoy them!

[@cliffirddelbridge2810]

Holy cow, holy moly, Brilliant, for the most part a simple blues form, then what they do with it is a whole other thing.

[@seanfischer4430]

This reminds me of "Jazz + Jazz = Jazz" from Parks and Rec

[@johnl.6930]

Love this! Mary’s choices of effects in this context is refreshing and unique. Listen don’t watch and each player’s style is so recognizable! A modern day Chester and Lester!!!✌️❤️

[@cuppalightroast]

Such a cool gathering. Had no idea they all knew each other.

[@mr.beaverchair3622]

In his Downbeat Blindfold Test, Julian says he and Mary used to be neighbors.

[@J.Dove3D]

Brilliant. Such a great trio and set of recordings. Thanks for the download.

[@Jad.Al-Khalidy]

Dropped a jar of Nutella to this, thank you for posting :)

[@johntrojan9653]

😱 🤪 🤪 😱. 🤣

[@onepointofview]

I love the blues

[@SuSan-sx7kf]

I love these guys....but that jam was just chaos....

[@hiroprotagonitis]

Audeze nuts

[@Crenom]

Im sold Audeze is the next can

[@BananasandMustard]

I love Julian Lage but I did not understand a thing of what was being played here.

[@Rocky-sn6fl]

Which headphones to buy. LCD-X or LCD-X upgraded or LCD-X with 8 fazors or LCD-X 2021 with six fazors? Thanx Audeze for all integrity and for respecting your customers!

[@AudezeHQ]

We always say our latest is our greatest, so the 2021 or later LCD-X is the one to get.

[@Rocky-sn6fl]

@@AudezeHQ So, if I bought the older LCD-X model for the 1700$, I should put up with them and my stupidity?

[@alexgraf8417]

That was messed up in such a good way!

[@peetrnos]

But these cca 30 sec from 6:00 is great..!!

[@gregoryswift9573]

Cacophony

[@cliffirddelbridge2810]

There's something about Miles picking that sounds rough, a lot of pick noise. Now, as a listener Mary's pitch pedal or what ever it is just sounds wrong, I hear no place where it sounds good. I would so much prefer her to just play guitar. Julian did his best to hang with this crew, but in the end they were three different thinkers thrown together. And the conversation about headphones was just filler because no one could talk about the music they just played. Almost uncomfortable. Julian's up close expression, a face that says it all when he plays, an honest face, looked bewildered during Mary's solo. That said it all. I don't think they will be making that lp.

[@mr.beaverchair3622]

You're definitely projecting your own feelings onto Julian. a) He and Mary are old friends and he's expressed great admiration for her playing, and b) Julian has become a fixture in the New York avant garde scene himself in recent years (check the number of albums he's recorded with John Zorn). On that topic, he said, "[There's a sense in academia that you have to earn the right to play free]...Playing with Yoko, or Zorn or Nels, it's kind of like ‘forget that, we’re freer than we realize!’ I love it, I feel increasingly drawn to it, increasingly like I want to be part of the community, and contribute, and write, and take some more chances. I feel extremely privileged to be in the neighborhood of these people and to get to work with them.” "No one could talk about the music they just played"? What's to talk about? The playing IS the conversation. As that old chestnut goes, "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture." The smile on Julian's face throughout the video says all that needs to be said for his feelings about this improv.

[@bevinroue5788]

Absolutely love how Mary sits back and let's the boys mess around, then says, "remember, I'm the genius at this party."

[@cliffirddelbridge2810]

Really, that pitch pedal is genius?

[@leoosiku]

Nope

[@bevinroue5788]

@@leoosiku Which one of them won a MacArthur Fellowship? Trying to remember.

[@leoosiku]

@@bevinroue5788 That comment might be everything that is wrong in music and other endeavors.

[@bevinroue5788]

@@leoosiku (sigh)

[@darbymckilkannoncaid3279]

lot of people taking issue with mary's pitch pedal, and rightly so, but miles is just throwing notes at this improv in a way that i find really unpleasant.

[@AlexVonCrank]

Uhhhh... is this what communism sounds like?

[@westerbeck8229]

i hope so

[@jthiessen4157]

This is what the diametrical opposite of communism sounds like

[@AlexVonCrank]

@@westerbeck8229 🤢

[@AlexVonCrank]

@@jthiessen4157 aahhh... are you sure? 🧐

[@mattiv1]

so funny! that sounds nothing like communism. It's on the the different pole than communism. Check the meanings.

[@elrafa782]

Don’t get it at all ! Except they’re all f good guitarists… 😮

[@Llirik_Kuynorov]

when will their periods finally synchronize? I was told there would be a sandwich, but it's just baloney

[@danoloane]

I don't get the Mary Halvorson thing at all. Seen her live a couple of times, seen a bunch of her videos- I find her a most unlistenable guitarist. Julian, on the other hand, is THE most listenable young guitarist out there- just beautifully musical in every setting. Except maybe this one...

[@atarirob]

Julian's intro was very nice, I don't mind his more chaotic and free stuff because he always applies his impeccable technique to it, which makes it far more impressive and palatable. Mary is a good player, but seldom shows it and relies way too heavily on the pitch effect, which is just obnoxious. Look at Julian's face at 1:24 and tell me he's not thinking "What the fuck am I even listening to? How did this person get an $800k grant from the MacArthur Foundation?" lmao

[@zaqintosh]

I’m just glad Julian decided to become the rhythm section at around 4:17 in the vid :)

[@kingdozerr]

No blues at all

[@changliu9073]

bunch of noodling and that's it... noting more.... it's really sad actually in the musical sense...

[@crosbycofod5052]

lol yea when he was like "lets do a blues" i was not expecting this avant garde music haha

[@idontwanttousemynameyoutub7538]

@@crosbycofod5052 They managed to strip all the blues out of it, that's for sure.

[@tk-kk4ut]

Or, ya know, it’s three musicians messing around on a gear channel and having some fun. And it’s not really sad at all.

[@idontwanttousemynameyoutub7538]

Ironically, in their desperation to play free, people are more limited, because they always do the same things; a glissando here, an augmented scale or fragment, wild melodic intervals and equally wild atonal and harmonically unrelated chords, and finally the old classic - the diminished scale. It is a desperate rejection of all musical norms and is terribly boring to listen to. Fortunately it is something that I got out of my system before everything was filmed and put on the internet.

[@mrCetus]

Damn! They all have such distinct voices on the instrument.