Fchiman The band I've been playing with for 11 years, The Michael Thomas Quintet, just got nominated for a Grammy - September 26, 2009 add/view comments (0)

http://www.blackplanet.com/Fchiman/

Colleges and Universities

Recommend this profile to your Facebook friends.

Welcome to all!



This is the page of Fchiman.



There are a couple of things that I want to get on my soap box about so, bare with me for a minute or so.



As you know from my information outline to the left, I am a professional jazz musician. Not in the same vein as a Boney James, Kenny G, Najee, or some of the other instrumental R&B musicians. Now, I called their music instrumental R&B because that`s actually what it is. I don`t necessarily dis-like their music, it just ain`t jazz. If you were to substitute their instrument with a voice and keep the backround music, you`d see that it is in fact R&B, or Pop Rock, and not jazz. If you truely want to listen to some real jazz you`ll listen to musians like, Roy Hargrove, Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Brandford Marsalis, Marcus Printup (who I`ve played with), Dee Dee Bridgewater, Cassandra Wilson, Kevin Mahogany, Phillip Manuel, Neena Freelon, Betty Carter who in my opinion was one of the best ever (I had to add few jazz vocalists). Of course then there`s the older masters like Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ben Webster, Cannonball Adderly, Joe Henderson, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, Lee Morgan and the list goes on and on. My question would be why settle for the fake when you can have the real. I challenge you to open your ears and your mind if you haven`t already checked this beautiful music out. In jazz, all things are possible within the structure and groove of the music. The possibilities are only limited by the mind, spirit and technical ability of the musician you are listening to. I love jazz and I think that anyone who truely listens to the music will love it too.



Next, Politics.

My basic political philosophy is this: People who don`t participate in the political process get exactly what they deserve. They shouldn`t complain, but except the consequences of their inaction, because they, by not participating,inabled what ever situation they are complaining about. In this country we have rights. A man that didn`t have all the rights that we take for granted now, Fredrick Douglas, once said," what good does it do a man to have rights if he will not prize and fight for them"?! I believe in this statement whole heartedly. I am what I like to think of as an independent thinker. This means that I am not beholden to any political party or ideology. I vote for who supports the values that will help my family, my community, and my country (Yes, I believe this is my country as hard as my people have fought for it to spite it`s treatment of people of color).



On the lighter side, although my favorite music is jazz I do like a lot of different types of music(Reggae, Cuban, African, Classical, Latin, East-Indian, Native American, Hip Hop, Funk, of course Jazz, Fusion, Brazilian etc). In the realms of Hip-Hop I like artists who aren`t artistic cowards. That is, artists who are willing to take responsibility for the effect that their music and actions have on society at large. When Hip-Hop started out it was about squashing gang violence with the art of the party. This gangsta` thing has taken Hip-Hop somewhere it wasn`t meant to go. At least if you`re talking about the Hip-Hop that I know of that came out of New York. For already mis-guided kids in the "hood", this has been a tragedy, helping to push them over the edge. Not to mention what happened to Biggie and Tupac.........and the madness still goes on now with a number of rappers setting a bad examples for our children by being involved in violent acts, and showcasing this modern menstral-like attitude and behavior in their music and videos. In my opinion these people just don`t care, and should be boycotted along with the labels that support them. They are as bad as drug dealers and those africans who were supposed to be our brethren but sold us into slavery for self-profit. These ARTISTIC COWARDS are selling our children into a MENTAL slavery for self-profit. It`s all about the money. Not integrity! Anyway,.......... I digress.



I think that I am most happy when I know that something I did helped or empowered someone else. I guess that`s why I like to teach. I am a man of a few talents. I am a percussionist, trained on all the classical percussion instruments and specializing in jazz drumset. I am a martial artist trained in Shaolin Kungfu,Wing Chun and Jeet Kune Do. I like to read informative books and some novels. A book that I would recommend to all is "They Came Before Columbus" by Ivan Van Sertima, a brother from Germany. His book talks about African presence in America 200 years before Columbus. I would recommend it and all his other published works if you wish to know who we are as a people. I would also recommend "The Destruction of Black Civilization" by Chancellor Williams. It is the definative book that began to get to the bottom of why blacks are where they are in the world.



Anyway, I am also a christian spiritualist. I love to talk about the lord and spiritual issues.





I endeavor to always continue to push the independent jazz musician movement. You see, the music industry has all but declared war on jazz. It`s getting to where the only people who can get recording contracts are the musicians who do some type of popular music. There is a revolution that`s been brewing for a while amongst jazz musicians. They get websites and sell on line. These are well known musicians: Ralph Peterson, Gary Bartz, Cindy Blackman, Wycliff Gordon,Terri Carrington, Bobby Watson, Brandford Marsalis and many many others. I will be posting information on how to get their music. Make sure to go and check out the music that the music industry doesn`t want you to hear. Not only that, but send a strong message to the music industry by supporting these artists with your $Dollars$.



The group I play with,the Michael Thomas Quintet, has released three CD`s called "The Messenger", "The Awakening" and "It Is What It Is" on it`s own independent Jazhead label. I feel really good about this group. We have been together for 8 years at this point and have solidified our sound. I must say it is quite energetic! You can pick these CD`s up on line at www.jazhead.com or www.cdbaby.com. They are also in most of you local record stores. If not, you can order them and create a demand nation wide.



Special Thanks to my endorsers Grover Pro Percussion and Silverfox Percussion.



Check out my links at the bottom of this page for the websites of more independent jazz musicians and small independent labels. Please support. If you love jazz you will love what you hear and what`s more, you`ll be raging against the "machine" and fighting "the powers that be" that ARE corporate america.



More to come soon.



P.S. As Russel Simmons used to say, Thank you for coming, God bless and good.......... bye! ;)



P.P.S. Please, let me know you were here by signing my guest book or dropping me a line if the guest book is full.

You must login or register in order to send a Note.

Fchiman hasn't written any blog posts yet!