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.
Ran across this a few minutes ago. Reminded me of a Church I was in a few days ago, in the Park Cities area of Dallas. I think that's Acman's neck of the woods.
The organ had pipes that reached to heaven, or so it seemed, and the organ player knew his business. I don't know if I was in the presence of God, but I was sure in the presence of Money and Power, Texas style.
Another of my favorites: Oscar Peterson and Buddy Defranco, two of the classiest jazz musicians to ever play the music of perhaps America's greatest composer. The level of sophistication in Gershwin's compositions can be underappreciated because his music is so darn tuneful and easy to take in. In this case it's music that at times comes dangerously close to being relegated to the label of Muzak by some listeners who make broad assumptions about the use of lush strings as part of this kind of musical aesthetic. Buddy Defranco has always been my favorite jazz clarinetist. Great jazz player and, imo, the most credible bebopper (check out "I Got Rhythm") to play the instrument; one which is usually more at home in a swing style. He played with a beautiful and very suave tone unlike the "rough around the edges" tone of most jazz clarinetists. Oscar Peterson is brilliant as usual.
Frogman, I just found a new copy of "Desmond Blue", including cover, in my collection, and I thought I only had an old copy; the Saints are looking down and smiling on me today. Not only that, but I'm in the process of down loading vinyl. You gave me good luck.
Rok, I think you should see Michael Moore's movie where he tells how good he lived as a child on the salary his father earned working in a factory.
Do you remember when the manipulated price of gasoline was $4.00 a gallon; what do you think that did to the lower middle class, and who do you think raked off the "manipulated profits" in the commodity markets; have you ever heard of Mann Financial, can you say "Oligarch".
Who rakes in the manipulated prices of prescription drugs, that people on a fixed income have to pay. That welfare crap is just something to make poor southerners feel wealthy and superior.
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I think you should see Michael Moore's movie where he tells how good he lived as a child on the salary his father earned working in a factory. *****
When I read this and saw Moore's name, I Laughed out loud. Surely you jest. People working in factories now, make a good living, the problem is, there aren't as many Factories as there used to be. If your ambition is to work on an assembly line in 21st century America, you are in the wrong country. I notice Moore found a new gig.
Gas in Texas is below $2 a gallon in this area. One thing about gas and oil: the prices go up, and they go down, and the change is reflected at the pump. What other commodity can you name that ever goes down in price. Name one.
Check Gas prices in Europe. When I first went to Germany the price was 25 cents a gallon at the PX stations. The Germans paid several dollars a gallon, if memory serves. Who manipulated that?
Drug prices: The government (medicare / Medicaid) cannot negotiate drug prices with the big companies. It is against federal law. Laws passed by your liberal friends. Think prices are bad here, check Canada.
Rok, I don't begrudge the good life you have lived thanks to "Sam", and the good life you're living now. You didn't even have to make a dental appointment, you were called when it was time.
All those years, as well as these years prevented you from seeing how reality is manipulated, and I understand that. Once upon a time, I believed most of the things you still believe. I bet you even remember "Blackhawk" comic books. Many things you say I use to believe, and wish they were still true; especially "Justice and The American Way", but it's no longer true, and it's a falsehood that's not easily discovered.
Frogman, for your considertion in case you haven't already heard this, a duo by Dave McKenna and Buddy DeFranco doing some 'swing', titled "You Must Believe in Swing" on the Concord Jazz label. Bill Evans is probably turning over in his grave at the title. :-)
Those men worked in factories in order to send their kids to college, so that they would not have to work in factories;Time magazine named Moore one of the world's 100 most influential people.
Sounds like Mike's old man knew what he was doing.
The people who ripped off this entire country didn't even smell the gas that went into their fleets of automobiles; they used servants for that, and even had a special one for the "Rolls".
They were the people who paid for the government you think you elected. Those people told the politicians (they paid for) to tell the CFTC to look the other way while this country got "fleeced", and you kept a sharp eye on "Welfare cheats".
Rok, lets say the guy in Texas sells his gas to the Mercantile Exchange for $1.50 a gallon. The gas stations then buy this gas and charge $2.00 which is the cost of handling and profit; but the gas I'm talking about changed hands a time or two, between the front door and the back door, and left Mercantile costing $3.50. a gallon, and everybody paid $4.00 a gallon; what happened to the $1.50 that gas went up in price between the front door and the back door?
The same thing happened to all the commodities that went through those exchanges during that period of time; that includes everything we purchase to live. It cost the average family $200. dollars more a month to live; that included you. $200. dollars a month is a lot, or nothing a month depending on your income, but almost everybody paid it because nobody can live without food and gas.
When you multiply $200. dollars a month times every family in this country during that period of time, it comes to quite a bundle. Now you can see how "oligarchs" live so well, but you kept your eye on them "welfare cheats"; that should have saved a bundle when you reported them.
Rok, personally I don't play that "Liberal", "Conservative" game; is the guy honest or dishonest. If the conservatives are my supposed enemies, I would much prefer an honest conservative to a dishonest Liberal; that name tag game is foolish.
Newbee, thanks for that; and Acman for the link. I had to chuckle when I read your post. I have an old Ford Explorer that we keep at our cabin in upstate NY. Last summer I loaded three brand new CDs into the cd changer as I headed out on an errand. That was the precise time that the cd changer decided to stop working, froze and would not eject. The last cd that I had loaded was the Buddy DeFranco/Dave McKenna. It was still stuck in the loading mechanism and after a lot of effort I was able to pry it out and scratched it so badly that it was unplayable. The others are still stuck in there. Long story short I had not replaced it nor listened to it until now. Great record! Buddy DeFranco sounds fantastic as usual as does McKenna; excellent and synergistic pairing and they seem to be really enjoying each other’s playing. It’s always amazing to hear a horn and piano duo generate so much rhythm and groove without bass and drums. Very tasty stuff. Thanks again.
Great player considered to be the one that took DeFranco’s bebop inspired clarinet style to the next level. This from an early recording before he went into more of a fusion/pop style. Perhaps the next level as far as technical prowess and more modern vocabulary, but to me, there’s no one quite like DeFranco. Still, great player:
Please ignore my last post; something that I know is not entirely without precedent 😊. I must have clicked on one of the links in the sidebar and watched thinking that it was Rok’s clip; that is what my "slide grease" comment, in which the trombone player spits on his slide, was about. Now I can’t find the funny clip. Twilight Zone? Btw, glad to see intonation being paid attention to. Toussaint, New Orleans royalty indeed.
"The Penguin Guide To Jazz" numbers "Destiny's Dance" among the core collection which jazz fans should possess; and I thought I had them all. Better late than never.
Chico Freeman - tenor saxophone, bass clarinet
Wynton Marsalis - trumpet (tracks 1, 3, 4 & 6)
Bobby Hutcherson - vibraphone
Dennis Moorman - piano (tracks 1, 4 & 6)
Cecil McBee - bass
Ronnie Burrage - drums
Paulinho Da Costa - percussion (track 4
These are the tracks; "Destiny's Dance" - 4:11 "Same Shame" - 5:37 "Crossing the Sudan" - 5:46 "Wilpan's Walk" - 9:18 "Embracing Oneness" - 6:59 "C & M"
Although this was recorded in 1981, it could have been recorded yesterday. The reason I'm posting it again is to point out how outstanding an album it is.
"Wilpan's Walk" is too tough, Bobby Hutcherson kills the vibes, and that guy on trumpet is not at all shabby, he's blowing his tail off on this one. When you are listening and looking at who is blowing at the same time, that gives added depth to the music. Dennis Moorman on piano is new to me. Paulinho Da Costa on percussion is all over the place in my collection, but Ronnie Burrage on drums is unfamiliar.
Here is another one of Chico Freeman's tunes that gets repeated play in my collection. I'm still going through posts for outstanding music to make sure I don't overlook yours
Eric Dolphy was a tremendous loss. Without a doubt one of the most unique voices in the history of jazz. This record is amazing. The rhythm section sounds incredible with that distinctive high energy and relentlessly forward moving feeling in much of Mingus’ music. You’re right, ATFW captured that era of playing perfectly. But what is really interesting to me is that, most of all, it captured the spirit of that style of playing while at the same time bringing it to a much more modern era with excursions into dissonance that are not part of the earlier era’s style. It does it seamlessly, and it strikes me that this is exactly like what makes Dolphy’s playing so unique; he is clearly coming out of a bebop tradition, keeps its spirit, but takes it to a different place with dissonance and inflections that are not part of the the traditional bebop vocabulary. Great stuff.
Great high energy stuff. I am fortunate to have the two original lp’s that this "best of" compilation comes from; they were sent to me by a relative in Cuba. After years of practically prohibiting Jazz in state-sponsored musical groups, the Cuban govenrment decided to create an image, for propaganda reasons, that Cuba was a free and open society and created and funded what would become "Irakere".
**** Chucho barely gets a mention. What’s up with that? ****
This compilation was released in 1994. Both Paquito and Sandoval had already made well publicized defections from Cuba, were living in the USA and were well on their way to becoming stars. Chucho, the band’s leader and probably best musician of all, remained in Cuba. Less flamboyant as an entertainer then Paquito or Sandoval, it wasn’t until years later that he would become an international star with the Cuban government’s blessings.
I agree about the Mozart thingy. The "Mozart theme" is the Adagio (2nd mvt.) from the Mozart clarinet concerto. I like Paquito’s playing, but this is kinda tasteless playing; have always hated it.
*****
After years of practically prohibiting Jazz in state-sponsored musical groups, the Cuban govenrment decided to create an image, for propaganda reasons, that Cuba was a free and open society and created and funded what would become "Irakere". *****
I always thought Communist regimes approved of Jazz. I remember several big time bands toured in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union during the cold war. Of course we all remember the hype over Soviet Premier Yuri Andropov, "a Jazz Lover", being a big Ellington fan. I think it was all wishful thinking.
"That was a time where jazz music was a four-letter word in Cuba – literally! After many years of that thought, in 1967, they decided to create the Orquesta [Cubana de Música Moderna]. There were a lot of left wing people going to Cuba, attending congresses and visiting. So the government decided to create an image that jazz was not forbidden and that nothing was forbidden there. So they created the Orquesta to play American music – that is incredible. It was to create a different image than what they had created all those years. So they created the Orquesta. I directed the band for two years. . . . When I decided that I wanted to play only jazz in the Orquesta, then I got fired . . . . and after a while, the Orquesta ceased to achieve the function that it was created for and it disappeared—D’Rivera 2011
What better symbol of freedom and individuality than jazz?
The Frogman: Have you ever been involved in, or watched a performance of Ravel's Bolero, where the snare drummer dropped one or his sticks? I was watching this and thought what a disaster that would be.
Rok, that would certainly be a disaster and one which I have thankfully never witnessed. I have been involved in probably 30 plus performances of Bolero over the years and the most memorable disaster, was a performance with a major orchestra (which shall remained nameless) while on tour in Spain during the World’s Fair in Seville (hint) in which the trombone player (substitute) got off by a beat during his solo. The headline in the following morning’s newspaper review read "A derailed Bolero" ("Un Bolero descarrilado"). Poor guy.
Frogman, I am positive you could put that in the "Guinness World Book of Records"; the only "jazz musician" who has ever been involved in probably 30 plus performances of Bolero over the years.
I don't believe Wynton Marsalis could even come close.
O-10, that was actually a very conservative estimate; wouldn’t want to be accused of braggadocio 🤗. Moreover, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Wynton has never played Bolero. Well, maybe at Juilliard, your favorite institution of higher learning, maybe once or twice. It’s not what he does; that’s all. Now, I know you have often said that you are not interested in learning "one single iota" about music; no problem. Perhaps you are interested in learning a little bit about the music scene. If not, you need read no further.
Symphony orchestras program Bolero, on average, probably once or twice a year; the piece is a staple of the orchestral rep. Every time that it’s programmed it receives three or four performances. If it’s programmed twice a year that is 6-8 performances. As a freelance saxophonist for 35 years I have played with at least a dozen different orchestras at one time or another. If you do the math, 30 Boleros is neither terribly unusual nor record breaking. Also, most saxophonists who play Classical music also play jazz. Recently retired bass clarinetist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Ron Reuben, is also a very fine jazz player who also played saxophone in the orchestra for decades; he probably holds the record. Glad to inform you (if you’re still here). Btw, you may recall that I once posted on this thread a very funny story about Gerry Mulligan playing Bolero (on soprano) with the NY Phil. Not what he does (did); we can leave it at that 😉
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