Jazz for aficionados

@audio-b-dog 

Have you heard this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLJqeKHOCA4&list=OLAK5uy_k64-SZyjhnqd_DzzmgDkdDmoSBm8fICZo&index=2

RE: poetry, my poems are very much based in images. Thanks for your suggestion. 

@audio-b-dog 

You mentioned Grisman, which reminded me of Old and In The Way and his associate in that band, Vassar Clements, who was clearly not a Jazz musician but nevertheless quite "jazzy" in his approach. I’m guessing he was influenced in this regard by way of Western Swing. I’ve always liked his playing. 

On a completely different tangent, I once saw Yehudi Menuhin with Ravi Shankar and a band composed of L. A. studio players including Bud Shank and Dennis Budimir play outdoors in Ojai.  It was supposed to be some sort of Indo-Jazz Fusion but I don’t remember the music, as this was back in the 70’s. You can interpret that as you will ... ;o) 

@mahgister 

You’ve got me curious. Which heavenly bodies do you associate with other well-known trumpet players? 

@audio-b-dog 

I agree that Grisman transcends the genre, as do Tony Rice, Mark O’Connor, Chris Thile, Jerry Douglas, Sarah Jarosz, Bela Fleck and numerous others. Grisman’s pioneering Dawg Music led the way into a rich and fascinating cross pollination of acoustic genres that is ongoing. This new frontier attracts many gifted young players. I suspect many Boomers who complain about the supposed lack of high quality music at present are totally ignorant of this segment of music. Such a shame!

@mahgister 

It is just  subjective metaphors not something i felt to justify in debating.. You get it or you dont... 

FYI, I wasn’t challenging you. Just wanting to understand more clearly where you were coming from, which you did address when you said:

Chet Baker is the moon for me because his most of the times introvert playing is completely complementary in energy to extrovert Armstrong...

This makes sense. Thanks. 

@mahgister 

I can see how the dazzling, uplifting Armstrong would be the progenitor solar body and the nocturnal, melancholic Baker, the moon, but I'm not sure about Miles as Jupiter. Perhaps because Miles went through so many stylistic shifts, I'm finding it challenging to see what remained constant and characterize whatever that essence was, metaphorically. He was creatively restless; always looking forward to the next phase. I'm not sure what his capacity for reinvention suggests in terms of astronomnical phenomenon. He was of course one of the greatest band-leaders, in terms of magnetically bringing together shifting constellations of highly gifted players into his orbit or gravitational field... so many bright bodies... Coltrane, Hancock, Carter, Williams, Shorter, Holland, Corea, McLaughlin, Jarrett, etc. Perhaps if I was more scientifically astute, your analogy would be clearer to me.

@tyray 

I hadn’t heard that story but ’ol Hank sure enough had the Blues... no doubt about it.

@audio-b-dog 

I am envious of your luck, growing up in the Bay Area in that era! 

You are no doubt correct about each generation tending to focus upon whatever music they happened to grow up with. 

I didn’t see that K. Burns Country series. I will look for it. 

I don’t actually know much about Bluegrass but have been exploring what I simply call "new acoustic music" that often includes Bluegrass influences for some time. I’m happy to PM you with some recommendations if you are interested. There is much to explore in this territory where various genres overlap/intermix and there are some very fine players/singers who’ve found a home there. 

FWIW, Billy Strings doesn't really grab me, either. He's a fine player but I simply don't find his material very engaging. Same goes for Molly Tuttle.  

@audio-b-dog 

PM sent.

I seem to remember doing square dancing in elementary school, too. 

Have you heard any of Lloyd's later work for ECM, such as:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VoQCdsN_CA&list=OLAK5uy_ljS8UH12GPpvKKeKmZo7jh11jRuBXbxZU&index=2

@tyray 

Yeah -- it seems such "theft" is one of the defining characteristics of American musical genres, including Jazz ! 

@tyray 

Thanks for the links.

Love Ray Benson. 

So, is Malagueña Salerosa Mariachi or some other style?

I love how Ry Cooder incorporated Ranchera music into his Chicken Skin Review. There was a great interview in Guitar Player back in the 70’s where he described how he’d heard Ranchera on the radio in LA and was moved to buy an accordion and learn to play it. Then he tracked down Flaco Jimenez and eventually managed to convince him to join with Ry’s Gospel singer buddies in a new group. Who would’ve imagined such a stylistic mash-up would be successful?  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uiq61V_HPgg&list=PL5D5ADD135428963F&index=6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyCtEDGG_jI&list=PL5D5ADD135428963F&index=1

One of my all-time favorite groups.  

Oops-- I've managed to stray from Jazz again! 

@audio-b-dog 

I believe Django damaged his fingers in a fire. 

Richie Havens was playing in an open tuning.  Don’t know which one, offhand. As the open strings in that tuning produced a major triad, he was able to play major triads up and down the neck by barreing. . Playing minor triads is not nearly as easy, although completely do-able with a bit of practice. I don’t know whether Havens never learned or whether it was a musical preference but at times he would cover songs that included minor triads (as originally written) and play them with all major triads. BTW, his extended Woodstock performance of "Freedom" was made up on the spot, because the next scheduled act was not ready to go on and the festival organizers asked him to play more after his set was finished. Turned out to be one of the highlights!  

Ry Cooder has used open tunings a lot and not just for slide. He’s often played rhythm parts in open D. He also occasionally used a 6 string bass to play rhythm parts!  Open tunings can be a lot of fun. BTW, Dylan wrote/played most if not all the songs on Blood On the Tracks in open D. 

I will reconstitute the list I sent you via PM here, once I get back from walking the dog. 

@audio-b-dog 

This covers a wide range. A few aren’t solely acoustic but all clearly draw from acoustic genres. 

Instrumental:

Strength in Numbers: Telluride Sessions

Douglas, Meyer, Barenberg: Skip, Hop and Wobble 

Daryl Anger, Mike Marshall: Woodshop

Tony Rice Unit: Devlin

Chris Thile: Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Celtic "plus": 

Solas: The Words that Remain 

Mick McCauley and Winifred Horan: Serenade (Horan is a very accomplished, Classically trained violinist/fiddler) 

Bluegrass "plus":

Newgrass Revival: Hold to a Dream

Sarah Jarosz: Sarah Jarosz

Peter Rowan, Tony Rice: Quartet

Stray Birds: Magic Fire 

Steel Wheels: Live at Goose Creek 

Old Timey + Jazz 

Lindsay Lou and the Flatbellys: Ionia 

Folk "plus" : 

Birds of Chicago : Live from Space

 Aoife ’O Donovan: In the Magic Hour (really uncategorizable -- strong Classical influence)

Bluegrass + Jamband:

Railroad Earth: Last of the Outlaws (check out the suite-like middle portion)  

My categories are loose. There may be much here you don’t like. Taste is so subjective. But start with the first group and also check out Edgar Meyer and Mark ’O Connor discographies for more Classically inclined genre mash-ups. Check out Bela Fleck for Jazzier forays. Jerry Douglas solo recordings go in various stylistic  directions. Jazz is by no means a constant factor but does show up here and there. 

Perhaps you will find one or two titles that draw you into deeper explorations.

Thanks to our fellow jazz thread regulars for indulging us, here. 

@mahgister 

@audio-b-dog 

Coleman Hawkins must have influenced Coltrane on his improvisation on "Favorite Things," my favorite Coltrane piece. I do not understand the intricacies of music, but this sounds to me that it requires more virtuosity than "Love Supreme," but not as much soul.

 

Perhaps @frogman will opine on this topic...

@mahgister , @audio-b-dog 

Interesting and important topic! 

Question for both of you: is soulfulness the sole measure of "something worthwhile to say" as opposed to cold displays of technique? 

Can there also be music that, for example, is not overtly emotional but delights the mind/ear?  Could this still be described as "saying something about being human"? 

@audio-b-dog 

Seems to me, the fact that poetry utilizes musical elements is what allows it to rise above mere words. 

@audio-b-dog ​​@mahgister 

Thanks for your stimulating reflections!

@audio-b-dog

FWIW, I agree with @mahgister re: a new thread. 

@jafant 

One of my favorite Ralph Towner recordings: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5agrWMyeDo&list=PLs0HIvswAkQHhAjR_Rd2WR0BEShL7rQ9F

I saw Oregon in concert in the late 70’s -- one of the best live music experiences of my life. Truly magical.