Jazz for aficionados

Rok, your post was so beautifully accurate, that I'm not going to spoil the spell it cast by my ugly social comments.

Enjoy the music.

Acman, this is the very fist time I've heard this lady; she's as good as the great jazz divas of the past. What I like is no exaggerated scatin, everything just flows naturally.
I'll have to get this album.

Gil Scott Heron was a man who always had something heavy to say, he was no lightweight; I'm sure he would be proud of her interpretation and presentation of his words. It's good to hear there is new stuff out that I need to add to my collection.

"Peace Go With You Brother"

Rok, the slides on my first clip told us a lot about the Delta; those juke joints weren't as big as a lot of folks living rooms, and judging by the coats worn, they were only suitable when it was cool. The most deprived people in the United States of America came out of the Mississippi Delta.

"I see a resilient people that contributed great things under trying conditions." Crap! Even when Black people were "resilient" enough, and worked hard enough to buy their own land, politicians made laws to to take it from them. Other people hear the music, I hear the denial of an education; that's probably the most authentic thing about "Delta Blues"; but the best thing about the Delta is all that deprivation made them leave in droves. Here's Albert KIng's "Cadillac Assembly Line",

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfO1MhbJqsE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOQE41oeHaY

One of the clips is for you to see Albert King, the other is for you to hear Albert King. I saw him so many times in the late 50's and early 60's, that I can close my eyes, see and hear him now.

I saw some of those people after they caught that jet to Detroit and went to work on somebody's assembly line making top wages in the middle 60's to early 70's. People I visited lived in nice homes, drove new cars, and dressed elegantly. All people need is an opportunity, they'll do the rest.

Today it's not just the people from the Delta who don't have the opportunity to earn an "honest living".

Enjoy the music.

Yes, I've heard of Appalachia; they seem to regard poverty as a minority disease they caught, and are ashamed of it, it's not politicians that hide non minority poverty, but the people themselves. Right now, non minority poverty is worse than it's ever been at any time other than the great depression. Non minorities make camps in the middle of nowhere, and live in busses, cars, trucks, and home made shacks; these are people who would be employed working a decent job if they had found one, but now they quit looking so no longer even count as unemployed.

Been to Detroit lately? Have you ever heard of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement or the Trans Pacific Partnership? How about "Globalization"? All of those things stand for loss of jobs, and Mo money for the rich.

"The women are all married to Uncle Sam". This statement is lower than whale feces; it blames the victim for the crime.

"The Great Society" The political scam of the 20th century should go to conservatives for propagating as conventional wisdom that the Great Society programs of the 1960's were a misguided and failed social experiment that wasted taxpayers money. Nothing could be farther from the truth. (I'll discuss this at lenth if you like)

Detroit looked like the gleaming city of "Oz" in the 60's; remember "Motown". It looked that way because of all those assembly lines: Cadillac, Pontiac, Gray Hound Bus, and those are just the ones I remember; were paying top wages and going full blast. I saw more new cars on the streets of Detroit than I ever saw anywhere before or since. I also went to Mississippi, this was about the time "Ode To Billy Joe" came out. I thought I must have passed through some kind of time warp without knowing it; the service stations were even old fashioned, everything seemed to be from a different era.

I learned a lot about the people of Mississippi from reading "Eudora Welty" and Faulkner, the people got a kind of backwardness that's passed down from generation to generation; for example when things are going real bad, they say "It could be worse, you could have been born black".

Frogman, you might as well jump on in, but whatever it is were talking about, let us "quantify", How big is it? How much does it weigh? What caused it?. To suggest that people not working are lazy and want welfare is "Hogwash". You can not get a new car, new house, clothes and furniture on welfare. The best a person can do on welfare is get a bottle of wine to drown his sorrow.

If we are going to debate anything, let us be honest about it, and that's easy to do because we have instant information at our fingertips.

This foray into social aspects of the blues, is my doing, and I take full responsibility of anything adverse it causes. My thoughts and emotions, which are nothing new, have absolutely nothing to do with the music itself, but the social conditions of the creators of "The Delta Blues". Maybe it's best if we continue our regular scheduled broadcast, but I never fail to enjoy debating Rok, and maybe "the truth" has more than one side.

Enjoy the music.

Beside "Albert King", who is my favorite, I like da wolfman, "Howlin Wolf", and my favorite tune by him is "Howlin For My Darlin".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dkdtmQ9cxQ

Rok, gals at the Juke Joint could really shake it up off "Killing Floor". (Juke Joints in Chicago were bigger than the one's in the Delta) I didn't know we liked the same "Wolfman" until I posted.

Enjoy the music.

Acman, Charenee Wade's offering the music of Gil Scott Heron, and Brian Jackson is a very sensitive work of art. When I consider the source of the comment that Gil Scott Herron sucks, that's a testament to the authenticity of this work.

Gil Scott Heron is described as a "Jazz Poet", and Charenee Wade's vocals capture the musical aspects of his work, while his words capture the struggles of people living in the city on the lower economic level, and they do this with a delicate sensitivity. On "Peace Go With You Brother" it's about people who have been so close to him, that they feel the right to criticize. Instead of him saying, "get out of my face and my business" as he would have done in the past, he makes the soft statement "Peace Go With You Brother", there's no point in arguing.

This album is a complete work of art, in other word each individual cut is a part of one unified work that makes a statement about trying to find peace, and at the same time survive in the inner city without violence, and continue the struggle for human rights; that's a tall order. Charenee and her musicians project a soft beauty that I could listen to all night long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ34PlV_K4U

I chose this one to give an example of the soft beauty.

Enjoy the music.

First and foremost, this thread is titled "Jazz For Aficionados"; it don't say nothing about "Blues For Aficionados". I'm putting this trolley back on the right track. We'll begin with "Jazz Impressions of Eurasia", this man was far ahead of time, "Mr. Dave Brubeck" I'm talking about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qNlHh4FiZo

Enjoy the music.

It don't take much of Da Blues for me to git Da Blues, and when that happens I have to git back to jazz. By the way, I had a birthday in September, I am now two days older than black pepper; when you get my age you forget what you said two days ago, "So What"!

Enjoy the music.

Frogman, I gave your post on Tom Harrell a long review, I don't know what happened to it, but now I have to do it over again.

Enjoy the music.

Frogman, on "Moon Alley", by Tom Harrell; this has the same feel as Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage", but with much better sonics and recording quality; I like it.

The title of the tune "Moon Alley"; are we in an alley to the moon, is the alley just brightly lit by moonlight; when I combine "Maiden Voyage" and "Moon Alley", we're on a Maiden Voyage in an alley that takes us to the moon; got to use your imagination.

Enjoy the music.

Rok, you didn't comment on "Pepper Adams Plays Mingus". This music is for "very serious" fans of Charles Mingus. While it's fundamentally the same, when you "Pontificate" each and every note, it's not. Since I'm going to Pontificate each and every note, I must have it.

Enjoy the music.

"Mingus Minus Mingus", didn't think about it, but that's exactly what this was. His music can be played and heard on a deeper level; I know that sounds trite, but there is nothing shallow about Mingus's music. On the second clip, he was just as much into anthropology, as he was music; that would be brooding.

Mingus was a deep and heavy thinker who expressed his thoughts. "Can you imagine him and Miles stuck in a car from New York to LA, with Mingus rapping, and Miles unable to put two sentences together before giving out".

Enjoy the music.

Here's something really different from "Grant Green"; he could come from so many different directions that it boggles the mind, this is from a movie score he did,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYEwMoWaEpU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxiMprePISA

While this is nice, I couldn't find what I was looking for on that LP; try other cuts from "The Final Comedown"

This is it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah2pkB0rCHc&list=PLfWNpbMTJWM8amiDFzDY3Kv3sdmgD_Y3b

Enjoy the music

Good to hear from you alex. Serge's music is "West Coast" all the way; somehow it sounds better in LA, that's because the West Coast has a different vibe. This music sounded a lot better to me in the 50's than it does now.

In order for this music to resonate, or sound it's best, I have to listen and go back to the time when it was hot. Now that I'm there, I recall seeing Serge's name a lot, it was when West Coast was hip. His music and name are bouncing around in my mind, when I put it altogether I'll get back to you.

Enjoy the music

Rok, you got the same problem with this as I had with "Da Blues", I can't hear the music because so many other factors surrounding the music keep flooding my mind.

"Blaxsploitation" was a very appropriate name for that music, and picture genre. I never saw nor wanted to see this movie, I only saw the record at a record sale, and I bought every record I saw by Grant Green, no matter what. Unlike Miles, I never sold a Grant Green record. I never saw, nor did I ever want to see this movie, but I liked the music independent of the movie.

Now to answer another question and story about music.

"I think this may have been that movie we discussed a long time ago", Learsfool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OKQdp6iGUk

This story is in reference to this movie and music.

It was in the winter of 59 that I got stranded, and a beautiful woman offered me shelter. I know you've seen enough movies to know what happens next. Well the scriptwriter really flubbed it on this movie because all I got was shelter, even though it was all night.

She had every album Miles put out up until that time. I think her latest acquisition was "Jazz Track" which was the score for that movie. I liked everything she had by Miles except that, it was too dark and brooding, besides, I didn't see the movie.

Fast forward to recently after I saw the movie; that's the best sound track I ever heard, life is strange.

Enjoy the music

Rok, you got the same problem with this as I had with "Da Blues", I can't hear the music because so many other factors surrounding the music keep flooding my mind.

"Blaxsploitation" was a very appropriate name for that music, and picture genre. I never saw nor wanted to see this movie, I only saw the record at a record sale, and I bought every record I saw by Grant Green, no matter what. Unlike Miles, I never sold a Grant Green record. I never saw, nor did I ever want to see this movie, but I liked the music independent of the movie.

Now to answer another question and story about music.

"I think this may have been that movie we discussed a long time ago", Learsfool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OKQdp6iGUk

This story is in reference to this movie and music.

It was in the winter of 59 that I got stranded, and a beautiful woman offered me shelter. I know you've seen enough movies to know what happens next. Well the scriptwriter really flubbed it on this movie because all I got was shelter, even though it was all night.

She had every album Miles put out up until that time. I think her latest acquisition was "Jazz Track" which was the score for that movie. I liked everything she had by Miles except that, it was too dark and brooding, besides I didn't see the movie.

Fast forward to recently after I saw the movie; that's the best sound track I ever heard, life is strange.

Enjoy the music

Frogman, you gave us so much information, it's going to take me a week to digest it. I had forgotten how good "West Coast" can sound; it's all about getting into that kind of groove. Have a nice weekend; get back to you Monday with my take on all this new Baritone information.

"I think the idea of the "forgotten player" or the player that "didn't get his due" is mainly overstated and often a myth."

Frogman, I couldn't agree with you more. Pepper Adams was "DA MAN"; everybody who was somebody selected Pepper Adams as a sideman, remember the guy everybody wanted on their side in softball? Pepper Adams was that guy in jazz. Gonna cut a new record, need a baritone; "Where is Pepper Adams"?

"Pre be-bop style sensibilities"; while I never defined music in that manner, my brain automatically did it for me, and called that music "Old fashioned".

I went to this clip to demonstrate soprano sax with Trane and became fixated with McCoy Tyner on piano, this is about the time I saw Trane live; McCoy Tyner was just so right at that time, (not too many notes) he was the glue that kept things together when Trane decided to take off for parts unknown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGck-DRAFyw

Enjoy the music.

Alex, a good local musician can make a good living, so I recently discovered. Nothing compared to a touring musician, but good never the less. They had to drag "Grant" out of St. Louis; they couldn't even drag Eddie Fisher out. There are other local musicians who got into drugs. Grant is the only "famous" musician from St. Louis I knew personally. My friend was not from St. Louis, and if I ever mentioned his name, I would be hounded down to fill in missing time and pieces, which I'm not going to do.

There is someone else on this forum who might have figured out his name, and we had a squabble about revealing personal stuff, so me friend's personal life will remain personal. I'll never attach a name to negative personal information I know; think about the guys heirs.

Wardell Grey died in May 1955, and I discovered him in June 1956; so he was dead when I discovered him. My cousin had a lot of his records, but those records are no longer available, and I don't like most of the records that are available; recording quality didn't matter as much back then. All in all, it doesn't seem to matter a lot; that's because the music we like is not for this generation.

Bird survived because not only was he good, but he kept evolving, and he was playing in so many different styles when he was alive; "Bird With Strings", is just as fresh today, as it was the day he made it, and the recording quality is good.

Not many people have a bottom tier of records as good as yours, and I want to thank you for sharing them with us.

Enjoy the music.

Rok, it seems you have the most complete list of reasons for not being on the list of greats. I seem to know many of them personally; some even had beautiful wives they didn't want out of their sight for too long, or was that a tennis player who retired after he reached the top, decided to come back in, and didn't make it.

After thinking about all of those, would have, should have, could have people; I have a lot more respect for guys like Donald Byrd who changed style so many times, and survived at the the top for the duration of his life.

Enjoy the music.

This is truly "World" music because they borrow sounds from around the Globe. On "Kiko" they begin with Japan, stop in Africa, and then on to Australia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWGKwNt9NY8

I know I've posted "Yulunga" before, but I find it hypnotic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z42ENG79hTo

Dead can dance "Rare Trax", this is more drums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KdXjFDKVZA

Enjoy the music.

Hey guys, this is on the wrong thread, it should be on Inna's thread.

My favorite artist who should have gotten more recognition is "Lorez Alexandria", and this is my favorite version of "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWXimvRssmQ

This is the version that resonates with me personally; my only complaint is that it could be longer.

Here is another one I like by Lorez.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH3own5sERU

Enjoy the music.

It seems to me that the musicians that didn't get their due recognition are "West Coast", and musicians I actually met in LA told me they were making a good living out there, and didn't want to hit the road. What they didn't realize is that most musicians are only hot for a short time, and they have to make the most of it because their going to live a lot longer than the short time their hot.

Right now their doing benefits for local musicians who have outlived their popularity or are just too old to perform. Here in St. Louis our local jazz station has gotten involved.

Enjoy the music.

Rok, it seems your taste in jazz is improving with age, while the rest of you is just getting old.

I'll give your posts an in depth listen and review tomorrow.


Enjoy the music.

Rok, what are friends for; Boo! Boo! Boo!, Hss! Hss! Hss!. Now that I got that out of the way, I'll listen to the clip.

"Just throw me back in the alley, and let me roll with the rest of the tin cans". The first time I heard that, I was two miles below "Tupelo". "Nawlins here I come".

That's what I call fun music, and I'm going to just have some fun and enjoy it. They certainly had a good time.

Enjoy the music.

When you're young, the most important musicians are the one's you can see live. Famous

musicians could be in town every weekend, but I couldn't afford to see them. Live beats

famous all day long when your only option for the famous is what you have at home to play

them on.

Although we can't all share the local musicians I saw every weekend, I can tell you about

them, and you can tell me about the musicians where you are. Of course Frogman is exempt

since he lives in New York.

"Leo's 5" was one of my favorite groups, along with the "Trio Trebien", I saw them quite

often; this is when I was much younger in the 60's, and that certainly made a difference.

"Sam Lazarr" was a local musician I enjoyed. This gives you an idea of what I heard. Nothing compares to being on a live set with friends or a beautiful lady, all dressed elegantly in the fashions of the day. It seems I particularly liked the warm sound of guitar and organ when it was below 0 and snow outside. There's something exhilarating about an organ that can not be duplicated on the set up at home, even when it's "high end".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-tAMbi54-0

"Eddie Fisher" was an artist I saw often, he could work that "Third Cup" in and out so many different ways for an hour, and nobody would be tired of it; that's the mark of a great musician. Everybody knew Eddie Fisher was a great musician except "Eddie Fisher".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuAQFFOuy3c

As I'm listening to it, what it means to be on a live is coming to me; easy going soft conversation about the music and musicians, nothing ever loud enough to disturb the music. That warm feeling you get when you're in the company of like minded people.

Alex and Frogman, you both came up with so many "truths" in regard to why some people make the grade in regard to great, that you agree on, why don't you let me deal with what you don't agree on.

Enjoy the music.

Rok, while every word you spoke was gospel truth, we are comparing recorded to live. I was only feet away from both players when I heard them; no recording, and no recording equipment can duplicate organ, not even high end.

Let's take our present conversation into relatively unknown musicians, you saw live, that you thought were fantastic. Fantastic female vocalists don't make it when they're not pretty. "Koko Taylor" must have gotten her start before television.

Rok, when you lived in Endicott, N.Y. you liked the house organist; that's what I'm talking about when comparing live versus recorded. The range of an organ is too great for any recording equipment; that guy you heard probably sounded better live, than Jimmy Smith sounded on record.

I saw a blues guitarist in Lovejoy, Ill. that was too fantastic for words. Albert King lived in Eagle Park Acres; that was a suburb of Lovejoy, Illinois; talking about the boonies, when it got dark in Eagle Park Acres, bright headlights was like lighting a candle. That must have reminded him of Mississippi; but it was an easy drive to St. Louis.

Share your experiences of hearing fantastic unknown musicians live.

Enjoy the music.

Rok, if there were only two people I would want to say that I saw live, they would be Lou Rawls, and Nancy Wilson. When I saw them on DVD they projected as live, and Lou Rawls was close to live on records when he sang about the Chicago South Side. He brought a fantastic place to life, that is no more.

"South Side Soul" is a record Alex brought to my attention of this fantastic place that is projected in the music of John Wright. They even honor John Wright to this day in Chicago for capturing the soul of "The South Side", and putting it on a record. Lou Rawls put "South Side Soul" on records in the form of his words and song. It was one of those places that is left to live in the memories of the people who experienced the magic of "South Side Soul", and nowhere else. This was the "hippest" coolest place I've ever been in my life, unfortunately I was in my middle teens and could only read signs like "Miles Davis appearing nightly"; and this was at a small club that I passed on my daily walks.

Chicago nights were cool at that time, and I liked to borrow one of my cousins best sport coats, or sweaters and stroll Cottage Grove between 65th and 63rd street where the El Train ran. It was just as brightly lit at night as it was in the day, and you might even get a glimpse of "Dinah Washington" going to the Pershing Lounge; she both entertained there, and went there to be entertained; that's where Ahmed Jamal made his famous record, and he was also the "House Band". I think Dinah Washington lived in the neighborhood back then.

When I went back to Chicago as an adult, the place had changed so much I hardly recognized it. We, all the people who rode on that magic carpet, still have the music of Lou Rawls, and John Wright.

Enjoy the music.

It looks like this might happen all over again;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcASVdqUeOo

Out of all the beautiful cuts by Eddie Harris, I think this is the most beautiful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-RIqDbEl4k

It seems I got stuck on Eddie Harris, that's easy to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBrV2XYJP7k

Enjoy the music.

Rok, Every time I see or hear one of the great one's, I have to check to make sure they're still with us. I'm glad to see that Aaron Neville is still touring.

I only realized from your posts how important "Nawlins" is to our musical heritage. Going all the way back to my late teen years when I "snuck" into one of the larger "juke joints" where a blues band was playing. What I didn't know, was those slick piano licks he was hittin came from Nawlins, and they came there so long ago nobody knows where they came from, but whoever is playing the piano claims them; most say "the Professor" brought them to town.

Dr. John is like a museum for Nawlins; he keeps all the old ways like "Gri Gri", and other "hoodoo" stuff alive. Baron Smedi, who is on the cover of "Creole Moon" was in an episode of "Miami Vice" where "Legba", a voodoo high priest from Haiti captured "Tubs" when he went undercover.

Here's "Bruha Bembe" from "Creole Moon";

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA-ZaD7QtGw

Enjoy the music.

Rok, I can hear one of my childhood friends laughing 0n that record; he must have painted a mustache and wore a big hat to get in the Pershing because he definitely wasn't old enough. I would know that "donkey" laugh of his anywhere. I don't know exactly where on the record this appears, but listen for an unmistakable "donkey" laugh and you'll know that's him.

You most certainly would not have minded getting kidnapped by "Legba's" lady who "Tubs" tried to rescue, she was incredibly beautiful; look it up on "you tube".

I never heard of "George Russel", but I will see what I can find by him; what I found by him on "you tube" sure sounded good. From what I read, that you pointed out, he was most certainly what you would call a musical genius in the academic sense.

Enjoy the music.

How's this for scat singing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otj5g_Bpq_U

Enjoy the music.

Frogman, this is the cut Rok spoke of, it's pretty good. Is there anything academic on this record you would care to point out? The recording quality is exceptional, all things considered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yGof9LU73c

This is what you posted on another thread, I like it; this connects with something in the back of my mind that I'll have to catch up with; the bottom line is we never got real Cuban music over here, just some kind of filtered jive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUjpFi9NRNM&app=desktop

I'm thinking about going into the best jazz bass player next. This came to me when I was listening to the reel, and thought "that guy on bass is out of sight" and I still don't know who it was. As I explained before, I listen to my PC play list, and reel a lot, therefore I don't have who I'm listening to in front of me. It seems I'm stymied by bass players more than on any other instrument. Best composer who plays bass, might not translate into best bass payer; Just a thought.

Enjoy the music.

Right on Rok! I'm with you all the way; go with the flow, do what you feel, may the spirit guide you, and the force be with you.

About my learning experiences; I've been to a university or two, at least I walked across the campuses (never got a pedigree) but I never learned as much in such a short time as I have from you guys quite recently.

We'll go just like we've been going "quite recently", do what you feel, and I'll improvise.

Enjoy the music.

That's what happens when you're in a hurry. This is what should have happened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylXk1LBvIqU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03juO5oS2gg

Enjoy the music.

Wolf_garcia, I'm glad you brought that up. Music can not be created in a vacuum, the musician must have something to inspire him, he has to feed on the broader society and other musicians, creativity does not come out of thin air, as so many people believe.

The overall quality of life outside of your perfect listening room, in this country, has been deteriorating for years, and that's reflected in the creativity of the musicians, or more specifically the "music". In the past, there was so much more to feed the musicians creative muse, as well as many more creative musicians. This is reflected in today's music. While the musicians today, might be as good as the musicians of yesterday, the music just ain't there. No one has searched harder for new music than me. Every year I'm left with the option of something new and boring, or going back to the past.

Brad Mehldau is very good, but his music just doesn't convey the living emotion of jazz musicians in the past. I would love to spend an evening out listening to his music live, but in my listening room, I could do so much better, that it's doubtful Brad would get much play.

Even the best musicians who are still alive from better times in the past, don't seem to do much better than Brad Mehldau; consequently my search for the best music always takes me back to the past in hopes of finding something I haven't heard before. Although I'm in what's called a "phase lock loop", I will give every musician you mentioned a thorough listen.

Before I go to another record, I want everyone to know how much I've been enjoying listening to the music from their lists.

When we put that record on the TT or that CD in the player, we're in the present, not in the past. At this moment, "Lee Morgan" is in the house, and "Search For The New Land" is on the TT. Lee Morgan, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, tenor sax; Grant Green, guitar; Herbie Hancock, piano; Reggie Workman, bass; Billie Higgins, drums.

On most of my records, it's the aggregate contributions of the individuals that make the whole album. That's true on this record as well, except on the cut "Search For The New Land", it, the composition takes center stage, and the musicians become actors playing their parts in a play. This music was way ahead of it's time.

It opens with Wayne Shorter's deep tenor sax, evoking for me, a vision of choreographed dancers searching for the new land. They're taking long steps to the beat of Reggie Workman bass, and Billie Higgins drums, using their hands for visors as they search. They continue moving in rhythm to Workmans pounding bass, as Lee's piercing staccato trumpet joins in momentarily, drums and pounding bass set the steady pace, while Grant Green's sinuous guitar joins in. Workmans bass keep the dancers moving as Herbie's piano comes in providing an exotic setting.

When you have musicians as fantastic as these together, all of the music has to be equally fantastic, but after a composition like "Search For The New Land"; as exceptional as the rest of the music is, it's anticlimactic. This is one album no serious collector should be without.

We're blessed to be audiophiles and have this caliber of music in our collections. Few people can derive the pleasure from music that we do.

Enjoy the music.

Learsfool, "Blue Train" is my number one train, along with my 101 train. I like your list, and most of those CD's are in my collection.

Frogman, New York Voices do a real nice vocal of "Stolen Moments" from "Blues And The Abstract Truth". I go to sleep on "Clifford Brown With Strings", and dream about Nancy Wilson With Cannonball Adderly. Anything on your list that I don't have, I will certainly give it a listen.

Rok, Dee Dee Bridgewater is truly smokin on that CD, her voice becomes another jazz musical instrument.

Gz3827, "Prime Cuts" is a CD that had been hiding in my collection until just recently, it's fantastic.

Acman3, New Tijuana Moods is an old favorite of mine. I've been a Mingus fan since "Mingus Ah Um". I was attracted to the album cover.

Pnmeyer, I have 5 of the CD's on your list, and it's for sure I'll give the ones I don't have a listen.

Enjoy the music.

Today's CD is "Bean Bags", featuring Milt Jackson and Coleman Hawkins, with Tommy Flanagan, piano; Kenny Burrell, guitar; Eddie Jones, bass; Connie Kay, drums. As "aficionado's" know, "Beans" is Coleman Hawkins, and "Bags" is Milt Jackson; hence the title of the album.

"Close Your Eyes" is the first cut. Tommy Flanagan's piano opens it with the melody, and next we have interplay between "Beans" deep tenor sax and "Bags" ringing vibes. The notes from those vibes just hang in the air ringing forever, that's why I can tell his vibes from any other vibes. Him and "Beans" deep burley tenor have back and forth interplay, communicating in that musical language that we can only enjoy and admire.

Now, the notes from Kenny Burrell's resonant guitar are leaping out of the left channel, while Tommy Flanagan is "compin" on piano in the right channel with Eddie Jones keeping a steady bass beat in the center. All the while Connie Kay is doing that cool thing with the brushes that he does so well, I'm in heaven.

"Sandra's Blues" is my favorite on this CD. Music can tell stories, and communicate emotions, like no words can even come close to, but I'll try. Sandra is in that deep blue funk which only time can heal. There is nothing anyone can do about the series of tragic events that put her in this state of mind, but "Bean" and the boys are doing their best to tell her story, and soothe Sandra's aching heart with their music. We get to listen to "Sandra's Blues".

Enjoy the music.

There is a specific reason why I haven't gone into records as opposed to CD's. In my opinion, halfway is a waste of money, and all the way is very expensive. "All the way" according to me, is a class "B" rig as rated by Stereophile including a Class "B" cartridge. Class "C" is more or less what you had before CD, and when compared to CD that was nothing special.

In my opinion, this is a case of "run with the big dogs, or stay at home". The only reason I've expressed this is because while records and CD's are a very important part of our lives, I don't want any one to waste money. Now that I've expressed my opinion, all recommendations in regard to outstanding analogue are more than welcome, and "Analogue Productions" seem to be doing things the way they should be done.

Enjoy the music.

I like the way this conversation has touched on a controversial subject. Music is life and life is real. Now we can get back to real music, and let the music speak for itself, in regard to "all subjects" without highlighting any other subjects separately.

Nina Simone might be my favorite vocalist. Her musical life began in church, and she also studied and worked hard to become a concert pianist. She was playing piano at a lounge to pay for her schooling as a concert pianist, when the owner asked her to sing. The rest is history.

Since everyone knows all about her vocal talents, I'll focus on another aspect of the talented Ms. Nina Simone. That gal plays a mean jazz piano, and it's so unique, that the only other pianist I can compare it to is "Bud Powell". I've compiled a list of some of her instrumental contributions to jazz. "African Mailman", "Flo Me La", "Nina's Blues", and "Blues On Purpose" are a sampling of her prowess on jazz piano.

Enjoy the music.

We made a wrong turn, I hope we can acknowledge that fact, drop it 100% and move on. Otherwise we all lose.

Never before have I been in a conversation with so many astute jazz aficionados. They can contribute to the most important aspect of an audiophile's enjoyment, and that is "good" new music. "New" in this case being music you haven't heard before.

Frogman demonstrated his expertise in two musical genres. I mentioned a movie by the wrong title, and made a comment about the music. He came back with the movie by it's correct title, who wrote the soundtrack, and why the music was Cuban as opposed to Brazilian. Next, he posted on "Tina Brooks", who was an under appreciated tenor sax player, that only the most astute aficionados are aware of. Lately, I've been able to "hear" Tina Brooks. Only when, and if, you're on the resonant frequency of the music being played can you "hear" it, otherwise it's just noise.

When musical treasures are out in the open, and people are walking right past them, no one considers them a treasure, especially after this has occurred over a period of many years. If this treasure was so special, some one would have pointed it out after all this time, they say; not necessarily so.

Nina Simone was an accomplished classical pianist, who had been rooted in the church; she was playing piano at a lounge to fund the continuation of her education as a classical pianist when the owner told her to sing. Before this, the thought of singing for a living never entered her mind. Of course you know the rest, but now I'm going to tell you what this aficionado knows, that most don't know.

Nina's piano is a combination of gospel, jazz, and classical. It's one of the most unique jazz pianos I've ever heard. If she hadn't sang, she would be famous as a jazz or classical pianist. This musical treasure will soon disappear. Each new compilation only includes the vocals, I don't know what happens to the instrumentals, and before long, no one else will either. They only appear on the original LP's or CD copies of those LP's and not on the compilations, that's why they're disappearing. Fortunately you can enjoy them on "You tube". Here's the list: Nina's Blues, Flo Me La, Blues On Purpose, African Mailman, and Good Bait.

All past contributions to this thread have been much appreciated, and your future contributions will be appreciated even more.

Enjoy the music.

"Soul Jazz", that sounds like an appropriate name for the music presented by this aggregation. However, I beg to differ in regard to the home thing. I picture myself seated at a table with a beautiful lady who enjoyed jazz even more than me. Kenney Burrell's resonant guitar is the perfect compliment to Stanley's sax and Shirley's organ. There's nothing like the scintillating feeling you get from live music reverberating in your ear; the most expensive rig can't even come close, and since this is my fantasy, that's the way I'm hearing it.

"The Electrifying Eddie Harris" is my pick. Artists on this album were: Eddie Harris - tenor saxophone, varitone
Melvin Lastie, Joe Newman - trumpet
King Curtis - tenor saxophone
David Newman - tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone
Haywood Henry - baritone saxophone
Jodie Christian - piano
Melvin Jackson - bass
Richard Smith - drums
Ray Barretto, Joe Wohletz - percussion.

"Theme in Search of a Movie" is just that, it sounds like every beautiful musical score you've ever heard, all rolled into one. Some of Eddie Harris's most beautiful music is on this LP, while his most exciting music was with him and Les McCan, on "Compared to What". That music is just as real and relevant today as it was then.

Jazzcourier, Mintons, a small joint in New York city, could hardly be called a "Public forum". Rok, if the JATP is your concept of jazz, that was dead a long time ago. Some reasons for the death of jazz are quite controversial, some aren't, like economics for example.

Beyond the death of jazz in this country, it has evolved in other parts of the world. Here's one example of the evolution of jazz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2iGwIl-qig

Enjoy the music.

If I told you I went west, and believed in all my heart that I in fact went west, when after looking at a map, you discovered I went east; I would have told you a forgivable "untruth". Such is the case of one Mr. Art Pepper.

After listening to some fantastic music by Mr. Art Pepper, I discovered he was mistaken in regard to the "Bird's" influence on his playing; however, there is no mistake in regard to Mr. Pepper's talents as a jazz alto saxophonist.

Art Pepper + Eleven has a stellar cast of "West Coast" jazz musicians, and Mr. Pepper sounds more "east coast" than any of them, such was the case of "Bird's" influence. His spell over jazz in the 50's was so strong, that even those who made every effort to avoid it, came under it's magic, and such was the case of one Mr. Art Pepper. By any standards, this CD is tops.

Enjoy the music.

When this "West Coast" jazz was current, I thought it was slow and "lame", now,some of it sounds quite "hip", possibly because I can appreciate "cerebral" music more. This much West Coast certainly wasn't available at my "mid west" record store when it was new, and what was available disappeared. I believe that's what's going to happen all over again. I suggest everyone thoroughly browse these CD's. Here's Gerry Mulligan doing "I Want To Live".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Ne0Ig9lDU

Enjoy the music.

Chico Hamilton, who was a West Coast drummer, evolved into one of my favorite musicians. I never thought of him as a drummer, for the same reason I never thought of Mingus as a bassist. They were just very creative musicians.

After the West Coast thing, Chico captured my attention with "Conquistadores". I played it over and over; each time it sounded better than the time before. Here it is for your enjoyment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXdMnwERjG0

Now, I probably have more Chico Hamilton LP's and CD's than any other single artist; he comes out of so many different bags, that you never know what he's going to do next. I'll just give you whatever I can find that's on you tube which is also in my collection.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWB9ZN1lFLU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPbKEILdeKk

Enjoy the music.