Michael Lewis

4051 Views 23 Replies 11 Participants Last post by RaoulDuke, Feb 28, 2018

magical pig

Discussion Starter · Jul 16, 2007 (Edited)

Bonsoir,

ever heard of Michael Lewis?
Below are some youtube videos of him playing with his two main bands :

With Fat Kid Wednesdays on one of Lewis's pop sounding tune
With Fat Kid Wednesdays on a swingy sort of tune

With Happy Apple on one of the band's pop tune
With Happy Apple on a freer form

IMO, even more than the player in itself, the format of the songs and the pop/rock feeling and energy of them gives a new dimension to a rather dying art of improvisation, either swing retrograde or noisy free jazz...

What do you think?

Victor.

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dohertyjazz

· #2 · Jul 16, 2007

Oh, I love Michael Lewis! His chops are incredible and his tone on tenor is so beautiful. I've seen him a few times when Happy Apple played at my school. I talked to them for a bit last time they were here; really nice guys!
Thanks for the links. The only thing missing from the videos is the incredible energy these guys bring .

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trinitron

· #3 · Jul 16, 2007

Happy Apple are great! Michael Lewis has got soul.

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magical pig

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 17, 2007

C'mon 2 people answered to the thread? Michael Lewis is awesome. He has a great sound, great ideas and a strong identity as a musician...

Victor.

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trinitron

· #5 · Jul 18, 2007

BTW, both of the FKW links go to the same video.

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magical pig

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 18, 2007

Corrected!! Thanks for pointing it out...

Victor.

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BigDaddyJ

· #7 · Jul 19, 2007

Holy cow!!!! This dude is seriously BADASS!!!! The ideas.......the melodies.......the sound..........Man this is the way I want to play! Yo pig, thanks for turning me on to this guy. I would love to see this band play live.

later

Joel

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grantonsax

· #8 · Jul 19, 2007

wow. thanks for hipping me to the sax trio. this guys group reminds me of the classic sonny rollins group but the bass player is dragging sometimes to me.

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dohertyjazz

· #9 · Jul 19, 2007

I think my favorite tune of Happy Apple's is "Ella by Nightlight." It is incredibly beautiful!

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BigDaddyJ

· #10 · Jul 21, 2008

Kind of reviving this thread. I really dig this guys playing......his tone, concept, melodic lines....I guess everything about his playing. I see they have some Happy Apple and Fat Kid Wednesdays CDs on Amazon. I'm going to order them.

later

Joel

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Brian The Hornman

· #11 · Jul 21, 2008

Funnily enough Michael Lewis and I attended the same high school under the same band director, albeit he is 10 years older than me..

I have seen both groups live multiple times and actually have met/worked with both Michael and Adam Linz (bassist for FKW). They are both a gas to see live, as Dave King (also of Bad Plus fame) has a hilarious stage presence both in his playing and his talking, and the 3 HA guys bring amazing ideas to the stage when they play. FKW on the other hand is simply raw energy, with amazing musicality crammed into it. I've also been to a gig where I saw Mike and Eric Fratzke (bass) play duets w/o Dave King and that was a very interesting show as well.

Dang, you guys make me want to go see these groups now. Guess i'll have to pull out my FKW cds...

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magical pig

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jul 21, 2008

Hey BigDaddy (lol),

thanks for those video clips, I hadn't seen them all. I'm always hungry for new videos of Lewis. The man's still my favorite though I'm trying to avoid listening to him for a while (I've been listening to his stuff WAY too much). But, hey, after those video clips, I think I'm gonna put some FKW back on my mp3 player... I'm addicted.

Victor.

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Brian The Hornman

· #13 · Jul 21, 2008

Here's another video I just found too, it's Happy Apple with a pianist that I presume is French(?) playing at a festival in MN.

Here again is Mike playing a duet w/the pianist.

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magical pig

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jul 27, 2008

Thanks again!! Don't hesitate to post some more if you happen to stumble across them....

Victor.

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magical pig

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jul 27, 2008

Brian The Hornman said:
Funnily enough Michael Lewis and I attended the same high school under the same band director, albeit he is 10 years older than me..

I have seen both groups live multiple times and actually have met/worked with both Michael and Adam Linz (bassist for FKW). They are both a gas to see live, as Dave King (also of Bad Plus fame) has a hilarious stage presence both in his playing and his talking, and the 3 HA guys bring amazing ideas to the stage when they play. FKW on the other hand is simply raw energy, with amazing musicality crammed into it. I've also been to a gig where I saw Mike and Eric Fratzke (bass) play duets w/o Dave King and that was a very interesting show as well.

Dang, you guys make me want to go see these groups now. Guess i'll have to pull out my FKW cds...

Hey, do you happen to know what kind of setup Michael plays on?

Victor.

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whaler

· #16 · Jul 27, 2008

That "swing tune " is Love Letters In The Sand, Here's a classic version;

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magical pig

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jul 27, 2008

My two favorite tenor sax players in the same thread... This can't be just a coincidence.

Great video whaler!

Victor.

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Brian The Hornman

· #18 · Jul 28, 2008

magical pig said:
Hey, do you happen to know what kind of setup Michael plays on?

Victor.

I know that he plays an SBA tenor but beyond that I have no idea. I might be able to find out though.

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BobD

· #19 · Jul 29, 2008

I know I'm the minority here but I didn't like anything I heard. Don't like his tone, don't like his ideas. I listen to a lot too of jazz. I have tons of CD's from young,hawkins,webster to Coltrane,Rollins,Henderson,Getz,Bergonzi and Brecker etc. I just don't get this guys playing. I have to say that I don't really like Ornette coleman or later Coltrane either. So maybe I just don't get it.

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magical pig

Discussion Starter · #20 · Jul 29, 2008

First time I heard Lewis was with Happy Apple on their "Youth Oriented" album. I didn't like it very much. I thought hos tone was weird, his ideas and the way the band played did not make sense... but I kept coming back to that album for some reason I'm not sure of. Maybe because they play jazz where musicians play together. Anyway, the more I listened the more I dug it... Now, he and most of the bands he plays with are some of my favorite modern formations.

@Brian, cool let us know if you find out, I'd be very curious to know. I did not think he would be playing an SBA...

Victor.

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