Jazz for aficionados
Jazz for aficionados
I'm going to review records in my collection, and you'll be able to decide if they're worthy of your collection. These records are what I consider "must haves" for any jazz aficionado, and would be found in their collections. I wont review any record that's not on CD, nor will I review any record if the CD is markedly inferior. Fortunately, I only found 1 case where the CD was markedly inferior to the record.
Our first album is "Moanin" by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. We have Lee Morgan , trumpet; Benney Golson, tenor sax; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie merrit, bass; Art Blakey, drums.
The title tune "Moanin" is by Bobby Timmons, it conveys the emotion of the title like no other tune I've ever heard, even better than any words could ever convey. This music pictures a person whose down to his last nickel, and all he can do is "moan".
"Along Came Betty" is a tune by Benny Golson, it reminds me of a Betty I once knew. She was gorgeous with a jazzy personality, and she moved smooth and easy, just like this tune. Somebody find me a time machine! Maybe you knew a Betty.
While the rest of the music is just fine, those are my favorite tunes. Why don't you share your, "must have" jazz albums with us.
Enjoy the music.
I'm going to review records in my collection, and you'll be able to decide if they're worthy of your collection. These records are what I consider "must haves" for any jazz aficionado, and would be found in their collections. I wont review any record that's not on CD, nor will I review any record if the CD is markedly inferior. Fortunately, I only found 1 case where the CD was markedly inferior to the record.
Our first album is "Moanin" by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. We have Lee Morgan , trumpet; Benney Golson, tenor sax; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie merrit, bass; Art Blakey, drums.
The title tune "Moanin" is by Bobby Timmons, it conveys the emotion of the title like no other tune I've ever heard, even better than any words could ever convey. This music pictures a person whose down to his last nickel, and all he can do is "moan".
"Along Came Betty" is a tune by Benny Golson, it reminds me of a Betty I once knew. She was gorgeous with a jazzy personality, and she moved smooth and easy, just like this tune. Somebody find me a time machine! Maybe you knew a Betty.
While the rest of the music is just fine, those are my favorite tunes. Why don't you share your, "must have" jazz albums with us.
Enjoy the music.
Showing 50 responses by orpheus10
I absolutely do not want to change the subject or alter the conversation, I just want an opinion on a current CD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvB0f5akEoQ |
There were also Bop vocalists who were quite interesting; they put words to the instrumental Bop; here's King Pleasure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0XYZNx6854 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2N8bVpRneQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c79mN5oNvU |
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; this is some of the most beautiful music in my collection; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNNagah14wY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLaUctgmAtU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSggeAnx6jw |
Be Bop is too complex a music to be simplified in writing; it boils down to either you hear it or you don't; it has been called Chinese music by some. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvdQYSWOobc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGXFuxKTbfY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryNtmkfeJk4 Copied from "Wiki" Through these musicians, a new vocabulary of musical phrases was created. With Parker, Gillespie jammed at famous jazz clubs like Minton's Playhouse and Monroe's Uptown House. Parker's system also held methods of adding chords to existing chord progressions and implying additional chords within the improvised lines Parker was a highly influential jazz soloist and a leading figure in the development of bebop,[2] a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, virtuosic technique and advanced harmonies. Parker was a blazingly fast virtuoso, and he introduced revolutionary harmonic ideas including rapid passing chords, new variants of altered chords, and chord substitutions. His tone ranged from clean and penetrating to sweet and somber. Parker acquired the nickname "Yardbird" early in his career.[3] This, and the shortened form "Bird", continued to be used for the rest of his life, inspiring the titles of a number of Parker compositions, such as "Yardbird Suite", "Ornithology", "Bird Gets the Worm", and "Bird of Paradise". Parker was an icon for the hipster subculture and later the Beat Generation, personifying the jazz musician as an uncompromising artist and intellectual rather than just an entertainer.[4] |
Frogman, this is not philosophy or psychology, this is music; it is the discussion, not what you say, or what I say. When you say Be Bop, you say "Bird"; there was no Be Bop before "Bird". Parker was a blazingly fast virtuoso, and he introduced revolutionary harmonic ideas including rapid passing chords, new variants of altered chords, and chord substitutions. I'm not a musician, I don't really know what that means, but I can hear it; even with "Bird With Strings". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmRkZeGFONg Here I can hear all those "Be Bop" chords over the melody in such a way that nothing is lost in the melody; "Who else can do that"? There are imitators and duplicators, but when you say "Be Bop" there is only one "Bird". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug0K62enZ5E We have but one option, and that is to agree to disagree. |
Frogman, what all the other musicians knew is the same thing I'm telling you; the complexity of Birds Bop is beyond comprehension. What I liked most about Bird was that confident but "humble" smile when he was being interviewed; he knew he had "it", and all of the other musicians knew he had "it". People can write till the cows come home, but I hear no "Be Bop" in Coleman Hawkins music prior to Bird. |
Neither Sonny Stitt or Art Pepper would agree about Bird, but if that's what you heard, it works for me. Pryso, I had a bad night and I'm kind of slow in the head about precisely where you're coming from, but I'll try. "Moods" by The Three Sounds is the album I'm going to pick, and a very special "Love For Sale" is the track. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2--UacYXvY |
Although Sonny Stitt was compared to Bird, I think he wanted to sound like "Sonny Stitt". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp7zS1uoLwo This is beautiful, and it sounds like "Sonny Stitt". One of the first albums I ever bought; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXZWbr2fFrU |
Two more of my favorites by Nina; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=139fXzrRjyc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVEbzdN_7n0 |
Frogman, I consider your thesis quite accurate and valid. In regard to the evolution of jazz, it also has to sound good. When I ask for opinions on new jazz, I don't get any feedback, that in itself is an answer. Since it is you in particular who is always pushing "new jazz", why don't you shoot your best shot and give us a sample of what you call "The new evolution" of jazz and we can decide. |
"You Don't Know What Love Is" was hard to listen to after one had experienced it in real time. When I was 4 or 5 years old, I remember a junkman coming down the alley behind us pulling his cart on rickety wagon wheels; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4x766Pnm3I I can picture that old junkman every time I hear this. I know this is Billie Holiday's song, but I find it just as interesting from a man's point of view; 6 in the morning, sun shining, and she's going off a mile a minute about what happened, while he's just glad to see her in one piece. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FLuD-H3h8w |
nsp, I'm glad you enjoyed Oran Etkin; the fact that you reviewed him, will encourage me to post more new jazz. Straight ahead jazz plus world music on a bass clarinet, sounds like an interesting combination; let me see what I can find. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTBJzGMgRYY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bsnZcamJB0 The more I listen to Oran the better I like him. What I detest is "stereotypical" jazz; that's when someone recreates all of the most typical riffs and phrases they've heard, and it always sounds like something I've heard before. If it's going to be new, make it "new" An old tune played with a different kind of horn; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hql_zpc2OTE |
Out of all the tunes I can think of "Delilah" is one of my favorites, and Abdul Malik's version is right at the top of my list. Delilah was one of the hottest of the desert hotties, she was totally irresistible; just ask Sampson. The name conjures up images of Sahara sand, blankets, tents, plus Delilah's hips. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkFSM9Frx3w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11BeKD0c7dQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0bnXzm1aVg This is the first "Delilah" I ever heard; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt_fmhtePoc Which was the best? |
Frank, that music was made at a time when Dinah was really on top, and the musicians with her as well; Dinah Washington – lead vocals Clark Terry – trumpet Paul Quinichette – tenor saxophone Cecil Payne – baritone saxophone Jimmy Cleveland – trombone Wynton Kelly – piano Barry Galbraith – guitar Keter Betts – bass Jimmy Cobb – drums That music takes me back to a much better time than now, and that was even before this COVID 19 mess. From my observations, we've been going backwards for 20 years now. I need all the help I can get to be "elsewhere" in another time zone. I just ordered a 5 LP box set, and I'm setting my analog rig back up. Might need a couple of tubes for the phono, but they should be here when the records arrive. Thanks for reminding me just how good that music sounds. The funny thing is that it sounds so much better now than it did back then. |
nsp, you have keen ears and good taste; "I think the Abdul-Malik version conjured up the images/mood you described just a tad better" While what you said was so true, the surface noise detracted a bit for me. That was a good comment on Frogman's Delilah; I have Bobby Hutcherson's "Delilah", but not that one, I don't think. |
I have Bobbby's album "Skyline", which has another version of "Delilah" that's rather laid back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umNd0595xrE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwoTLu2UjjE I don't think I have enough of Bobby Hutcherson. |
While exploring the feminine mystique, we discovered the "romantic" Nancy Wilson, and the sexy Sarah Vaughn, along with some I've forgotten; now I give you the "powerful" Ms. Nina Simon; she sounds like she's right in the room with you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Y11hwjMNs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua2k52n_Bvw The best un-acknowledged jazz pianist there is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynnb6ejdEz0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeMfDflHM1E |
Nina Simone was like a diamond with many facets, and I liked them all. Her Caribbean Island "Voodoo" side was quite interesting to me; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FJ5z3mRTe0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVEbzdN_7n0 |
I was visiting a professional musician who was in town, and happened to be a friend of mine. I asked him what artist he was into now, "Baden Powell", he told me. I had never heard of Mr. Baden Powell at that time, so I asked him for a little run down on him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baden_Powell_(guitarist) My friend is no longer with us, and I'm reminiscing about that visit; although he was at the top of his game, and in town professionally, my visit was not fan to musician, but friend to friend. While we talked about records, the same as you and I, when we looked directly at one another, we could see the experiences we had shared; swimming in the public pool, going to camp together, and on and on, but never verbalized them. I stayed quite a while, and when I left, I could see the relaxed look on his face; he just wanted to unwind with a friend and chill. That was a long time ago, now I'm a Baden Powell expert; his Afro Brazilian rhythms are incomparable, they're rhythms found only in Brazil. Canto De Ossanha https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgS16Ipnr2E Afro Brazilian is a marriage made in heaven, and no one does it better than "Baden Powell". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTKSoF2Vr14 |
Rok, Every time I hear that soprano sax, it's like I'm hearing it for the first time. No wonder this sounds so familiar, I saw them in February, and this was performed in March, that's just one month after I saw them. Dianne Reeves might have the best vocal of "Afro Blue"; I like the way she scats; but variety is the spice of life, and I have always liked a lot of spice. |
"A slow hot wind"; nothing could be more descriptive, or seductive; "A slow hot wind in the Philippines." A slow hot wind in Montego Bay Jamaica off the coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea; that’s the beginning of my next novel (although I haven’t written the first) With a beginning like that, and music like this, you know it’s got to be hot; you submit your own fantasy to fit the first chapter, I already lived mine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNxf0cSOwio |
I bought this ages ago, I even remember the store; now it's all scratched, I must have partied a lot back then; maybe I can buy it again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU3KI3L2t4g Sometimes we just kind of wander in different directions, but that's OK. I hope everybody knows buy now what it means when I don't comment; I just have nothing to add or subtract from that subject. Just hang loose, and we'll get back together when it happens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvGBsaUfWEk |
Mongo Santamaria is always good for what ails my rhythm needs, and that flute is really boss. Another oldie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWK_Josc0Og |
Thank you very much Alex. It's very painful for me to see someone I walked and talked with, plus even heard his music before Blue Note ever heard of him. I heard his music in a fashion that few people ever get to hear any musician, and that's when he's not playing for any audience, but just for himself. Actually, some of this music is not so different from what I heard, except that the music I heard wasn't written anywhere other than on his mind, and his heart. Grant's music is so honest; it's coming straight from his soul. Seeing and hearing him is still painful; Grant was a man's man, what you see is what you get; St. Louis is not the softest or easiest city to live in, and that's where he grew up. This music really touches me, it's as honest as music can get. |
These are three of my favorites. This brings back memories of hearing Grant in a small club before he became famous; I can hear those notes popping off his strings like they were just outside my ear, and I would sit there with my eyes closed languishing in heaven. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkzB1GcUfFg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q-SEMNV4bw&list=PL9AF5C0F6DC1ADE26&index=2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBTvy8As0cQ&list=PL9AF5C0F6DC1ADE26&index=4 |
I chose this tune because these guys were very close friends, and I wonder if that can be heard in the music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcs9PdZEJwM&list=PLn6hhCaBfMnS-vMnOAiVLCRVi4taVQIp_&index=2 |
I am profoundly moved by certain songs, that's because they touched on my life experiences. When I was a tot (that was a long time ago) I recall a junkman pulling his cart down the alley behind us; it was like a rickshaw with wagon wheels that wobbled and squeaked when he pulled his cart. Nina Simone came out with a song titled "Rags and Old Iron"; this was about the same time, the love of my life got married to someone other than me. I'll let you put that song and my sentiments together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLqr_T04oMU Carley Simon has a number of songs on her "Film Noir" CD that touch me; almost all of them as a matter of fact, but I'll only touch upon two. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtErjfhpJEc "Somewhere In The Night" is an endless search for lost love. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ugFD8jjAcw Have you ever thought about how innocently a love affair begins; "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise". After which it blazes hotter than the noon Sun, but the Sun has to set and the light that gave you glory will take it all away. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IwisoDrK0I If it's not too painful, maybe you could share songs that affect you on a deeply personal level? |
Mary-Jo, that Lucio Dalla was deep, about as deep as you can get. I thought "Dance With Me" was most unique, and I thank you for sharing. Since we are kind of like friends, I don't have a problem in sharing emotions that are brought about by certain songs, our emotions are what makes the song "real", and each song has a real story attached to it. I appreciated your contribution. |