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.
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Vince Guaraldi is my go to guy this time of year. I once got stranded in a hotel in LA for Thanksgiving. No matter what you might think about LA as a fun city, it's not the place to be on Thanksgiving; everybody has vanished, especially in downtown LA. The only thing I had to let me know it was Thanksgiving was some Vince Guaraldi cassettes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ0XTlof8bc&list=RDndnvgBdPms0&index=2 This is the music I heard at home with family and friends plus a giant turkey, every Thanksgiving, and now it was all I had in a hotel room to let me know it was actually Thanksgiving. To this day I cherish Vince Guaraldi's music over the holidays. |
O10, we’re also lucky the legendary Sonny Rollins is still with us at 90. 1954 with Monk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jefG-h0W_ZU 1959: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TDS-s-GQ4I |
Django lives!...on the Adriatic coast.You mean Croatia. Lead guitar - Orsan Ridanovic (happens to be my FB friend): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gflyKpeblzc *jazz connecting people* |
Frank Gant, Othello Molineaux, and Ahmad Jamal are still with us and performing; that's a relief. It seems that almost all of the jazz musicians that I know are dead; I'm so glad they're alive and well. It will take forever to bring you up to speed on my Ahmad Jamal collection, but I'll start; one at a time; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ_Op8dP5Iw |
Ahmad Jamal is a jazz pianist who is one class act. I saw him when I was staying at the Holiday Inn, on North Shore Drive in Chicago in the mid 80's. He was appearing at "Ricks Cafe", which was located in the hotel. The place was designed to recreate the bar made famous by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in the movie classic "Casablanca." He was appearing with Frank Gant on Drums, and Othello Molineaux on steelpan. Those are two of the musicians I remember because we had drinks together after the show. As always, he put on a fantastic performance that was made so unusual by including Othello Molineaux on steel drums. Miles always admired Ahmad, "Play like Ahmad,” Miles Davis would tell his pianist Red Garland in the 1950s." It was in the mid 50's that I first became aware of Ahmad; I was staying with my cousin who lived two blocks from the Pershing Lounge on the South Side of Chicago. That was about the time he made his most famous album, "Ahmad Jamal At The Pershing" with his unforgettable version of "Poinciana". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0e2G32f3IU I had followed Ahmad Jamal's music from that time, till seeing him live in the ambiance of a night club that was modeled after "Ricks" club in the movie "Casablanca". it was by far the most memorable evening I can recall, as far as seeing a musician live. Once you enjoy the experience of seeing one of your favorite musicians in a nightclub where you are so close that you can see the changing expressions on the musicians face, there is no way you can relate to that "arena thing" anymore. After the show Frank and Othello joined me for drinks where we had a long discussion in regard to a jazz musician making a living in the States. Frank told me he had tickets in his pocket for Japan, and it would be tough without fans outside of the US. Othello was in very high spirits because he had almost stole the show; while Chicago fans had seen Ahmad many times over the years, they had never seen him with a steelpan drummer, and Othello could jam. (Why else would he have been with Ahmad). He was still high from his fantastic reception in Chicago, and said he hoped they would return after Japan. As a "jazz aficionado" I have so many fantastic memories to reflect on, and they come in handy during this "Covid Lock down". |
Funny titles never stops to amaze me. A piece about cars being towed, man... Speaking of odd titles, a minute ago on local radio station https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iFq6eZBS1iM Oh, that's jazz... |
Keegiam, that “Old Folks” with Hutcherson and Locke is fantastic. Thanks. Hutcherson was possibly the greatest ever vibes player and Locke, the young(er) lion. They seem to be having a blast playing together. Beautiful musical interaction between the two. I first heard Joe Locke several years ago when I went to hear Eddie Daniels play at The Iridium. Had never heard Locke and was knocked out. This was the very band that I heard that night. Having concentrated on the clarinet for the past many years, some forget what a great tenor player Daniels is: https://youtu.be/kVDo6zU7fbA https://youtu.be/7iC1PkZYVdU https://youtu.be/SYnZBrr7CCs Speaking of Eddie Daniels and Joe Henderson, a young Eddie Daniels holding his own with Joe; not an easy feat. It was in Thad and Mel’s Orchestra that Eddie started turning heads: https://youtu.be/WOhaMFY0MvE |
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@orpheus10 : Right up your alley in so many ways. Saw it while watching the French News tonight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-l9KGBaG8I Cheers |
In the late 90s, I was in London and hooked up with an old friend. "Let's go hear jazz at Pizza Express in Soho" she said. My American superiority complex kicked in, so I scoffed at the concept of decent jazz at such a place. But of course we went. Enter Joe Locke on vibes. Great evening (i.e., American gets another lesson). Joe Locke and Bobby Hutcherson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzdp2QYMNMM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzSAKN3UdTI |
Today is a good day for old school cool blues; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnTdGw9jDVI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhgUUe5czxc I knew Sandra, she was one cool chick; even cool chicks get the blues. |
In what would become the USA, they encountered a superior culture, which they were smart enough to recognize as being superior, and were willingly absorbed by it. In other places, they were left to their own devices, in what were essentially colonies to be exploited, not a country in the making as was the case on the North American land Mass. So they came as Africans, and remained so. Cheers |
There was nothing more important to Black African Culture than "The Drum". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PM6sSXHL3E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnAolJHTK3s I stated "Explicitly and unconditionally" that before slavery, Sub Saharan Africans lived in villages. Villages consisted of 100 people. Each village had it's own rhythms and dances. (dances were also very important) There were 12 million slaves imported to this hemisphere. 12 million divided by 100 equals 12,000. That means there were 12,000. different rhythms and dances that left the continent of Africa. Just as all of a certain people look alike, all of a certain peoples rhythms sound alike to some people; such is life. I can distinctly distinguish between the rhythms of "Haiti", the rhythms of Cuba, the rhythms of Brazil, the rhythms of the Caribbean, and the silence of the USA. If you can not distinguish the differences between those rhythms, it's not my problem; it's yours. |
Today’s Listen: Tony Allen / Hugh Masekela -- REJOICE Speaking of getting old. Allen died in Paris in Jan 2020. Age 80. I like the drumming, and have always loved Masekela’s flugelhorn, but the music, like The Duke said, has a sameness to it. Not much distinguishes one tune from the next. Very cheap packaging. Recycled cardboard with no notes. Very hard to read due to the color scheme. jabulani https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxPpDAv3ZQI agbada https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug29HwC2T7A slow bones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J-dCj-u6Yo In spite of the name, Tony Allen is a Nigerian drummer. One of the founders of "Afrobeat". The music on this disc is decidedly Western. Cheers |
I am perfectly happy to, and do, ignore comments that I find to be mistaken at best. However, if alluding to me personally, you force me to respond on a level that I would very much prefer not to go to, O-10. Alas. No, I did not “compare Nubya Garcia to Trane and some of the other greats”. The “critic” involved did. Instead, I commented on the fact that I found it amazing that a music critic would compare Garcia to Trane and other greats mentioned. If you are really interested and if I thought that things would not devolve into personal bs, I might be willing to explain why I feel the way I do. |