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As the title of the tune says, "It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing". Enough said.
The youtube that followed was Ella and Ellington performing the same tune.
Youtube trying to make comparisons?
Bass clarinet? You have heard of Eric Dolphy?
Cheers |
O-10:
Got my CDs today, includes 'Dinah Jams'. Do you realize who's in the group backing her? Clifford Brown, Clark Terry, Maynard Ferguson, Harold Land, Junior Mance and Max Roach. Plus a few I am not that familiar with.
Fairly decent Trumpet section!! Will report after I listen. Also got two by Shorter.
I have two CDs by Mary Williams. 'Zoning' and 'Zodiac Suite'. From her younger days. I will check to see if she did 'Scorpio' justice.
Cheers |
****Have you ever looked at an old black and white photograph that was so old that it was turning brown, and been drawn into it? I'm drawn into the sound of her piano;*****
Solo piano can do that. Esp if it's being played in an airly room with a wooden floor. Nawlins? As my family's historian, I have a zillion black and white photos. Sometimes I wish I was back there. :) I have two of my Great Grand parents that have turned brown. 19th Century stuff. But they are a lot clearer than this modern stuff. Just like Mary Lou's piano.
Cheers |
Today's Outrage:
On a British TV talk show, discussing the war on drugs, The moderator used Billie Holiday, as an example of how drugs can be beneficial to an artist, by making them more creative. He prefaced his statement, by saying he was a great Jazz fan.
They say there is a Planet Annihilating asteroid out there, with the Earth's name on it. Hurry, Please Hurry.
Cheers |
O-10:
Both links go to 'Willow'. It was beautiful. Check out some of the comments from musicians. Dare I say it? She was well versed in the N&B's. :)
I tried to listen to my CDs of Williams, but the sound quality was just too awful. They were recorded in 1974 & 1945. The clip you sent had great sound. They did a good job of cleaning it up.
The notes on the clip said she 'tutored' Monk!! Damn! I think if she had been a man, she would have been up there with the best, in the public's consciousness
Send 'necessarily so'. I suspect You didn't hear it in Kansas City. It just sounds so refreshing in this current sea of noise, you think you had to have heard it in a former life.
Thanks for the clips.
Cheers |
O-10:
*****you didn't buy "Dinah Jams" for Dinah Washington, you bought it for the musicians backing her, so do not miss one single solitary note.*****
You are absolutely correct. Great playing all around, but 'Lover come back to me', that tune, at that tempo, cried out for Ella.
Thanks for turning me on to it. Great Disc.
Cheers |
The Trumpet 'exchange' on 'I got you under my skin'. The winner is?_______ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC7n6SREFewThe more I play this disc, the better she sounds, and the more I like it. You notice the details on repeated playings. Cheers |
O-10:
Did some searching for Mary Lou's albums on Amazon and in the All Music Guide to Jazz. I think it's best, for sound quality reasons, to stay with her later work. Regardless of the playing, I just cannot listen thru static and noise.
I will select from these:
Black Christ of the Andes
First Ladies of Jazz
Nite Life
Live at the Cookery
Solo Recitial:Monterey Jazz Festival
Cheers |
Acman3:
Just because a person purchases a half dozen or so, Shunyata Sigma power cables, does not mean he is in danger of becoming addicted.
And how did you find out about the purchase??? Have I been HACKED???!!!
Cheers |
O-10:
I really miss our local Circuit City. They had a pretty good selection of music and gear. Lots of Carver stuff. I purchased, for my Mom, a cheap Technics receiver, about 15 years ago. It's still going strong. She only used it to listen to the Gaithers. :)
My polks are sounding better today. Could my tweeter problem be a function of speaker, or brain, break-in? Today I looked up Lsim705 reviews to read. One reviewer used ELLA & LOUIS for his sound test. I listened to that today. Great Disc.
I will do whatever it takes to keep these speakers. The most beautiful I have ever seen. Build quality unreal.
Cheers |
O-10: The singing on the first clip went on too long. I thought once Mary Lou started playing, she should have continued until the end of the tune. They were screeching at the end. The tune, Dirge Blues, played by Bheki Mseleku, I liked a lot better. I neeed to check out Mseleku's output. Speaking of Dirge, here is the Master. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzbfWTcoE6cCheers |
O-10:
BTW,
Excellent statement on Dave Douglas vs Mary Lou.
Cheers |
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O-10:
*****My Mama Pinned a Rose on Me*****
I notice you got the one with all the 'blues' tunes. Good for you. "No Blues, No Jazz". :) I put it in my cart also.
I am very impressed with reviews of this woman's music. I had no idea she was this important a figure in Jazz.
I bought the CDs I have because of reviews from Stereo Review. I never followed up on her as a person.
One reviewer said the Williams CD he was reviewing was the greatest, or best, Jazz piano recording ever!! Even allowing for hyperbole, that's quite a statement.
Installed my tweeter, so my Polks are ready for duty. I will post my thoughts on Mary Lou as soon as I receive her CDs.
BTW, I posted her many months ago. Ignored as usual. :(
Cheers |
***That was a sad day that poor people will never forget.****
Probably true, but not warranted. He didn't do very much for poor people. Now Johnson did, but he was a Southerner, so he can't be given credit. Such is the world we live in.
Cheers |
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Always had an impression of Tyner as a no-nonsense type player. Maybe because I felt that way about Coltrane. O-10, it looks as if you and I are not alone in thinking Trane went off the deep end.
Tyner on Coltrane:
His involvement with Coltrane came to an end in 1965. Coltrane's music was becoming much more atonal and free; he had also augmented his quartet with percussion players who threatened to drown out both Tyner and Jones: - wiki
"I didn't see myself making any contribution to that music... All I could hear was a lot of noise. I didn't have any feeling for the music, and when I don't have feelings, I don't play."
[4] By 1966, Tyner was rehearsing with a new trio and embarked on his career as a leader. -wiki
There's that word (noise) again!!
Cheers |
******Take your Coltrane like a man!******
I ain't scared of no Trane. Hell,. I own, and have listened to, in it's entirety, "Stellar Regions".
Kulu Sé Mama:
From the posted comments:
"even if it does sound kinda like a chicken's head being torn off in a Santeria ceremony." Some people have such talent for writing reviews.
This coupled with my 'Tyner on Coltrane' post pretty much sums it up for me.
Soul on Soul:
Again, I like to read the comments below the video. The comments on this one?
"No comments to display." Says it all.
In spite of these ' slights ', I enjoyed them both. I would not pay real money for them, but I enjoyed listening to them. Esp the Coltrane. Nice rhythm section. Tyner saved the day, and I now understand why he left right after this. Things were getting just tooooo busy!!
BTW, I do own more Trane than any other artist. He played so much great stuff, before he felt he had to push the boundaries, and fell into the Abyss, in the attempt.
Thanks for the clips.
Cheers |
Today's Listen:
Mary Lou Williams -- ZONING
Simthsonian / Folkways reissue. LP Recorded in 1974. Excellent sound quality.
Wonderful music. Every tune is 'fresh' and killer. I am beginning to see and hear her, the way the OP does.
She is joined on two of the tunes by pianist, Zita Carno. I am not familiar with her. The booklet says she is a classically trained player, but well 'attuned' to Jazz. Says she wrote notes to 'Giant Steps'
I would say, anyone that can translate Coltrane to English, is most definitely 'Attuned'. In any event, the two of them playing together is wonderful.
A couple of tunes have Tony Waters on Congas. Amazing. The music does not sound dated. It's as modern as anything being recorded today.
Re-discovering Mary Lou makes me happy and sad. Happy for the music, and sad that she and her music was so neglected, in a relative sense, by the Jazz establisment.
Ain't got it? Git it!
I noticed that her tunes are just the right length. She does not play too long. Or it could just be that, time flys when you are having fun.
Cheers |
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Miles on Trane:
While checking to see if Zita Carno really did write the notes to "Giant Steps", I read the notes. My CD says they were written by Nat Hentoff. Whatever. Anyway I read this quote atributed to Miles Davis.
"I always liked Coltrane. When was with me the first time, people used to tell me to fire him. They said he wasn't playing anything. They also used to tell me to get rid of Philly Jo Jones. I know what I want though.
"I also don't understand this talk of Coltrane being difficult to understand. What he does, for example, is to play five notes of a chord and then keep changing it around, trying to see how many different ways it can sound. It's like explaining something five different ways. And that sound of his is connected with what he's doing with the chords at any given time."
Hell, that's simple enough. We Aficionados already knew that.
Didn't we?
Let me reach for 'Sun Ship', and verify this. :)
Cheers |
Where would the music be if it were not for the 'entertainers'?
Consider for a moment, what if the first Jazz players to come out of Nawlins would have been from the Ornette Coleman school of Jazz. We can be thankful, it was the ultimate entertainer, Louis Armstrong!
Brooding, introspective, self-centered 'genuis', was not what the public wanted. It was the antithesis of what Jazz was at that time. There was a depression and / or a war going on. People wanted to be entertained.
However, I understand the sense of your post. And in that sense, you are correct. But, I consider Mary Lou's music to be very entertaining. Maybe that's the trick, express yourself, and be entertaining at the same time. That's the genuis?
Cheers |
*****maybe I was wrong about Bheki Mseleku*****
Well, I'm not sure how you felt about him previously. The clip was nice enough. It didn't grate or irritate. Nothing ground-breaking. Pleasant enough to listen to. Which BTW, in this day and age is actually saying something.
Cheers |
O-10 & Acman3:
My Mistake. I have the RS 1500, which is a 2-Track deck. I bought the seperate 4-Track Record and Playback head assembly. It also will playback 2-Track, but not record 2-Track. Dealing with 2-Track recorded tape is a pain.
I taped all my Classical and Jazz LPs to keep from wearing them out, and also to keep from going thru all that crap getting a LP ready to play. Most of my LPs have only been played once. I look at them now and think, what a waste. Useless, but in Pristine condition.
Cheers |
Mary Lou is not the only babe in town. Today's Listen: Dorothy Donegan -- LIVE AT THE WIDDER BAR A little more bombastic than Mary Lou. Sort of like a Female Oscar Peterson. Knows her way around a piano, but stays mostly within the standards of the genre. Great tune selection. Excellent support by Jimmy Woode(Bass), and Norman Fearrington (drums). Sorry, but I could not find a Youtube clip of this CD. Avaliable on Amazon used and cheap. This is one you should buy on faith. You won't be sorry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_DoneganCheers |
O-10:
I know this is blasphemy, but Bird was never one of my favorite players. Maybe the quality of the sound, of most of his recordings, has something to do with that. But, I will try it out.
Cheers |
O-10:
Old vs New:
The most correct way of stating your position, which I think, is the same as mine, is that Ellington got it right way back in the day. There are two kinds of music, good and bad. It's as simple as that.
Jazz is no different than any other genre. They begin, increase in quanity and quality, reach a peak that is sometimes called the 'golden' or 'Classical' age, and then, start a slow decline. That's true for the entire genre, as well as for each individual player. The only ones that avoid the decline, are the ones that die young. They remain great, and in their prime, forever!!
As you implied, there is enough old stuff out there to take me past life expectancy. I do not feel compelled to 'move on', just for the sake of moving on. I still listen to old stuff like, Mozart, as well.
Cheers |
King Pleasure:
Excellent!! Loved them both!! I will have to research, and get him in my collection. How do you find this stuff??? I have never heard of him.
Cheers |
*****Wadada Leo Smith; "The Great Lakes Suites",*****
Normally not my cup of tea, and squarely within the noise category.
However, I know Leo. We finished High School together. Played in the high school band's trumpet section for 4 years. He played First Trumpet, I played Last Trumpet. I took his sister to the prom. Therefore:
This is the greatest Jazz CD in the history of mankind!!! :)
He went into the Army out of high school, and played in Army Bands. His Father played the blues, and was quite big in the local (delta) Blues scene.
He is really well known in the "Free / Avant Garde" school of Jazz. Used to play a lot with Braxton and Shepp. And the guys in Chicago. Very nice guy.
Buy his stuff!!
Cheers. |
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Acman3:
Snarky Puppy ft. Bobby McFerrin:
Nice performance, let down by amateurish camera work and sound. Too shakey and too far away.
I see they formed in Texas at UNT. I asked the question some time ago, "what happens to all the students studying Jazz in college". I guess this is at least a partial indication of an answer. However they should realize they are not in college now. That college boy look will keep them for being taken serious.
Supposed Miles' quintet, had been called "Miles Davis and his Snarky Puppies"? Jazz history would be different. :)
On the other hand, this is not Jazz-Jazz, but, Fusion-Jazz. Different rules and expectations.
Cheers |
****despite some major disagreements that have happened. ***
Why Learsfool, whatever do you mean? |
*****I never realized those jazz musicians we admire, could not have made a living without Europe and Japan. I knew about them going over there to escape racism here, but after that was no longer a major problem, I didn't realize they could not make a living without Europe and Japan even today. Have you ever sampled what passes for music on this forum?*****
As the world begin to shrink, due to air travel, esp after world war ll, rather than fly from NY to LA to play a gig, for just a few miles more, you could fly to Europe, and have an all new audience. And one that was starved for entertainment. Not just a city, but an entire continent. Including the Soviet Union.
It just made good business sense.
Escaping Racism? Hardly. They went to a continent that had just recently murdered 50 million people because of race.
The music was something different, the people that played it were different, so it was a natural attraction, esp for the avant garde (hip) crowd. Same in all countries.
But I never bought into the idea that Europeans 'understood' or 'appreciated' Jazz more than Americans. They loved Monk and The Duke, but they loved Elvis and the Beatles more. Just like here, and everywhere else around the world. No one ever said the Great Unwashed had brains or taste.
No one can make a living just in the USA any longer. Not even Ford, GM, Microsoft etc........ It's getting to be one world, and one market, for everything.
Cheers |
William Parker Quartet:
(1) "He is a prominent and influential musician in the New York City experimental jazz scene",.....wiki
(2) He also wrote a book entitled, "Who Owns Music?".
Pretty much sums him up. Not Jazz-Jazz, but simple, and pleasant enough, "Experimental-Jazz"?? Whatever that is.
Nice drum playing on both cuts.
Cheers |
Two more winners from the OP.
The Fire Within:
I have this on CD. The book that inspired it might be weird, but this is great stuff. Bang is one of the few to make the Violin work in the Jazz idiom. Of course there is Stephane Grappelli and Stuff Smith. Bang is a Viet Vet. Great Tune.
I have the Bang and Sun Ra CD, "A tribute to Stuff Smith"
Chenrezig:
I will have to ADMIT I liked this. I resisted at first, but it wore me down. It was just too good. Excellent!! If this had been played by Mingus, and it sounded like it could have, I would have declared the tune, an example of his genius.
I think Cherry used to play the Piccolo Trumpet.
Thanks for the clips.
Cheers |
*****Have you ever sampled what passes for music on this forum?******
This is a forum for buying and selling gear. Talking about gear. What passes for music here? Nothing passes for music here, because there is no music here. This thread accounts for over 60% of the total music posts on Audiogon. That says it all.
I don't think music reproduction is the goal of most Audiophiles. It's Sound reproduction, along with the appreciation and pride in ownership of well made, beautiful, and expensive electronic devices.
Cheers |
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O-10:
****This clip is good jazz jazz; but it sounds like the same music that I've heard so many times before, that it's boring***
How can that lineup / tune be 'boring'? I think you have drank the Kool-aid.
But you are correct in that you have been at this a lot longer than I have. Therefore, I think anything I like, will be old-hat, or 'boring' to you.
***In regard to posts on threads, all seem to come up short.****
I don't understand this. To what are you referring?
Cheers |
O-10:
****meaning that there seems to be fewer people responding on other threads as well.*****
That seems to be true. I think one of the reasons is because they never agree on anything. And I mean Anything! After a while folks think they are just talking in circles. Never, is a consensus reached. And consensus is the purpose of debate or discussion.
What is the point of asking a question if you will get as many different answers as you get responses. All absolutley sure, that their's is the only correct answer.
Being on Audiogon is Like being adrift in a raft in the middle of the Pacific, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink. A man can die of thirst in the middle of an ocean.
Besides, once a person says, "the only thing that counts is what 'I' hear", then discussion becomes pointless. Coupled with the 'belief' that ALL components have their own individual 'sound'. Pointless indeed!!
Cheers |
Today's Listen: Mary Lou Williams -- SOLO RECITAL Montreux Jazz festival 1978 This is the entire CD. Received it yesterday also. Read the reviews below the clip. I have never before, seen such praise heaped upon any artist. She is much more than I could ever put into words. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uakBe89GldI&list=RDuakBe89GldI#t=894Cheers |
***** How do you think that happened? He was not from the South or the Caribbean Islands.*****
Any competent musician can play in the blues style. He listened to Tapes and LPs of American Blues players? He was born in 1939, so I think we can eliminate him as being the creator of the blues.
If your point is to say that Africa is the birth place of the Blues, if that is so, where are all the African Blues players? The tradition? The body of work?
I have a couple of his CDs. His music is interesting and in some cases almost hypnotic. Like a lot of third world music, a little of him goes a long way.
Africa's contribution to the world, is limited to long distance runners, EBOLA and AIDS.
Cheers |
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Good Lord, He Lives!!
I had assumed that you, and hence this thread, had Crossed Jordan.
Don't knock Slavery. Just think of where you, and Jazz, would be without it.
Cheers |
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A ' LOL ' moment.
Watched an episode of "Foyle's War" on Netflix last night. The plot revolved around Soviet defectors and spies, being tortured by an out of control section of the British Intelligence Service. Late 1940's and Early 1950's England.
Foyle sends an agent to infiltrate the compound and to investigate. He finds one Russian being water-boarded. Another undergoes a mock execution, (pistol not loaded). In the hallway of the cell block is a record player. The music is being piped into all the cells. The camera zooms on the turntable and the subtitle reads "atonal music being played".
Sounded a lot like 'Free' and/or 'Modern' Jazz to me. Wiki confirmed it. I really did laugh out loud.
If water-boarding and mock executions don't work, there is always 'free-Jazz'. No Soviet spy could withstand it.
Cheers |
Miles on PBS:
I gave it an overall grade of D+. A few interesting bits of history, but the entire production could have been much much more. A big disappointment. I didn't feel good or elated after watching it.
Cheers |
