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.
"factors that determine the music we like" Absolutely o.
My dad played in a dance band in the '30s and retained a love for music of that era, mainly Louis Armstrong. He had lots of records so I heard that growing up in the late '40s and '50s (yes, I'm pretty old).
I didn't care for any of it at the time, my interest in music really began with rock and roll in the mid-'50s. That expanded to include first folk music (at least the Kingston Trio type if not hard-core) and by a senior in HS contemporary jazz. It was not until a couple of decades later that I truly appreciated Satch and Jack Teagarden (now my favorites from my dad's era).
Today my primary interest in jazz is for artists/recordings from the mid-50s to the mid-70s. I can appreciate both earlier and more recent artists, but my real love remains for those I heard as my musical tastes developed.
Pryso, in general, our tastes are about the same; I spent my summers with a cousin in Chicago in the mid 50's to 60, who was a jazz fanatic, and that's where I developed my fundamental taste for jazz.
Why don't you post some of your fathers music, or the music he liked; I know I would like to hear it.
Pryso, listened to the Previn "Wes Side Story". Fantastic! What an amazing musician he is and I sometimes forget what a great piano player he is as I usually think of him and know his work, first and foremost, as a conductor and composer. One of the most impressive resumes out there. Fitting that he should take on the music of Leonard Bernstein, another musician who was extremely successful as composer/conductor (although less so as pianist).
I really like what what he did with that music in a piano trio setting. The trio sounds fantastic and swings like crazy. Very different in attitude from the Oscar Peterson recording, however. I like both recordings very much, but if a choice had to be made, I would say the Peterson gets closer to the intended feeling of the original music. While Bernstein's WSS is remarkable for being able to so successfully blend the elements of Classical, Jazz and pop, it is ultimately music written for musical theater and, as such, has a certain stylistic tradition to live up to. Not a negative at all, but that stylistic tradition includes, as is to be expected, a certain amount of....theatricality; combined with a typically very upbeat quality. For me, and all other considerations aside, the Peterson gets closer to that feeling. The Previn, as great as it is, is a little "cool" by comparison and without as much of the up-beat and wide-eyed quality that characterizes a lot of music for the theater. Both are great! Thanks for mentioning that recording.
frogman, you're welcome, and thanks for the additional comments. You conveyed many of my own impressions, including a little preference for Peterson's emotion, while still appreciating Previn's approach.
Also orpheus, I'll come back to listing recommendations I took away from my dad's music. I tried twice yesterday but lost what I'd written before completing it so gave up in frustration. :^(
Amen on Previn. One of my pet peeves is the "dis he gets as a Classical Conductor.
Many of his recordings of the English rep. with LSO are still the best available . Most stick wavers won’t even touch the difficult Walton 1st Symphony , with its jazz syncopated rhythms and chromatic notes . Previn nailed it in a perfect performance that has yet to be equaled ! IMO a very great Conductor and all-around Musician .
frogman and others, as you may know, he recorded several albums based upon Broadway show tunes. As mentioned "My Fair Lady" was a top selling jazz album for a number of years. Besides that and WSS I have "Bells are Ringing" and "Lt'l Abner". I consider one of the pluses in all that series was Shelly Mann as part of the trio, always tasty drumming.
Frogman, Lee Morgan's solo carries that over the top; his singing trumpet is like no other, it competes with vocalists, and Kenny Burrells guitar strumming was made for Jimmy Smith's organ.
After listening to that, I know why Lee Morgan is my favorite trumpet player of all time.
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. (born May 27, 1935) is an American jazz composer, pianist and radio personality. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received seven gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.
This is someone I've liked for along time; he's not a "deep in the pocket" jazz musician, as you find in hard-bop, but he can still swing. I'm going to present you some of my favorites by the "Ram".
Acman, it still swings and it's some fantastic sounding music. I no longer categorize, but simply listen to determine whether or not the music meets my qualifications as good sounding music that I would want in my collection, and this will be added if it's not already there.
orpheus, you suggested I post some of dad's favorite music. As further introduction I'll relate that the first concert I attended was Armstrong with his All Stars sometime between 1950 and '52. I was VERY young and looking back overwhelmed (but grateful) my parents took me along.
Here's "Rockin' Chair" from 1947 with Teagarden singing lead. This is the version from the Town Hall Concert I have in a 78 album handed down from dad. Louie had some great upper register then.
Teagarden with one of his signature songs, "Stars Fell on Alabama". I like him better with Satch and/or small groups than in larger orchestras like this.
And lastly, another favorite band, but not well known, was McKinney's Cotton Pickers out of Detroit (I grew up in MI). One of their recordings also from 1930, "Baby Won't You Please Come Home".
To wrap it up, some years ago I stumbled on an LP, "The New McKinney's Cotton Pickers", a Bountiful Record from 1972. That includes vocals by Dave Wilborn who was in the original band. I couldn't find anything by them on YouTube so this will have to do as a modern rendition of a MCP arrangement, "Tight Like That".
Pryso, this music is very much appreciated; I considered it "old foggy's" music when I first got into modern jazz (Diz & Bird), but now I realize the relationship it has to jazz overall, plus the contribution it's made to the big picture.
Do you remember those old Black and White cartoons on the TV when we were just kids? Somebody commented on how they used that music ( the music you have presented) a lot on those funny's. When you think about it, that music made those funny's. The different ways in which we have been exposed to things is amazing.
I am going to peruse the music you've presented later on in the day and get back to you. Thanks for finding it.
For those who love trad jazz there was a great piano player out Chicago, Joe Sullivan, who recorded a lot of Fats Wallers songs, many unpublished, in 40 and 50’s . Didn’t play them like Fats , but did justice and showed the many facets of his music . Butch Thompson did an hour show devoted to him yesterday on local jazz station and Butch sure has cred with trad lovers .
Pryso, I listened to the music you submitted, but couldn't really get into it; it was just before my time, I couldn't even find those cartoons I was talking about. My trolley just completely jumped the track, I'll tell you about it.
After my last analog upgrade, I decided to record "Cat people"; that's the sound track from this movie about people who change into Big Black Cats. The movie was OK but the soundtrack was a monster.
Pryso, 'I've found a new baby' is my new hit of the week. Really liked it, it has some nostalgic tone, no matter that it feels ver much like a dance song. Is there any place where people still can dance on such music?
Here is one album that you may like it, much newer (from 1981), but with all old tunes.
Fantastic clips, Pryso. Jazz evolves and morphs into different styles, but as always what makes it good or not so good is the level of craft and sincerity regardless of styles. Different time so different aesthetic. Your choice of clips is interesting not only for the quality of the music, but also for their dates. The Louis Armstrong clips from 1947 are interesting because that style was almost "retro" by then with more "sophisticated" swing having already had its say and bebop coming on the scene. It’s very possible that this is the reason that you feel those versions swing more than other (earlier?) versions you’ve heard. Eventhough there was resistance from some players to more modern styles, some level of influence is always unavoidable. That was around the time that Louis famously referred to bebop as "Chinese music". What an interesting voice Teagarden had! Thanks for the clips.
orpheus, thanks for listening to those cuts. I can't say I'm surprised that you couldn't "get into it". It took me more than 20 years myself to appreciate some of those performances. And I'll admit some of my more recent reactions are influenced by memories of dad.
But while my interest in jazz expanded from Brubeck to Monk to Ornette, there is not much prior to around 1950 that I care to listen to. At the same time "Rockin' Chair" always knocks me out with its spirit, humor, and the swell at the end.
Anyway, I'm glad that alex and frogman perhaps discovered something new to enjoy. Hopefully others did as well, even without replying here.
frogman, you may be right about the stylistic difference related to time and the evolution of other artists. But I tend to attribute it more to the influence of the live audience and how that encouraged each All Star to dig a little deeper. ;^)
Pryso, no one can understand the relationship between music, and the people or events surrounding the music more than me; if it was my dad's music, I'd probably be playing it every other day, but as it stands, I have almost none of it in my collection.
What a person has in his collection tells all you need to know about his likes and dislikes. While I like jazz, I don't have any 'new jazz'; but on the other hand, I'm still catching up with the 'old jazz'; I can't go both ways at the same time.
orpheus, agreed. Our tastes seem to be mainly a combination of exposure and personality traits so they can be difficult to predict.
In addition to jazz I listen to a wide variety of music, including classic rock, blues, Celtic, bluegrass/string band/mountain music, soundtracks, and classical (mainly symphonic). However among my approximately 3,000 LPs the greatest representation is Brubeck, Miles, and Monk where I have at least 30 albums by each. So my tastes are broad and yet somewhat focused at the same time. What does that say about my personality? ;^)
I'm not quite as focused as you are Pryso, but I still listen to 'classic jazz' more than anything else; today I seem to be in a Stanley Turrentine mood. It seems that anything by him suits me today.
As far as "new"; not meaning July 17, but new to me, is "Sonny Criss". I love it when I come across an artist who has been in my very own collection for a long time, and all I know is the picture of a boat on the CD and his name, but that means nothing because it got lost in the shuffle.
Here is something by "Sonny Criss", and it's new and fresh sounding to me;
Pryso, I resold some of the bargain CD's I received because they were short on sonics. While they had the cuts I was looking for, what good were they if the sonics didn't come along with the cuts? That's the experience I had.
Can't speak to the Turrentine set, but I recently picked up the Freddie Hubbard set that is part of this reissue series and the sonics are more than acceptable and a great and inexpensive way to pick up those classic recordings. IMO, the quality of the music trumps (sorry) any concerns re the sonics. Fantastic record:
Frogman, I was not speaking of a single CD, but when you get a bunch of CD's in a box set that looks like a super bargain. I'll go for the single CD's.
That one you submitted has got to be boss; here is one of my favorite cuts from that set;
Frogman, were you familiar with "Sonny Cris"? That CD I had by him was purchased a long time ago at a real nice place where you could review CD's on headphones, buy books of all kinds, or have a glass of wine. It's too bad we don't have places like that anymore; there are a lot of reasons for that.
We, the citizens, don't realize that some things that go wrong in our society are because we don't look into the reasons why they went wrong.
Any thread, every thread, is a good one to discuss things of this nature. I don't believe audiophiles have any idea of how many things have gone wrong in the last 20 years that should not have gone wrong; I do.
Of course; I’ve had his recordings for some time and "Sonny Criss Plays Cole Porter" is one of my favorites by him. He was one of the most prominent alto players and one who bridged the West Coast saxophone tone approach with the inescapable influence of Charlie Parker. Personally, he has never been one of my favorite alto players; but I like him. I am not particularly fond of that "constant vibrato" tone style and a time feel that harkens back to the swing era a little. Just personal preferences. He was great and as far as importance in the general scheme of things probably on the tier below players like Sonny Stitt, Cannonball Adderly and Charles McPherson.
I am am not sure why you are singling out audiophiles for "not knowing how many things have gone wrong in the last twenty years". I think I’ve got a pretty good idea; although, with respect, my sense is that you and I would not agree on what many of those things are. Regardless, we would all do well to not lose sight of all the things that have gone right. Regards.
O-10, after four years of this thread it’s obvious that you need to periodically stir the pot and create some sort of controversy peppered with judgments of a personal nature; judgments that you have no business making. Perhaps it is having nothing better to do. Perhaps it is loneliness and the need for interaction of a contentious nature. I don’t know and frankly don’t care. What I do know is that you don’t know me and if you think that interaction on a thread like this can lead to knowing someone then my guesses are probably close to accurate. I assure you that whatever you think about me is totally off the mark...as is much of what you write here. Shame on me for taking your bait again. I hope I was able to, if only for a short while, fill some sort of void for you. Feel free to fire away, but don’t expect any further response. Btw, if this doesn’t prove the error in you assertion that ** Any thread, every thread, is a good one to discuss things of this nature. ** I don’t know what would. Over and out.
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