I continue to be amazed at how Jazz musical artists seem to regularly find inspiration in the rock band Nirvana. I just have to post this excellent and delightful cover of Nirvana's COME AS YOU ARE from their breakthrough album Nevermind.
Charlie Hunter has become a staple on the jazz scene not only fronting his own ensembles but guesting with numerous others on the jazz vanguard. COME AS YOU ARE is the initial offering under the name Charlie Hunter Trio from their album bing, bing, bing!
Nirvana were from Seattle and were intricately interwoven with the grunge rock scene and their success helped make the descriptive "alternative rock" label a household phrase. Initially the alternative rock label was really just to say the grunge rock was an alternative to the heavy metal "hair" band that preceded them.
March, here in Ohio (USA) is still quite cold, wet and snowy. It is a good time to stay indoors and under the covers. That said, I thought it might be a good time to resurrect and series I had on my old blog (long since deleted) that was titled Under The Covers.
The series features reinterpretations of classic rock songs to the extent that they’ve been completely re-imagined as a new work. I’ve never been a fan of just “straight” or faithful covers. If I want to hear a faithful version of the song I’ll listen to the original. I want to see imagination and a flicker of inspiration in the how the music is re-interpreted.
Todays installment is a wonderful interpretation of Nirvana’s HEART SHAPED BOX, written by Kurt Cobain from their album IN UTERO. It was performed and recorded by the Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet; a jazz outfit from Poland that has some incredible original music. This recording was on their European release of the album oddly titled POLKA. I say “oddly” because my only reference to polka was the popular music/dance style. In the region where I grew up there was even a popular sunday television broadcast called “Polka Varieties”. But turns out the word “polka” is actually a Czech word simply meaning polish girl. Which is more in line with this recording. So imagine this album was titled “Polish Girl”. In fact I humorously imagine the young woman on the cover of the album may be grimacing at the use of polka as an outdated musical style. The original US release of the Polka album did not include this cover (presumably for copyright reasons)
I hope you enjoy this version. For those, like myself that like to compare I have included the Nirvana version below as well.
Today I want to share a video that is, arguably, the absolutely best live cover of a Nirvana song ever! Smells LIke Teen Spirit is anthem that taps into the cultural mainline that has addicted our world with it's refrain of "Here we are now, entertain us!".
Shaka Ponk are a french band that has been around for years that I only recently discovered. Maybe some of my European followers are more familiar with them. Shaka Ponk have dabbled in a wide range of styles from hip-hop, pop, hard rock, rap, synth pop, etc.
But in this live performance they really shine and I'm convinced they're better live than in the studio. Recorded at the Alcaline in France complete with full band and gospel choir. I dare you not to get swept away in this performance. It starts at a demure level 4 (quiet and enchanting) then just before the 3 minute mark they turn the performance dial up to a shattering 10. And it hums along until around the 4 minute mark where they nudge the dial up to 11 or maybe even 12. And they just keep it going from there. The performance drives, perhaps possessed by the ghost Kurt Cobain. By the 5 minute mark I have goose bumps until the end. It is just an amazing performance. They know how to put on a show and the audience is with them the whole time.
Even if this is not your taste in music. I hope you give it a chance and enjoy it. Unfortunately I think Shaka Ponk may be calling it quits as they are now promoting their self described "Final F*cked Up Tour".
So enjoy this performance.
The Kingdom of Heaven is near. ~ Jesus Christ [Matthew 10:7]
This is Nirvana
We do not see that our life right here, right now, is nirvana. Maybe we think that nirvana is a place where there are no problems, no more delusions. Maybe we think nirvana is something very beautiful, something unattainable. We always think nirvana is something very different from our own life.
—Maezumi Roshi, “Appreciate Your Life”
... on being and becoming ... 