BIG RUDE JAKE, singer-song-writer, band leader, blues
shouter, pop-culture philosopher and highly opinionated
loud-mouth is above all, a man in control. Says Jake, "Take
charge of the way you are perceived, or risk becoming
trapped in someone else's interpretation of who you are.
Choose a destiny, or one will be chosen for you!"
"But," he adds quickly, "You must be honest with yourself.
Your image has to suit you; to reflect who you really are and
what you stand for. For example, I could never be one of
those fellas you see these days; these male
singer/songwriters who pretend to be shy and aloof, mopey
and depressed... That meek and defeated attitude just
seems put on to me; you know; the sort of thing you
pretend to be to get girls. I remember a time when I tried to
be passive and coy in order to meet women. It just didn't
work. No one bought it for a second. There's nothing less
sexy than insincerity. So I just went completely the other
way..."
BIG RUDE JAKE draws influence from vastly different
places: Tom Waits, Duke Ellington, Nick Cave, Dr. John,
Jacques Brel, Cab Calloway, Bertolt Brecht, Raymond
Chandler, Ernest Hemingway and Damon Runyon alike have
made their mark on JAKE and his work.
JAKE started out in Toronto, Canada some nine years ago,
playing his brand of jazzy-jump-blues and cabaret-inspired
tunes long before anyone ever heard of the new "Swing"
movement. His dream was to bring his music to the same
venues that launched the careers of the Barenaked Ladies
and Sarah McLachlan. But, despite sold-out shows and a
massive grass-roots following across Canada, the Canadian
music biz considered JAKE as a popular curiosity with no
definable niche. "We were too jazz' for the rock critics, too
raunchy for the jazz critics, and too odd for anyone else,"
says JAKE. "Even the fact that I prefer to play acoustic
guitar over electric seemed to baffle some people. They saw
the acoustic guitar and thought I was a folk act!"
Eventually, JAKE gave up on the Canadian music industry
and moved to NYC in the fall of 1997. He brought his band
with him, but the musicians quickly realized that New York
was not for them and moved back to Toronto. That left Jake
alone and in a bad spot; it was winter in New York, and he
had no money, no band, no manager and no place to live.
But, in his usual take-charge manner, he pulled things
together, hired a new manager, found a new band and got
himself a place to live.
The new band formed in February of 1998 and went out to
tour the United States by April 1998. They spanned the U.S.
and "... took a dip into Canada so I could show the band that
we were actually popular somewhere..." laughs JAKE. They
began label showcases shortly after touring, and made the
connection with ROADRUNNER Records. Roughly six
months after the NYC band formed, JAKE signed his deal
and made a record slated for an early 1999 release.
Along with its Rockabilly , Rhythm and Blues and Swing
influenced tracks, JAKEs new record also features 2
Spoken-word pieces, one of which is a cool, Jazzy little
number entitled "East Side Jive" - "It has an Art Blakey
swing to it," informs Jake, "and is strongly influenced by the
form typical of West Coast rap, where you have the spoken
verse and some singing on the chorus." And then there is
the racy "Queer For Cat" (that also appears on Universal
Records CANADA's CD called JIVE'S ALIVE - THE BEST
OF SWING FOR 1998) which, like his Rockabilly-flavored
track, "Dinner With The Devil", is funny, yet
thought-provoking in the old Jazz tradition. "Buster Boy", a
Swing tune with a New Orleans clavae rhythm, and
"SpeakEasy", a sweet Ray Charles-ish ballad, round out the
self-titled album. The thread that runs through all the songs
on this record is the trademark humor, the Raymond
Chandler-esque grit, and the thoughtful poetics that are BIG
RUDE JAKE.
If you ask JAKE, Swing needs a voice that will take it to the
next level and he is ready to take that responsibility.
According to JAKE, the future of swing lies in it's ability to
become more than a leisure activity; more than a fashion
statement or dance craze. It has to speak about life in a
profound and meaningful way. "There was a time, some
thirty-odd years ago, when people thought rock was just a
fad. They thought that it was simply a happy-go-lucky, good
time music with no real message. Then, along came the
likes of Bob Dylan and John Lennon. Dylan wrote these
great, powerful songs and inspired a generation of
songwriters... he wrote about important social issues... he
talked about politics and relationships in clever and unique
ways... he was a 3-dimensional artist. He injected that
profound American folk tradition into rock and turned rock
into the voice of a generation, where as, before that, there
was really very little being said in rock, except expressing a
love for chicks and cars. Don't get me wrong; I love chicks
and cars, but it is my hope that Swing becomes an
important movement and a necessary development in
popular music."
One could even see JAKE as a political candidate of sorts...
the running "theme" to his debut release will be politics in
the old southern vein. JAKE aspires to sway the electorate
by keeping Swing music interesting, intelligent and fun. BIG
RUDE JAKE is a candidate for the ages... a man who'd get
your vote and a character slick enough to make you forget
the word "impeachment".
