Jazz for aficionados

I think the sax is tawdry, and leads to unwanted pregnancies. This is why I currently prefer piano trios.

Although being mired in the past is not atypical of jazz heads, I offer some current faves: Brad Mehldau kills me, as well as Bill Charlap's trio (I mixed one of their live shows recently)...John Scofield, Frisell's "Beautiful Dreamers" band are one of the most movingly soul stirring live acts on the planet...Jeremy Pelt...etc.

In respnse to that last asshat post...oh...wait...that was me...anyway...after working on an amazing concert by the Jeremy Pelt Quintet (man...) recently, a well regarded veteran jazz pro sax player I know said after the show, "Miles was better." Utterly meaningless and classic...I love that stuff.

My most recent live jazz mixing gigs (didn't record 'em)were the Jeremy Pelt Quintet and Bill Charlap's trio. Both amazing, plenty of info online. The other "coffee house" stuff wasn't jazz so that's for some other thread.

Regarding why I think the way I do: I've been a professional musician since the late 60s (only mentioned for historical perspective). I've actually seen Monk (opening for Peter Paul and Mary at the Hollywood Bowl...I was maybe 12!)...and Joe Lovano was in John Scofield's band when I first saw Scofield...saw "Us 5" last year...I'm wonderful! (according to my daughter and my girlfriend, but that's about it) I'm a guitar player but not a jazz player particularly (because I'm also not very smart), and listen to Mehldau right along with Bill Evans, although not simultaneously, as that would be disturbing. I'm at the point in my geezerdom that I don't care much about what people DON'T like unless they agree with me 100%, but I absolutely, positively, know that there are musicians playing now that are as great as anybody ever was. Not the same people...but so what? That's how art works. Is Peter Washington better than Scott LaFaro? I happen to enjoy both. I spent a recent 9 years straight doing live sound (still do that here and there) mixing/recording for a couple of different "Coffee House" concert series and was humbled, enthralled, and blown away by some people in that "unpopular music business" who most will never hear. The best of those, along with the best of the rest, are timeless world class musicians. I'm also lucky.

I love jazz, have for years...unlike seemingly 90% of everybody else including nearly everybody I know except fellow musicians who at least claim to like "some of it." Oh well...example: I was at a guitar talk-concert thing at a famous Lexington MA guitar store, and asked a few attendees if they’d seen a recent concert at a nearby (in Lexington) concert venue the previous Tuesday...at some sort of Scottish Right Masonic Temple and Museum (!) I’d not known about until the concert. Nice concert hall by the way. In any case, none of the people I talked to at the guitar shop thing had even heard about the show (maybe if I’d asked more people)...a world class mind blowing dual piano show with Vijay Iyer and Dr. Lewis Porter. Cost 20 bucks...maybe one of the top 3 acoustic piano shows I’ve seen, or the best ever maybe...I think Vijay is possibly one of the greatest musicians who’s ever lived, period. (Porter is also real, real good) Maybe 75 people at the show? Man...there should have been 10 thousand...I’m still dazed from the show, or from cough medicine maybe, but hey...that’s the way it is.