The newest installment of “A Day with 3sixteen” – a video series highlighting our typical work day – just released yesterday. We worked with Sarah Krusen on this particular piece which was filmed in November of last year, and are so thankful for the help of talented friends like her who are able to bring what we do to life in a visually stunning way. The first iteration of “A Day with 3sixteen” by Hilton Carter dropped early last year (click here to watch it) and it’s amazing to see how much has changed for us over the course of 2009. When working on this second video, it was important for Johan and I to spend a little bit of time talking about the people we work with, and what informs our design ideals as we put a collection together. Hopefully it gives you a little bit more insight into what we do and what’s important to us.

As always, we’d appreciate your help in spreading the word by passing the link onto friends – the response thus far has been great but we’d love for even more people to see it.

I’m pretty sure that I’ve listened to Art Blakey more than any other artist this past year. It started with his album Caravan – I was captivated not only by his raw, unadulterated drumming but also by the talented band members – on that particular album he played with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, both of whom moved on to very successful solo careers.

The second album that I picked up was Free For All.  I was staying up late to finish up some work, and decided to put it on in the background. The opening track captivated me to the point where I was unable to concentrate on anything else, so I just gave up and listened. There are so many nuances to this recording that I love – you can hear the bandmates cheering on Wayne Shorter on his ruthless opening solo, and Blakey’s sheer emotion coming out in groans during his drum solo at the end. Have a listen:

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After my third or fourth album, it began to occur to me that the Jazz Messengers (which Blakey co-founded with Horace Silver) had yielded an extremely impressive alumni list. Art Blakey’s ability to surround himself with some of the youngest and brightest up and comers in jazz began to intrigue me. On “A Night at the Birdland” he remarked:

I’m gonna stay with the youngsters. When these get too old I’ll get some younger ones. Keeps the mind active.

I’ve  always wondered what was it about him that allowed him to spot and cultivate talent so consistently.  The only other band leader that comes to mind is Miles Davis – but even so, the sheer amount of musicians that Blakey brought up far outshadows any other group bar none.  Some artists that I’ve discovered and have come to love through their involvement with the Jazz Messengers include Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Garrett, Lou Donaldson, Branford & Wynton Marsalis, Lee Morgan, Reggie Workman, and of course Wayne Shorter (my second favorite saxophonist of all time).

Below is a video that shows Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in their prime, performing live on a Japanese television show in 1961. This particular iteration of the Jazz Messengers featured Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, Lee Morgan on trumpet, Bobby Timmons on the keys and Jymie Merritt on upright bass. Enjoy.

Lily and I will be spending the next 10 days in the beautiful city of Paris visiting family, eating, and shopping. It sure would be nice to run into something like this while we’re here:

Sade came on the radio while Johan, Chris and I were driving around LA. After first discussing our favorite tracks, I mentioned this being her best video in my opinion. The video for “Never As Good As the First Time” is also good but makes less sense. Sade on a horse across a desert, I get it. Kids practicing bullfighting and random guys drinking in a saloon, unclear. I couldn’t quite follow the story she was trying to communicate – if you have any insight that would be great.