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.
And now for something completely different. (That is, I just hope it was not covered before I began reading this site!)
After all the recommendations for female singers and bass, sax, guitar players, how about drummers? I’ll start by nominating someone who was respected but hardly ever mentioned among the very best -- Joe Morello. For evidence you Honor, I submit this as Exhibit A -
Since you've said all I can think of to say, I've been waiting for others to comment on Joe.
I would like Frogmans comments on drummers in general. I like Chico Hamiltons music, but I don't think of him as a drummer. I'm conflicted when it comes to drummers, although Joe Morello certainly set himself apart from other drummers. Another example is Blakey and "The Messengers"; is it his drumming, or maybe the other musicians that make them so fantastic.
I'm not a musician and am generally bored by long drum solos, but JM could sometimes be an exception. And note the respectful comments below the video.
BTW, o10, I like Blakey too. And respect there goes at least as much for his ability to discover great new musicians as much as his drumming prowess.
When I think of drumming, I think of anything that can be struck with a drumstick, a mallet, or the hand and produce a sound. Art Blakey has the ability to use all of these things, plus maybe even pots and pans to produce rhythmic beats.
This is one of his early albums that incorporated various African drums;
Those carvings on this album cover have incited me to tell you a very interesting story. The name "Benin" has been bounced around quite a bit in Africa. The country presently named "Benin" is in reality "Dahomey", a country with a history that was so violent, no one wants any part of it; that is the Kingdom of Dahomey, the ancestral home of "Voodoo".
If you ever meet anyone from the current Benin at a party, and you mention "Dahomey"; they will get a look on their face that says, "Please, lets not go there", and I wont, but that look just told me they are completely aware of a history so violent that no one wants to talk about it, or have anything to do with the name "Dahomey"
That will provide some very interesting, hair raising reading, if you care to go there.
Shelly Mann, a very musical drummer. Has anyone mentioned Earl Palmer? Though known as the creator of Rock 'n' Roll drumming (Little Richard, etc.) and an L.A. studio player, he was at heart a New Orleans Jazz drummer.
I believe I did mention Shelly Mann, but only in passing regarding the Previn Trio.
I have a friend here who is a pro drummer, playing both jazz and classical (symphony). Shelly is his favorite and I hear that whenever I listen to Jim. Nothing flashy, just steady and with lots of subtle little inflections.
Obviously no chance to even try most of what's been posted but nice to see a lot of jazz fans! I'd like to suggest just one that's a must-hear to me, from the jazz age. It's called 'Opus One', a fabulous swing/jump piece. Tommy Dorsey made a huge hit out of it on 78 in 1944, but in 1943 he recorded it IN STEREO for a movie track which (IIRC) due to the musicians' strike was never released. I believe it's the oldest stereo recording outside of some Stokowski stuff done by Bell Labs in the 30s, and it has great fidelity from what I assume are early Ampex tapes. I found it on Youtube; search for 'Opus One 1943'.
This one has also been mentioned, much newer record, another drummer. Like the trumpet player, perhaps somebody could recommend some of his work as well?
"A great Day In Harlem" has to be the single most important jazz photograph ever taken. I find it so amazing that we refer to artists that are no longer with us, as though we can catch them on the next set up the street, or around the corner.
Personally I thought those artists would have been replaced by new jazz artists so long ago, that I would barely remember the artists in that photograph. I know I tried for years to replace those artists in my collection for new artists, but it didn't work out like that; now I'm satisfied adding works by those artists that I didn't have before.
"Sahib Shihab" is a name that jumps out at me, and I don't know why; but I will let you know in this post.
The first place I go to is "Wikipedia", when I'm looking for the answer to a question. Right off the bat, I discover he's African American, and not East Indian. I think it was a baritone solo, that I'm very impressed with, and every time I hear it, I think it's Pepper Adams, but it turns out to be Sahib Shihab.
There are so many names on that photograph that I'm lost, but I found this, and I know I had it, but I don't think I still got it.
For those who never saw it, and others like myself who would enjoy seeing it again, here is the nearly one hour documentary on the creation of "A Great Day In Harlem".
The absolutely most amazing thing about that picture is a statement someone made about that picture; he said those artists were the most amazing in "that era". I don't know when he made that statement, but they are still the most amazing artists in this era.
I walked out of the record store with a number of records, and a friend of mine peeped in the bag: "old Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins, you still into them?" That was the question he asked 20 years ago. It's for certain I thought I would be out of those artists by now, but we are discussing those same artists more than ever now.
I have always wanted, and attempted to get the latest and newest, in order to stay in style, or be in fashion. I guess 10 years ago I was still buying the latest, and what was in fashion; just recently I noticed those CD's were collecting dust and taking up space, while I was still listening to old CD's.
Now I go into my "inner sanctum" and you tube to select what to buy. Too bad many of those guys in that picture didn't reap the profits their sales are making now.
Few singers can draw the listener in with such a tremendous sense of conviction to the story in the lyric combined with absence of pretense. I can forgive Tony Bennett’s dalliances with contemporary pop "stars" who aren’t worthy of shining his shoes because in his prime he was simply amazing. One of the most inspired singer/accompanist pairings on record, this song is from their second recording together. Bill Evans’ playing on this can only be described as genius, imo:
Speaking of Bill Evans and those pop "stars", heard this on WBGO yesterday. This is one of Evans’ most beautiful compositions sung by someone who should be a star...there truly are some. I’d like to hear any of the current pop divas even attempt a song like this which has such an unusual melodic shape and difficult note intervals; never mind with musical purpose:
I walked out of the book store with a number of books, and a friend of mine peeped in the bag: "old Shakespeare, Dickens, and D H Lawrence, you still into them?" That was the question he asked 20 years ago. It's for certain I thought I would be out of those artists by now, but we are discussing those same artists more than ever now.
Bennett has the hold he has on us because he is an authentic human being and people instinctively respond to that. Perhaps that was amplified by the fact most of his peers were phonies .
Pryso, very nice Joe Morello live clips. I like your description of his playing as steady and nuanced. Very little flash but always a strong sense that the rhythm is simmering. He was definitely one of the greats and a perfect choice for Brubeck’s Quartet. Notable is the fact that he had the ability to play in the unusual time signatures (odd-meter) that Brubeck’s group was known for and pioneered in jazz. Your first clip "Castilian Drums" is in 5/4 (five beats to the measure) same as Brubeck’s well known "Take Five". It’s one thing to be able to play rhythm in odd-meter within the context and framework of a melody. It’s all the more impressive to be able to solo in odd-meter with the ease and musical logic that Morello could play with. Great drummer and great quartet. And then there’s Paul Desmond with that wonderful tone which he wanted to sound "like a dry martini".
In "Blue Rondo a la Turk" the 9/8 meter is organized as a repeated cycle of three measures of 2+2+2+3 followed by one measure of 3+3+3. For a fun exercise/challenge listen to the melody and think (fast):
Many thanks frogman. I particularly enjoyed the live "Blue Rondo". I’ve always liked that as much if not better than "Take Five". Plus it was a treat watching them performing and getting such a kick out of each other. Now I’ll show my age by saying I also appreciated the steady camera work. No rapid "jump cutting" which has become de rugueur these days.
In addition I appreciate your musical explanations since I know so little about the technicalities. I can hear whenever someone is out of tune or off tempo but never learned to read music or play any instrument so much is otherwise lost on me.
Lastly my feelings about that version of the Brubeck Quartet. I’ve long felt they were one of the top groups in the world of jazz. Yes, they often ranked highly in popular polls but didn’t do so well in critic’s polls. I believe that was because they were so popular in general that "serious" jazz critics and musicians refused to give them fair due. Only Paul Desmond seemed to be considered outside that. Still, as your live clip displayed, they played not only with inventive rhythms, but they had wonderful interplay and could swing pretty hard. Of course, each one of the four was a top musician. OK I’m a fanboy and must have at least 20 of their albums. But for this uneducated musical set of ears they played music I could understand, even with the complex rhythms, while loving their spontaneity and creativity.
I agree that they were one of the top groups in jazz; and very influential . In general, musicians associated with the West Coast sound or Cool Jazz were not given their due relative to prominent East Coast jazz musicians. I know that this will be considered controversial by some, especially in an age of political correctness, but there was a kind of bias towards jazz musicians whose music was not as obviously (blatantly?) steeped in the blues; they were sometimes considered less "serious". Theirs was a style and rhythmic feeling that even some musicians considered to be "too white" and without a deep enough swing feel. Very unfortunate bias. Desmond as you point out was able to rise above much of that. I love Desmond’s playing. Very inventive player with an absolutely gorgeous, unique and relaxed tone. When asked how he was able to produce that beautiful tone he famously replied that his goal was "to sound like a dry martini":
While archiving my LP's to hardrive I re-discovered "Dave Brubeck". It was like running into a very old friend. He was on a 2 LP set titled "Dave Brubeck's All Time Greatest Hits". This was his quartet with Paul Desmond, on sax; Joe Morello, on drums; Eugene Wright, on base, and of course, Dave Brubeck on piano.
The music was as comfortable as an old pair of slippers, just right for listening and relaxing. Although "Take Five" was quite revolutionary when it came out on the LP "Time Out", it seems tame now. So many memories of beautiful days in the past flooded my memories as I listened, it was like a slide show of good times. I recall seeing Dave live at a free outdoor concert. It was at "Our Lady of The Snows Shrine", in front of the main shrine, on a golden, warm Fall afternoon. He was accompanied by the most beautiful modern dancers who did choreography to his music. That day was unforgettable.
One tip, if you plan on archiving your LP's to hardrive, make sure you have a spare belt before you start. Mine began slipping, but fortunately I had a spare.
This was the theme song of St. Louis DJ Leo Cheers, The Man In The Red Vest. He came on after midnight, about the time I would be cruisin with my current honey (both ages 22 approximately). The girl on the cover looked like my high school sweetheart.
Just cruisin in the silent darkness to Paul Desmond's soft melodic sounds, lost in reveries of past passionate nights, or anticipating things to come; but no sounds were allowed to break the spell that Paul Desmond's horn cast on young lovers.
Thanks for that, Ghosthouse; nice. I know I posted this not all that long ago (or, at least something from this great record), but was listening to it again today and thought I should post it again. For me, one of the very best examples of this great music. Andrew Hill (sideman here) is a piano player that doesn’t get discussed much anywhere; although he was, to my ears, one of the most unique and interesting piano players ever. There were times when first listening to him that I just didn’t "get" him and felt his playing was downright weird and unpolished; and other times it was pure genius. I think I get him now. Lee Morgan sounds simply unbelievable. He had an unusually expressive and natural way of using note inflections (those little note bends that give the tone a wonderful vocal quality).
I’ll be turning 60 in a couple of weeks and as I suppose is natural when nearing age milestones I have been thinking about "stuff". It occurs to me that one of the things that I dread most is the idea of ever getting to a point when I shut down to learning about things I care about and instead seek validation and identity by trying to take down others who I would let make me feel threatened; instead of recognizing the opportunity to learn something about that which I am always patting myself on the back for. Sad.
If one thinks that driving on the wrong side of the street is fun, let’s try doing it while driving backwards. Shall we?
For those genuinely interested in an interesting previously discussed (and disputed) little footnote in the story of this music and for those not interested in simply spewing bs:
- From a PBS interview with Stanley Crouch:
++++ SMITH: You were born in California, you grew up there. As you were growing up uh, how big was West Coast Jazz for you and how big was the San Francisco group, Dave Brubeck?
CROUCH: At that time I was coming up, everybody knew that there was a West Coast sound and it was supposed to be this cerebral, cool glass of water, if you will, version of jazz. And at the same time, though, there was this movement in New York that was rejecting that. It was called ’the hard bop group.’ So you had these guys with these light tones playing at the Pacific Ocean, then, at the Atlantic Ocean, you had these guys who were playing this hard, powerful kind of stuff. So in some sense, one group thought of the East Coast sound as a masculine sound and the West Coast sound as a feminine sound. The guys from the East Coast, they also thought of it as a white way of doing it ++++
- ++++ Brubeck was a major exponent of West Coast or "cool" jazz, a style that was (and is) often accused of being a whitewashed version of jazz, played by and for white guys, a lite-swing alternative to the knottier and greasier styles being practiced by hard-bop musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Horace Silver, and Miles Davis on the East Coast. ++++
- Wiki: Some observers looked down upon West Coast jazz because many of its musicians were white, which some listeners, critics, and historians perceived as resulting in music that was too cerebral, effete, or effeminate, or that lacked swing.[12][13][14]
"There were times when first listening to him that I just didn’t 'get' him and felt his playing was downright weird and unpolished; and other times it was pure genius."
Really know nothing about Mr. Hill so can't speak to "genius" but a few tracks from this recording have me very curious about the whole. I'm guessing that is Eric coming in right around the 3 minute mark followed by Joe Henderson. THIS ain't boring! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwWO8UYjmfI&ab_channel=Alife
Thom Jurek (copied from Tidal but probably coming from the All Music Guide) writing about Andrew Hill's "Point of Departure"...
"Pianist and composerAndrew Hillis perhaps known more for this date than any other in his catalogue -- and with good reason.Hill's complex compositions straddled many lines in the early to mid-1960s and crossed over many. Point of Departure, with its all-star lineup (even then), took jazz and wrote a new book on it, excluding nothing. WithEric DolphyandJoe Hendersonon saxophones (Dolphyalso played clarinet, bass clarinet, and flute), Richard Davis on bass, Tony Williams on drums, andKenny Dorhamon trumpet, this was a cast created for a jazz fire dance. From the opening moments of "Refuge," with its complex minor mode intro that moves headlong viaHill's large, open chords that flat sevenths, ninths, and even 11ths in their striding to move through the mode, into a wellspring of angular hard bop and minor-key blues.Hill's solo is first and it cooks along in the upper middle register, almost all right hand ministrations, creating with his left a virtual counterpoint for Davis and a skittering wash of notes for Williams. The horn solos in are all from the hard bop book, butDolphycuts his close to the bone with an edgy tone. "New Monastery," which some mistake for an avant-garde tune, is actually a rewrite of bop minimalism extended by a diminished minor mode and an intervallic sequence that, while clipped, moves very quickly.Dorhamsolos to connect the dots of the knotty frontline melody and, in his wake, leaves the space open forDolphy, who blows edgy, blue, and true into the center, asHilljumps to create a maelstrom by vamping with augmented and suspended chords.Hillchills it out with gorgeous legato phrasing and a left-hand ostinato that cuts through the murk in the harmony. WhenHendersontakes his break, he just glides into the chromatically elegant space created byHill, and it's suddenly a new tune. This disc is full of moments like this. InHill's compositional world, everything is up for grabs. It just has to be taken a piece at a time, and not by leaving your fingerprints all over everything. In "Dedication," where he takes the piano solo further out melodically than on the rest of the album combined, he does so gradually. You cannot remember his starting point, only that there has been a transformation. This is a stellar date, essential for any representative jazz collection, and a record that, in the 21st century, still points the way to the future for jazz."
Thanks for that live clip, Ghosthouse; new to me . Yes, EXACTLY like that! Without a doubt the weirdest rendition of "Here’s That Rainy Day" that I have ever heard...and it kept me engaged the entire time. What a strange sense of rhythm in that performance; as if always delaying the next beat just a tiny bit. Thelonious Monk had a little bit of that quality in his rhythmic feel, but not nearly to the same degree. To borrow a word from Mobley’s record’s title, a little "square" (in a good and interesting way) compared to the more typical relaxed flow of most other players. In that clip he seems to always keep you waiting a tiny bit for the next beat, but without interrupting his own brand of forward flow. Don’t know if you’re familiar with the music of Classical composer Charles Ives; it occurs to me that Hill’s overall concept pushes some of the same buttons for me. The audience in that clip seems dumbfounded.
"Point Of Departure" is a great record which I bought on a friend’s recommendation many moons ago after hearing Dolphy’s "Out To Lunch" and having a "wtf?" moment. As you say, "THIS is not boring"! And you’re right, that is Dolphy at the 3:00 mark. Amazing player. For a long time his playing was, for me, a little like going to an ethnic restaurant for food that was strange and unusual to my palette and that I wasn’t entirely sure about; but it kept bringing back. Thanks for the clips.
Since I like the hammond B-3 organ, and Bruce Katz is a real mellow fellow on it, I could listen to him all evening long; he stays in a just right groove. Keep the killers coming Ghosthouse.
I have one album by Andrew Hill, and it may have been played one time. The fact that I've had it for a long time, and it still looks new, speaks volumes; no I don't remember what it sounds like.
See F-man, it don't have to be all Bill Connors melodious and smooth for me. We likes a little "grit" now and again. BTW - I TOTALLY get what you are saying about that Andrew Hill performance. His stretching of meter is almost painful and borders on (me thinking) he forgot where he is going!
I got lucky and stumbled onto that PoD recording only because I saw it in the margins on YouTube and the cover image reminded me of that formation on Mars that looks like a human face. Listened to a bit of it and knew right away it was working for me. Stuff I read about it confirmed to me it is something special. Listened to the whole thing. Dolphy by himself or as leader is still a tough listen for me but in an "ensemble" like that...works great. Nice contrast to Joe Henderson's style. Bought the RVG remaster. $11 bucks Amazon prime. A bargain.
I also have to say I could HEAR exactly what you report about the East Coast vs West Coast jazz styles when I listened to some of the samples that O had posted a few weeks back. Not that I had the vocabulary to describe any of it. Those were the first times I knowingly listened to such. Think O had put up some Brubeck and definitely some (Gerry?) Mulligan. Honestly, I could hear that style difference compared to hard bop and had similar thoughts (about white cultural influence, cerebral, less gritty etc., etc., etc.) without even knowing any of the actual history. Ain't bragging...just think it is THAT obvious. Well, leastways in that stuff I heard.
It IS that obvious and just to be clear (I know you are) the differences are not about "better" or "worse". The discussion here re West Coast style started as a criticism of precisely the attitude expressed in some of the commentary I posted. It is unfortunate that the style as a whole was perceived that way by some. As far as I’m concerned Paul Desmond, as Pryso said, could swing as much as anybody. To extend the food analogy, anyone who tells you Italian cooking is "better" than Indian is being foolish, imo. Give "Out To Lunch" a whirl sometime.
Re "Spiral" and request for "critical analysis" that you can then pick apart (sort of) here's a novel idea: How's about if instead of panning something and, by association, panning some other listener's appreciation of that something you offer SOMETHING ("analysis") of your own? ....SOMETHING!
It's not about the color of one's skin, but the color of one's music; Pepper Adams skin might be white, but his music is "hard-bop" all the way. Check out his solo on Mingus's Moanin.
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